Orthodox Christian

The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 14:34:00 +0000

Synaxarion

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 17:15:00 +0000

PRIESTMARTYR CLEMENT, POPE OF ROME (+ 101).

PRIESTMARTYR PETER, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA (+ 311).

MONK PETER THE SILENT, OF GALATIA (+ C. 429).

The PriestMartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, was born at Rome into a rich and illustrious family. Since childhood separated from his parents by force of circumstances, Clement was raised by strangers. Living at Rome, the youth received a fine education, he was surrounded by luxury, and had access to the imperial court. But the comforts brought him no delight, and the pagan wisdom failed to attract him. He began to think about the meaning of life. When the news about Christ and His teaching began to reach the capital, Saint Clement left his home and estate and set out to those lands, where the Apostles were preaching. At Alexandria Saint Clement encountered the holy Disciple Barnabas, hearkening to his words with deep attention, and with all his heart perceiving the power and truth of the Word of God. Arriving in Palestine, Saint Clement accepted Baptism from the holy Apostle Peter and became his zealous student and constant companion, sharing with him his toil and sufferings. The holy Apostle Peter shortly before his own sufferings and death ordained Saint Clement to become a bishop of the city of Rome. After the death of the Apostle Peter, there followed next as Bishop of Rome Saint Linus (67-79), succeeded by Saint Anacletus (79-91), and then upon the Roman cathethra-see came next Saint Clement (92-101).

The virtuous life, charitable works and prayerful activity of holy Pope Clement converted many to Christ. Thus, on the day of Pascha once he baptised 424 people. And among the baptised were people of all social classes: slaves, officials, members of he imperial family.

The pagans, seeing the success of his apostolic preaching, made denunciations against Saint Clement to the emperor Trajan (98-117), accusing the saint of insulting the pagan gods. The emperor banished Saint Clement from the capital, sending him off to the faraway Crimea, for work at the Inkerman stone quarry not far from the city of Kherson. Many of the disciples of the saint followed after him, voluntarily preferring exile rather than separation from their spiritual father. Having arrived at the place of exile, Saint Clement found there many Christian believers, sentenced to toil under harsh conditions, and amidst a scarcity of water. He prayed together with the condemned, and the Lord in the image of the Lamb revealed to him the place of a spring of water, from which gushed forth a veritable river of water. This miracle attracted to Saint Clement a multitude of people. Hearing the zealous preacher, hundreds of pagans were converted to Christ. Each day 500 or more men were baptised. And there, in the stone quarry, was made a church, in which he served as priest.

The apostolic activity of the saint aroused the wrath of the emperor Trajan, and he gave orders to drown Saint Clement. They threw the martyr into the sea with an anchor about his neck. This occurred in the year 101.

Through the prayers of the saint's faithful disciples, Cornelius and Fibius together with all the people, the sea receded, and the people found a not-wrought-by-hand temple ("Angelic Church") the undecayed body of their pastor. After this, yearly on the day of the martyr's death of Saint Clement the sea fell back and in its wake for seven days Christians were able to venerate his holy relics. Only in the IX Century during the reign of the Constantinople emperor Nicephoros (802-811), by Divine sufferance, the relics of Saint Clement for 50 years became inaccessible for veneration. During the time of the emperor Michael and his mother Theodora (855-867), Kherson was visited by holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. Having learned about the concealed relics of Saint Clement, they induced the Kherson bishop George to make a collective service of prayer to the Lord for the revealing of the relics of the priestmartyr. After the service of prayer of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the clergy having come with them from Tsargrad and the fervent prayer of everyone gathered, on the surface of the sea at midnight there miraculously appeared the holy relics of Saint Clement. These they solemnly conveyed to the church of the Holy Apostles [at Constantinople]. A portion of the relics were then transported by Saints Cyril and Methodius to Rome, but a large portion of the relics was later brought to Kiev by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir (+ 1015) and placed in the Desyatin-Tithe church, together with the relics of Saint Fibius, where a chapel in the name of Saint Clement had been constructed. The memory of the PriestMartyr Clement [in Russian Kliment] is sacredly venerated in Russia. From ancient times many a church has been dedicated to him.

Saint Clement, who belongs to the Apostolic Fathers, has left to us a spiritual legacy -- two epistles to the Corinthians -- the first such written memorials of Christian teaching after the writings of the holy Apostles. They have been published in Russian translation [and of course also in English]. [trans. note: The significance of the small group of the generation of the Apostolic Fathers, which includes Saint Clement Pope of Rome, is in this: they learned the teaching of Christ directly from the Holy Apostles, who in turn learned directly whilst sitting at the feet of our Lord. The mark of the "Apostolicity of the Church" refers not only to the unbroken chain of priestly ordination stretching back to Christ Himself, but also to our fidelity in the Holy Spirit to the Holy Tradition of the Church stretching back directly through the Apostles to our Lord Jesus Christ, -- wherein our faith truly is one with "the Church of Christ and His Holy Apostles"].

The Holy PriestMartyr Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria, was born and raised at Alexandria. He was a man highly educated, and occupied the position of head of the Alexandria school. In the year 300 he entered upon the guiding of the Alexandria Church, succeeding his teacher and spiritual guide, Blessed Bishop Theonas. Banished from the city during the time of the persecutions against Christians under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, Saint Peter, being awhile in many imperial districts, again returned to his native city, in order to personally head the Alexandrian Church in this dangerous period. The saint secretly visited the Christians locked up in prison, encouraging steadfastness of faith in them, assisting the widows and orphans, preaching the Word of God, constantly praying and making Divine-services. And the Lord kept him safe out of the hands of the persecutors. During this time of unrest to further unsettle the Church of Church there arose the impious teaching of the heretic Arius, who denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Saint Peter came out against him, he condemned the heretic and excommunicated him from the Church. And even then, when Arius through the students of Saint Peter besought the saint to lift the excommunication from him, asserting that he had repented and given up on his false teachings, Saint Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, saw through the falsity and deceit of the renunciation of Arius, and so he instructed his flock not to believe Arius nor to accept him into churchly communion.

Under the wise nurturing of Saint Peter the Alexandria Church strengthened and grew, in spite of the persecutions. But finally, on orders from the emperor Maximian (305-311), the saint as arrested and sentenced to death. A multitude of people gathered at the entrance of the prison, expressing their outrage. Wanting to avoid bloodshed and a riot by the people, the saint sent a message to the authorities, in which he offered to cooperate with them in knocking down a back wall of the prison, so that he might be taken away secretly from the people, to execution. In the dark of the night Saint Peter went forward to the executioners, who took him beyond the city walls and beheaded him at the selfsame spot, where formerly the holy Disciple Mark had been executed, and there was heard a Voice from the heavens, heard by a certain pious virgin that night, exclaiming: "Peter -- first of the Apostles, Peter -- last of the Alexandrian Martyrs". This occurred in the year 311. In the morning, having learned of the death of their bishop, a throng of people gathered at the place of execution, they took up the body and head of the martyr went off to the church, putting on him his bishop's vestments, they put him in the altar at the high place during the time of the funeral service. During his life Saint Peter sat only beneathe it, since in the words of the saint, he beheld a Divine light, encircling the high place, and dared not through humility to enter it.

Saint Peter, a great champion of Orthodoxy, is known also as a profound theologian. Passages from his book, "On the Divinity (of Jesus Christ)", were taken into account at the Ephesus and Chalcedon Councils. From his works the most widely known and highly esteemed by the Church are the "Penitential Canons".

The Monk Peter the Silent, of Galatia: The account about him is located under 1 February.

Daily Reading

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 17:11:00 +0000

Apodosis of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.

27th Week after Pentecost, Tone one

Friday

LITURGY

2 Timothy 1:1-2, 8-18

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. 15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: 17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. 18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

Luke 19:12-28

12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. 28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

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LEAVETAKING OF THE FEAST OF THE ENTRY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD INTO THE TEMPLE

GREAT MARTYR KATHERINE

GREAT MARTYR MERCURIUS

Troparion of the Mother of God Tone 4
Today is the prelude of God's goodwill/ and the prophecy of the salvation of men./ The Virgin appears openly in the temple of God/ and foretells Christ to all./ So let us cry to her with loud voices:/ Rejoice, thou who art the fulfillment/ of the Creator's providence.

Troparion of Great Martyr Katherine Tone 5
Let us praise Katherine, protectress of Sinai,/ Bride of Christ and our helper./ With the sword of the Spirit she silenced the wisdom of the wicked./ She is crowned as a martyr and asks mercy for us all.

Troparion of Great Martyr Mercurius Tone 4
Partaker of heavenly light,/ an Angel was thy guide to manifest glory./ Thou didst contest as a warrior for the Immortal King:/ O blessed Mercurius,/ save those who come to thee.

Kontakion of the Feast Tone 4
The most pure Temple of the Saviour,/ the most precious bridal chamber and Virgin,/ the sacred treasury of the glories of God,/ today enters into the house of the Lord,/ bringing with her the grace that is the Divine Spirit./ And the Angels of God sing of her:/ This is the heavenly tabernacle.

Kontakion of Great Martyr Katherine Tone 2
You lovers of martyrs raise a chorus now/ in honour of wise Katherine./ She preached Christ in the stadium/ and spat on the knowledge of philosophers.

Kontakion of Great Martyr Mercurius Tone 4
Putting on Christ's might as a holy breastplate/ thou didst excel as an Athlete and dost enlighten those who cry:/ Rejoice, O Mercurius: thou art the glory of the martyrs.

Daily Reading

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 16:44:00 +0000

27th Week after Pentecost, Tone one

Thursday

LITURGY

1 Timothy 6:17-20

17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. 20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: 21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

Luke 18:31-34

31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

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HOLY HIEROMARTYRS CLEMENT, BISHOP OF ROME AND PETER, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA

ST KENAN

ST COLMAN OF CLOYNE

Troparion of the Mother of God Tone 4
Today is the prelude of God's goodwill/ and the prophecy of the salvation of men./ The Virgin appears openly in the temple of God/ and foretells Christ to all./ So let us cry to her with loud voices:/ Rejoice, thou who art the fulfillment/ of the Creator's providence.

Troparion of the Hieromartyrs Tone 3
You were shown forth as trumpeters of divine knowledge/ and revealers of the ordinances of the Faith,/ Clement thou fruitful vine of life /and Peter firm rock of the faithful./ Since you are seers of ineffable mysteries deliver us from every harm.

Troparion of St Kenan Tone 1
As a witness to the steadfastness of the Faith of Christ,/ thou didst erect to His glory/ Ireland's first cathedral of stone, O Hierarch Kenan,/ where thou didst labour for the salvation of men's souls./ Wherefore, O Saint, pray that our labours may be blessed and bear fruit/ that many may be led into the Way of Salvation.

Troparion of St Colman of Cloyne Tone 8
Leaving thy post as bard of Cashel and embracing the monastic life, O Father Colman,/ thou didst employ thy God-given poetic talents teaching our holy and saving faith./ Therefore O Saint, pray to God that He would bestow again the gift of words/ that the Faith may be taught in these islands for the salvation of many souls.

Kontakion of the Feast Tone 4
The most pure Temple of the Saviour,/ the most precious bridal chamber and Virgin,/ the sacred treasury of the glories of God,/ today enters into the house of the Lord,/ bringing with her the grace that is the Divine Spirit./ And the Angels of God sing of her:/ This is the heavenly tabernacle.

Kontakion of the Hieromartyrs Tone 4
Unshakable divine towers of the Church,/ God-inspired and mighty pillars of piety:/ we praise you, Clement and Peter, guard us all by your intercessions.

HOLY THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 16:38:00 +0000

Troparion of the Theophany Tone 1
When Thou wast baptized in the Jordan, O Lord,/ the worship of the Trinity made its appearance./ For the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee/ when He called Thee His beloved Son./ And the Spirit in the form of a dove/ confirmed the truth of the word./ O Christ our God, Who hast appeared and hast enlightened the world,/ glory to Thee!

Kontakion of the Theophany Tone 4
Thou hast appeared today to the world,/ and Thy light, O Lord, has been signed upon us/ who with full knowledge sing to Thee./ Thou hast come, Thou hast appeared,/ O Unapproachable Light.

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Daily Reading

MATINS

Mark 1:9-11

9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The Eve of the Nativity of Christ

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 18:32:00 +0000

EVE OF THE HOLY NATIVITY

ST EUGENIA THE RIGHTEOUS VIRGIN MARTYR

ST CARAN

Troparion for the Eve of the Nativity Tone 4
When Mary conceived seedlessly/ she was registered in Bethlehem with the elder Joseph as being of the seed of David./ The time for birth came and there was no room in the inn;/ the cave proved a fair palace for the Queen./ Christ is born to raise up the image that of old had fallen.

Troparion of St Eugenia Tone 3
In thy praise inspired by the Holy Spirit,/ thou didst receive the light of divine knowledge,/ O Eugenia, glorious Virgin of Christ./ And radiant among the choir of the righteous,/ thou didst triumph over the enemy in thy contest./ O glorious Martyr, entreat Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.

Troparion for St Caran Tone 4
Jewel of the northern kingdom/ and most virtuous hierarch, O Father Caran,/ thou didst remind us that we are all missionaries and husbandmen in Christ's vineyard./ Therefore, O Saint, pray for us all that we may shine as beacons of Orthodoxy/ guiding many souls to salvation.

Kontakion for the Eve Tone 3
Today the Virgin is coming to the cave/ to give birth to the eternal Word,/ Rejoice at the message, O earth;/ with the Angels and Shepherds give glory/ to Him Who was willing to be seen as a Child/ while remaining God throughout all ages.

Kontakion of St Eugenia Tone 4
Thou didst flee the passing glory of the world,/ drawn by longing for Christ,/ O holy Martyr./ Thou didst preserve thy noble soul unblemished:/ we praise thee, righteous Eugenia.

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ROYAL HOURS

FIRST HOUR

Micah 5:2-4

2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Hebrews 1:1-12

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

Matthew 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

THIRD HOUR

Baruch 3:36-4:4

36 He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. 37 Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men. 1 This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth for ever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die. 2 Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence of the light thereof, that thou mayest be illuminated. 3 Give not thine honour to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation. 4 O Israel, happy are we: for things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us.

Galatians 3:23-29

23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Luke 2:1-20

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

SIXTH HOUR

Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 8-10

10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. 2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. 4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

Hebrews 1:10-2:3

10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. 13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? 1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Matthew 2:1-12

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

NINTH HOUR

Isaiah 9:6-7

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Hebrews 2:11-18

11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Matthew 2:13-23

13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. 21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

VESPERS

Genesis 1:1-13

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Numbers 24:2-3, 5-9, 17-18

2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. 9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. 17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. 18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

Micah 4:6-7; 5:2-4

6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 11:1-10

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Baruch 3:36-4:4

36 He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. 37 Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men. 1 This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth for ever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die. 2 Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence of the light thereof, that thou mayest be illuminated. 3 Give not thine honour to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation. 4 O Israel, happy are we: for things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us.

Daniel 2:31-36, 44-45

31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Isaiah 9:6-7

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 8-10

10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. 2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. 4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

LITURGY OF ST. BASIL

Hebrews 1:1-12

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

Luke 2:1-20

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 15:14:00 +0000

Nativity (St. Philip's Fast). +)St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia (345). Blessed Maximus, metropolitan of Kiev (1305). New Martyr Nicholas of Karamanos in Asia Minor (1657) (Greek). St. Nicholas, bishop of Patara. St. Theophilus, bishop of Antioch (181). St. Abramius, bishop of Cratea in Bithynia (6th c.).

+ + +

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia,
Wonderworker (+ C. 345-351).

Troparion — Tone 4
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, / an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; / your humility exalted you; / your poverty enriched you. / Hierarch Father Nicholas, / entreat Christ our God / that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion — Tone 3
You revealed yourself, O saint, in Myra as a priest, / For you fulfilled the Gospel of Christ / By giving up your soul for your people, / And saving the innocent from death. / Therefore you are blessed as one become wise in the grace of God.

Sainted Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, and Wonderworker is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the Lycian region (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents Theophanes and Nonna, who had given a vow to dedicate him to God. As the fruition of longtime prayer of his childless parents, the infant Nicholas from the very day of his birth revealed to people the light of his future glory as a wonderworker. His mother, Nonna, after giving birth was immediately healed from illness. The newborn infant while still in the baptismal font stood on his feet three times, without support from anyone, indicating by this to honour the MostHoly Trinity. Saint Nicholas from his infancy began a life of fasting, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he accepted milk from his mother only but once, after the evening prayers of his parents.

From the time of his childhood Nicholas thrived on the study of Divine Scripture; by day he would not leave church, and by night he prayed and read books -- fashioning in himself a worthy dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. His uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, rejoiced at the spiritual success and deep piety of his kinsman. He ordained him a reader, and then elevated Nicholas to the dignity of presbyter, making him his assistant and entrusting him to speak instructing the flock. In serving the Lord the youth was fervent of spirit, and in his proficiency with questions of faith he was like an elder / starets, which aroused the wonder and deep respect of believers. Constantly at work and vivacious, being in unceasing prayer, presbyter Nicholas displayed great kind-heartedness towards the flock, and towards those afflicted coming to him for help, and he distributed all his inheritance to the poor. Having learned about the bitter need and poverty of a certain formerly rich inhabitant of his city, Saint Nicholas saved him from great sin. Having three grown daughters, the despairing father considered to give them over to profligacy so as to save them from hunger. The saint, grieving lest the man perish a sinner, by night secretly brought him through the window three sacks with gold and by this saved the family from falling into spiritual destruction. In bestowing charity, Saint Nicholas always strove to do this secretly and conceal his good deeds.

In setting off on pilgrimage to the holy places at Jerusalem, the bishop of Patara entrusted the guidance of the flock to Saint Nicholas, who fulfilled this obedience carefully and with love. When the bishop returned, he in turn asked blessing for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Along the way the saint predicted the onset of a storm threatening the ship with inundation, since he saw the devil itself having got on ship. At the entreaty of the despairing pilgrims, he calmed by his prayers the waves of the sea. Through his prayer also was restored to health a certain sailor of the ship, who had fallen from the mast and was mortally injured.

Having reached the ancient city of Jerusalem and having come to Golgotha, Saint Nicholas offered up thanksgiving to the Saviour of the race of mankind and he made the rounds of all the holy places, doing poklons and making prayers. By night on Mount Sion the closed doors of the church opened by themselves in front of the arriving great pilgrim. Going round the holy places connected with the earthly service of the Son of God, Saint Nicholas decided to withdraw into the wilderness, but he was stopped by a Divine voice, urging him to return to his native country. Having returned to Lycia and yearning for a life of quietude, the saint entered into the brotherhood of a monastery, named Holy Sion. But the Lord again announced another pathway, awaiting him: "Nicholas, this is not the field, on which thou ought to await Mine harvest, but rather turn round and go into the world, and there My Name shalt be glorified in thee". In the vision the Lord gave him a Gospel of exquisite workmanship, and the MostHoly Mother of God -- an omophor.

And actually, upon the death of archbishop John, he was chosen bishop of Lycian Myra -- after one of the bishops of the Council gave a decisive reply on the question of choice of a new archbishop -- the choice of God as directed him in a vision -- Saint Nicholas. Summoned to the flock of the Church in the dignity of archbishop, Sainted Nicholas remained a great ascetic, appearing to his flock as an image of gentleness, kindness and love towards people. This was particularly precious for the Lycian Church during the time of persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Bishop Nicholas, locked up in prison together with other Christians, sustained them and exhorted them to bravely endure the fetters, punishment and torture. He himself the lord preserved unharmed. Upon the accession to rule of the holy equal-to-the-apostles Constantine, Saint Nicholas was restored to his flock, which joyfully received back their guide and intercessor.

Despite his great gentleness of spirit and purity of heart, Saint Nicholas was a zealous and ardent warrior of the Church of Christ. Fighting evil spirits, the saint made the rounds of the pagan temples and shrines in the city of Myra and its surroundings, shattering the idols and turning the temples to dust.

In the year 325 Saint Nicholas was a participant in the I OEcumenical Council (Sobor). This Council proclaimed the Nicean Symbol of faith, and he stood up with the likes of saints Sylvester the pope of Rome, Alexander of Alexandria, Spyridon of Trimiphuntum and others of the 318 fathers of the Council against the heretic Arius.

Saint Nicholas, in the heat of denunciation and fired up with zeal for the Lord, even gave the false-teacher a good drubbing on the ears, for which he was deprived of his bishop's omophor and put under guard. But several of the holy fathers shared a vision revealing that the Lord Himself and the Mother of God had made the saint to be bishop, bestowing upon him the Gospel and omophorion. The fathers of the Council, having concurred, that the audacity of the saint was pleasing to god, gave glory to the Lord and restored His holy saint to the dignity of bishop.

Having returned to his own diocese, the saint brought it peace and blessings, sowing the word of Truth, nipping in the bud defective and spurious claims of wisdom, uprooting heresy and healing the fallen and those led astray through ignorance. He was indeed a light in the world and the salt of the earth, wherein his life did shine and his word was mixed with the salt of wisdom.

Even during his life the saint worked many miracles. Of them the one accorded the greatest fame was the deliverance from death by the saint of three men, unjustly condemned by a greedy city-commander. The saint boldly went up to the executioner and took hold of his sword, already suspended over the heads of the condemned. The city-commander, denounced by Saint Nicholas in wrong-doing, repented himself and begged for forgiveness. During this time there were present three military officers, dispatched by the emperor Constantine to Phrygia. They did not suspect that they soon likewise would be compelled to seek the intercession of Saint Nicholas: it so happened that they had been vilely slandered before the emperor and were come under a sentence of death. Appearing in sleep to the holy equal-to-the-apostles Constantine, Saint Nicholas called on him to dismiss the wrongful death-sentence of the military officers who, now in prison, prayerfully called out for help to the saint. He worked many other miracles, and asceticised many long years at his labour. Through the prayers of the saint, the city of Myra was rescued from a terrible famine. Having appeared in sleep to a certain Italian merchant and having left him as a pledge of payment three gold money-pieces, which the merchant found in his hand upon wakening in the morning, he requested him to sail to Myra and furnish grain there. More than once did the saint save those drowning in the sea, and provide release from captivity and imprisonment.

Having reached old age, Saint Nicholas expired peacefully to the Lord (+ 345-351). His venerable relics were preserved undecayed in the local cathedral church and flowed with curative myrh, from which many received healing. In the year 1087 his relics were transferred to the Italian city of Bari, where they rest even now (about the Transfer of Relics see under 9 May).

The name of the great saint of God, the hierarch and wonderworker Nicholas, a speedy helper and suppliant for all hastening to him, is famed in all the ends of the earth, in many lands and among many peoples. In Russia there are a multitude of cathedrals, monasteries and churches consecrated in his name. There is not, probably, a single city without a Nikol'sk temple.

In the name of Sainted Nicholas the Wonderworker -- the first Russian Christian prince Askol'd (+ 882) was baptised in 866 by Patriarch Photios. Over the grave of Askol'd, the holy equal-to-the-apostles Ol'ga (Comm. 11 July) erected the first temple of Sainted Nicholas in the Russian Church at Kiev. Primary cathedrals were dedicated to Saint Nicholas at Izborsk, Ostrov, Mozhaisk, and Zaraisk. At Novgorod the Great one of the main churches of the city -- the Nikolo-Dvorischensk church, later became a cathedral. Famed and venerable Nikol'sk churches and monasteries are at Kiev, Smolensk, Pskov, Toropetsa, Galich, Archangelsk, Great Ustiug, Tobol'sk. Moscow was famed by several tens of churches consecrated to the saint, and three Nikol'sk monasteries were situated in the Moscow diocese: the Nikolo-Greek (Staryi) -- in the Chinese-quarter, the Nikolo-Perervinsk and the Nikolo-Ugreshsk. One of the chief towers of the Kremlin was named the Nikol'sk. Part of all the churches devoted to the saint were those established at market-squares by Russian merchants, sea-farers and land-goers, venerating the wonderworker Nicholas as a protector of all those journeying on dry land and sea. They sometimes received the name among the people of "Nicholas soaked". Many village churches in Russia were dedicated to the wonderworker Nicholas, reverently venerated by peasants as a merciful intercessor before the Lord for all the people in their work. And in the Russian land Saint Nicholas did not leave off with his intercession. Ancient Kiev preserves the memory about the miraculous rescue of a drowning infant by the saint. The great wonderworker, hearing the grief-filled prayers of the parents in the loss of their only child, by night snatched up the infant from the waters, revived him and placed him in the choir-loft of Saint Sophia church in front of his wonderworking image. And here in the morning the infant was found safe by his thrilled parents, praising with a multitude of the people Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Many wonderworking icons of Saint Nicholas appeared in Russia and came also from other lands. There is the ancient byzantine embordered image of the saint (XII), brought to Moscow from Novgorod, and the large icon written in the XIII Century by a Novgorod master. Two depictions of the wonderworker are especially distributed in the Russian Church: Sainted Nicholas of Zaraisk -- in full-length, with blessing right hand and with Gospel (this image was brought to Ryazan in 1225 by the byzantine princess Eupraxia, future spouse of Ryazan prince Theodore, and perishing in 1237 with her husband and infant-son during the incursion of Batu); and Sainted Nicholas of Mozhaisk -- also in full stature, with a sword in his right hand and a city in his left -- in memory of the miraculous rescue, through the prayers of the saint, of the city of Mozhaisk from an invasion of enemies. It is impossible to list all the graced icons of Saint Nicholas. Every Russian city and every church was blessed by suchlike icons through the prayers of the saint.

Medieval Monastic Psalter Vol I

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 02:18:00 +0000

Price: $30.00

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Volume I of the 30-Volume Medieval Monastic Psalter, along with Volume II, contains all the regular offices of the canonical hours as well as the musical notation for Gregorian Chant. This volume is perfect for parishes, monastic communities and pious families.

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Fourth Sunday of Great Lent

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 09 Apr 2016 23:03:00 +0000

Fourth Sunday of Great Lent

Adoration of the Precious and Life-giving Holy Cross

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 14:53:00 +0000

Adoration of the Precious and Life-giving Holy Cross

Second Sunday of Great Lent

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 15:05:00 +0000

2nd Sunday Lent

Sunday of Orthodoxy

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 20:29:00 +0000

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer, bishop of Antioch (107).

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 11:00:00 +0000

20 December/2 January

St. Ignatius the God-bearer is of particular importance to us, for he was close to the Apostles, heard the teachings of Christianity from them directly, and was an eyewitness to the spread and development of the first Christian communities. In his seven Epistles, he provided us with an impression of the Apostolic era.

St. Ignatius was born in Syria, toward the end of the Savior's earthly life. We learn from the account of St. Ignatius' life that he had been that youth whom the Lord took into his arms and said "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18:3) He is known as "God-bearer" because, with his profound love for the Lord, it was as if he was carrying Him in his heart. St. Ignatius was a disciple of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. From St. Ignatius' Epistle to the Smyrnians, it is evident that he was particularly close to the Holy Apostle Peter, accompanying him on a number of his apostolic journeys. Shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 72 AD, Evod, one of the 70 Apostles of Christ, reposed, and Ignatius took his place as bishop of Antioch, the capital city of Syria.

St. Ignatius administered the Church of Antioch for 40 years (67-107 AD). In a vision, he was made worthy to witness Divine Services in Heaven, and to hear Angelic chant. Following the example he had witnessed in the Angelic world, he introduced into the Divine Services antiphonal chant, in which two choirs sing in turn, as if calling to one another. From Syria, this type of chant quickly spread throughout the early Church.

In the year 107, during a campaign against the Armenians, Emperor Trajan was passing through Antioch. He was told that Holy Hierarch St. Ignatius was of the Christian confession, that he taught disdain for wealth, observance of celibacy, and not offering sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor summoned the Holy Hierarch and demanded that he cease to preach about Christ. When the Elder refused, he was sent in shackles to Rome, where he was sent to the Coliseum to be torn apart by wild beasts for the amusement of the crowd. On the way to Rome, he wrote the seven Epistles that have survived to our days. In his Epistle [to the Romans], St. Ignatius asks Christians not to try to save him from death. "I entreat you, do not unseasonably befriend me. Suffer me to belong to the wild beasts, through whom I may attain unto God. I am God's grain, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread." Upon hearing of the Holy Hierarch's courage, Trajan put an end to persecuting Christians. St. Ignatius' relics were translated to Antioch, but later were returned to Rome and placed in the Church of Hieromartyr St. Clement, Pope of Rome.

In his Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Ignatius writes, "...they who profess to be Christ’s shall be apparent by their deeds...." He states, "...hold fast perfectly your faith and love in Jesus Christ, for these are the beginning and the end of life. The beginning is faith, the end is love. And the two blending in unity are God, and all else follows on these, ending in perfect goodness. No man who professes faith lives in sin, nor if he possesses love, does he live in hatred. "

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Troparion — Tone 4

By sharing in the ways of the Apostles, / you became a successor to their throne. / Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation, O inspired one of God; / by teaching the word of truth without error, you defended the Faith, even to the shedding of your blood. / Hieromartyr Ignatius, entreat Christ God to save our souls.

Kontakion — Tone 3

The stirring celebration of your victorious fight / Is an announcement of the One who is to be born of the Virgin. / In your eagerness to possess Him forever, / You hastened to be devoured by the wild beasts. / Therefore, O glorious Ignatius, you were called the bearer of God!

Daily Reading

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 20:32:00 +0000

Nativity (St. Philip's Fast).

Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ

James 2:1-13 1

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

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Mark 9:33-41 33

Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." 36 Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me. 38 Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." 39 But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our side. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Free Download- 15th century Horoligion

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 04:16:00 +0000

From the World Digital Library- 15th c Book of Hours

http://www.wdl.org/en/item/13010/#additional_subjects=Books+of+hours

In the Byzantine world, this book would have been known as ahorologion, or book of hours. Illustrated books of hours in Greek are extremely rare, and this example is one of only two surviving horologia with image cycles. The manuscript includes many full-page miniatures, which show interaction between the late-Byzantine and Gothic artistic styles. The manuscript may have been copied on the island of Crete, which in the 15th century was under Venetian rule. Unlike the images found in Western books of hours, which typically are drawn from the New Testament, the images in this book are almost all from the Old Testament.

The Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Children: Ananias, Azarias and Misael

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 02:54:00 +0000

Troparion, Tone 2
Great are the accomplishments of faith, for the Three Holy Youths rejoiced in the fountain of flames as though in the waters of rest; and the prophet Daniel appeared, a shepherd to the lions as though they were sheep. So by their prayers, O Christ God, save our souls!

Kontakion, Tone 3
When your pure heart was purged by the Spirit you became a vessel of clear prophecy; you saw things far away as though they were near at hand. When cast into their den you tamed the lions. Therefore, we honor you, blessed prophet, glorious Daniel.

God’s Providence in Our Lives

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 20:25:00 +0000

Worldly-oriented people attribute great significance to chance, ascribing to it a great deal that cannot otherwise be explained by those who try to be free of faith in God and His Providence in our lives. By contrast, believing people try to find the ways of God's Providence in the most seemingly ordinary occurrences, and they find them by the light of faith, edifying themselves in the struggle for salvation, and edifying others in conversations which frequently make striking impressions on listeners who share the faith.

St. Spirydon lived on the island of Cyprus. Like his parents he was a peasant farmer, and even after his wife died and he became a bishop, he did little to change his humble way of life. Through simplicity and deep devotion to God, he became a vessel of the Holy Spirit and a great wonderworker, calling forth rain in the midst of drought, healing and even raising people from the dead, and foretelling future events. He was present at the First Ecumenical Council where he astonished many with his simple explanations of the Orthodox Faith. There, too, he met St. Nicholas, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. St. Spirydon reposed in 348 and was buried on the island of Corfu To this day his incorrupt relics continue to manifest the power of God, wondrous in His saints. He is commemorated by the Church on December 12.

THERE IS a belief among pious, God-fearing people that whoever is burdened by debt should pray to the holy God-pleaser and wonderworker, St. Spirydon, Bishop of Tremithus. This belief is undoubtedly founded on a story from his life, in which there once came to the Saint a man indebted to a merchant for bread to feed his family at a time when bread was both scarce and expensive. The Saint, pitying the poor man, went into his garden and brought him a substantial amount of gold, instructing him to return the whole amount when he had acquired a sufficiency and the lean years were over. And so it happened. After a time of honest labor, the man was able to accumulate some capital and, remembering the hierarch's bidding, returned the same amount of gold he had borrowed. The God-pleaser called the man into the garden and told him to put the gold in a designated place. Then, he prayed, and the gold suddenly turned into a snake, which crawled off into a nearby hole. The Saint explained that just as the gold had been transformed into a snake, the snake had been likewise transformed into gold at the time of need, i.e., through the Saint's prayers to God.

In 1871 my cousin died, and I inherited some property saddled by considerable public and private debts. I was in a difficult position. Lacking the necessary funds to pay off the debts, I was at a loss as to how I should manage and became very distraught. Not far from my cousin's estate, where I had to spend some time in bringing his affairs to order, lived some elderly spinsters-landowners, very kind and pious, with whom I had long been acquainted. Tired of the various contentions at the estate, where I was almost daily beset by creditors, I drove over to see these neighbors of mine as a diversion and also to share my troubles, knowing, certainly, that the elderly ladies would sympathize with me.

The neighbors were happy to see me. They sat me down in their cozy, country-style living room, treated me to all kinds of homemade goodies, and showered me with questions concerning my deceased cousin, his management of the estate and his debts, which they had heard about. I spoke frankly and did not hide the fact that I had absolutely no hope of being able to resolve matters financially. The estate was already mortgaged and it was quite impossible to take out a second mortgage, nor was this advantageous. The only solution was to sell the estate on as favorable terms as possible, and use the money to pay off the debts. But people always try to take advantage of another's difficult circumstances, and so it was with me: there were many prospective buyers, but they all offered such a low price, counting on my straightened circumstances, that it was impossible to agree to them.

The dear old ladies took a lively interest in my affairs, exclaiming "Oh!" and "Oh!" in a typically feminine way. Finally, the eldest sister said to me seriously, "Don't lose heart. Bettor pray to St. Spirydon of Tremithus, the wonder-worker. Have a moleben served to him and promise to have his icon in your home. I am certain that if you do this with faith he will soon help you to be free of your present distress and ail the anxieties concerning your cousin's debts and their liquidation."

I smiled involuntarily at the old lady's words. She noticed this and, not in the least put off by my skepticism, began again to speak, this time with greater feeling.

Your disbelief is unfounded. Like you, I, too, did not believe when, in similar circumstances, an acquaintance gave me the same advice as I am giving you now. But something happened that was so amazing and extraordinary that I could not fully explain it as mere coincidence, and this made me believe ever after in the power of the prayerful intercession of St. Spiridon and to have great veneration for him.

"What I am about to tell you is not fabricated, it is not a product of the imagination; rather, it is a fact, known to our entire household.

We had for a long time in our home an icon of St. Spiridon, and as we were frequently in debt, we would often run to pray to him about this. But we didn't seem to experience any particular help from him, so that I, a sinner, lost faith in the powerful intercession attributed to him in such eases. I even allowed myself to express my doubt, saying to my sisters, 'See, we have an icon of St. Spiridon and often pray to him, but he does nothing to free us of our debts and does not send us money to pay them off.'

"Once we needed to pay our creditors 500 rubles, which we did not have, and we were at a loss as to how we would make the payment. A neighbor came to visit and, having heard our woes on this account, gave us the same advice as I have given you today: to pray to St. Spirydon, to serve a moleben to him, and to get his icon for our home, which she even offered to send us. I answered, not without some irritation, that we had had his icon for a long time and that we had been praying to him for a long time, but so far we hadn't seen any results.

"Our visitor left, and soon afterwards I had a dream. It was as if I were standing with this same visitor in the room where we had the icon of St. Spirydon, depicted in a monastic habit. Pointing to the icon, she asked, Whose is that icon? I told her that it was St. Spirydon, and repeated my complaint that we always pray to him to deliver us from our debts but that he does not help us. At these words I suddenly heard a voice from behind me, 'Now you'll see. Tomorrow St. Spirydon will send you 500 rubles to pay off your debt.' I turned around to see who was speaking and at that moment woke up.

"I hastened to tell my sisters about my dream, that today we will receive 500 rubles to pay off our debt. Understand, they did not put much stock in my dream, and when half the day had passed my sisters began to tease me. I didn't resist, feeling that I had simply been deceived once again.

"Then, after dinner, one of our relatives arrived and announced that he had heard of our financial difficulty and, to save us from unpleasant consequences, had hurried to bring us the necessary 500 rubles that we might speedily resolve our debt. There was nothing to do but to thank our kind relative for his timely offer, but even more fervently did we thank St. Spirydon, for it was to him that we ascribed the unexpected opportunity to pay off our debt. I, in particular, felt guilty before this Saint of God, and thanked him while reproaching myself. We then had a moleben served to St. Spirydon, and ever since I dare not doubt in the power of his heavenly intercession.

"You may say: this was mere coincidence, an ordinary concurrence of events, and the dream you might ascribe to my susceptibility under the influence of the day’s conversation with our visitor. But I tell you that at that time I clearly felt in my innermost being that this was no ordinary coincidence but rather the definite action of the Saint of God, and to this day I remain so firmly persuaded of this that I never miss an opportunity to advise people burdened by debts to pray for deliverance to Saint Spirydon and to have his icon Having told you this from my heart, I know that if you listen to me you will not regret it."

Having thanked the lady for her kind advice, I left, involuntarily impressed by what she had told me. On my return home I served a moleben to St. Spirydon, and on my next trip to the city I ordered an icon of the Saint from a local iconographer. When the icon was ready, I blessed it and served another moleben to the Saint. In a very short time I had an extremely profitable offer from a buyer of nearly double what I had been offered before. He even paid in cash, without any time-payments, which is very rare in eases involving such large sums. Having sold the estate, I paid off all my cousin's creditors and afterwards even had some profits left, something I'd never imagined possible before. In this way, at peace and rewarded for all my troubles, I was able to offer heartfelt thanks to Saint Spirydon for his grace filled help in this matter, which was so obvious to me.

Here again, people may say this was just an ordinary coincidence. In response I would repeat my neighbor's words: Why is it that the inner man is unwilling to accept this and is compelled to attribute this coincidence to the help of God's saint? Think as you like, but a believing man would be led to conclude that this is how it really is.

Andrei Kovalevsky
Orthodox America
http://www.roca.org/OA/95/95h.htm

Saint Herman of Alaska the Wonderworker

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:43:00 +0000

December 12th (OS) / 25th (NS)

Our Blessed Father Herman was one of a group of Orthodox missionaries sent from Valaam monastery near the Russian-Finnish border on Lake Ladoga. He was born into a family of merchants in the city of Serpukhov. He had a great zeal for Christ, pious from his youth, and entered the monastery at the age of 16. This was probably in 1772. First he entered the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage which was located near the Gulf of Finland on the Peterghof Road, about 10 miles form St. Petersburg. As a young monk, he once became deathly ill with an abscess on his throat. Alone in his cell and near death he fell down before an icon of the Mother of God and prayed with fervent tears for healing. He then took a wet towel and wiped the face of the icon of the Holy Theotokos, and with this towel he covered the swelling. In a dream he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary touching him on his throat, healing him. When he awoke in the morning, he was fully healed.

After six years at the Sergius Hermitage, he was transferred to Valaam Monastery, in the far north of Russia, where he came to love its unforgettable superior, Elder Nazarius. But he willingly left when chosen with nine other monks from Valaam to travel Alaska as missionaries to the Aleut Indians. They departed in the year 1793. It was the longest missionary journey in Christian History, taking a year to traverse over 7,900 miles, by land and sea, to arrive at Kodiak Island. As a result of their holy zeal, the light of Christ poured forth, and several thousand former pagans were baptized into the Christian Faith.

Eventually, Father Herman found himself the only surviving member of the original missionary team. He moved from Kodiak Island to nearby Spruce Island, a tiny, forested island which he called New Valaam. There he first lived in a cave and then built a cell in which he lived for many years until the end of his life. A wooden Chapel and a wooden schoolhouse/guest house were built near his cell. He lived there for more than forty years, following the example of many desert Fathers who showed the greatest concern for the welfare and needs of others, yet regarded themselves of little significance. He wore the simplest monastic clothing and used a bench for a bed, a wooden board for a blanket, and bricks for a pillow. He ate very little, and he wore 16 pounds of chains under his deer-skin smock, so that no one, until his death, knew about them. These chains are kept to this day, on his reliquary. Ferocious bears living on the island were tame and benign around Fr. Herman. He worked many miracles and led thousands to Christ, remaining a simple monk.

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Troparion, Tone 4

Blessed ascetic of the northern wilds/ and intercessor for the whole world;/ teacher of Orthodoxy, instructor of piety,/ adornment of Alaska and gladness of America,/ holy Father Herman, pray to Christ our God that He may save our souls.

Another Troparion, Tone 4

O Blessed Father Herman of Alaska/ North Star of Christ's Holy Church/ the light of thine holy life and great deeds/ guides those who follow the Orthodox way/ together we lift high the holy Cross/ thou didst plant firmly in America/ let all behold and glorify Jesus Christ/ singing His Holy Resurrection.

Another Troparion, Tone 7

O Joyful North Star of the Church of Christ/ guiding all men to the heavenly Kingdom/ Teacher and Apostle of the True Faith/ intercessor and defender of the oppressed/ adornment of the Orthodox Church in America/ Blessed Father Herman of Alaska/ pray to our Lord Jesus Christ/ for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion, Tone 8

Monk of Valaam and beloved of the Mother of God,/ new zealot of the old desert-dwellers in thy labors;/ armed with prayer as thy sword and shield, thou wast terrible to demons and pagan darkness./ O St. Herman, we cry to thee: pray to Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

Daily Reading

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:28:00 +0000

27th Sunday after Pentecost.

Tone two. Nativity (St. Philip's Fast). Fish Allowed.

Afterfeast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.

Luke 24:12-35

(5th Matins Gospel)

12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. 13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. 17 And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?" 18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?" 19 And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see. 25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them. 30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Ephesians 6:10-17 10

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Luke 12:16-21 16

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 18 So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

On Fasting;

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 01:00:00 +0000

"I shall speak first about control of the stomach, the opposite to gluttony, and about how to fast and what and how much to eat. I shall say nothing on my own account, but only what I have received from the Holy Fathers. They have not given us only a single rule for fasting or a single standard and measure for eating, because not everyone has the same strength; age, illness or delicacy of body create differences. But they have given us all a single goal: to avoid over-eating and the filling of our bellies... A clear rule for self-control handed down by the Fathers is this: stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied."

~St. John Cassian

Daily Reading:

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 18:20:00 +0000

1 Timothy 5:1-10

1 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity. 3 Honor widows who are really widows. 4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God. 5 Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. 6 But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. 7 And these things command, that they may be blameless. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 9 Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, 10 well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

Luke 14:12-15

12 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. 15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesaria,

Troparion, Tone VIII

By vigilance in prayer and continuance in the working of miracles,/ thou didst acquire the name of thy worthy deeds.// Yet pray thou to Christ God, O father Gregory, that He enlighten our souls, lest we sleep unto death.

Kontakion, Tone II

"Seeking the highest" — Receiving the power to work many miracles,/ thou didst terrify the demons with awesome signs,/ and didst dispel the diseases of men, O most wise Gregory./ And thou wast called the wonderworker,// receiving this title from thy works.

The Joyous Feast of the Pumpkin (Halloween)

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 17:08:00 +0000

It is that time of the year when the secular society in which we live is preparing for the festival of Halloween. Many do not know its spiritual roots and history, and why it contradicts the teachings of the Church. The feast of Halloween began in pre-Christian times among the Celtic peoples of Great Britain, Ireland and northern France. These pagan people believed that life was born from death. Therefore they celebrated the beginning of the "new year" in the fall (on the eve of October 31 and into the day of November 1) when, as they believed, the season of cold, darkness, decay and death began. A certain deity whom they called Samhain was believed by the Celts to be the Prince of Death and it was he whom they honored at their New Year's festival.

From an Orthodox Christian point of view, we can see many diabolical beliefs and practices associated with this feast, which have endured to this time. On the eve of the New Year's festival, the Druids, who were the priests of the Celtic cult, instructed their people to extinguish all hearth fires and lights. On the evening of the festival, a huge bonfire built from oak branches was ignited (oak was regarded by the Celts as sacred). Upon this fire sacrifices were burned as an offering, in order to appease and cajole Samhain, the Prince of Death. It was also believed that Samhain, being pleased by the offerings, allowed the souls of the dead to return to their homes for a festal visit on this day. It is from this belief that the practice of wandering about in the dark, dressed up in costumes imitating ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, fairies, etc. came about. The living entered into fellowship and communion with the dead by what was, and still is, a ritual act of imitation, through costume and the activity of wandering around in the dark of night, as the souls of the dead were believed to wander.

The dialogue of trick or treat is also an integral part of this system of beliefs and practices. It was believed that the souls of the dead who had entered into the world of darkness, decay and death, and therefore into total communion with and submission to Samhain, bore the affliction of great hunger on their festal visit. Out of this grew the practice of begging, which was also a ritual enactment and imitation of what the Celts believed to be the activities of the souls of the dead on their festal visit. Associated with this is the still further implication that if the souls of the dead and their imitators were not appeased with "treats," i.e.offerings, then the wrath and anger of Samhain would be unleashed through a system of "tricks," i.e. curses. Such is the true meaning of this pagan feast.

It is then evident that for an Orthodox Christian participation at any level is impossible and idolatrous, resulting in a genuine betrayal of God and Church. If we participate in the ritual activity of imitating the dead and wandering in the dark asking for treats or offering them to children, we then have willfully sought fellowship with the dead, whose Lord is not Samhain, but rather Satan. It is to Satan then that these treatsare offered, not to children.

There are other practices associated with Halloween from which we must stay away, such as sorcery, fortune telling, divination, games of chance, witchcraft and the carving of an ugly face upon a pumpkin and then placing a lit candle within making it the infamous Jack O'Lantern. The pumpkin (in older days other vegetables were used) was carved by the Celts in imitation of the dead and used to convey the new light (from the sacred oak fire) to the home where the lantern was left burning through the night. This "holy lantern" is nothing more than an imitation of the truly holy votive light (lampada) offered before an icon of Christ and the saints. Even the use and display of the Jack O'Lantern involves participation in this "death" festival honoring Satan.

The Holy Fathers of the first millennium (a time when the Church was one and strictly Orthodox) counteracted this Celtic pagan feast by introducing the Feast of All Saints. It is from this that the term Halloween developed. The word Halloween has its roots in the Old English of All Hallow E'en, i.e. the Eve commemorating all those who were hallowed (sanctified). Unfortunately, either due to a lack of knowledge or understanding, the Celtic pagan feast being celebrated on the same day as the Christian feast of All Saints (in western Christiandom) came to be known as Halloween.

The people who remained pagan and therefore anti-Christian reacted to the Church's attempt to supplant their festival by celebrating this evening with increased fervor. Many of these practices involved desecration and mockery of the Church's reverence for Holy Relics. Holy things, such as crosses and the Reserved Sacrament, were stolen and used in perverse and sacreligious ways. The practice of begging became a system of persecution designed to harass Christians who were, by their beliefs, unable to participate by making offerings to those who served the Lord of Death.

One can see in contemporary Western society that the Western Church's attempt to supplant this pagan festival with a Christian feast failed. How then did something that is so obviously contradictory to the Holy Orthodox faith gain such acceptance among Christian people?

The answer is spiritual apathy and listlessness, which are the spiritual roots of atheism and turning away from God. Today's society urges that Halloween and other such festivities, notwithstanding their apparent pagan and idolatrous origin, are nonetheless harmless and of no consequence. Upon closer consideration, these pagan festivals are the source of destruction of any kind of spiritual foundation and lead to disbelief and outright atheism.

Halloween undermines the very basis of the Church, which was founded on the blood of martyrs who had refused, by giving up their lives, to partake in any form of idolatry.

The holy Church must take a firm stand in counteracting any such (pagan) events. Christ taught us that God is the judge in all our actions and beliefs and that we are either FOR GOD or AGAINST GOD. There is no neutral or middle of the road approach.

Today we witness a revival of satanist cults; we hear of satanic services conducted on Halloween night. Children are kidnapped by satanists for their ritualistic sacrifices. Orthodox clergy are ritualistically killed, as has happened more than once in California. Everywhere Satan reaches out to ensnare as many innocent people as possible. The newsstands are filled with material on spiritualism, supernatural phenomena, seances, prophesies and all kinds of demonically inspired works. These works all serve Satan, for they are not the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but the fruit of the spirit of this world.

Halloween is NOT a Kid's Holiday!

It is the most solemn day for witches, warlocks and demon worshipers all over the world in which they attempt to disrupt the Christian's prayerful Vigil for All Saints (according to the Latin calendar). With all these evil powers manifesting themselves on this evening, what are we thinking when we send our children out into the night, much less disguise them as little demons, goblins, witches and aliens?

Trick or treating must be strictly avoided. At best, it teaches our children to beg or threaten for candy; at worst, it is dangerous and reenacts satanic cult practices of the past. We also need to avoid any sort of Halloween party or celebration as well as decorations in our homes. If our children attend schools that hold such parties, no matter what the day, they must not participate.

Today, schools openly embrace evil as an interesting theme and the whole month is dedicated to Halloween activities. Therefore, Orthodox children who are not home schooled should be kept out of school during the month of October, or at least during the last week of October.

To combat these evil influences, the Church celebrates the Vigil of St. John of Kronstadt on this night. God's house is the safest place we can be. Halloween is a time of fear and trembling. It will not hurt our children to learn this. Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom, said the Holy Prophet King Solomon (Pr 9:10). Fear of evil is natural and a good protection for us against all assaults. Fear is vital for our salvation. Fear will guard us against Antichrist. Halloween is not a game.

(Holy New Martyrs of Russia Parish Bulletin, Mulino, OR. Vol 11, Nbr 99, Oct, 1998).

Harry Potter

No book in recent years has attracted the success of the celebrated "Harry Potter" series. Supposedly these children’s novels, written by a woman in Britain named J. K. Rowling, have made her one of the wealthiest women in the world. She has written four books, the latest being HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, which weighs in heavier than some laptop computers. In total, her books have sold more than 30 million copies.

Her appealing hero is Harry Potter, a nerdy orphan boy whose parents were killed when he was very young by an evil wizard named Voldemort. From this encounter, he has a lightning bolt-shared scar on his forehead is raised by dull, cruel relatives (an aunt and uncle) who are "Muggles," the Harry Potter term for non-wizards who don’t like or believe in magic and who tend to persecute those who do.

Harry’s saga starts when he is 10 old in THE SORCERER’S STONE and he ages a bit in each book. He is 14 in the latest book. Without going into all the plot details (which may be better known than the Bible), Harry is rescued from his bleak, Muggle-ridden existence by an invitation to come and attend "Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." From there, he gets into all sorts of adventures, gradually building to a confrontation with the evil wizard who killed his parents.

These are marketed as children’s books (the first is suggested for ages 8-13 and the last book ages 10 to adult) although they are well written and are being enjoyed by adults as well. The problem is in the spiritual nature of the books. Not many books for children come to mind where the main hero is a wizard (or wizard in training).

To be sure, magic is a common feature in fairy tales and fantasy. But whether you are talking about Grimm’s Fairy Tales (some of which WERE awfully grim), the WIZARD OF OZ, or other common stories, there is a difference. Usually the magicians and wizards were secondary characters or even villains and the main ones (Dorothy, Snow White, etc.) were ordinary mortals who were either being victimized or helped by witches. But Harry is the hero, and readers are being asked to identify with him. This is of critical importance, as we shall see later. Magic is serious business, as anyone will tell you who has practiced it. I was heavily involved in magic and sorcery for at least ten years and I believe I am qualified to speak about the subject with some authority and experience.

A rather surprising controversy has arisen within the Body of Christ over the issue of Harry Potter books. These books ARE about magic and sorcery. Of this there can be no doubt. The controversy in the church revolves around whether or not such books should be in the hands of Christian children. Chuck Colson, who is a highly respected Evangelical author and speaker, astonished many when he weighed in on the side of Harry. He claimed the books were not dangerous for children because they were not about magic in the occult sense Rather, he said, they concern "mechanical magic" which is a literary device. He states that the magic in the Potter books is:

"...purely mechanical, as opposed to occultic. That is, Harry and his friends cast spells, read crystal balls, and turn themselves into animals... but they don’t make contact with a supernatural world... [It’s not] the kind of real-life witchcraft the Bible condemns." [1]

While Colson does not exactly define his term, mechanical magic, he implies it is something on the order of ray guns or time travel in the science fiction genre ..." a fictitious construct designed to entice the reader and move the plot along ..." part of an entirely fictitious universe. I do not find this persuasive. (In fairness to Mr. Colson, he later reversed his decision and now advises caution about Harry.)

First of all, part of the problem is that witches and magicians do exist. They DO cast spells and read crystal balls. A few even work on the discipline of lycanthropy[2] ..." shape-shifting into animals. Thus, there is nothing fictitious about any of this, except in the minds of head-in-the-sand Christians.

Secondly, part of the problem is defining what magic is. It is a term that has acquired all sorts of connotations in the public mindset. A newborn baby can be "magical." Although it may be poetic to say that your new girl friend’s smile is magic, what has happened is that "magic" has come to mean anything that induces a sense of awe or wonder. This is not precise.

Magic and Magick

Then there is the confusion between stage magic (illusion) such as practiced by folks like Houdini or David Copperfield and "real" magic. For this reason, most serious practitioners of the art of sorcery prefer to spell it the old English way, as "magick," precisely to distinguish it from pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

The famed sorcerer Aleister Crowley defined magick as "the science of causing change to occur in conformity with will." That is very broad. Obviously, if I turn on a light switch in my home, I have caused change to occur in conformity with my will. The way most students of the subject exegete Crowley’s remark is to say that it refers to causing "change" without using the usual mundane methods of causality available to all people.

A dictionary definition is "the supposed art of influencing the course of events by the occult control of nature or of the spirits." [3] This definition is key to understanding the problem with Harry Potter and with Colson’s definition. Most all definitions of magic include the idea of occultism and/or trafficking in spirits. Most often, the spirits are evil.

Harry is a child who is a wizard in training. What is a wizard? Again, the dictionary tells us that a wizard is "a sorcerer, a magician."[4] ANY of the textbooks of magick, called grimoires,[5] make it very clear that the source of true magical power is making pacts with and controlling spirits - evil spirits.

Another bit of confusion that must be cleared up is the difference between magick and witchcraft. The Potter books tend to blur them together, reflecting a common misperception. They are not the same, as any Wiccan (white Witch) will tell you. Some witches practice magick (we did) but some do not. Witchcraft as it is popularly understood these days is a religion, a pagan religion involving the worship of nature deities. Most often these are seen as a goddess and a god. The main point of Wicca for most serious witches is devotion to the gods or goddesses of their religion.

If witches do magick, it is usually of a simple variety, cord spells, candle spells or healings, etc. This is often what is called "folk magic" and is very different from ceremonial magick, the kind usually associated with wizards and magicians. Folk magic is usually done on a "limited budget" and is pretty simple. It often involves things drawn from nature. Nowadays, anthropologists call it "cultural spiritism."

Magicians, in contrast to Wiccans, often worship nothing. A Wiccan practitioner of magick might have faith in the gods of Wicca, but most magicians we have dealt with over the years are either agnostic or atheistic.

Usually, when one thinks of magick or sorcery, we are talking about "high magick" or "ceremonial magick." Ceremonial or high magick, as the name implies, usually involves quite complex rituals and a lot of time, study and preparation. For example, some of the rituals we did as witches who happened to be ceremonial magicians took more than six months to prepare.

Witches PRAY to their deities. A magician will seldom pray to anyone. He or she will command! The magician believes in the efficacy of her ritual work. She would not pray to get a result anymore than I would pray before turning on the light in hope that I would get electricity. It is not a matter of faith, it is a matter of "scientific technology." However, the technology behind magick is all mental, emotional and demonic in nature.

Conjuring

Colson and others make the mistake of assuming that there really is no such thing as the kind of magic described in the Potter books. This is not entirely true. While some of the activities in the Potter books, (playing Quidditch [6] for example) are obviously fantasy, many of them are not. Many Christians do not even realize that there are people out there who are serious sorcerers. Since they assume that all this is fictitious, what can be the harm in reading about it?

As a former magician myself, let me explain what charming little Harry Potter would have to do to arrive at the place he is at in these books. Let me walk you through an actual magical rite in brief. To achieve the power to fly, for example, the wizard might employ any number of rituals. He would have to determine what kind of elemental force is involved.

Flight or levitation would be of the AIR element.[7] This would determine the kind of robes, incense, candles, evocations, talismans or amulets and ritual tools used. Simply put, the wizard must use all the right tools and then cast a magick circle [8] and a triangle of manifestation. These are usually painted on the floor, or laid down in some sort of incense, sulfur or chalk. The wizard stays in the circle. There are certain prescribed numbers of candles or flaming pots that might be used, depending on the magical workbook and system used. The wizard would need to wear a certain colored robe ..." usually blue or orange for air. He would be armed with a magic wand (not a stick with a sparkly star on the end) because wands are usually attributed to the air element. He might also have sword, because it is often felt that to be prudent you should have a sword when doing evocations. With the wand or the sword it is believed that you can order spirits to obey you.

An evocation is the calling up of a demon or djinn (the Arabic form of our word, "genie."). The term evocation is used to distinguish it from the other common ceremonial magic practice called invocation. In magic, invocation is calling upon a higher being than yourself, such as an angel or god. Believe it or not, there are magical workbooks that involve calling upon archangels and angels and forcing them to obey you. Of course, a good angel could not be commanded by sorcery.[9] It therefore stands to reason that such angels would be fallen and evil. Evocation is used to call on lower-than-human beings such as demons or elementals.[10]

The actual ceremony (aside from preparation) can take a long time. The wizard summons the spirit into this "triangle of manifestation." This is a triangle painted or inscribed on the floor about a meter on each side. This is the evocation. There will be lots of incense burnt, partially because this is believed to give the spirit some sort of material basis with which to materialize. The goal is to actually get the demon to appear visibly in the triangle, but in a form that is not too disturbing to the wizard’s sensibilities.

Bargains with the Demon?

Once the demon has manifested, the wizard will have some sort of talisman (which could be a medallion or a piece of parchment with writing on it) with which to bind the demon to their will. The demon will not want to obey, so there is usually a long period of threatening the demon, brandishing the sword at it and uttering horrid maledictions if it will not obey. The demon will also try to escape or trick the wizard into leaving the circle. If the wizard should step out of the circle during this time, the demon would have the right to crush him to a pulp and carry him off to hell (or somewhere like the abyss [11]). Another thing that could occur is that if the wizard accidentally does something to disturb the integrity of the circle (scuffing off some of the chalk or sulfur, etc.) then the demon could do whatever it wanted to him.

It may take several hours, but finally the demon will grant the wizard’s demands.[12] This may involve simply bestowing the power of flight on the wizard, or charging him a talisman with powers of flight so that as long as he wears it, he can fly. Then the demon is released to return to its place with the final adjuration that it promises to do nothing to ever harm the wizard once he banishes the circle. Demons are supposed to keep their word (??).

This is all based on an elaborate set of rubrics that, in my experience, the demon or spirit frequently will just ignore and rip the wizard to shreds. Most wizards really believe that these rules (such as the circle) will keep the demon at bay. Sometimes the demons will allow the wizard to luxuriate in this delusion for some time before finally lowering the boom. This is why most REAL wizards I have known have come upon bad ends. VERY bad ends.

Step into the Abyss

What follows is an actual account of a ceremonial magic rite that went very wrong. The magician had set up his circle in the garage after painting all the windows over with black paint. He done all of the ceremonies described earlier and had called up a demon into the triangle. The garage was filled with the smell of incense and the howling of the demon. It was not happy at being confined to the triangle.

After almost four hours of cursing and adjurations back and forth between the wizard and the demon, the room had grown very dark. There was no light left but the candles and the lurid coals of incense. The very chalk lines on the floor marking the circle and triangle seemed to shimmer in the gloom. The demon seemed just about to buckle to the will of the magician. Then, all of a sudden, the telephone rang!

Without thinking, the magician reached out of the circle to answer it. With a horrid scream, his entire body disappeared in a belch of flame, along with the demon. In a second, the garage was empty of all but the faithful, terrified scribe sitting in the corner and the smell of roasting human flesh. The magician was never heard from again, and left behind a wife and child. The ultimate irony of that tragedy is that there was no phone in the garage!

A Deadly Game

This illustrates how demons will NOT play by the rules, and how deadly magic can actually be. A magician would say that this unfortunate fellow had been sucked into the abyss forever. A more Biblical suggestion would be that he was sent to hell for his blasphemy. Most magicians ultimately think that they can become God. At the very least, they believe they can acquire god-like powers.

This horror is the "back story" behind cute little Harry. True wizardry or sorcery would not really allow him to have much fun at all without going through the above rituals. This is what Harry would have to learn at his wizard’s academy, Hogwart’s. Here is where the "mechanical magic" concept comes in. People like Mr. Colson want to tell us that none of this applies because Harry was BORN a wizard. His parents were magicians. Therefore, he comes by his talents naturally. He is a natural born wizard.

There is a bit of truth in this. In real life, if Harry’s parents were really magicians or wizards, they would be demonized to their eyeballs. They would have more demons than a cheap hotel has roaches. Because of Exodus 20:5-6[13], those demons would pass into baby Harry at birth. He would indeed grow up with a (super)natural propensity for sorcery. However, instead of having to conjure up all these different demons with their different powers, he would have them right within him from birth. It is "convenient," but it is not something I would want MY child to desire.

In fact, we have ministered to several people who were born into just such a background and who were horribly tormented by demons simply because they didn’t particularly WANT to get involved in sorcery and all the nasty things than can ultimately be expected in such pursuits. Only the power of Jesus could set such people free.

The fact of the matter is, there is no such thing as "mechanical magic" in the sense that I believe Mr. Colson is using the term. It cannot be just a plot device because magick, by definition involves a spiritual component. Unlike ray guns or time machines, magick brings with it a philosophical or even theological worldview. You could be a Christian, a Jew or a Buddhist and fly a rocket ship. The same could not be said of magick.

You are What You Eat!

To return to the point about the difference between magick and witchcraft, magick is essentially agnostic. The true goal of every wizard is to become his own god. There is no room in world-view of a sorcerer for a sovereign God. This magic world-view[14] sees the universe as a machine that dispenses favors to magicians in response to their performing the right ritual.

It is opposed to the Biblical world-view in which there is an all-powerful, sovereign God that we cannot manipulate with charms. This God is a Person, not a machine or an impersonal force. In the Biblical world-view, we pray to God and if He feels our request is in His will, then he grants it.

This is a major concern of mine in seeing these kids devouring Harry Potter books. Whether or not they grow up to be sorcerers, they are immersing themselves in the magic world-view that does not fit with the Bible. You cannot be your own god and also worship the one, true God. This is why these books are more dangerous than they appear. You are what you eat, intellectually and spiritually.

If you consume books like Harry Potter that promote a magical view of the universe, you will come to believe in those things - gradually. This change in beliefs will be very subtle. It will seep into your mind like smoke and before you know it, it will become a part of your mindset.

On top of that, many media report that children are not just reading the Potter books, they are re-reading over and over again! They do this because they are entertaining, but also because they find this world of sorcerers and magic beguiling and charming (both words rooted in magic) and because they IDENTIFY with the wizards. This is eerily like Christians who read and re-read the Bible, except of course they are digesting the very Words of God.

The Harry Potter books, in common with most horror and fantasy material, present a godless universe, one in which the most powerful wizard wins. They are books in which the hero is a wizard who shows no evidence of belief in God and does not use the power of prayer to combat evil. This is NOT the vision of the universe that a Christian parent should wish to instill in their child ..." nor is "white" magic an appropriate response to evil. John Andrew Murray, a Christian headmaster of a school in Raleigh, NC, has observed in USA TODAY that the Potter books contain no evidence of a "higher moral authority."[15] This creates a very morally confusing universe for young readers.

Some might object that the Hardy Boys, Superman or other juvenile heroes of old never prayed either. But the difference is that they did not use the devil’s tools (ceremonial magic, necromancy, etc.) to fight evil. Most of those heroes fought evil with physical might or intelligence (however, superhuman they might have been). Theirs was not primarily a spiritual battle. Harry’s battles are spiritual in nature, whether the author or the reader acknowledges it or not. In using sorcery, he is fighting fire by pouring gasoline on it!

Crucial Differences

Some people have said, "What is the difference between these books and the fantasy works of C.S. Lewis (the Narnia books) or J.R.R. Tolkien?" Well, three differences really. First of all, Lewis was a Christian, although he was not really the kind of Christian most evangelicals or fundamentalists would approve of. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. Whatever you might feel about Catholicism, both of these authors come from a strong Judeo-Christian background and there is a moral component in both their works, even though they are fantasy.[16] Fantasy, per se, is not bad. It is only bad if it promotes a godless or "might makes right" view of the world.

The second difference is that our culture and our world have changed enormously since the days of Tolkien and Lewis. Currently, our youth are awash in a culture that promotes evil, occultism, lust and power for its own sake. The magic world-view is all around them. It is promoted in Pokemon, in television, movies and music. More critical, it is often promoted in classrooms. Think about it, we now have several major TV shows where the heroes are witches We even have one now called "Angel" (of all things) where the (anti) hero is a vampire!

Our young people swim in a miasma of spiritual filth that they cannot even perceive anymore. Often, God has been driven from their lives and been replaced with the ethos of power, violence and self-indulgence - in short, Satanism. In the 1950’s and 1960’s such ideas were rare enough that children could afford being exposed to fantasy stories which promoted magic It was an uncommon thing. Today, they are already on toxic spiritual overload just from living in our society. It is a miracle if any young person can keep their faith. Those who do are to be enormously commended.

Spiritual Lust?

This is the difference. The morals presented in the Potter books are anti-God and anti-Christian. More importantly, the lifestyle of magick is presented as fun. Few kids would find magick so appealing if they knew they had to grapple with a hideous demon to acquire it; and even then have a good chance of being slaughtered before the end of the ritual.

Not only that, the books are definitely drawing kids towards witchcraft. "Who wouldn’t choose a wizard’s life?" asked TIME magazine.[17] Even authentic, real Wiccans are "charmed" by the Potter series, according to the Associated Press.[18] Anything that witches find good and charming certainly ought to be viewed with suspicion by serious Christians.

This brings us to the third difference. The HP books are filled with much more explicit, appalling evil. There is a huge difference between what went on in Lewis or Tolkien and what kids are reading about in Harry Potter.

Just as a small sample, imagine a ten-year-old reading about:

The animal sacrifice of a cat[19]

Non-magicians like you and I (Muggles) are portrayed as dull, boring, cruel or useless;[20]

Power is the ultimate moral choice, irrespective of good or evil;[21]

Blood sacrifices;[22]

Cutting off the hand of a living person for a ritual;[23]

Boiling what seems to be a baby or fetus alive in a cauldron;[24]

Possible demon possession;[25]

Werewolves [26] & vampires [27]

Bringing a evil wizard back from the dead through the shedding of blood [28]

Astral project or travel [29]

Casting spells and levitation [30]

Being able to shape-shift into an animal [31]

Crystal gazing or divination [32]

A hero (Harry) who tells lies, [33] steals, [34] breaks the rules,[35] and cheats by copying another student’s homework,[36] (cheating is OK in wizard ethics[37]).

Approval of astrology[38]

Being taught that people can exist without their souls[39]

Communion with the dead, dead souls living within us[40]

Harry takes mood-altering drugs (which are REAL herbs that are used by witches and shamans)[41]

Use of the "Hand of Glory,"[42] a grisly occult artifact that is the severed hand of a hanged murderer. Its fingers are lit and burned as candles. The hand is placed in a house to make everyone in the house fall into a spell

Use of magic charms[43]

Belief that death is just the "next great adventure"[44] (which might be true if you were a Christian, but no one in these books is a professing Christian.) For non-Christians like Harry, death is a one-way ticket to hell!

These are dangerous, false ideas, especially for a younger person. Little attempt is being made to keep these books from the hands of children even younger than ten!

Additionally, there is a strong anti-family strain in the Potter books. As was mentioned earlier, Harry’s biological parents were murdered. Other than them, the only biological family he has are horrible. Harry’s uncle, aunt and cousin, with whom he lives, are mean, selfish and unloving. They are "Muggles" (non-sorcerers) who make Harry’s life miserable for his beliefs and even make him sleep in a closet!

Harry’s witchy friends are made to appear very appealing next to these loutish family members, who could be seen as caricatures of "fundamentalist" Christians. The ordinary human adults of his family are seen as stupid and powerless, while the witches and warlocks are wise and powerful. What sort of message does this send to children about their relatives who might not live lives as fascinating as that portrayed in the books?

Some of the Christians who defend HP books claim that one could never learn enough to truly practice magick or sorcery by reading them. That sort of statement could only be made by someone who was comparatively ignorant of sorcery. As a former magician myself, I can say that an intelligent child could learn a great deal of authentic magical material.

More important than that - these books enflame what C. S. Lewis called a "spiritual lust" for occult knowledge and power. They tickle the desire to become "little gods" and fill the child’s head with violence, blood sacrifice and a world view which is decidedly anti-Christian. Is this desirable? Especially when the books are so well-written that the children are reading them over and over and virtually memorizing them?

A Harry Potter movie is coming out, and will probably be accompanied by all the usual Hollywood marketing (Harry Potter Happy Meals, etc.). There are already calendars, action figures, etc. If the books are any indication, this could be a cultural phenomenon that will make STAR WARS look insignificant by comparison! Parents need to be aware of how dangerous the materials in these books are, and stand their ground courageously for the love of their children!

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/halloween_e.htm

Endnotes

1 Chuck Colson, 11/2/1999 Breakpoint radio broadcast.

2 Lycanthropy is an old and honored element within the disciplines of magic and sorcery. The werewolf is the best known example of lycanthopy, but there are others. Most third world cultures which practice shamanism have practitioners who endeavor (and sometimes succeed) in shape-shifting themselves into animals ..." bear, wolves, ravens, etc.

3 OXFORD DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, US ed., 1996, p. 900

4 ibid., p. 1767

5 Grimoires are magical workbooks, often hundreds of years old. They range from the relatively civilized like the SACRED MAGIC OF ABRA MELIN THE MAGE to the nasty ones like THE BLACK PULLET.

6 A fictional game resembling polo played on flying broomsticks.

7 Most magicians in the West have four elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth.

8 This is NOT the same as a Wiccan circle. The point of the Wiccan circle is to keep power IN. The point of the magick circle is to keep things OUT.

9 Hebr. 1:14 indicates that angels can be asked to serve by those who only those who are "heirs of salvation" ..." i.e. Christians.

10 Elementals are believed to be nature spirits related to the four elements An air elemental would be a sylph.

11 The abyss is a concept in ceremonial magick. It is a place between two spheres on the Tree of Life over which you must cross to become a "godlike being." If you fail, you fall into the abyss that is described as a place of annihilation or a place of mindless horror and darkness. In either case, the magician’s soul is believed to be utterly destroyed forever.

12 Actually, there is a fair amount of resemblance between a typical magical ceremony like this and the lengthy and arduous Roman Catholic rite of exorcism.

13 This is the Biblical passage where we are told the sins of the fathers are visited unto the children. This is especially true of idolatry.

14 See Straight Talk on Witnessing to the Occultist, Witch and New Ager, etc available from our ministry.

15 "Latest ...˜Harry Potter’ Book meets with Cautionary Response from Christians" by Art Toalston, Baptist Press, 7/13/2000.

16 There are Christians who would object to the orthodoxy of Lewis and Tolkien. Neither man was exactly a fundamentalist Christian. Lewis was an Anglican, although much of his theological writings indicate a strong evangelical point of view. This booklet is not the place to enter into a debate over C.S. Lewis’ theology. Suffice it to say that, as benign as his works were, the Harry Potter stories are much, much worse.

17 TIME, 9/20/1999.

18 "Potter Charms Modern-Day Witches" by Deepti Hajela, AP 1/30/2000.

19 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, p. 139.

20 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, p. 33.

21 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, p. 291.

22 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, p. 656.

23 Ibid. p. 641.

24 Goblet of Fire, p.666. Careful reading of this passage does reveal that the fetus-like creature which is thrown into the cauldron is actually Lord Voldemort. However, many younger children may not get this point (we didn't at first) and it is still an extremely disturbing image.

25 Goblet of Fire, p. 653-54.

26 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, p. p.345, 381.

27 Ibid., p.147.

28 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, p. 463.

29 Ibid., pp. 667-669.

30 Ibid., pp. 344-45.

31 Ibid., p. 534.

32 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, p. 297

33 Sorcerer’s Stone, p. 292.

34 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, p. 165.

35 Prisoner of Azkaban, p.31.

36 Ibid., p. 146.

37 Goblet of Fire, p. 343.

38 Sorcerer’s Stone, p. 257.

39 Prisoner of Azkaban, p. 247.

40 Ibid., 427-428

41 Sorcerer’s Stone, p. 137, 286-87.

42 Prisoner of Azkaban, p. 52.

43 Ibid., p.118, 188.

44 Sorcerer’s Stone, p. 302.

The Religion of the Future

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 16:34:00 +0000

(Part 16)

by Fr. Seraphim Rose

IT IS DEEPLY INDICATIVE of the spiritual state of contemporary mankind that the "charismatic" and "meditation" experiences are taking root among "Christians." An Eastern religious influence is undeniably at work in such "Christians," but it is only as a result of something much more fundamental: the loss of the very feeling and savor of Christianity, due to which something so alien to Christianity as Eastern "meditation" can take hold of "Christian" souls.

The life of self-centeredness and self-satisfaction lived by most of today's "Christians" is so all-pervading that it effectively seals them off from any understanding at all of spiritual life; and when such people do undertake "spiritual life," it is only as another form of self-satisfaction. This can be seen quite clearly in the totally false religious ideal both of the "charismatic" movement and the various forms of "Christian meditation": all of them promise (and give very quickly) an experience of "contentment" and "peace." But this is not the Christian ideal at all, which if anything may be summed up as a fierce battle and struggle. The "contentment" and "peace" described in these contemporary "spiritual" movements are quite manifestly the product of spiritual deception, of spiritual self-satisfaction - which is the absolute death of the God-oriented spiritual life. All these forms of "Christian meditation" operate solely on the psychic level and have nothing whatever in common with Christian spirituality. Christian spirituality is formed in the arduous struggle to acquire the eternal Kingdom of Heaven, which fully begins only with the dissolution of this temporal world, and the true Christian struggler never finds repose even in the foretastes of eternal blessedness which might be vouchsafed to him in this life; but the Eastern religions, to which the Kingdom of Heaven has not been revealed, strive only to acquire psychic states which begin and end in this life.

In our age of apostasy preceding the manifestation of antichrist, the devil has been loosed for a time (Apoc. 20:7) to work the false miracles which he could not work during the "thousand years" of Grace in the Church of Christ (Apoc. 20:3), and to gather in his hellish harvest of those souls who "received not the love of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:10). We can tell that the time of antichrist is truly near by the very fact that this satanic harvest is now being reaped not merely among the pagan peoples, who have not heard of Christ, but even more among "Christians" who have lost the savor of Christianity. It is of the very nature of antichrist to present the kingdom of the devil as if it were of Christ. The present-day "charismatic" movement and "Christian meditation," and the "new religious consciousness" of which they are part, are forerunners of the religion of the future, the religion of the last humanity, the religion of antichrist, and their chief "spiritual" function is to make available to Christians the demonic initiation hitherto restricted to the pagan world. Let it be that these "religious experiments" are still often of a tentative and groping nature, that there is in them at least as much psychic self-deception as there is a genuinely demonic initiation rite; doubtless not everyone who has successfully "meditated" or thinks he has received the "Baptism of the Spirit" has actually received initiation into the kingdom of satan. But this is the aim of these "experiments," and doubtless the techniques of initiation will become ever more efficient as mankind becomes prepared for them by the attitudes or passivity and openness to new "religious experiences" which are inculcated by these movements.

What has brought humanity - and indeed "Christendom" - to this desperate state? Certainly it is not any overt worship of the devil, which is limited always to a few people; rather, it is something much more subtle, and something fearful for a conscious Orthodox Christian to reflect on: it is the loss of the grace of God, which follows on the loss of the savor of Christianity.

Roman Catholics and Protestants today have not fully tasted of God's grace, and so it is not surprising that they should be unable to discern its demonic counterfeit. But alas! The success of counterfeit spirituality even among Orthodox Christians today reveals how much they also have lost the savor of Christianity and so can no longer distinguish between true Christianity and pseudo-Christianity. For too long have Orthodox Christians taken for granted the precious treasure of their Faith and neglected to put into use the pure gold of its teachings. How many Orthodox Christians even know of the existence of the basic texts of Orthodox spiritual life, which teach precisely how to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit spirituality, texts which give the life and teaching of holy men and women who attained an abundant measure of God¹s grace in this life? How many have made their own the teaching of the Lausiac History, the Ladder of St. John, the Homilies of St. Macarius, the Lives of the God-bearing Fathers of the desert,Unseen Warfare, St. John of Kronstadt's My Life in Christ?

In the Life of the great Father of the Egyptian desert, St. Paisius the Great (June 19), we may see a shocking example of how easy it is to lose the grace of God. Once a disciple of his was walking to a city in Egypt to sell his handiwork. On the way he met a Jew who, seeing his simplicity, began to deceive him, saying: "O beloved, why do you believe in a simple, crucified Man, when He was not at all the awaited Messiah? Another is to come, but not He." The disciple, being weak in mind and simple in heart, began to listen to these words and allowed himself to say: "Perhaps what you say is correct." When he returned to the desert, St. Paisius turned away from him and would not speak a single word to him. Finally, after the disciple¹s long entreaty, the Saint said to him: "Who are you? I do not know you. This disciple of mine was a Christian and had upon him the grace of Baptism, but you are not such a one; if you are actually my disciple, then the grace of Baptism has left you and the image of a Christian has been removed." The disciple with tears related his conversation with the Jew, to which the Saint replied: "O wretched one! What could be worse and more foul than such words, by which you renounced Christ and His divine Baptism? Now go and weep over yourself as you wish, for you have no place with me; your name is written with those who have renounced Christ, and together with them you will receive judgment and torments." On hearing this judgment the disciple was filled with repentance, and at his entreaty the Saint shut himself up and prayed to the Lord to forgive his disciple this sin. The Lord heard the Saint¹s prayer and granted him to behold a sign of His forgiveness of the disciple. The Saint then warned the disciple: "O child, give glory and thanksgiving to Christ God together with me, for the unclean, blasphemous spirit has departed from you, and in his place the Holy Spirit has descended upon you, restoring to you the grace of Baptism. And so, guard yourself now, lest out of sloth and carelessness the nets of the enemy should fall upon you again and, having sinned, you should inherit the fire of gehenna."

Significantly, it is among "ecumenical Christians" that the "charismatic" and "meditation" movements have taken root. The characteristic belief of the heresy of ecumenism is this: that the Orthodox Church is not the one true Church of Christ; that the grace of God is present also in other "Christian" denominations, and even in non-Christian religions; that the narrow path of salvation according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church is only "one path among many" to salvation; and that the details of one's belief in Christ are of little importance, as is one's membership in any particular church. Not all the Orthodox participants in the ecumenical movement believe this entirely (although Protestants and Roman Catholics most certainly do); but by their very participation in this movement, including invariably common prayer with those who believe wrongly about Christ and His Church, they tell the heretics who behold them: "Perhaps what you say is correct," even as the wretched disciple of St. Paisius did. No more than this is required for an Orthodox Christian to lose the grace of God; and what labor it will cost for him to gain it back!

How much, then, must Orthodox Christians walk in the fear of God, trembling lest they lose His grace, which by no means is given to everyone, but only to those who hold the true Faith, lead a life of Christian struggle, and treasure the grace of God which leads them heavenward. And how much more cautiously must Orthodox Christians walk today above all, when they are surrounded by a counterfeit Christianity that gives its own experiences of "grace" and the "Holy Spirit" and can abundantly quote the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers to "prove" it! Surely the last times are near, when there will come spiritual deception so persuasive as to "deceive, if it were possible, even the very elect" (Matt. 24:24).

Orthodox Christians! Hold fast to the grace which you have; never let it become a matter of habit; never measure it by merely human standards or expect it to be logical or comprehensible to those who understand nothing higher than what is human or who think to obtain the grace of the Holy Spirit in some other way than that which the one Church of Christ has handed down to us. True Orthodoxy by its very nature must seem totally out of place in these demonic times, a dwindling minority of the despised and "foolish," in the midst of a religious "revival" inspired by another kind of spirit. But let us take comfort from the certain words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

Let all true Orthodox Christians strengthen themselves for the battle ahead, never forgetting that in Christ the victory is already ours. He has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church (Matt. 16:18), and that for the sake of the elect He will cut short the days of the last great tribulation (Matt. 24:22). And in truth, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). Even in the midst of the cruelest temptations, we are commanded to be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Let us live, even as true Christians of all times have lived, in expectation of the end of all things and the coming of our dear Saviour; for "He that giveth testimony of these things saith: Surely I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Apoc. 22:20).

__________________

This article was reprinted from St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood of Platina, California.

Sources Cited In The Text Of This Article:

Burdick, Donald W. Tongues- To Speak or not to Speak. Moody Press, 1969.

Christenson, Larry. Speaking in Tongues. Dimension Books, Minneapolis, 1968.

Du Plessis, David J. The Spirit Bade Me Go. Logos International, Plainfield, New Jersey, 1970.

Ford, J. Massingherd. The Pentecostal Experience. Paulist Press, N. Y., 1970.

Gelpi, Donald L., S. J. Pentecostalism, A Theological Viewpoint. Paulist Press, N. Y., 1971.

Harper, Michael. Life in the Holy Spirit. Logos Books, Plainfield, N. J., 1966.

Koch, Kurt. The Strife of Tongues. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 1969.

Lilli, D. G. Tongues under Fire. Fountain Trust, London, 1966.

Ortega, Ruben, compiler. The Jesus People Speak Out. David C. Cook Publishing Co., Elgin, III., 1972

Ranaghan, Kevin; Ranaghan, Dorothy. Catholic Pentecostals. Paulist Press, 1969.

Sherrill, John L. They Speak with Other Tongues. Spire Books, Old Tappan, N. J., 1965

Williams, J. Rodman. The Era of the Spirit. Logos International, 1971.

Pat King. in Logos Journal, Sept.-Oct., 1971, p. 50. This "international charismatic journal" should not be confused with Fr. E. Stephanou's Logos.

Most books will be cited only by author and page number. Full bibliographical information is supplied at the end.

Bishop Theophan the Recluse What is the Spiritual Life, Jordanville, New York, 1962, pp 247-8 (in Russian); English edition, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, Calif., 1995, p. 282. Fr. Eusebius Stephanou (Logos, Jan., 1972, p. 13) attempts to justify the present-day "reception of the Holy Spirit" outside the Church by citing the account of the household of Cornelius the Centurion (Acts 10), which received the Holy Spirit before Baptism. But the difference in the two cases is crucial: the reception of the Holy Spirit by Cornelius and his household was the sign that they should be joined to the Church by Baptism, whereas contemporary Pentecostals by their experience are only confirmed in their delusion that there is no one saving Church of Christ.

See Burdick, pp. 66-67.

V. P. ByLov, Tikhie Priyuty, Moscow 1913. pp. I 168-170.

See Kurt Koch, Occult Bondage and Deliverance, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1970, pp. l68-170.

Kurt Koch, Between Christ and Satan, Kregel Publications, 1962, p. 124. This book and Dr. Koch¹s Occult Bondage offer a remarkable confirmation, based on 20th-century experience, of virtually every manifestation of mediumism, magic, sorcery, etc., that is found in the Holy Scriptures and the Orthodox Lives of Saints - the source of all of which, of course, is the devil. On only a few points will the Orthodox reader have to correct his interpretations.

Simon A. Blackmore S. J, Spiritism Facts and Frauds, Benziger Bros., New York, 1924: Chapter IV, "Mediums," pp. 89-1 05 passim.

On Oral Roberts. see Kurt Koch, Occult Bondage, pp. 52-55.

Ronald A. Knox, Enthusiasm, A Chapter in the History of Religion, Oxford (Galaxy Book), 196l, pp. 550-551.

See The Orthodox Word, 1965, no. 4, pp. 155-158.

Conference XV:2, in Owen Chadwick, Western Asceticism, Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1958, p. 258.

Wilson Van Dusen, The Presence of Other Worlds, Harper and Row, New York, 1974, pp. 120-125.

See I. H. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion, An Anthropological Study of Spirit Possession and Shamanism, Penguin Books, Baltimore, 1971, pp. 45, 88. 156 etc., and illustration 9.

Starets Macarius of Optina, Harbin, 1940, p. 100 (in Russian). (cf. Elder Macarius of Optina, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, Calif., 1995, p. 326)

See Blackmore, Spiritism, pp. 144-175, where an example is given of a Catholic priest who was physically pursued by a ouija-board (propelled, of course, by a demon) when he tried to give up using it!

See for example Gordon Lindsay, Israel's Destiny and the Coming Deliverer, Christ for the Nations Pub. Co., Dallas, Texas, pp. 28-30.

Such is the Orthodox teaching of Sts. Basil the Great. Gregory theTheologian, Andrew of Caesarea, and many other Fathers. See Archbishop Averky, Guide to the Study of the New Testament. Part II (in Russian), Jordanville, New York, 1956, pp. 434-438. (cf. The Apocalypse: In theTeaching of Ancient Christianity, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, Calif., 1995, pp. 253-4

See Kurt Koch, The Revival in Indonesia, Kregel Publications, 1970; and Mel Tari, Like a Mighty Wind. Creation House, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1971.

"Little Children, it is the Last Hour" (1 John 2:18)

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 16:27:00 +0000

(Part 15)

by Fr. Seraphim Rose

Outside of genuine Orthodoxy the darkness... grows. Judging from the latest "religious" news, the "charismatic revival" may well be only the faint beginning of a whole "age of miracles." Many Protestants who have discerned the fraud of the "charismatic revival" now accept as "the real thing" the spectacular "revival" in Indonesia where, we are told, there are really occurring "the self same things that one finds reported in the Acts of the Apostles." In the space of three years 200,000 pagans have been converted to Protestantism under constantly miraculous conditions: No one does anything except in absolute obedience to "voices" and "angels" who are constantly appearing, usually quoting Scripture by number and verse; water is turned into wine every time the Protestant communion service comes around; detached hands appear from nowhere to distribute miraculous food to the hungry; a whole band of demons is seen to abandon a pagan village because a "more powerful" one ("Jesus") has come to take their place; "Christians" have a "countdown" for an unrepentant sinner, and when they come to "zero" he dies; children are taught new Protestant hymns by voices that come from nowhere (and repeat the song twenty times so the children will remember); "God's tape-recorder" records the song of a children¹s choir and plays it back in the air for the astonished children; fire comes down from the sky to consume Catholic religious images ("the Lord" in Indonesia is very anti-Catholic); 30,000 have been healed; "Christ" appears in the sky and "falls" on people in order to heal them; people are miraculously transported from place to place and walk on water; lights accompany evangelists and guide them at night, and clouds follow them and give them shelter during the day: the dead are raised [19].

Interestingly, in some parts of the Indonesian "revival" the element of "speaking in tongues" is almost totally absent and is even forbidden (although it is present in many places), and the element of mediumism seems sometimes to be replaced by a direct intervention of fallen spirits. It may well be that this new "revival," more powerful than Pentecostalism, is a more developed stage of the same "spiritual" phenomenon (just as Pentecostalism itself is more advanced than spiritism) and heralds the imminence of the dreadful day when, as the "voices" and "angels" in Indonesia also proclaim, "the Lord" is to come - for we know that antichrist will prove to the world that he is "Christ" by just such "miracles."

In an age of almost universal darkness and deception, when for most "Christians" Christ has become precisely what Orthodox teaching means by antichrist, the Orthodox Church of Christ alone possesses and communicates the grace of God. This is a priceless treasure the very existence of which is not so much as suspected even by the "Christian" world. The "Christian" world, indeed, joins hands with the forces of darkness in order to seduce the faithful of the Church of Christ, blindly trusting that the "name of Jesus" will save them even in their apostasy and blasphemy, mindless of the fearful warning of the Lord: "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt. 7:22-23).

St. Paul continues his warning about the coming of antichrist with this command: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (2 Thess. 2:15). "There be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so say I now again: If any preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1:8-9).

The Orthodox answer to every new "revival," and even to the final terrible "revival" of antichrist, is this Gospel of Christ, which the Orthodox Church alone has preserved unchanged in an unbroken line from Christ and His Apostles, and the grace of the Holy Spirit which the Orthodox Church alone communicates, and only to her faithful children, who have received in Chrismation, and kept, the true seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Must Orthodoxy Join the Apostasy?

noreply@blogger.com (test00909) — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 16:25:00 +0000

(Part 14)

by Fr. Seraphim Rose

IT IS TRUE ENOUGH, to be sure, that an Orthodox awakening would be much to be desired in our days, when many Orthodox Christians have lost the salt of true Christianity, and the true and fervent Orthodox Christian life is indeed rarely to be seen. Modern life has become too comfortable; worldly life has become too attractive; for too many, Orthodoxy has become simply a matter of membership in a church organization or the "correct" fulfillment of external rites and practices. There would be need enough for a true Orthodox spiritual awakening, but this is not what we see in the Orthodox "charismatics." Just like the "charismatic" activists among Protestants and Roman Catholics, they are fully in harmony with the spirit of the times; they are not in living contact with the sources of the Orthodox spiritual tradition, preferring the currently fashionable Protestant techniques of revivalism. They are one with the leading current of today's apostate "Christianity": the ecumenical movement.

There have been true Orthodox "awakenings" in the past: one thinks immediately of St. Cosmas of Aitolia, who walked from village to village in 18th-century Greece and inspired the people to return to the true Christianity of their ancestors; or St. John of Kronstadt in our own century, who brought the age-old message of Orthodox spiritual life to the urban masses of Petersburg. Then there are the Orthodox monastic instructors who were truly "Spirit-filled" and left their teaching to the monastics as well as the laymen of the latter times: one thinks of the Greek St. Symeon the New Theologian in the 10th century, and the Russian St. Seraphim of Sarov in the 19th. St. Symeon is badly misused by the Orthodox "charismatics" (he was speaking of a Spirit different from theirs!); and St. Seraphim is invariably quoted out of context in order to minimize his emphasis on the necessity to belong to the Orthodox Church to have a true spiritual life. In the "Conversation" of St. Seraphim with the layman Motovilov on the "acquisition of the Holy Spirit" (which the Orthodox "charismatics" quote without the parts here italicized), this great Saint tells us: "The grace of the Holy Spirit which was given to us all, the faithful of Christ, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, is sealed by the Sacrament of Chrismation on the chief parts of the body, as appointed by the Holy Church, the eternal keeper of this grace." And again: "The Lord listens equally to the monk and the simple Christian layman, provided that both are Orthodox."

As opposed to the true Orthodox spiritual life, the "charismatic revival" is only the experiential side of the prevailing "ecumenical" fashion - a counterfeit Christianity that betrays Christ and His Church. No Orthodox "charismatic" could possibly object to the coming "Union" with those very Protestants and Roman Catholics with whom, as the interdenominational "charismatic" song goes, they are already "one in the Spirit, one in the Lord," and who have led them and inspired their "charismatic" experience. The "spirit" that has inspired the "charismatic revival" is the spirit of antichrist , or more precisely those "spirits of devils" of the last times whose "miracles" prepare the world for the false messiah.

Orthodox Christian

The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Volume 1

Synaxarion

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HOLY THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

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The Eve of the Nativity of Christ

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St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

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Medieval Monastic Psalter Vol I

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Adoration of the Precious and Life-giving Holy Cross

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Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer, bishop of Antioch (107).

20 December/2 January

Troparion — Tone 4

Kontakion — Tone 3

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Free Download- 15th century Horoligion

From the World Digital Library- 15th c Book of Hours

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God’s Providence in Our Lives

Saint Herman of Alaska the Wonderworker

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On Fasting;

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The Joyous Feast of the Pumpkin (Halloween)

The Religion of the Future

"Little Children, it is the Last Hour" (1 John 2:18)

Must Orthodoxy Join the Apostasy?