On the Aramaic phrase Bar ’ěnoš “Son of Man”

Written by Rev. Dr. Eugen J. Pentiuc on the Greek Archdiocese website here is a solid discussion of the term "Son of Man." I quite enjoyed reading it.

---

(GOARCH) - The Aramaic phrase Bar 'ěnoš "son of man" is a Semitic expression denoting a single member of humanity, a certain human being, hence "someone." This Aramaic phrase used by Daniel 7:13-14 to describe a quasi-divine figure riding with the clouds of the sky has become an important element of the eschatological-apocalyptic decorum in both Jewish and Christian texts; an eclectic decorum made of various elements such as, the Davidic king, the chosen servant of Deutero-Isaiah, and the "son of man" of Daniel.

In the New Testament the enigmatic figure mentioned by Daniel is almost always identified with Jesus. As one can glean from the philological analysis below, the Aramaic phrase bar 'ěnoš may connote more than a mere human being. It may define a human being in its defining characteristics vis-à-vis God, namely, weakness and mortality. Thus I would suggest rendering the phrase bar 'ěnoš as "son of weakness" or "the weak one." This semantic detail, absent in the New Testament Greek claque, huios (tou) anthrōpou "son of man," may help one better understand Jesus' references to himself as the humblest human being who came "to seek and save the lost one" (Luke 19:10) and whose eternal glory, temporarily overshadowed by incarnation, will be fully and publicly revealed at the end of time (Matthew16:27).

Daniel 7:13-14: "As I looked on, in the night vision, one like a Son of Man was coming with the clouds of heaven; he reached the Everlasting One and was presented to him. Dominion, glory, and kingship were given to him. All peoples and nations of every language must serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed."

In its present form, the Book of Daniel dates to the time of the Jews' persecution by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the years 167-164 BC. The book was written in Hebrew and Aramaic and it contains many hints at the events that marked the political, religious, and cultural milieu in Palestine in the 2^nd century BC...

Complete article here.

Sand? Pshaw!

Patriarch of the Ethiopian Church arrested

(Zegabi) - The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Chruch, Abune Mathias, was placed under house arrest temporarily, but has since been released, according to a report by the Ethiopian Review today.

The move is reported to have been carried out by National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Tsegaye Behane, allegedly over the patriarch’s criticism of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Force (EPRDP).

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is currently facing a leadership crises and many church leaders have publicly rebelled against the authority of the church, which only split from the Coptic Orthodox Church in 1959.

Abune Mathias was reportedly interrogated for 72 hours before his release. Although the actual reasons for his temporary arrest is unknown, there are speculations that it relates to comments made by the patriarch recently where he revealed that most of the church’s current problems are being created by the state.

The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), one half of the ruling EPRDP coalition, is also reported to have been the focus of some of the patriarch’s recent critical comments.

This is not the first time Abune Mathias, who was born in the Tigray region, is clashing with the government.

In the 80′s, when he was Bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Abune Mathias was critical of Menghistu Haile Mariam’s regime. His outspokenness eventually caused him to go on exile in the United States of America for about 30 years until the downfall of Meghiatu’s regime.

Abune Mathias, 71, was installed as the 6th patriarch of the Ethiopia Orthodox Church in March 2013 after winning about 500 out of 806 votes cast by an elective council a month earlier. His appointment has since been disputed by many, who say the 4th patriarch Abuna Merkorios should have been reinstated, since he was deposed under questionable circumstances.

The Orthodox position on Roman primacy

If you want to understand how the Orthodox Church differs from the Catholic Church on administration both at the local and "universal" levels, the below article is a pretty good gloss of the topic.

---

(mospat.ru) - The problem of primacy in the Universal Church has been repeatedly raised during the work of the Joint International Commission on Theological Dialogue Between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. On March 27, 2007, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church instructed the Synodal Theological Commission to study this problem and draft an official position of the Moscow Patriarchate on the problem (Minutes, No. 26). Meanwhile, the Joint Commission at its meeting on October 13, 2007, in Ravenna, working in the absence of a delegation of the Russian Church and without consideration for her opinion, adopted a document on the Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church. Having studied the Ravenna document, the Russian Orthodox Church disagreed with it in the part that refers to synodality and primacy on the level of the Universal Church. Since the Ravenna document makes a distinction between three levels of church administration, namely, local, regional and universal, the following position taken by the Moscow Patriarchate on the problem of primacy in the Universal Church deals with this problem on the three levels as well.

In the Holy Church of Christ, primacy belongs to her Head – our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. According to St. Paul, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence (Col. 1:18).

According to the apostolic teaching, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,which is his body (Eph. 1:17-23).

The Church, which is on the earth, represents not only a community of those who believe in Christ but also a divine-human organism: Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular (1 Cor. 12:27).

Accordingly, various forms of primacy in the Church in her historical journey in this world are secondary versus the eternal primacy of Christ as Head of the Church by whom God the Father reconciles all things unto himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Col. 1:20). Primacy in the Church should be in the first place a ministry of reconciliation with the aim to build harmony, according to the apostle who calls to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3).

In the life of the Church of Christ, which lives in this age, primacy, along with synodality, is one of the fundamental principles of her order. On various levels of church life, the historically established primacy has a different nature and different sources. These levels are 1) the diocese (eparchy), 2) the autocephalous Local Church, and 3) Universal Church...

Complete article here.

"Grandfather Frost of All the Russians" and the space station

(BBC News) - Grandfather Frost, the Russian version of Father Christmas, will be linking up with astronauts on board the International Space Station, it is reported.

"Grandfather Frost of All the Russians" is going to visit the mission control centre in Korolev outside Moscow on Sunday, 29 December, to pass on New Year and Orthodox Christmas greetings, RIA-Novosti state news agency reports.

On 7 January, when Orthodox believers mark Christmas, the astronauts on board the space station are also expected to hear from Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Read more »

FEMEN activist jumps on altar nude, declares self God

(The Telegraph) - For the sake of the children, this post doesn't contain the video of this shameful incident (someone has to think of the children). But if you really want to see a bare chested female protestor desecrating a church you can follow this link and log into YouTube as an adult to do so. It's not a shocking image, just a rather silly one. The young lady is a member of the FEMEN feminist art/action group and she interrupted a service in Cologne Cathedral on Christmas Day as it was being televised live – running around shouting with the words "I AM GOD" written across her chest. The egotism of that statement is revealing and on some philosophical level she probably believes that she is the Messiah. She's not the Messiah, though. She's a very naughty girl.

What was her point? FEMEN practices "sextremism serving to protect women's rights" and some of its causes are very good, particularly when it comes to fighting sex tourism. Its members are doubtless brave and have faced persecution to an extent that makes them admirable. But just because they are courageous and motivated by sound instincts doesn't mean they can't behave appallingly. What has this lady accomplished by ruining a Christmas Day service? Well, she's upset the day of a lot of faithful or vague Catholics who have turned up to sing some carols and make peace with their God. She's not confronting prejudice where it's truly to be found, and if she really believes that the Catholic Church is the font of all patriarchy then she's mistaken. First, its theology is remarkably pro-women for a monotheistic religion (the Virgin Mary is basically #2 in the Church, after the Trinity, and Jesus was friends with an ex-prostitute) and has done a great deal to confront the sexual exploitation of women. Second, its political influence within Europe is near zero, which accounts for the continent's incredibly liberal abortion laws. If the Church is waging a war on the sacred feminine then it's not doing it very well.

Bottom line: Christmas is about God, family, good times, and love. It's not about aimless, thoughtless political protest and no one has any right to spoil everyone else's precious bit of spiritual downtime because they think that painting their topless form and embarrassing an old priest makes them the new Che Guevara. This particular FEMEN protestor isn't a revolutionary. She's an anti-social bore.
Merry Christmas everyone, and pass the port…

Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas 2013

Most Nativity encyclicals are "snoozefests" - often repetitive and derivative of encyclicals of yesteryear. The below is not one of those.

---

(Patriarchate.org) - Prot. No. 1109

+ BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church:
Grace, mercy, and peace from the Savior Christ, born in Bethlehem

Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”

- (Isaiah 9.5)

Many centuries ago, the Prophet foresaw and announced with enthusiasm and joy the birth of the child Jesus from the ever-Virgin Mary. Naturally, even then, there was no period of census by Augustus Caesar, no place to stay for the safety of the Holy Virgin who was carrying a child by the Holy Spirit. So the holy Joseph as her betrothed and protector was obliged to lead her to a cave, a manger with animals, “in order to give birth to a child.”

Heaven and earth received them, offering thanks to their Creator: “The angels offered the hymn; the heavens a star; the wise men gifts; the shepherds a miracle; the earth a cave; the desert a manger; and we the Mother Virgin.” The shepherds were keeping watch over their flock, protecting them throughout the night, while the angels were witnessing the Mystery in ecstasy, singing hymns to God. (From Vespers of the Nativity)

The sweetness of the Holy Night of Christmas once again embraces the world. And in the midst of human trial and pain, of unending crises, of passion and enmity, of concern and despair, it presents the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word as a genuine and timely solution. For He descended as dew in a field of cotton inside the womb of the ever-Virgin Mary in order to give rise to righteousness and much peace. (See Ps. 71.7)

In the silence and peace of that sacred night of Christmas, Jesus Christ – being without beginning, invisible, incomprehensible, immaterial, ever existing and the same – enters the drama of history bearing flesh, being insignificant, simple, poor and unknown. At the same time, he comes as a “wonderful, counselor, almighty, prince of peace, everlasting father.” (Is. 9.6) Indeed, he comes as a human being, born of a Virgin Mother, to solve the complexity of sin and grant resolution to the impasse of life’s anxiety through His grace and mercy, while providing destiny, value, content, as well as an exemplary ethos and model for the human adventure.

The Lord assumed and sanctified all of human nature. The pre-eternal God condescended to become for us an embryo and be borne inside the womb of the Theotokos. In so doing, He both honored human life from its earliest stage and taught us respect toward humankind from its earliest conception. The Creator of all accepted to be born as an infant and be nurtured by a Virgin. In so doing, He honored both virginity and motherhood, spiritual and natural. This is why St. Gregory the Theologian exhorts: “O women, be as virgins, so that you may become mothers of Christ.” (Homily XXXVIII on Epiphany, PG36.313A)

So the Lord appointed the marriage of male and female in the blessed family. The institution of Christian family constitutes the cell of life and an incubator for the spiritual and physical health and development of children. Therefore, the manifold support of the institution of the family comprises the obligation of the Church and responsibility of leadership in every country.

In order for a child to be raised in a healthy and natural way, there needs to be a family where man and woman live in harmony as one body, one flesh, and one soul, submitting to one another.

We are certain that all spiritual and ecclesiastical, much like the vigilant shepherds of old, but also the leaders of our world, know and accept this divine truth and reality, which we once again proclaim from the Ecumenical Patriarchate during this Christmas period. We must all encourage the creation and function of natural families, which can produce citizens that are spiritually healthy and joyful, filled with sentiments of security, based on the feeling of safety provided by a strong and protective father as well as a nurturing and loving mother. We need families where God might find rest. We invite and urge the entire plenitude of our holy Orthodox Church to live in a manner that is worthy of their calling and do everything that is possible to support the institution of marriage.

Brothers and sisters, “the night is far gone; the day is at hand.” (Rom. 6.12) The shepherds are already headed toward Bethlehem in order to proclaim the miracle. They are inviting us to follow them “like other star-gazing wise men filled with joy” (From the Christmas Troparion of the 4th Ode), bringing “worthy gifts” “such as fine gold to the King of ages, incense to the God of all, and myrrh to the immortal that lay dead for three days.” (Anatolios, Vesperal Hymn at Christmas) That is to say, the gifts of love and our faith, which test us as Christians, especially as Orthodox Christians, in the ethos and tradition of the family, the Fathers, and the Church, which has always practiced the Orthodox way through the centuries and to this day holds together our blessed society, whose cell for sacred life and growth is the family.

Beloved brothers and sisters, children in Christ,

1. 2013 years have passed since the birth of Christ in the flesh
2. 2013 years have passed and, like then, Christ continues to be persecuted in the person of the weak by Herod and all kinds of contemporary Herods
3. 2013 years have passed and Jesus is persecuted in the person of Christians in Syria and elsewhere
4. 2013 years have passed and Christ still flees like a refugee not only in Egypt, but also in Lebanon, Europe, America and elsewhere, seeking security in an insecure world
5. 2013 years have passed and the child Jesus remains imprisoned with the two hierarchs in Syria, Paul (Yazigi) and Youhanna (Ibrahim), as well as the Orthodox nuns and many other known and unknown Christians
6. 2013 years have passed and Christ is crucified with those who are tortured and killed in order not to betray their faith in Him
7. 2013 years have passed and Jesus is daily put to death in the person of thousands of embryos, whose parents prevent from being born
8. 2013 years have passed and Christ is mocked and ridiculed in the person of unfortunate children, who experience the crisis of the family, destitution and poverty.

It is this human pain, sorrow and affliction that our Lord came and once more comes to assume during this Christmas season. After all, He said: “As you have done to one of these, the least of my brothers and sisters,” you have done to me.” (Matt. 25.40-41) It is for these that He was born of a Virgin, for these that He became human, for these that He suffered, was crucified and arose from the dead. That is to say: for all of us. Thus, let each of us lift up our personal cross in order to find grace and mercy when we seek His assistance. Then, the born Emmanuel, our Savior and Lord, will “be with us.” Amen.

Christmas 2013
+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Your fervent supplicant before God

Behold, I stand at the door and knock!

The Guba says Merry Christmas!

Follow-up on single mother criticisms in Tomsk

This is a follow-up to a story earlier posted here. The word chosen was a quite indelicate one.

---

Tomsk, December 24 (Interfax) - The Eparchial Court of the Tomsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church has relieved Maxim Stepanenko of the duties of missionary department director following his remarks posted on the Internet criticizing single mothers, the Tomsk diocese said on its website.

"On orders issued by Archbishop Rostislav of Tomsk and Asinovo, Stepanenko was relieved of the duties of department head and was demoted to the position of a low-level employee of this department," it said.

The council members "unanimously recognized the unacceptability of rude and tactless remarks, as well as insults of human dignity in the mission's affairs, as well as stressed the advisability of a priest being appointed to head this department," it said.

Priest Alexy Samsonov, who serves at St. Sergius of Radonezh Church in Tomsk, has already been appointed as head of the Tomsk diocese's missionary department.

Stepanenko published an article on the website of the missionary department of the Russian Orthodox Church's Tomsk diocese on December 4, suggesting that an obscene word meaning a promiscuous woman be officially applied to single mothers and women who choose to have children out of wedlock.

The Prosecutor's Office, for its part, asked the Federal Service for Oversight in Communications, Information Technologies and the Media to conduct an inquiry into Stepanenko's remarks.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters...

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory has thundered: the Lord is upon many waters.

- Psalm 28:3

A Christmas wish

Pastyr.ca - a revelatory musical resource

I really just can't quit winding my way through this website. While it's ostensibly for people interested in being a cantor in the Ukrainian Church, it is actually quite useful for anyone interested in Orthodox music and the rubrics surrounding it. Take a look. Spread the word.

Copts in Jerusalem

Archdiocese of Vienna on handover of churches to Orthodox

(Catholic Sentinel) - Austria's Vienna Archdiocese has defended its gifts of Catholic churches to Orthodox communities, as part of a current reorganization.

"Our own church is receding in Vienna, whereas other Christian confessions are on the rise because of immigration," Michael Pruller, the archdiocese spokesman, told Catholic News Service Dec. 19.

"Many large churches were built in the 19th century for parishes numbering tens of thousands. As in other countries, we're now having to get rid of churches, which can't be maintained by their small congregations."

He said the archdiocese had tried to find an "alternative Catholic use" for unwanted churches, to prevent them being turned into "supermarkets and cafes," but would otherwise hand them over to other Christian denominations. No money is given as compensation, he said.

In 2015, the archdiocese will formally hand over St. Anthony of Padua Church to the Romanian Orthodox, who have already begun celebrating liturgies there. The Kathpress news agency reported that fewer than 30 Catholics currently attended Sunday Mass at the church.

Under the reorganization, unveiled in September 2012, the Vienna Archdiocese's 660 parishes are to be merged into 150 larger units, each served by three-five priests. Lay volunteers will conduct Liturgies of the Word in smaller affiliated communities.

In November 2011, the Vatican approved the handover of Vienna's Our Lady of Sorrows Church to the expanding Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Central Europe, despite protests by its predominantly Polish parishioners.

Two other churches have been given to the Coptic Orthodox community and one to the Syrian Orthodox Church, which is also negotiating the handover of a second.

Red Alaska

The blessing of new antimensia

(ROCOR-Chicago) - On Sunday, December 15th at the Cathedral, Bishop Peter served the Rite of Consecration of New Antimins. As this is a rare service perfomed only by a bishop and exclusively within the altar, we provide this photoreport and narrative to explain the meaning of this rite.

An antimins is a rectangular cloth on which are depicted representations of Christ's descent from the Cross as well as the four evangelists. It is kept folded on the altar table and contains the relics of saints sewn into it. The word derives from the Greek antimension which means "instead of the table". It is not permissible to serve a Divine Liturgy without an antimins and it must be consecrated and signed by the reigning Bishop in advance. During emergencies, the Liturgy may be served with an antimins when an altar table is not available. When a Bishop visits a church or monastery under his jurisdiction, he typically enters the altar to inspect the antimins to ensure that it is properly cared for and in fact, the one that was blessed for use in that particular church.

The rite of blessing begins with much preparatory work. A "vessel" for the relics is fashioned out of a mixture of wax and incense in a small circular mold which is filled about half way and allowed to harden. Then small particles of the relics of saints are placed on the top of the semi-hardened wax mold and another several layers of wax are added to cover the relics. Once completely hardened, they are removed from the mold and placed on the diskos on the table of oblation. This is all typically done a day or so in advance of the service.

The rite of the consecration was served at 8 AM at the cathedral on Sunday morning. It began with several supplicatory prayers which the Bishop reads on his knees in front of the Royal Doors.

The antimins cloths are then blessed with a mixture of wine and rose water accompanied by the chanting or psalms.

Similar to the Great Entrance at the Divine Liturgy, the relics are then carried on the diskos from the table of olbation outside of the altar and back in throught the Royal Doors.

They are censed accompanied by the singing of "O Holy Martyrs".

The relics are anointed with myrrh and then placed in a small pocket which is sewn into the back of the antimins cloth and sealed therein.

It is customary to serve seven liturgies upon the newly consecrated antimins. When mulitple antimins are consecrated, the liturgy is served using them all stacked one upon another. Eleven antimins were consecrated for use in new missions and churches in the diocese. They contain tiny relics of martyrs: St Stephen, the first martyr; St Ignatius the Godbearer; St Vladimir, new-martyr of Kiev; a monk-martyr from the monastery of St Savva the Sanctified. The antimins are signed by the Bishop.

Joel J Miller on depictions of Jesus

From the blog Joel J Miller, a post entitled "Read this before you burn that picture of Jesus."

---

According to her recent post in Her*meneutics, Hill has asked teachers to excuse her kids from coloring nativity scenes and says she covers books depicting Christ in brown paper. To be clear, Hill has nothing against Jesus. She seems quite devout. Rather, her beef with his image comes from a conviction that Christ should never be depicted.

Arguing for her view, Hill says her “objection to visually representing the second person of the Trinity is not a new position. Until the late 4th century, the Christian church universally condemned images of Christ.”

Oh, bother.

This statement is false — on many levels. For starters, Roman catacombs featured icons of Christ, Mary, and many other biblical figures more than century before her “late 4th century” date. And while there is an absence of such iconographic depictions before 200 AD, they exist shortly thereafter — their absence being for reasons other than religious scruples, according to such scholars as Paul Corby Finney (The Invisible God). It's an interesting "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc" argument. Because few of something existed before a certain time, some prohibition must have been in place to stop it.

What’s more, the idea of a universal ban is absurd. No church-wide council ever pronounced such a rule. And the fact that icons, frescoes, and mosaics exist in all the ancient Christian traditions to this day (Orthodox, Catholic, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopian, Malankara, etc.) indicates an early and widespread adoption of divine depictions.

Even if there were bans, they came much later during the iconoclastic controversy in the East, and such bans were far from universal. “Controversy” indicates less than universal agreement, and, importantly, the icon-smashers lost the argument.

Hill skips that entire episode and goes straight to the Reformation. “[I]n the 16th century, many of the Protestant Reformers revived this practice [of banning images].” Another interesting take on things: If a heresy pops up twice, there must be something to it.

That’s exactly right, as anyone unfortunate enough to get in the way could have attested. It’s one of the darker moments of the movement, evoking images of the Taliban, rather than erudite theologians and biblical scholars. Protestants swept churches clean of images, scraping frescoes off church walls, smashing icons, toppling statues, and destroying altarpieces (see Carlos Eire’s War Against the Idols and Eamon Duffy’s Stripping the Altars).

The argument for doing so then (as now) goes back to the Second Commandment — but an interpretation of that commandment divorced from over a millennium of Christian teaching and practice. From Ireland to India, Ethiopia to Denmark, Christians depicted Christ and his saints...

Complete article here.

Festal conflation

Catholic diocese wins contraceptive battle

(NY Times) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York was granted a federal injunction on Monday that blocks an Obama administration requirement to provide contraceptive care to employees at its nonprofit affiliates.

The ruling found that the regulation violated the religious freedom of the four nonprofit groups — two high schools and two health care systems — that are affiliated with the archdiocese but employ people of any faith. Under the Affordable Care Act, the nonprofit groups were required to provide the contraceptive coverage, authorize a third party to voluntarily pay for and provide the coverage, or pay steep fines.

The ruling, by Brian M. Cogan of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, found that forcing the groups to authorize a third party to provide contraceptive care still violated their religious beliefs even if they were not financially support contraception. Churches are already exempt from the mandate to provide contraceptive care.

As part of the Affordable Care Act, the federal government issued a rule that requires health plans to cover contraception without a co-pay. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 88 cases have been filed challenging the rule as an infringement on religious liberty. Seventy-five of these cases are pending: 29 cases brought by nonprofit organizations, 43 cases brought by for-profit companies and three cases brought by both nonprofit and for-profit plaintiffs.

Judge Cogan’s decision was the first permanent injunction against the regulations. A temporary injunction was issued in favor of a nonprofit Catholic organization in Pennsylvania.

The Archdiocese of New York, which sued along with the schools and hospitals, hailed the decision as a victory.

“The court has correctly cut through the artificial construct which essentially made faith-based organizations other than churches and other houses of worship second-class citizens with second-class First Amendment protections,” Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said in a statement.

The Justice Department, which argued the case for the Obama administration, can appeal the decision. Lawyers for the department declined to comment.

A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed an amicus brief in support of the government regulations, said the regulations did not pose an undue burden on the groups. ACLU: defending big government since 1920.

“While religious liberty is fundamental, it does not give employers the right to impose their beliefs on employees by denying contraceptive coverage and discriminating against their women employees,” said Jennifer Lee, a lawyer with the group.

Good Guys Wear Black website under new management

(GGWB) - PRESS RELEASE: Fr. Anthony Perkins, Vocations Director of the UOC-USA, is the new webmaster of “Good Guys Wear Black”, the premier website on Orthodox Christian Vocations

Fr. John Peck, the creator of the "Good Guys Wear Black" (GGWB) website, recently turned the management of the site over to Fr. Anthony Perkins. Fr. Anthony is excited by this opportunity to help men discern their path;

“I was so honored and energized when Fr. John asked me to take over management of the site. I have interviewed him a couple of times on my podcast and he knows of my great love for vocations and my recent assignment as Director of Vocations for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. This is a perfect fit. Orthodoxy needs a website that anyone considering a vocation can go to for information and advice. This has long been that website. I send people here all the time. I can’t tell you how many men have told me how useful it has been for them as they find their way. Fr. John Peck did us all a great service in creating and running Good Guys Wear Black; I look forward to building on his wonderful work.”

Fr. Anthony’s vision for the website is the same as Fr. John’s;

“We need to connect with those who are discerning a call to serve the Holy Church as a deacon or priest and give them some objective direction, guidance, and consolation on their journey. We also need to provide a place where those who are looking to grow in their existing vocation can find resources to help them.”

His first plans are to publish a series of articles based on a talk he recently gave on “Vocations: Become the ‘I AM’ of Christ”. This is how he describes it;

“I am a retired Army Intelligence Warrant Officer. I had a specialized set of skills, but as with every soldier, I was a rifleman first. It is the same for vocations. The seminarian that has not learned humility, charity, and self-control may master specialized topics like rubrics and patristics, but he will be a danger to himself and those whom he is sent to serve should he ever be ordained. Basic Orthopraxis – to include prayer, fasting, repentance, tithing, and service – is critical to every vocation, from taper-bearer to Patriarch.”

He is also publishing a series on vocations in his OrthoAnalytika podcast. The first such episode was an interview with Fr. John on the subject! He plans on making those episodes and other useful podcasts and videos available at GGWB.

Fr. Anthony is the rector of St. Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Woonsocket (YouTube; Facebook), Rhode Island; a professor at St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary in South Bound Brook New Jersey; host of the OrthoAnalytika podcast and blog; and the Director of Vocations for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. He is a convert to Orthodoxy and a late vocation to the priesthood.

The underground church of Coober Pedy

(spc.rs) - About 800 kilometers north from Adelaide, in the state of South Australia, there is a unique monument, not only of Serbian but also of world culture and architecture. It is the church of Prophet Elijah, completely situated underground.

The Serbs who migrated to Coober Pedy, had a need for a spiritual, religious life. Our miners who were digging semi-precious stones, opal, dug one of the most beautiful pearls not only of the Serbian Orthodox, but also of the overall Christian culture. Since it is a desert area where temperatures reach above 40 degrees Celsius, our people found an unique and ingenious solution. They built a church underground, at the depth of 9 meters, 30 meters long. They have now a church, a church hall, a parish house and a church school – everything underground.

His Grace Bishop Irinej of Australia-New Zealand, in his statement to RTS, pointed out particularity of this church: “The Serbian Orthodox Church possesses the most unique Serbian church in the world - in Coober Pedy in South Australia… This is a most unique case because the church is literally underground.”

The Church of Saint Elijah the Prophet celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. The RTS correspondent from Australia Dragan Caran has announced a documentary on this unique cultural monument.

St. Boniface and the Christmass tree

(OCA-DOW) - “O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches!”

I first learned this familiar song as a child, but entirely in German. I learned it from my neighbors, who were German immigrants, and have loved all things connected with the German celebration of Christmas ever since.

Have you all put up your Christmas trees? Mine is in its bucket of water, waiting to go up. I hope that you have put yours up, or are planning to do so in the very near future. I love Christmas trees, and I'm always thrilled to hear or to see that people put one up during this advent season.

Some folks don't put up a Christmas tree. Some mistakenly think that this custom is derived from paganism, and is inappropriate for Christians. Others believe that it was something invented by Martin Luther, the German Protestant Reformer in the 16th century, and therefore not an Orthodox tradition. Still others imagine that a Christmas tree only makes sense if you have children and if you have presents to place beneath it. All of these explanations miss the mark. Do you know the origins of the Christmas tree? I'm sure many of you do. But in case you have forgotten, let me share with you a tale from the eighth century, a tale from the church's oral tradition, about St. Boniface, the martyr, born in Britain, who became the Apostle to the Germans.

According to the BBC in Devon, England, “The famous Devon Saint, St Boniface, was the creator of the very first Christmas tree. In the early part of the 8th century, St Boniface was sent into Germany as a missionary, with an aim of converting the pagans to Christianity...He worked tirelessly in the country destroying idols and pagan temples across Germany and building churches in their place. He was named Archbishop of Mainz and founded or restored the diocese of Bavaria.

It was on this trip, around the time of Winter Solstice, that he was said to have come across a group of pagans worshipping an old oak tree. Horrified by what he saw as blasphemy, the all-action St Boniface grabbed the nearest axe and hacked down the tree. As he did this he called to the pagans to see the power of his God over theirs. Pagan feelings were understandably mixed. However, Boniface's actions were obviously taken in good spirit, with some of the tales saying he converted the pagans on the spot, especially since a fir tree sprang up spontaneously in the oak's place. The fir was seen as an image of God and many believed its evergreen nature symbolised the everlasting love of the Maker.”

Well, the BBC gets it basically right, but with a decided weakness in the meaning of the tree. The evergreen nature of the tree stands for eternal life. This idea is confirmed by the use of such a tree in medieval “Paradise Plays.” According to Fr. Fracis Weiser, in his “Christmas Book,” the origin of Christmas trees in the home “goes back to the medieval German mystery plays. One of the most popular of these 'mysteries' was the Paradise Play, representing the creation of man, the sin of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Paradise. It usually closed with the consoling promise of the coming Savior and with a reference to His incarnation. This made the Paradise Play a favorite pageant for Advent, and its closing scenes used to lead directly into the story of Bethlehem.

'These plays were performed either in the open, or the large squares in front of churches, or inside the house of God. The garden of Eden was indicated by a fir tree hung with apples; it represented..the 'Tree of Life'...which stood in the center of Paradise. After the suppression of the mystery plays in churches, the Paradise tree, the only symbolic object of the play, found its way into the homes of the faithful, especially since many plays had interpreted it as a symbol of the coming Savior.”

So the Christmas tree is a venerable, and very Orthodox symbol of the theology of the incarnation. It reminds us of the Tree of Life planted in Paradise. It reminds us of Christ, who comes to us a a newborn Babe, Who is, Himself, the fulfillment of the promise of that Tree. It reminds us of Christ, Who by means of the Tree of the Cross, granted us access to forgiveness of sins and life eternal.

Tragedy on their wedding day

(Chicago Tribune) - William Riley Knight serenaded his new bride Nikki with a country tune, singing "Wherever you’re going, whenever you turn, remember this moment, remember these words."

"They made their own wedding vows and he sang to her and it was just beautiful. We just thought it was very sweet," a relative recalled, in a voice heavy with tears. "They were very much in love."

The wedding reception wound down close to midnight Saturday and the couple headed for a hotel, Nikki still wearing her white lace dress. Just outside Crown Point, Ind. they saw a car skid off the road in front of them and slide into the ditch.

It's cold, he told his wife, we should help.

Knight parked in a driveway and walked down the road while Nikki waited in the car, according to police and friends. As he helped the driver, Linda Darlington, a teacher, up the snowy embankment, they were both hit by three passing cars and were killed.

"He was a good Samaritan trying to help this woman in distress," said Patti Van Til, a spokeswoman for the Lake County, Ind. sheriff's office. "It's a very sad, tragic situation."

The accident happened along a dimly lit stretch of 109th Avenue near Lane Street, just below a rise in the road, and the drivers may have come upon the two suddenly, authorities said. The road was wet but not icy, Van Til said. Snow banks piled along the ditch by plow trucks may have forced Knight and Darlington closer to traffic.

"One of the first vehicles was coming eastbound and struck both individuals," said Lake County Sheriff John Bunich. "A car right behind them, the first vehicle, also struck the two, and unfortunately a third vehicle that was eastbound also struck the couple."

Read more »

Rare word #15: paramoni

This description from the blog Salvation's Beginning:

Paramoni – a noun which means steadfastness and endurance. In the Law Code of Justinian a derived noun, paramonarios, means a watchman. These nouns come from the verb parameno, which means to stand fast, to remain.

The word paramoni is not on the tip of the tongue of every Orthodox. If someone hears the word, he or she certainly files it away under “liturgical trivia”. Paramoni designates the day of preparation before a big feast; usually it is translated by the equally obscure forefeast.

And yet, in this simple word, we see the entire theology of our Feasts! The image (similar to the Latin equivalent vigil) is one of watching and waiting. We are on guard throughout the day, staying steadfast, watching out for the intrusion of the enemy. For the great Feasts of Pascha, Christmas and Theophany the Paramoni is a day of strict fast. In the early Church(where fasting was taken much more seriously than in our day because they understood the larger meaning) a day of strict fast meant not eating anything at all. A watchman is too busy guarding the city to eat! And then, the fast was broken in the evening by the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil and receiving HolyCommunion, the food of the Kingdom.

The Paramoni reminds us that we are not constantly celebrating, like the world begins celebrating Christmas the day after Hallowe’en. Our celebrations have a heavenly rhythm, anticipation and fulfillment. We are enticed by glimpses of the celebration; some weeks before we begin hearing the special hymn called the kontakion during the Small Entrance. If you attend Orthros, you may hear special hymns called Katavasiai some weeks before as well. As we get closer to the feast, the hymns become more insistent. On the day of the Paramoni we are almost celebrating. But there is still the sense of not yet. Not until the beautiful hymns of the Vespers of the Feast is our watching and endurance and labor rewarded with the fulfilment, with the celebration.

This rhythm of anticipation and fulfilment which we experience in the celebration of our feasts is a mirror of our present life. In the mystery of the Church we experience a foretaste of the Kingdom. In the Divine Liturgy we join in an icon of the heavenly Liturgy. In Holy Communion we have an anticipation of the eternal Banquet. We live a life of anticipation, and therefore a life of watching, of enduring, of keeping an eye on the walls of our lives so that the enemy cannot make an incursion and destroy our city before it reaches its final fulfilment. Our lives are a constant paramoni in preparation for that final and eternal celebration of the Kingdom of God.

St. Peter reminds us of the importance of the paramoni of our lives (1 Peter 5:8-9):

Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resis him, steadfast in your faith…

As we celebrate the Paramoni of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple today, let us keep a faithful watch in prayer and spiritual discipline. When all anticipation is disolved into fulfilment with the beginning of our celebration this evening at Vespers, we will experience a small part of our Lord’s promise that our joy will be filled.

60 Minutes: The Coptic Christians of Egypt

(60 Minutes) - The turmoil in Egypt has led to one of the worse persecutions of the country's Coptic Christians in the nearly 2,000-year history of the sect. Bob Simon reports from Egypt.

Snow at Catherine's Monastery, larger Middle East

CAIRO (LA Times) - Snow coated domes and minarets Friday as a record Middle East storm compounded the suffering of Syrian refugees, sent the Israeli army scrambling to dig out stranded motorists and gave Egyptians a rare glimpse of snow in their capital.

Nearly three feet of snow closed roads in and out of Jerusalem, which is set in high hills, and thousands in and around the city were left without power. Israeli soldiers and police rescued hundreds trapped in their cars by snow and ice. In the West Bank, the branches of olive trees groaned under the weight of snow.

In Cairo, where local news reports said the last recorded snowfall was more than 100 years ago, children in outlying districts capered in white-covered streets, and adults marveled at the sight, tweeting pictures of snow-dusted parks and squares. In other parts of the city, rain and hail rocketed down.

On social media, some joked that the snowfall was the mystical work of Gen. Abdel Fattah Sisi, the military strongman who is the focus of something of a cult of personality among his followers. Sisi led the coup five months ago against the highly unpopular but democratically elected Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.

Storm-driven waves lashed Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, and fishermen in the ancient port city of Alexandria were warned by authorities against putting out to sea. In the Sinai Peninsula, snow fell on Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine’s monastery at its foot. Sleet washed the dusty fronds of desert palm trees.

The inclement weather worsened the situation for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, where many live in makeshift camps, abandoned buildings and other temporary sites lacking heat and protection from the elements.

In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, many refugees were digging out snow from their provisional shelters amid subfreezing conditions. The situation is likely worse for multitudes of displaced people inside rebel-held and contested areas of Syria, where clashes and blockades by both sides in the country's civil war have severely hampered delivery of aid.

In Israel, where the storm was described as the heaviest December snowfall since 1953, thick clouds temporarily closed Ben-Gurion International Airport, causing the diversion of two international flights to Cyprus. Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, likened the storm to a snow tsunami.

Christianity & Freedom conference ongoing

The YouTube videos of the conference are here.

---

(aleteia) - From Cairo and Damascus to Tehran and Beijing, religious freedom is under siege. Ironically, it is Christianity—a faith that contributed decisively to the rise of religious liberty—that now finds itself increasingly persecuted around the world.

In view of this global crisis, the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University will host a two-day (December 13th and 14th) conference in Rome highlighting Christianity’s contributions to the understanding and practice of freedom for all people. The conference will present findings from a two-year study by dozens of scholars concerning Christianity’s contributions to freedom. This event is co-sponsored by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and is made possible by a generous grant from the Historical Society's Religion and Innovation in Human Affairs Program.

You will be able to watch the conference LIVE right here, so be sure to check back this Friday and Saturday! And be sure to join the conversation on Twitter at the hashtag #CAFRome.

For the conference's agenda, you can click on the following link here.

On reading this blog, the 2013 update

To make sure this blog is still on the right track - that it is topical and holds interest for readers - I do an annual review of the traffic this blog receives. Over a year has passed since the last review and this is the 5,000^th post, so I thought it a good time to do the annual statistical round-up. If you're interested, here's the data.

• Of traditional readers (people who visit the blog through normal web browsing) last year there were around 35,000 visitors for the month. The last full month (November) shows 55,000. Total visits since the beginning of the blog is around 1.6 million.
• Google Friend Connect has reached 272 - up from 220 readers last year.
• The number one referrer (after removing search engines from the mix) is my good friend at Ad Orientem.
• Although not much publicized, this blog has a Twitter feed with 913 followers, last year's total was 518.

Put together, the data would seem to report that this blog is faring rather well. I am, of course, always happy to receive comments, tweets, or emails on ways this blog could improve.

Coptic Bishop David of New York enthroned

(Syrian-EUS) - On Saturday December 7, 2013, His Eminence, Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim participated in the installation of His Grace, Bishop David as the first Bishop for the newly- formed Coptic Diocese of New York and New England. He was accompanied by the Very Rev. Father Gabriel Adde and Shamosho Esia Bahdi. During the ceremony, His Eminence congratulated His Grace on behalf of The Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese, as well as on behalf of the Standing Conference of the Oriental Orthodox Bishops in the United States. It was an uplifting spiritual gathering for Clergy and Parishioners to enjoy in this holy occasion, the love, concord and harmony among the churches, which the Lord Jesus Christ commanded His followers to have.

We wish His Grace, Bishop David, success in his new mission, asking God Almighty to give him His holy guidance, wisdom and good health.

Macedonian clergy Facebook ban under review

(ABC News) - Macedonia's Orthodox Church has backtracked from an initial ban on its clergy using Facebook, but says it will instead impose social networking restrictions.

The decision to prohibit use of the site in October sparked tensions between older Church dignitaries who don't use the Internet and the younger clergy.

Church officials at the time had said the ban was intended to prevent "new phenomena of confessions and intimate conversations with young people."

On Thursday, Bishop Clement, secretary of the Holy Synod, which governs Macedonia's Church, said officials would "clarify" how members of the clergy would be allowed to use Facebook. He did not offer further details.

About two-thirds of Macedonia's 2 million people are Orthodox Christians.

Catholic bishop calls Orthodox bishop's comments "insane"

It should be noted that Bishop Lukas has repeatedly stated that these words were not his.

---

(CWN) - A Greek Orthodox bishop’s exhortation to Syrian Christians to take up arms is “insane” and “reckless,” a Syrian Catholic prelate told the Fides news agency.

Bishop Lukas El Khoury, an auxiliary bishop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, had said that “every young Christian in a position to do so should take up arms to protect Syria, churches, and convents,” Fides reported. “We cannot remain with arms folded.”

“As men of the Church, we cannot incite Christians to take up arms and to take part in the conflict,” Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, the Syrian Catholic archbishop of Hassaké-Nisibi, said in response. “We cannot say these things, it is insane. It goes against the Gospel and the Christian doctrine … Reckless statements put Christians in danger of becoming targets of violence.”

In “the situation in which we find ourselves, every individual, even Christian, is free to make his own choices according to conscience,” Archbishop Hindo added. “Last year the government had offered me 700 Kalashnikovs to be distributed among the Christians of Hassaké, and a thousand for those of Qamishli, and I refused. We are against violence, from whatever side it comes.”

Council of Bishops of the UOC-USA prays for Ukraine

Seminarians from St. Sophia Seminary pray for Ukraine.

(UOC-USA) - The use of force, confrontation and violence will fail to resolve political issues!

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!

The events of the last several weeks and especially the last several days in the life of independent Ukraine have caused the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA to call upon the brothers and sisters in Ukraine to remain true to their aspirations to continue the development of true democratic society that has been under a severe threat. As you know from various media outlets, thousands of Ukrainian citizens have taken liberty to stand up for their beliefs by participating in protests-maydans throughout Ukraine and especially in the capital of Kyiv.

As we have stated in the past: throughout Ukraine’s history, millions of people have given their lives for freedom, dignity and human rights, in order to reclaim the right to peaceful demonstration as well as political and societal activity. We solemnly repeat - The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it cannot be silenced by the noise and uncertainties of those in leadership positions who choose to confuse and abuse by utilizing violence against the protestors. The use of force, confrontation and violence will fail to resolve political issues!

We call upon the leaders of Ukraine to address and immediately cease the violence against the protestors. The country's democratic future will depend on dialogue and the ability to listen to voice of Ukrainian citizens. It is essential that logic and calm prevail. No physical force will ever succeed in eliminating the free will and the voice of the citizenry! The authorities must respect the protestors who simply exercise their political and constitutional – and most importantly – God-Given rights to peacefully gather in protest and demonstration. All the leaders and citizens of the Ukrainian nation must, as Saint Paul reminds us, clothe themselves in “heartfelt mercy, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.” (Col. 3:12)

We direct the clergy and parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA to serve a special Moleben service following Divine Liturgy on Sunday, December 15, 2013, beseeching the Lord to shed light on those in darkness, so that they may comprehend the seriousness of the present moment. The future of Ukraine may very well be determined by the actions and words of both those in governmental positions and those protesting peacefully on the streets out of love for their nation. A dialogue must be established between all concerned so as to avoid a degradation of the situation into chaos and economic ruin.

Embracing the gift of freedom with you, our spiritual children here in the United States of America and with those in Ukraine and in the hope of moving forward, rather than backward in history, we beseech with awe and thanksgiving the Father of lights and every perfect gift, the Son of righteousness and the Spirit of truth to descend upon us all, embrace us, guiding and perfecting our every deed.

+Antony, Metropolitan
+Daniel, Bishop

P.S. We know that many of our faithful have expressed desire to offer monetary assistance to those on the streets of Kyiv and other cities. We encourage them to forward their contributions to the already established channels through Ukrainian Credit Unions and other community organizations.

Shuttered church in Sheppton getting new life

(Standard Speaker) - A shuttered church could get new life in Sheppton.

A Russian Orthodox Rite congregation in Mayfield bought an historic Russian Orthodox church in Sheppton that closed down years ago. They plan to make it usable sometime in the future for possibly a Russian Orthodox parish.

The church is located on West Market Street in Sheppton and, according to East Union Township resident John Biros, services haven't been conducted there in more than 20 years.

Biros said he and his wife, Ann, purchased the church with the intention of perhaps building a home on the property, but once inside something told him not to demolish the old church because it was so beautiful.

"It was not heated but it somehow withstood the elements after it went out of service and it was preserved," Biros said. "It was just amazing how beautiful it was inside."

Schuylkill County records indicate that Biros purchased the church in 1999 for $5,000 and sold it for $30,000 in 2003 to the Russian Orthodox Church in Mayfield.

Father John Sorochka of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Mayfield used those same words to describe what he saw when he went inside with then-owner John Biros. He had contacted Biros about his parish wanting to buy the church and was struck with how well preserved the church was after all the years had passed.

"We were very much surprised how beautiful the inside of the church was," Father Sorochka said.

The Russian Orthodox parish in Mayfield and some local volunteers intend to restore the church so that at least a service could be conducted in it from time to time, Father Sorochka said.

About five years ago, Father Sorochka 71, and a few of those volunteers put a new roof on the church to stop any rain or water from leaking into the structure and he said the outside needs a new coat of paint.

"The inside needs some cosmetic work but it is a very solid church," Father Sorochka said. "Outside the church looks rustic."

He noted that some paper print icons were found inside with "vibrant," original colors that are more than 100 years old.

"There is a chandelier missing but the altar is there and again it is surprisingly in good shape considering the years that have passed since a service was held inside it," he said.

Biros bought the church 14 years ago and his only stipulation in selling was that it remain a church, according to Father Sorochka. The parish didn't hesitate to buy it.

"Just from a historic aspect it is believed to be one of the first, if not the first Russian Orthodox Church in the area, its very important," Father Sorochka said. " The cornerstone of the church is marked 1891."

The county records indicate the church was officially built in 1894.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Mayfield has almost 800 parishioners and in two years St. John The Baptist will celebrate its 125th anniversary, Father Sorochka said. The congregation may look into having the Sheppton church added to the Schuylkill County Historical Register.

"Our position is that we want to get the Sheppton church in usable condition to where it can have a service once a month," Father Sorochka said. He added, "It's cost a few dollars, so far. The roof was most expensive and, you know, the cosmetic things, like the grass has to be cut and maintained each year."

Father Sorochka said if anyone would like to donate money toward getting the outside of the church painted they can contact St. John The Baptist Cathedral in Mayfield at 570-876-0730.

"Its part of the history of that town, so, for that reason alone in addition to the spiritual aspect," he said. "This is the actual motivation to restore a landmark church in Sheppton."

Orthodox Church of Czech Lands & Slovakia splits

Apologies for the machine translation.

---

(Portal-Credo) - DOCUMENT: official hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia split into two jurisdictions. Statement of Archbishop Simeon Brno-Olomouc Orthodox clergy and believers throughout the church community.

Warn the clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia about the fact that after today (09.12.2013) the Holy Synod, I was the only representative of our canonical Orthodox Church. The remaining members of the Holy Synod meeting today, unfortunately, acted in contradiction to the holy canons, which led to a confrontation with the current High Representative for our church and thus to exercise a split in the bosom of the Orthodox Church.

I am in a strong disorder of their actions and I dare say that this situation is not caused by me. Such a result would not and do not bear responsibility for it. Only wanted to solve problemmu vacant Prague archbishopric department in the sense that I was recently pronounced in two open Pastoral Epistles. Their content in the familiar church. Assume that the remaining members of the Synod decide to create an unfavorable situation and do not want to openly violated because the canonical and constitutional principles that led to the split.

I warn you that message during the last meeting of the Synod, which was posted on the Internet pages (http://pravoslavnacirkev.cz) contains false information.

I ask all our other clerics and all the Orthodox faithful of our Church to recognize the Archbishop stopped Rostislav, Archbishop and Bishop George Jehoiakim for Canonical Orthodox spiritual leaders, and closed to and supported only the canonical bishop of our church who, after today's events, I'm just. I'm sorry that the other members of the Synod have chosen the path of confrontation and division. I will make every effort to calm the current turbulent situation. Will go exclusively dear saint of the Orthodox tradition and canons of the holy fathers, and will ask for help from other Local Churches, primarily - the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Read more »

Update on Antioch-Jerusalem relations

(Notes from Arab Orthodoxy) - Apologies for this being the translation of a translation. The below is based on the French here, translated from a report on Amen.gr here. The text of Patriarch Theophilos' letter to Patriarch John can be read, in Greek, here.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem remains firm in its initial position regarding its ecclesial jurisdiction over Qatar but, according to some reports, it is proposing to the Patriarchate of Antioch-- which questions the Church of Jerusalem's rights over the diocese in question-- to form a special commission made up of scholars of canon law in order to study and document ecclesial jurisdiction in the region. The same sources mention that the Patriarchate of Antioch has already received a letter from the patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos, in which he responds to the arguments elaborated by the patriarch of Antioch, John, in his previous letter. Figures from the Church of Antioch in contact with the website Amen.gr call the Patriarchate of Jerusalem's expression of support for the Syrian people tried by the clashes of the Civil War a sign of brotherly love. Nevertheless, regarding the dispute that has arisen over Qater, they report that Jerusalem maintains its initial position and that its proposal to have the question discussed by a group of specialized scholars as part of the dialogue between the two churches has been reiterated. According to the same sources, the patriarch of Jerusalem, recalls in his letter his constant position regarding his canonical presence and pastoral activity in Qatar, as they were elaborated in a letter going back to March 2013. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem reiterates its disposition toward dialogue and negotiations that it showed in its willingness to participate in the four-way negotiations recently held in Athens under the auspices of Costas Tsiaras, at the time the Greek vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of representatives from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Antioch and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. As far as the Church of Antioch's warning about it suspending communion with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem if it does not leave Qatar, the patriarch of Jerusalem stresses in his letter to patriarch John of Antioch that that such an act would shatter the unity of the sister Churches and of all Orthodoxy.

Marking unmarried mothers with an expletive

(Moscow Times) - According to a member of the Tomsk diocese, the use of an expletive banned in the media is necessary to denounce women who have babies without being married.

A missionary from the Russian Orthodox Church has proposed "rehabilitating" a common Russian expletive and using it to refer to single mothers and unmarried women who live with their partner.

Maxim Stepanenko, a missionary from the Tomsk diocese, justified his use of the word by saying that it is cognate with an archaic word for "deception" or "adultery" that appears in a Church Slavonic translation of the New Testament.

The modern-day expletive can be translated as "harlot," though it is commonly used as an all-purpose irate interjection by many Russian speakers.

Stepanenko said that the expletive was necessary to denounce the women who have babies without being married and suggested bring it back into common usage.

"Alas, the old Russian word [expletive] and all of its derivatives have become indecent," he said in an article published on a website run by the diocese last week. "This, of course, was no accident. There are so many [expletive] around, and this word is scorching."

The original article was removed from the website on Wednesday, but can still be seen in a Google cache version (see here).

The government has been trying to boost birth rates by offering financial incentives to parents with two or more children, but Stepanenko said the country was doomed as long as children were being born out of wedlock.

Nearly one-third of babies born in the Tomsk region in 2012 were born by single mothers, he said, citing regional government figures.

"So many [expletive] in the Tomsk land!" Stepanenko said, referring to single mothers. "We have no future."

A law signed by President Vladimir Putin last spring prohibits the Russian media from using the word, along with several other crude expletives, in print or broadcasts, with violations punishable by a fine.

Please pray for the people of Ukraine

One Day in the Life of a Men's Monastery

Documentary about daily life of a Men's Monastery in Abkhazia.

Met. Philip's impassioned letter to President Obama

(Antiochian.org) - December 7, 2013

The President and Mrs. Obama; The White House; 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW; Washington D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President and Mrs. Obama,

Greetings and best wishes to you and to your two precious daughters in the spirit of this Holy Christmas season. I was honored to receive your invitation to attend a White House holiday reception on Friday, December 6th, 2013.

I remember fondly my attendance at the White House reception two years ago. The photograph which we took together on that auspicious occasion continues to adorn my office. Unfortunately Mr. President, I did not attend your holiday reception this year because while I do have the joy of Christmas, I do not have the peace of Christmas. This is the peace which the angels proclaimed on that Holy Night "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14). Although I am Lebanese by birth and a proud American citizen for the past fifty-seven years, I received my secondary education in the cities of Homs and Damascus, Syria.

Mr. President I do not have the peace of Christmas because there is no peace either in Lebanon or in Syria. During the time which I spent in Syria as a student and secretary to the late Patriarch Alexandros Tahan, I ate the bread of Syria, I drank the water of Syria, I breathed the air of Syria and I enjoyed the most generous hospitality of the Syrian people.

No Mr. President, I do not have the peace of Christmas while two of my brother archibishops Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim are still in captivity in northern Syria with no news since their abduction. Actually Mr. President, we do not know whether they are alive or dead. Two weeks ago, Mr. President, twelve of our Orthodox nuns were abducted from the convent of St. Thekla of Maaloula, Syria. These nuns are innocent women who care for some orphans in the convent. These peaceful women do not have arms and do not fight but pray for peace every day and night. I contacted the State Department and spoke to Ambassador Ford who promised me that he is doing everything possible to gain the release of the two abducted Archbishops and the nuns, but to no avail.

Recently a video appeared on Al-Jazeera network which reportedly showed the nuns and the Abbess of the convent, Mother Pelagia in captivity, and she said that they were living in a villa. What a mockery! If the abductors wanted the nuns to escape the bombardment of Maaloula, they could have sent them to the Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, which can accommodate one hundred nuns. We know the truth Mr. President. The truth is that the video was made under extreme psychological pressure, which these nuns are enduring every day. There is every reason to fear for their safety.

Finally Mr. President, anything that you can do as the leader of the free world to stop the bloodshed and destruction in Syria will be very deeply appreciated. May the peace of Christmas which this broken world does not understand dwell in your hearts and in the hearts of your family forever.

Sincerely yours,

Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba)

Primate

The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese

of North America

The largest statue of St. Nicholas is in Chukotka

Remembering Madiba in Pretoria

(Νυχθημερόν) - Sunday morning, Dec. 8, 2013, the Greek Community of Pretoria, at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, attended a Memorial Service for the great leader of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, who has already received the proper place in the pantheon of world history as a leading fighter for equality and fairness among people and, yet, as a staunch defender of the weak and disadvantaged Africans.

Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

McConlogue and Grand

(The Daily Saint) - Patrick McConlogue, 23, is a brilliant programmer who would pass by Leo Grand, a homeless man, every day on his way to work. Something about the man struck him, and one day on a whim, McConlogue offered Grand $100 no questions asked, or an old laptop, three books on coding and one hour of coding lessons every day for two months. Grand took Door Number Two.

That was a few months ago, and since then, people have been following the journey of the unexpected pair on their Facebook page called Journeyman.

Just this week, Grand appeared on the Today Show and CNN to discuss his new app called Trees for Cars, which matches people looking for rides with drivers in the area.

The opportunity has been a lifeline for Grand, a computer lover who said he’s been sleeping in shelters for two years since the rent at his former apartment shot up and he was evicted.

And Grand has proven to be an apt student under McConlogue’s teachings.

“The speed at which I’m going through these lessons is insane,’’ McConlogue told TODAY. “We barely cover things twice. His memory is really, really good.”

Grand, who is passionate about science and the environment, created the app in order to promote carpooling to combat global warming.

“All homeless people are mentally ill, lazy, unintelligent — that’s the stigma,’’ Grand said. “It doesn’t really matter [about] your living arrangements as long as you’ve got the mindset to do it and the will.”

“You give a man a fish, you feed him for a day,’’ McConlogue said. “You teach a man to fish, and you watch him change the world.”