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St Joseph the New of Partos the Metropolitan of Timishoara (Romania)

St Joseph the New of Partos the Metropolitan of Timishoara (Romania)
Commemorated on September 15 

Saint Joseph the New was born in 1568 at Raguza in Dalmatia, and was given the name Jacob at his Baptism. When he was very young, his father died, and he was raised by his mother. At the age of twelve, he was sent to Ochrid to be schooled.

The young Jacob was called to live the monastic life when he was fifteen, and entered the monastery of the Mother of God. After five years, he traveled to Mount Athos, and was tonsured at the Pantokrator Monastery with the new name of Joseph. He fulfilled his various obediences in an exemplary manner, becoming perfected in virtue and holiness. He attained unceasing prayer of the heart, receiving from God the gift of tears. He also performed many miracles, healing the sick and the crippled. Some of the monasteries of the Holy Mountain would send for him so that he could heal those monks who were afflicted with severe bodily suffering.

On July 20, 1650, at the age of eighty-two, St Joseph was elected as Metropolitan of Timishoara. He was a wise and good shepherd to his flock, healing their physical and spiritual illnesses. Once he extinguished a fire in the western part of Timishoara by his prayers, when God sent a heavy rainfall. Continuă să citești →

KIEV. Superior of the Holy Trinity St Jonah Monastery of Kyiv became Bishop of Obukhiv (ENGLISH, PHOTO)

KYIV. Superior of the Holy Trinity St Jonah Monastery of Kyiv became Bishop of
Obukhiv

On September 10, the commemoration of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv-Caves resting in the Far Caves, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

[slideshow]

Concelebrating to him was His Eminence Metropolitan Onuphrius of Chernivtsy and Bukovina, the archbishops: His Eminence Metrophanes of Bila Tserkva and Bohuslav, His Eminence Alxander of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyy and Vishneve (Secretary for the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church), the Bishops: His Grace Agapit of Severodontsk and Starobilsk, His Grace Iriney of Nizhyn and Pryluky, His Grace Ilariy of Makariv, His Grace Serafim of Yahotyn, His Grace Anthony of Alexandria and Svitlovodsk, His Grace Panteleimon of Vasylkiv, Hus  Grace Filaret of Drohobych. Continuă să citești →

From the Buddha to Christ — A Young Man’s Journey to the Ancient Christian Church

From the Buddha to Christ — A Young Man’s Journey to the Ancient Christian Church

Johan TrisanjayaJohan Trisanjaya

My name is Johan Trisanjaya. I am of Javanese ethnicity in Indonesia. I was born in 1982 in the village of Prigi in Central Java. I was raised in a Buddhist family; my father is a government servant and my mother is a house wife. Most people in our village are Muslim, but many adhere to Buddhism. As a Buddhist, I was so active that I was appointed as the President of the Buddhist Youth Association.

The essence of Buddhist teaching is “to love without limit”, where the law of deeds (“karma”) is emphasized, in which all our deeds in this life will bear fruit in our next reincarnation. The love is not limited to only humans either, but in loving plants and animals too, since they could have formerly been human. When you die with a good karma you will be born in the next body in a high state of being. When you die with bad karma, you will be born either in a lower status of life in society, or even as an animal or in the demonic realm.

As I was about to start high school my cousin, Fr Alexios, came to my village and told me to go with him to Solo and to go to school there. He had been a Buddhist before becoming an Or- thodox priest. I agreed. I felt that it was okay to be exposed to Christianity only for three years, because it would help to widen my horizon. I had always attended Church worship and gatherings, but I always sat at the back row since I felt guilty about being a Buddhist but praying as a Christian.

Finally, out of my confusion, I left Fr. Alexios’s house and returned back home for two weeks without even a leave of absence from school. During these two weeks, I lost all direction in my life and felt confused. I began to act in a mindless way. I started to do things that I have never done before to the surprise and embarrassment of my father since he is considered a pillar in society. Continuă să citești →

Father Seraphim Rose – Living the Orthodox Worldview

Father Seraphim Rose – Living the Orthodox Worldview 

«And the wife see that she reverence her husband»

«And the wife see that she reverence her husband»

«Ἡ δέ γυνή ἵνα φοβῆται τόν ἄνδρα»

A theological commentary on Ephesians 5:33

by Saint Nektarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis, 1902.

Regarding the true interpretation

Having familiarized the Ephesians with the mystical character of matrimony and teaching them that Matrimony is an important mystery, and having pointed out the analogy of the matrimonial bond to the union of Christ with the Church and appointing the man to be the head of the woman -according to the Holy Bible- in the analogy that Christ is the Head of the Church, and also having taught them that both man and woman -according to the Holy Bible- are one body and one spirit as members of the body of the Church (which is the Body of Christ, who loved us as His own flesh), the Apostle Paul recommends to each and every one of the men to love his own wife they way that Christ loved the Church. Continuă să citești →

Why Not “Open Communion”?

Why Not “Open Communion”?

Especially at the feast of Pascha (Easter) non-Orthodox Christians ask why they may not receive Holy Communion in Orthodox parishes. As painful as this refusal is, it is based on our understanding of the true meaning of the sacrament as revealed in Scripture and ecclesial experience.

A few months ago someone sent me a posting from an Internet site that spoke to the issue of communion among various Christian confessions. In answer to the question why a Protestant believer was refused the sacrament at Easter in her boyfriend’s Catholic parish, the writer declared that non-Catholics do not believe in “the presence of God’s body in the transubstantiated host.” Therefore, “they cannot take communion.”

Then the writer added: “There is just one exception to this rule. Orthodox Christians (such as Greek Orthodox Christians) may take communion in all Roman Catholic Churches. The reason for this is that Orthodox Christianity also teaches the actual presence of God in the host.”

This widespread understanding of the matter is not accurate and needs to be corrected on several counts, theological as well as pastoral. An entire tome could be written by way of explanation, but here are a few of the most important elements. In the next two columns we’ll explore some others. Continuă să citești →

Archiamandrite Justin Popovic – Condemned to Immortality: A meditation on the Resurrection

Condemned to Immortality: A meditation on the Resurrection

Archiamandrite Justin Popovic

People condemned God to death; with His Resurrection He condemned them to immortality. For striking Him, God returned embraces; for insults, blessings; for death, immortality. Never did men show more hate towards God than when they crucified Him; and God never showed His love towards people more than when He was resurrected. Mankind wanted to make God dead, but God, with His Resurrection, made people alive, the crucified God resurrected on the third day and thereby killed death ! There is no more death. Immortality is surrounding man and his entire world.

With the Resurrection of the God-Man, the nature of man is irreversibly led toward the road of immortality and man’s nature becomes destructive to death itself. For until the Resurrection of Christ, death was destructive for man; from the Resurrection of Christ, man’s nature becomes destructive in death. If man lives in the faith of the Resurrected God Man, he lives above death, he is unreachable for her; death is under man’s feet. Death where is thy sting? Hell, where is thy victory? And when a man who believes in Christ dies, he only leaves his body as his clothes, in which he will be dressed again on the Day of Last Judgement.

Before the Resurrection of the God-Man, death was the second nature of man; life was first and death was second. Man became accustomed to death as something natural. But after His Resurrection the Lord changed everything: and it was only natural until Christ’s Resurrection, that the people became mortal, so after Christ’s Resurrection it was natural that the people became immortal.

Through sin, man becomes mortal and temporal; with the Resurrection of the God-Man, he becomes immortal and eternal. In this lies the strength, in this lies the power, in this lies the might of Christ’s Resurrection. Without the Resurrection there is no Christianity. Among the miracles, this is the greatest one; all other miracles begin and end with it. From it sprouted the faith and the love and the hope and the prayer and the love toward God.

Source:www.orthodox.net

Synaxarion For the Sunday of the Holy Fathers

Synaxarion For the Sunday of the Holy Fathers

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SUNDAY of THE Holy Fathers

On this day, the seventh Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the First Ecumenical Synod, of the three hundred and eighteen God-bearing Fathers, which took place in Nicæa.

Verses

O ye light-bearing stars of the spiritual firmament,
Enlighten my mind with your rays.

Verses Against Arius

Calling the Son a stranger to the Father’s essence,
Arius proved to be a stranger to God’s glory. Continuă să citești →

Leavetaking of Pascha

Leavetaking of Pascha

Commemorated on June 1

On Wednesday of the sixth week of Pascha, we celebrate the Leavetaking of the Feast. While most Feasts have their Leavetaking on the eighth day, Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, has its Leavetaking on the thirty-ninth day. The fortieth day is the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension, which marks the end of the Lord’s physical presence on earth. He does not abandon us, however. He has promised to be with us always, even until the end of the age (MT 20:28). As we sing in the Kontakion for Ascension, „Thou didst ascend in glory, O Christ our God, not being parted from those who love Thee, but remaining with them and crying: I am with you and no one will be against you.” There is a similar thought expressed in the Troparion for the Dormition: „In falling asleep, you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos.”

The services today are celebrated just as on the day of Pascha itself. The daily readings from Holy Scripture, of course, will differ. After the Dismissal at Liturgy, the paschal hymns are no longer sung. The prayer „O Heavenly King” is not said or sung until Pentecost.The Winding Sheet (Plaschanitsa) is taken from the altar and is put in its proper place. Even though today is a Wednesday, fish, wine, and oil are permitted.

Today we also commemorate the Finding of the Icon of the Mother of God „Of the Meeting” in Kalamata in the Peloponnesus.

Source:OCA

Icon of the Mother of God „the Surety of sinners”

Icon of the Mother of God „the Surety of sinners”

Commemorated on May 29

The Icon of the Mother of God „Surety of Sinners” is known by this name because of the inscription on the icon: „I am the Surety of sinners for My Son Who has entrusted Me to hear them, and those who bring Me the joy of hearing them will receive eternal joy through Me.” The Mother of God embraces Her Child, Who holds Her right hand with both His hands so that Her thumb is in His right hand, and Her small finger in His left hand. This is the gesture of one who gives surety for another.

Although we do not know when or by whom the icon was originally painted, it is believed that the basis of the icon is to be found in the Akathist to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos: „Rejoice, You Who offer Your hands in surety for us to God.”
Continuă să citești →

Martyred Fathers and Mothers of Atchara

Martyred Fathers and Mothers of Atchara


Commemorated on May 29

Atchara has been a Christian stronghold since apostolic times. It was through this region that St. Andrew the First-called entered Georgia, preaching the Gospel for the first time in the Iberian land. On this land, in the village of Gonio, the holy relics of the martyred Apostle Matthias are buried.

Since the 16th century Atchara has been subject to constant assaults by the Turks. Having attained a victory in the Ottoman-Persian War, the Turks gained a large part of southern and western Georgia: Samtskhe, Atchara, and Chaneti were declared Turkish provinces. The invaders knew well that, in order to completely conquer the Georgian people, it was necessary to uproot Christianity. Thus they instituted a systematic campaign of forced conversion to Islam. Continuă să citești →

Do not lose courage…

Do not lose courage…

Vera Glazunova’s The Holy New Martyr Grand Princess Yelizaveta Fyodorovna (1997)

Is there anyone who has entered paradise by a different path, a path without temptations, whom we can imitate? No. All the saints passed through fire and water, through various temptations and afflictions, and they glorified God with their patience and received crowns of eternal glory!

Do not lose courage in the struggle; our Christ is invisibly standing by, observing the struggle of each one of us. Therefore, struggle patiently; call out the name of our Jesus, so that it may be implanted within your hearts and so that you may become rich in the grace of God. Continuă să citești →

A new church organization has created in Abkhazia

A new church organization has created in Abkhazia


Sukhumi, May 16, Interfax – An ecclesiastical congress has asked to set up a commission to discuss the status of an independent „Abkhaz Church”.

The congress, which took place at the New Athos Monastery in Abkhazia on Sunday, adopted an appeal to the Primates and Holy Synods of all Orthodox Churches, asking to set up an inter-Orthodox commission led by a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, to discuss the canonical status of the „Abkhaz Church”, an Interfax correspondent reported.

It was reported earlier that the ecclesiastical congress created an archdiocese with an arch-see in New Athos in Abkhazia on Sunday. The congress was convened by young Abkhaz priests at the New Athos Monastery cathedral. Continuă să citești →

Martyr Macarius the Archimandrite of Kanev and Pereyaslavl / ADUCEREA MOAŞTELOR CUVIOSULUI MUCENIC MACARIE, ARHIMANDRITUL DE CANEV ŞI PEREYASLAVL (ENGLISH)

Martyr Macarius the Archimandrite of Kanev and Pereyaslavl

Commemorated on May 13

The Relics of the Hieromartyr Macarius, Archimandrite of Kanev, were transferred on May 13, 1688 from Kanev to the city of Pereslavl because of the threat of enemy invasion. The main Feast commemorating St Macarius is on September 7.

The Hieromartyr Macarius of Kanev lived in the seventeenth century. This was a most terrible time for Orthodox Christians in western Rus. The constant struggles of the Hieromartyr, were an attempt to defend the Orthodox Faith under difficult conditions, when it was possible only to defend the future of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was preserved from the brusque passing of the hurricane of the Unia, endured together with Tatar incursions. Continuă să citești →

Can seven words—Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me—change lives?

Can seven words—Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me—change lives?

Christogram with Jesus Prayer in Romanian

Science studies the Jesus Prayer

It may seem a lot of effort over just seven words: Finding 110 Eastern Orthodox Christians, giving them a battery of tests ranging from psychology to theology to behavioral medicine, and then repeating the tests 30 days later. But the seven words—”Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” (a.k.a. the Jesus Prayer)—are among the most enduring in history. What Boston University psychologist George Stavros, Ph.D., wanted to find out was whether repeating the Jesus Prayer for ten minutes each day over the 30 days would affect these people’s relationship with God, their relationships with others, their faith maturity, and their “self-cohesion” (levels of depression, anxiety, hostility, and interpersonal sensitivity). In short, Stavros was asking whether the Jesus Prayer can play a special role in a person’s “journey to the heart.” Continuă să citești →