Byzantine Blog

Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2008

“Today all is filled with light,
heaven and earth and the lower regions;
therefore, let all creation celebrate the resurrection of Christ,
for in Him we are established.”

With these words of the great church hymnographer we congratulate you all on the Feast Day of Christ’s resurrection, and greet you, dear spiritual children, with the greeting,

Christ is Risen!

After Great and Holy Friday, the greatest tragedy of mankind, but also the glory of God when man became a merciless judge of God’s Love, when man judged and killed the God-Man Christ, when a lie, deceit, and delusion triumphed over the crucified Christ, when heaven and earth and the lower regions became ashamed because of the evil act of mankind, and when the darkness enwrapped everything – behold the Day of the Passover of the God-Man Christ from death to life, from the darkness of the tomb into the light of the Day.

Behold the Day above all days, the Time above all times, in which He has shattered the chains of sin, death, and the devil with which mankind and all of nature were imprisoned. Behold the day of our freedom and joy!

With the Resurrection of Christ, everything and all is filled with a new light of life, a light in which we are established. Therefore, let us rejoice and be glad in the Lord’s Pascha, the Feast Day of freedom and life. Those imprisoned by darkness most of all rejoice in the freedom of light.

With the Resurrection of Christ, the centuries old injustice brought upon man by sin and death has been conquered. The holy apostle Paul, overtaken by the resurrectional delight, victoriously asks: O death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory? They are no more! For the sting of death has been broken, and Hades has been emptied, and the prisoners of Hades have been freed.

The light of the world has shone forth from the tomb like the Sun, just as before the passion it had shone on Mount Tabor. Let all creation rejoice in the Resurrection of Christ, for through its might the weak and helpless become strong and powerful.

In the Resurrection of Christ the entire universe has been changed. This is why the Resurrection is a new creation of the world and a new birth of man, this time from the very Life which the Resurrected Christ bestows upon the world and man. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,” says the Lord of Himself.

Inflicting the Deepest Wound, Unbearable Pain and Suffering through Historic Injustice

[...] In these days of Paschal joy, in this time of divine mercy toward all and everybody, we cannot but remember the human injustice and violence of the mighty of this world inflicted upon our Kosovo and Metohija, our Serbia and the entire Serbian nation.

Kosovo and Metohija are an integral part of every Serb’s life, as every Serb is a part of Kosovo and Metohija. Knowing this, the creators of this historic injustice wanted to inflict the deepest possible wound, unbearable pain and suffering, the pain and suffering which directs us to the single, salvific suffering on Golgotha of our Lord. Kosovo and Metohija is not only a question of Serbian territory. Above all it is a question of our spiritual beings, because we were born, grew, lived and matured with Kosovo and Metohija as individuals and as a nation.

We have lived and died by the Kosovo testament: “The earthly kingdom is transient, while the heavenly kingdom is forever!” This is why the question of Kosovo and Metohija is so vitally, psychologically and anthropologically connected with every one of us. This is well known to the mighty of this world, and this is why they collectively wish to hurt and punish the Serbian Orthodox people; they wish to break and crush them in order to make out of us a defaced mass ready to fall down on our knees before them, surrendering to their will and manipulation. By submitting ourselves to Christ’s will and His teachings, we bring light upon their unlawful acts, their hypocrisy, similar in many ways to Pilate’s washing of hands in the blood of the Righteous One.

Having Kosovo and Metohija in our hearts and our unceasing care for our brothers and sisters and all those that suffer there, having a living Kosovo and Metohija within ourselves day and night, no one will take them away from us. The Homeland is the heart of man, says one poet. Within our hearts we have placed Kosovo and Metohija.

Call to All Orthodox Serbs: Fulfill the Kosovo Covenant!

We call upon all Orthodox Serbs to fulfill the Kosovo covenant in full, and that is the Holy Lazar’s testament. If we complete that covenant no one will take Kosovo and Metohija away from us, neither in this nor that age, just as no one could have taken Holy Jerusalem from the Jewish people. We call upon all of you, beginning with politicians and scholars down to the most humble and youngest sons and daughters of our Homeland, that with their work and honorable lives we be deserving of and preserve Kosovo and Metohija before God.

Let scholars with their scientific work defend Kosovo and Metohija; let artists with their creativeness express the beauty and the essence of our Kosovo and Metohija; let athletes vow their successes to Kosovo and Metohija; let every parent have Kosovo and Metohija be a first word to whisper in his newborn’s ears; let every farmer dedicate his first hour of labor to Kosovo and Metohija; let every worker dedicate his first hour of work to Kosovo and Metohija; let every politician dedicate his first political thought to Kosovo and Metohija, let every pastor offer his first prayer to God for Kosovo and Metohija!

This is the call to the unending battle that will be well pleasing to God, and our prayer will be heard by God, for we do not give the question of Kosovo and Metohija into the hands of deceiving people and their interests, but rather to God and His judgment.

If I Forget You, Kosovo...

Just as the Psalmist of old sings of the unjustly taken and destroyed Jerusalem, we too must sing in the spirit of the Kosovo covenant: If we forget you Kosovo, if we forget you Metohija, let then the right hand of the Lord forget me! Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not put forward Kosovo and Metohija as the beginning of my joy.

The Civilization Opposed to the Resurrected Christ

Dear spiritual children, we live in a hard and critical time of globalization, in a time of the abolishing of basic human rights: the right of man to life; the right of a baby to be born; the right of parents to raise and guide their children; the right of a mother to be a loving and caring mother of her children and a wife to her husband, the right of man to be a man!

A strange civilization of globalization is being created according to the measure of deformed moral values, that is, immorality, without the yeast which gives human life eternal meaning. Such a civilization which is in direct opposition to the Resurrected Christ and His Gospel cannot survive.

Being mindful of this, let us be wise and cautious when we approach this strange table of worldly offers and delights. Let us choose wisely only that which is worthy of Christ; let us choose that which is worthy of our calling and dignity. Let us refuse all that is of pseudo-civilization, distorted and inhuman, just as Christ refused all the offers of the Devil: if you bow down to me all this that you see will be yours! We know the true answer: It is written: serve only God, and to Him only bow down![...]

Christ Is Risen!
Indeed He Is Risen!

Kosovo, the Most Expensive Serbian Word

Matija Beckovic, Serbian Academy of Science and Art, in the speech given in Canberra, Australia in 1989 on the occasion of the celebration of 600th anniversary of Kosovo Battle.

Six centuries ago, nothing more important was occurring on the globe than the Battle on Kosovo Field. Today too, after 600 Vidovdans, nothing is more fateful for the destiny of the Serbian nation than the battle that still rages in Kosovo and for Kosovo.

The outcome of the Kosovo Battle is yet unknown—as the one before, so too this today. From the very start two realities and two truths are enduring. And they are not yielding to each other. As the time moves on, it is all the less known whether the Kosovo wound will sanctify or devour us.

Kosovo dawns every morning. Every day is one anniversary and one memorial service. Today too, just like there on Vidovdan of 1389 it shows "who's the faith, and who a treachery". It is as if the Serbian people are fighting only one battle, dying in the same war and in the same field, widening the Kosovo bone repository, "weeping to a weeping adds", joining the new martyrs to the Kosovo martyrs.

Kosovo has long since reached Jadovno [Ustasha slaughter house for Serbs in WWII], and it is a miracle that the whole Serbian land hasn’t assumed the name of Kosovo.

Kosovo is the most expensive Serbian word. It was paid by the blood of the whole nation. With that price in blood it became enthroned on the throne of the Serbian language. Without blood it couldn’t have been bought, without blood it couldn’t be sold.

Kosovo is the equator of the Serbian planet. The roof of the lower and the foundation of the upper world. Kosovo is a hearth that assembles, a pillar that congregates the Serbian people. Kosovo is the crossroads on which the Serbs found themselves and found their path.

Kosovo is the deepest wound, the longest remembrance, the most vivid memory, the most beloved ash – the spiritual cradle of the Serbian people.

Recommended: Christ is Risen!, Serbian group Stupovi (YouTube); Glory to You, O Lord, Serbian Easter song, by Stupovi (YouTube); "Kosovo" and "Vidovdan", from the humanitarian concert for Kosovo, organized by the Serbian Delije (YouTube); KOLO, commercial showing the preparation stages for folk dance performance by Serbian ensemble "Kolo" (YouTube); Serbian folklore dance (YouTube); Medley of Serbian Folk Dances, Ensemble "Lola" (YouTube); Moravac, Traditional Serbian folk dance

Next Year in Pristina!

Posted by BBlog Staff at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

St. Sava of Serbia
Enlightener and First Archbishop of the Serbs (+1235)

You were a guide to the way of life, a first hierarch and a teacher, you came and enlightened your homeland, O Sava, and gave it rebirth by the Holy Spirit. You planted your children like olive trees in the spiritual paradise. O, Equal to the Apostles and Saints, pray to Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.

Troparion, tone 3

The son of Stefan Nemanja, the great Serbian national leader, he was born in 1169. As a young man he yearned for the spiritual life, which led him to flee to the Holy Mountain, where he became a monk and with rare zeal followed all the ascetic practices. Nemanja followed his son's example and himself went to the Holy Mountain, where he lived and ended his days as the monk Simeon.

Sava obtained the independence of the Serbian Church from the Emperor and the Patriarch, and became its first archbishop. He, together with his father, built the monastery of Hilandar and after that many other monasteries, churches and schools throughout the land of Serbia. He traveled to the Holy Land on two occasions, on pilgrimage to the holy places there. He made peace among his brothers, who were in conflict over their rights, and also between the Serbs and their neighbors.

In creating the Serbian Church, he created the Serbian state and Serbian culture along with it. He brought peace to all the Balkan peoples, working for the good of all, for which he was venerated and loved by all on the Balkan peninsula. He gave a Christian soul to the people of Serbia, which survived the fall of the Serbian state.

He died in Trnovo in the reign of King Asen, being taken ill after the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Theophany in 1236. King Vladislav took his body to Mileseva, whence Sinan Pasha removed it, burning it at Vracar in Belgrade on April 27th, 1594.

Prologue from Ohrid, St. Bishop Nikolaj (of Zhicha)

Artist, Healer, Lawmaker, Writer and Builder

SAINT SAVA was involved "in many things and his foot walked everywhere and his steps were good; he touched many details, and every touch of his was like medicine; he thought about many things, and every of his views turned into Icon of Saint Sava magnificent work."

His artistic spirit can be found from Typics of Hilandar to his "Service to Saint Simeon till the Life of Nemanja". Service to Saint Simeon is by its nature poetry of the soul of Saint Sava. In that way, Saint Sava made an influence on artistic spirit of Serbian people. All writers of Sava's biography mentioned his closeness to art, and when they were describing his voluntary work in Serbia, on Holy Mountain, in Constantinople, in Thessaloníki and in Palestine.

Wherever he walked, he was not in contact with builders and painters only, but with scribes and their inspirations, as he was, while traveling, collecting the church artifacts and giving them as gifts to his hosts or monasteries in his country.

In Hilandar and Studenica, Saint Sava established hospitals and wrote rules for them; in that way, he was the first medical writer, health worker and health-rules maker. Serbian schools not just in Serbia, but abroad as well, accepted Saint Sava as their patron saint, and they celebrate him.

The legacy of St Sava lives on in the Orthodox Church traditions of the Slavic nations. He is associated with the introduction of the Jerusalem Typikon as the basis for Slavic Monastic Rules. The Serbian Hilandar monastery on Mt. Athos lives by the Typikon of St Sava to this day. Editions of The Rudder (a collection of church canons) of St Sava, with commentary by Alexis Aristines, are the most widely disseminated in the Russian Church. In 1270 the first copy of The Rudder of St Sava was sent from Bulgaria to Metropolitan Cyril of Kiev. From this was copied one of the most ancient of the Russian Rudders, the Ryazan Rudder of 1284. It in turn was the source for a printed Rudder published in 1653, and since that time often reprinted by the Russian Church. Such was the legacy of St Sava to the canonical treasury of Orthodoxy.

Posted by Svetlana at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bishop ARTEMIJE: Kosovo-Metohija Cannot Become “Independent”, Only Occupied

Interview Raska-Prizren Bishop ARTEMIJE gave to Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias. His Grace was interviewed by Carlos Santos Pereira.

After the failure of the troika led negotiations do you still see any hope of dialogue and any form of compromise solution between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo?

Yes, of course, on condition that there is a will on all three sides to find a solution which is based on compromise. This will has been lacking thus far and, consequently, no positive results could be achieved. The lion’s share of responsibility for the failure of “negotiations” to date must be laid at the door of the international community (US the EU) which had promised independence to the Kosovo and Metohija Albanians even before the beginning of any negotiations. Consequently, the Albanians were not willing to consider any compromise solution and kept insisting only on independence, which the Serbs could not, nor will ever be able to accept.

Serbia is Not For War, but For Defense of Her Entire Territory

We hear growing warnings of the danger of violence and even war in Kosovo. How would you evaluate the potential of violence in Kosovo in the coming days and weeks? Do you believe the eventual secession of Serb Mitrovica could ignite the situation in Kosovo?

Everything that might happen in Kosovo and Metohija in the coming days and weeks, including the escalation of violence, will depend on the international community (US and EU), just as everything that has been happening here in the past eight years did.

Too put it simply, Kosovo Albanians are waiting for the “green light” from their masters in the West. You have mentioned “even war" in Kosovo. We can say with certainty that Serbia is not for war, but she is for the defense of her territory, of her rights, as these are recognized in international documents, and for the defense of the sovereignty of her entire territory, regardless who threatens it.

Is there anything strange in this? Which country in the world would act differently if someone tried to rob her of part of its territory?

There is something unclear in your question about “a possible secession of Srpska Mitrovica,” as you say. Secession from what? The question is meaningless. In view of the fact that the whole Province of Kosovo and Metohija, not only Srpska Mitrovica, belongs to Serbia. Consequently, any “situation” and instability in Kosovo and Metohija and in the entire region can be initiated only by the Muslim Albanian elements from Kosovo and Metohija and elsewhere and by their western mentors.

Muslim Albanians were Always Using Foreign Powers to Persecute Serbs and Other Non-Albanians

You have been campaigning since long for a dialogue and a different approach to the Kosovo question and for a true dialogue between Serbs and Albanians. Did you ever perceived any hint of a possible positive answer from the Albanian side? And from the ‘international community’?

Unfortunately, no. From certain individuals in the international community? Yes. But they are not decision-making factors.

Belgrade (and mainly Milosevic’s) policy in Kosovo over the years have been very much blamed for Kosovo tragedy. But officials in Belgrade repeat that whenever Kosovo was given a substantial autonomy the result was always abuse of power, discrimination of non Albanians and feeding separatist aims. Looking back, how would you evaluate the last, say, 25 years in Kosovo? Could it have been different?

We do not assess last 25 years in Kosovo. We view them as we view last five centuries. It has always been the same! Every foreign occupation, be it on the part of the Turks, the Italians, or NATO, and every encouragement from the powers that be, as for instance from communist authorities in the past 50 years, Muslim Albanians have used to persecute Christian Serbs and other non-Albanians, such as Romany, Aškali, Egyptians, Gorani and others. Our history is replete with examples of it. This was particularly true during the world wars in the 20th century. However, this persecution was never as ferocious as in the past nine years under the UN Protectorate. There are innumerable examples testifying to this fact. Of course, the course of events could have been different, but it did not depend on us.

There is No “Kosovo Problem”, Only a Question of Albanian Minority in Serbia

Violent dissolution of Yugoslavia was a paramount case of an avoidable war. And what about Kosovo? Do you have the feeling that at some point, somewhere, there was some crucial opportunity lost?

Yugoslavia was created in 1918 by the will of great western powers, and it was dismantled in 1991 again by their wishes. Both the creation and the destruction of this entity were done to satisfy western interests. The price of this exercise was paid mostly by the Serbian people. And now your question is “What about Kosovo?” The question, or the problem, of Kosovo does not exist. Kosovo is where it has been since the 12th century—within the body of the Serbian state. All international agreements, charters, resolutions bear witness to that fact.

The problem is the question of the Albanian minority in Serbia, the minority which is supported by foreign powers, not out of love but for their own purposes, and again to the detriment of the Serbian people. The remedy for this “problem” lies in the international law. Neither more nor less.

Serbs Demonized for So Long, they Dare Not Raise their Voices

Few would doubt Krajina was abandoned (some say ‘betrayed’) by Belgrade leadership. Do you have the same feeling about Kosovo?

Yes, it would seem to me that the scriptwriters are the same, and they are the western powers. The same actors played key roles in the Serbian Krajina, in Bosnia and Herzegovina and also in Kosovo and Metohija. Unfortunately, Belgrade was frequently manipulated and therefore contributed to it.

Once the future status of Kosovo is being discussed it would seem logical, in the name of the same historic, political and humanitarian principles, to raise the question of Krajina. But what we see is an absolute silence – even from the Serbian side. Do you see any explanation for this silence?

It is clear that we are dealing here with the double standards of the international community which considers only its own interests. This “silence” even from the Serbian side is difficult to explain. Perhaps the reason is that the Serbian people have been demonized for so long that it has now become the “designated culprit” for all crimes committed on the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and dare not raise its voice even when it is in the right.

Kosovo-Metohija Serbs are not Merely “Leaving” — They are being Systematically Ethnically Cleansed

Serbs in Kosovo often accuse KFOR troops of not doing enough to protect them – and even of a certain degree complicity in the ethnic cleansing of the territory in the first years after NATO occupation. Would you share this perception?

Unfortunately, I cannot disagree with the facts which confirm the validity of this perception and have done so for the past eight years. Evidence cannot be denied.

Serbs have all the reasons to fear for their future in an independent Kosovo. But if the remaining Serb population leaves the province Kosovo will be probably lost forever. How do you see this dilemma?

The question is not about the Serbian population “leaving” Kosovo. The question is about the persecution of the Serbs and about the completion of the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo which can happen only with the permission of the high and mighty of the West. We see it as a possible new crime against Kosovo and Metohija for which the West will be solely responsible before God and before history.

Western “Guarantees” the Peak of Cynicism

Looking to the recent past, how would you evaluate the ‘guarantees’ both Albanian leadership and ‘international community’ are offering to the remaining Serb population in an eventually independent Kosovo? Which are the minimum security conditions to convince the Serbs not to leave?

We assess and perceive these “guarantees” as the peak of cynicism. We do so based on the experience we have had with the promises and guarantees given in the course of past eight years, none of which have been fulfilled. We believe that the Serbs will stay and subsist in their homes, as they have done through the centuries, but they will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, nor will they accept it.

Some fear an eventual Kosovo independence will have devastating effects on the stability of neighboring areas like Macedonia, eventually Montenegro or even part of Serbia (Presevo, in particular) How would you evaluate this danger?

We see it as a real danger. That conflagration could easily reach another 10-15 regions in many countries of Europe and beyond.

Kosovo Province will Never Become Albanian State

Church has been an important stronghold of Serb identity in Kosovo. How do you see the future of Orthodox Church in the province becomes an independent Albanian state?

Normally I do not answer hypothetical questions. Kosovo and Metohija will never become an Albanian state. Kosovo may be under a sort of occupation for a time. Haven’t we seen quite a few of those in our history? The Serbian Orthodox Church will remain with her people, as she has been with it throughout our past.

Eventual Kosovo independence will not erase centuries of history in Kosovo. Looking from the Serb side, do you still see any hope for the future?

Our hope is in God and in God’s justice. Or in the words of the great Serbian poet Njegoš:
“It is not right to hope in anyone
Except in God and oneself alone.”

Posted by Svetlana at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Nativity Encyclical 2007

Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Christmas, 2007

PAVLE

By the Grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Christmas greeting:

Peace from God — Christ is Born!

"...Today Bethlehem receives Him Who is
co-enthroned with the Father,
Today angels marvelously praise
the New Born Child exclaiming:
Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth;
good will among men."

“Do Not be Afraid!”

The Church, in her daily supplications, dear spiritual children, prays first of all for the PEACE FROM ABOVE. We don't pray for some undefined peace from an unknown world; rather we pray for the PEACE which was brought and given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." (John 14:27) Here at the beginning of the celebration of the most joyous Feast Day of the Nativity of the Son of God, our Lord, Jesus Christ, we start with prayers for the PEACE FROM ABOVE. We send to you the message of the heavenly PEACE which we hope enters your into your hearts and your souls and into your lives, as on that blessed night of the Nativity of the Emanuel it entered the hearts and souls of the shepherds of Bethlehem. To have God's peace means having peace with God, with our brother and our fellow man, and with God's entire creation. This is the privilege bestowed upon holy Christians. Even when the waves of this restless world threaten to drown and destroy everything, as is the case in our time, we remain calm and serene, filled with grace and divine peace, because we know that He Who encourages Christians of all times is faithful: DO NOT BE AFRAID! And He adds "...I am always with you even unto the end of age." (Matthew 28:20)

Christ is Emanuel — God With Us

In the divine peace between God and the Most Holy Theotokos fulfilled in the mystery of the Annunciation, the Only-begotten Son of God was conceived as the Peace and Love of God and He was born in the quietness of Bethlehem's cave. The Most Holy Theotokos received the salutation of PEACE - "Rejoice, o blessed one!" (Luke 1:28) uttered to her by the angel of God and, accepting that peace from God, she responded: "...Here is the maiden of God - let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) This actually was the will of God: that she who found favor before God would become the birth-giver of God, for she give birth to God Incarnate - The Messiah and Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ.

With the greeting: "Christ is Born!" we believe and confess that Christ - God's anointed One - was born in Bethlehem of Judea, according to the will of God! We not only believe but also know from our experience and we confess that CHRIST IS EMANUEL, which means GOD WITH US! So that GOD WOULD TRULY BE WITH US let us open and cleanse our hearts so that they may become His dwelling place.

May our hearts today become a new Bethlehem, a new manger for Him Who is the uncontainable; a grace filled organ in which the birth of God's Love in Bethlehem will find its permanent abode. So, today and during these joyous Feast days, let us be hosts to our Lord. Let us receive and greet Him into our homes, receiving the least ones as Himself, without distinguishing who is who. In our churches let us celebrate Him in a way which is worthy and which befits Him. Let us keep Him as the life of our life, as the light of our being. Let all that which is ours and only human in us be submitted forever to God's will, so that we may say, as did the Most Holy Theotokos: Lord, here is your servant or handmaiden, let it be with me and in me according to your will.

Why do we say this? Because from year to year around the Feast Day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that which is human is being more and more emphasized, and that which is divine is emphasized less and less. Truly we are endangered by commercial and folklore celebrations and commemorations that suppress the true essence of the Feast. If we reduce the meaning of the Feast to simply keeping our customs, our hearts will remain submerged in our individual restlessness and in the worldly tempests, and they will continue to be far away from the Lord, far away from the Divine Child Christ. Our hearts and our life are created for the Lord. Only with hearts and souls filled with God's peace will we be able to celebrate Christ the Divine Child with the song: "Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men!" Christ's birth is, above all, the act of God's love, which is fully and completely revealed in the incarnate and born Christ Jesus. St. John the Theologian attests to this mystery of God's love with the following words:"...God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

“The Old has Passed Away, Behold, Everything has Become New”

The birth of Christ is a historic event - an event which took place in a concrete historical time and a particular geographical place. He was born during the reign of the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus and during the census of the people which he ordered. Christ was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who at the time ruled Judea. He was born in Bethlehem of Judea. His birth did not go unnoticed in Judea and the great Roman Empire, especially in the regions of the Middle East. First the angels gave witness to Bethlehem's shepherds, who then went out glorifying and praising God, making "...known all they had been told concerning this child." (Luke 2:17) Their witness quickly spread throughout Judea and Jerusalem "and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them." (Luke 2:18) The news about this also reached King Herod who cruelly had ruled the tribes of Israel. Even though he at first belittled the stories and narratives of the people subjugated to him, his heart was shaken only when from the East the wise men had arrived and had inquired about the Judean King with the question: "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him." (Matthew 2:2) This question greatly disturbed a crafty Herod, and the essence of this posed question has become a divider of time into old and new, of the time of foretelling and foreshadowing and the time of the fulfillment of the same. Elevated by this mystery the Holy Apostle Paul exclaims: "the old has passed away, behold, everything has become new." (II Cor. 5:17) In the newborn God-Man Christ "all has become new", but above all we are reborn in Him and by Him - with the synergy of God and man, that is synergy of the Creator and created, we have become "A NEW CREATION". This not in a mythological way, as some would interpret; rather we truly, essentially, and completely have become a new divine-human creation.

Be the salt of the Earth, the Light to the World

Sadly, because of the lessening of the Christian love and virtues in the world, we daily hear of and see instability, clashes and great human tragedies and natural disasters. Seeing this and hearing about it many ask: "Aren't these the latter days of the world? Aren't these the times of the fulfillment of the words of our Lord about signs of the end times and of the second coming of Christ?" People have reason to ask this and to fear. But it would be much better if we would become more filled with the fear of God, so that we might become wise stewards of the inheritance God has given us in this world instead of unwise, and that instead of constant perverters of this world we become the salt of the earth, the light to the world, the way and gate through which the world will be saved. The reason for all of these tragic events is the broken peace between God and man on one side, and the broken equilibrium between man and nature, on the other.

Pseudo-Peacemakers Trying to Replace the Peace from God

In this tumultuous world a various initiatives for peace are being made by individuals, groups and organizations. Yet despite this, peace in the world is not on the horizon. Why? Because the PEACE FROM GOD is being rejected and man's peace is trying to replace it - a peace of passion-controlled men which, instead of bringing peace, inflames restlessness. To make the paradox complete, even the creators of wars in the world and on our own soil, shamelessly try to deceive the world with their so called "peace initiatives." Actually, these are pseudo-peaceful intentions that serve to deceive the world. What is important to them is a peace with interest, a peace from which these "peacemakers" will gain political interests and material profit.

Serbian Spiritual Bethlehem — Kosovo and Metohija — Cannot be Pried Away

Today we especially greet our brothers and sisters in Kosovo and Metohija and we pray to the Divine Child Christ that He protects and strengthens them in carrying of the cross that has been laid upon their weak shoulders by the mighty of this world. As in previous years, we this year also share in sadness and concern because of the events in Kosovo and Metohija - our holy land - the heart and souls of the Serbian people and our spiritual Bethlehem and the cradle of our culture. Behold, the mighty ones of this world are today casting lots for our holy land of St. Lazarus and shamefully offend our feelings and our dignity. In the name of their interests in the Balkans and Europe, and trampling upon all the norms of international law upon which today's world rests, they want to take away from the Serbian people their cradle, their soul and heart, which will forever remain in Kosovo and Metohija. May all those who continue to break all norms of God's and human justice, and above all the rights of the Serbian people for their Homeland's cradle, pause and rethink about this fact.

Those who Suffer Humiliation Just for Being Serbian

In this festive spirit and joy let us not forget our brothers and sisters exiled from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo and Metohija. We appeal to all government officials in Serbia and Montenegro to provide a normal and decent life, doing everything that is possible for their safe return and the return of their personal property. We especially appeal to all of you dear brothers and sisters that you share this Holy Day with all those exiled. Let us remember today all of those who have remained on their homesteads and those who have returned to their burned homesteads. We know and see that they suffer daily discrimination and humiliation, just because they are Serbian and because they found the strength and courage to return and remain on their homesteads.

Croat and Bosnian Governments to Allow Return of Expelled Serbs

We appeal to government officials in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina that they show good will in solving the pressing problems of their exiled citizens of both Serbian and other nationalities. We call upon everybody to respect the basic human rights, national and religious rights of our and other peoples, all the rights guaranteed by all international conventions. That they equally - no more nor less - respect our Serbian Orthodox people, who throughout the long history of their existence and through their contributions in the aforementioned countries have left an indelible seal on the culture and history of these countries, with whom they share a centuries-old history. We have always and everywhere in love and cooperation with others created a culture of peace and love. In the spirit of that Divine peace and love, tolerance and esteem, let us renew torn down bridges among the people of good will. Let us reject disturbers of the peace, regardless of who they are. Let us have peace, love and good will with all.

Choose the Road which Leads to Eternal Life

We greet our young people - our children and youth. We unceasingly offer our prayers to the Lord, dear children and youth, for your protection from all the contagious temptations of our time: drugs, alcohol, and other vices. Knowing that the world remains for the young, we wish that you, in maturing and becoming our inheritors, will arm yourselves with virtues and good, so that you may defend yourselves from all temptations that the world offers and imposes upon you. In the hardest moments of your life remember the temptations suffered by our Lord Jesus Christ. Call upon Him for help and He surely will help you. A deliberate program of imposing pseudo-culture and succumbing to it poses a particular danger. Life's roads have their crossroads. It is up to you to choose the direction which leads to life eternal, at which end you will not have sorrow, but joy with all of our holy ancestors.

Find Your Homeland, Your Childhood Joy and Mother’s Freshly Baked Bread in Celebrating Christmas

We are also mindful of our dear children in the Diaspora - in America, Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia, who live far away from their ancient homesteads, holy places and cemeteries. Even though you under historical circumstances and misfortune have been forced to live in the Diaspora worldwide, don't forget that in celebrating Christmas you will find your homeland, your childhood joy, and mother's freshly baked bread. Remember your old churches and holy monasteries and teach your descendants to do the same. Safeguard the unity of our church as you would the pupil of your own eye. Gather around your bishops as children around their parents; gather and agree in good, virtues and glorifying God. Today Christ the Divine Child gathers us in our holy churches to exchange the greeting "God's Peace" with one another, to unify, to become Christ-like and to increase, God willing!

May the light of Bethlehem's cave shine upon all the people and all the nations of the world, granting the Peace from Above to all and to everybody.

Greeting you all, dear spiritual children, we once again call upon you all and all people of good will to celebrate the Feast Day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in peace, joy, and a spiritual disposition.

PEACE FROM GOD—CHRIST IS BORN!

And may you have a blessed New Year!

Given at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade, at Christmas, 2007.

Posted by Svetlana at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Vidovdan: We Shall Neither Yield, Nor Submit

“Whoever keeps his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew, 10:39)

Some 60 years after the Battle of Kosovo, Constantinople fell, the capital of Eastern Christianity. The Christian emperor, of Serbian blood and origin by one of his parents, was killed. It could be said that that disaster was like Kosovo. And it might also be said that it was an event even greater than Kosovo. God forbid!

In the field of Kosovo the Christian army marched toward death, while in Constantinople they remained in the town hoping to the last moment that death would somehow turn its back on them. When the first cannonballs in history penetrated the city ramparts, terror ensued so that both the army and the citizens were panic-stricken. All the churches were filled with crying and prayer to God for the salvation of the city, that is for the salvation of their bodies and for the salvation of the state and the earthly kingdom. That is why the Greeks recorded the fall of Constantinople as night and not as day, as destruction and not as victory. It is true that it was a battle between the cross and the crescent, but without an oepos and without any inspiration for future generations.

For a defeat understood only as defeat cannot arouse anybody’s enthusiasm. Nor can Golgotha itself without the Resurrection inspire and strengthen anybody.

The Serbian Kosovo is a totally different matter.

Marching Into Eternal Glory

As the dead are dressed in new and expensive clothes, so was the Serbian army dressed in its best robes. The glowing procession hurried from all the borders of the empire onto honor and glory, to the field of Kosovo. Shaded with cross-shaped banners and the icons of their family saints (slava), singing and cheering, singing and playing musical instruments, with song and joy, the army rushed toward its execution. Does not that remind us of the first groups of Christians who in such a mood went under the sword or to the fire or before the beasts?

Not a single Christian martyr is known to have prayed to God to save him from his approaching death, while thousands and thousands are known to have prayed not to be spared from a martyr’s death. Neither did Lazar’s army hold prayers for salvation from death. On the contrary, it confessed its sins and took Communion in preparation for death. An entire people as one Christian martyr, obedient to the thoughtful will of the Almighty, accepted the bitterness of death, and that not as bitterness but as a life-giving force.

And has not Kosovo right up to the present day, indeed, served as a vital force to dozens of generations?

Kosovo is Our Golgotha and Our Resurrection

In the history of the Christian peoples there is not another case of one entire army, an entire nation being imbued by the wish to die in order to meet death for the sake of its religion. This was not to meet a suicidal but a heroic death. Kosovo is unique in the 20 centuries old history of the Christian world. Those are mistaken who say that Kosovo stopped the wheel of our history and held us back. If it had not been for Kosovo, we would have been a great nation today! It was Kosovo that made us a great nation. It is our Golgotha; but it is at the same time our spiritual and moral resurrection.

Still, the holy body of Lazar, imbued with Heavenly power, lies whole even today curing all human disabilities. The bodies of the other knights of the cross were not lost, although they remained on the battlefield. Their bodies were sanctified by their holy souls, and the entire land of Kosovo was dedicated by their holy bodies. Thenceforth Kosovo became the campo santo, the Holy Field.

Vidovdan, Serbian Greatest Slava

That is why the Serbs, even those living in America, come and take a handful or a bag of soil from the holy field of Kosovo to carry it and keep it as a sacred relic in their places of worship and their homes, as is done from the tomb of St. Dimitrije in Salonika or the graves of other Christian martyrs. Kosovo is the greatest tomb of Christian martyrs killed in a single day. No other of such magnitude is known to us. And celebrating the deathday of their saint, the whole Serbian people honor and commemorate St. Vitus’ Day (Vidovdan). He who honors the holy martyrs, such as the archdeacon Stefan or Djordje or Dimitrije or Teodor or Trifun or Good Friday and Easter Sunday or Ss. Petar and Paul, does not honor the defeated but the victor; neither does he honor the dead but the living.

Therefore, by celebrating the great martyrdom of the Kosovo martyrs, we do not celebrate the defeated ones but the victors, not the dead but those who are alive. Vidovdan is the greatest Slava of the Serbian people. It is day and not night - it is the Day.

Holy Bishop Nikolai

Heavenly Kingdom is Forever

The book itself preached to the Tsar:
“Tsar Lazar of noble ancestry!
Which kingdom will you choose?
Will you choose the earthly kingdom?
Or will you choose the heavenly kingdom?

If you choose the earthly kingdom ...
All the Turkish host will perish.
If you choose the heavenly kingdom ...
All your army will perish,
And you, O Prince, will die with them.”

After the Tsar heard these words,
He pondered all sorts of thoughts:
“Dear God, what shall I do and how shall I?
Which kingdom shall I choose?

Shall I choose the earthly kingdom?
Or shall I choose the heavenly kingdom?
The earthly kingdom lasts only a brief time,
But the heavenly kingdom always and forever.”

So the Tsar chose the heavenly kingdom ...
Then the Turks mounted their attack against Lazar.

And the Serbian Prince Lazar perished,
Together with his entire army,
Seventy-seven thousand in number,
And all was holy and honorable
And acceptable to gracious God ...

From the epic cycle of Kosovo

Oj, Kosovo, Kosovo sang by the Serbian children from Kosovo-Metohija province, live.

Oil painting (top) by Nebojsa Djuranovic (Serbia); St. Tzar Lazar 14th century fresco from Ravanica Monastery, Serbia

Posted by Svetlana at 02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Descent of the Holy Spirit: Birthday of The Church

“When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed as resting upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit...” (Acts 2:1-4).

The Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his disciples came on the day of Pentecost (Jn 14:26, 15:26; Lk 24:49; Acts 1:5). The apostles received “the power from on high,” and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the risen Christ, the King and the Lord. This moment has traditionally been called the birthday of the Church.

Day of the Holy Trinity

In the liturgical services of the Feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit is celebrated together with the full revelation of the divine Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fullness of the Godhead is manifested with the Spirit’s coming to man, and the Church hymns celebrate this manifestation as the final act of God’s Self-disclosure and Self-donation to the world of His creation. For this reason Pentecost Sunday is also called Trinity Day in the Orthodox tradition. Often on this day the icon of the Holy Trinity — particularly that of the three angelic figures who appeared to Abraham, the forefather of the Christian faith — is placed in the center of the church. This icon is used with the traditional pentecostal icon which shows the tongues of fire hovering over the Twelve Apostles, the original prototype of the Church, who are sitting in unity surrounding a symbolic image of “cosmos,” the world.

On Pentecost we have the final fulfillment of the Christ’s Mission and the first beginning of the messianic age of the Kingdom of God mystically present in this world in the Church of the Messiah. For this reason the fiftieth day stands as the beginning of the era which is beyond the limitations of this world, fifty being that number which stands for eternal and heavenly fulfillment in Jewish and Christian mystical piety: seven times seven, plus one.

Pentecost Has Happened to Us

Thus, Pentecost is called an apocalyptic day, which means the day of final revelation. It is also called an eschatological day, which means the day of the final and perfect end (in Greek eschaton means the end). For when the Messiah comes and the Lord’s Day is at hand, the “last days” are inaugurated in which “God declares: ... I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” This is the ancient prophecy to which the Apostle Peter refers in the first sermon of the Christian Church which was preached on the first Sunday of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1 7; Joel 2: 28-32).

The feast of Pentecost is not simply the celebration of an event which took place centuries ago. It is the celebration of what must happen and does happen to us in the Church today. We all have died and risen with the Messiah-King, and we all have received his Most Holy Spirit. We are the “temples of the Holy Spirit.” God’s Spirit dwells in us (Rom 8; 1 Cor 2-3, 12; 2 Cor 3; Gal 5; Eph 2-3). We, by our own membership in the Church, have received “the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit” in the sacrament of chrismation. Pentecost has happened to us.

Posted by Svetlana at 05:52 PM | Permalink

Archaeologists Discover 4th Century Church in Serbia

Belgrade archaeologists working in central Serbia have discovered a 4th century Christian church near the city of Nis. “It’s an exceptional discovery,” said Gordana Jeremic, the lead archaeologist at the Mediana site.

The Mediana locality is the site of imperial estate of Constantine the Great, Byzantine emperor and the founder of the city of Constantinople named after him, who was born in Serbian city of Nis (Naissus). This is the second important discovery at the same site, after another early Christian church from the beginning of 4th century was found only eight meters further. According to the experts, the discovery of two early Christian churches in such close proximity is the first in the Balkans and perhaps even in the wider region.

Exhilarated archaeologists have so far unearthed over 600 artifacts, including some hundred coins from the Emperor Constantine era.

“This is an exceptional discovery we, frankly, did not expect. We have purposefully started the excavations on this part of locality in March, before setting up the installations for conservation of the church discovered few years ago and unexpectedly found the remains of a rounded-stone wall. When we excavated the entire apsidae (arch), we found the amvon—pulpit in the middle of the nave—and parts of the altar railing, which were definite indicators of an early Christian church from the end of 4th century.”

“On the north side was paraklis, the place for the church donations. Judging by the parts of construction discovered thus far, we concluded this church was of a higher stature in relation to the earlier found one, possibly a place where bishops were holding councils. Former military barracks we excavated before were used as the entrance to the church. Our astonishment and joy was endless,” said Gordana Jeremic, the head explorer of the Belgrade Archaeological Institute who is directing the excavations.

A Treasure Trove

Although the explored site is relatively small, the archaeologists have discovered a treasure trove of artifacts narrating a new chapter of the story about Constantine the Great’s imperial estate, where the taxes were collected from this part of the ancient empire.

“Among 600 smaller artifacts — the remains of ceramic vases, glasses, jugs, window parts, glass cups, and jewelry — the bronze ring with cross is especially valuable. After the earlier found mosaic with Christ monogram, this is the first material evidence on a smaller object that Christians lived in these parts. We have found some 100 coins with the image of Emperor Constantine.”

“Part of the dish made of black paste — a type of glass — decorated with flowers and birds is also invaluable, representing exceptional craftsmanship for the era. We have also discovered bracelets and beads, one of which is decorated with the image of a frog, a symbol common in Egyptian art. The discovery includes parts of military equipment, like belt buckles and footwear armor, and three square meters of frescoes with geometric motifs. Everything found chronologically fits in with the previous findings, which is very important, and belongs to the period before 441 A.D.,” explained Gordana.

Posted by Svetlana at 03:14 PM | Permalink

Today the Church Celebrates Saint George, the Holy and Great Martyr

This glorious and victorious saint was born in Cappadocia the son of wealthy and virtuous parents. His father suffered for Christ and his mother then moved to Palestine. When George grew up, he entered the military, where in his twentieth year, attained the rank of a Tribune and as such was in the service of the Emperor Diocletian.

When Diocletian began the terrible persecution against Christians, George came before him and courageously confessed that he is a Christian. The emperor had him thrown into prison and ordered that his feet be placed in a stockade of wooden hobbles and that a heavy stone be placed on his chest. After that, the emperor commanded that George be tied to a wheel under which was a board with large nails and he was to be rotated until his entire body became as one bloody wound. After that, they buried him in a pit with only his head showing above the ground and there they left him for three days and three nights. Then George was given a deadly poison to drink by some magician.

But, through all of these sufferings, George continuously prayed to God and God healed him instantly and saved him from death to the great astonishment of the people. When he resurrected a dead man through his prayer, many then accepted the Faith of Christ. Among these also was Alexandra, the wife of the Emperor Athanasius, the chief pagan priest and the farmers: Glycerius, Valerius, Donatus and Therinus.

Finally the emperor ordered George and his wife Alexandra beheaded. Blessed Alexandra died on the scaffold before being beheaded. St. George was beheaded in the year 303 A.D. The miracles which have occurred over the grave of St. George are without number. Numerous are his appearances, either in dreams or openly, to those who have invoked him and implored his help from that time until today.

Enflamed with love for Christ the Lord, it was not difficult for this saintly George to leave all for the sake of this love: rank, wealth, imperial honor, his friends and the entire world. For this love, the Lord rewarded him with the wealth of unfading glory in heaven and on earth and eternal life in His kingdom. In addition, the Lord bestowed upon him the power and authority to assist all those in miseries and difficulties who honor him and call upon his name.

St. Nikolai of Zhicha
Ohrid Prologue

14th century Russian — Novgorod icon “St. George Slaying the Dragon”

Posted by Svetlana at 04:31 AM | Permalink

For Kosovo-Metohija Serbs the Paschal joy has been complete with the arrival of one of the most cherished Serbian friends and guests, renowned Austrian author Peter Handke. Just like the previous year, Peter Handke has decided to spend most joyous Christian holidays with Serbs all but forgotten in tiny ghettos in Kosovo-Metohija province.

Together with Director of Berlin Theater Claus Peymann, actress Kaethe Reichel, playwright Jutta Ferbers and political scientist Eckart Spoo, Peter Handke celebrated Pascha in the villages of Velika Hoca and Orahovac, some 60km west from Pristina. Velika Hoca is famous for its 13 churches, some of them from medieval time. Today, these two villages represent the full extent of the tragedy of Serbian people in their southern province.

Remaining Serbs in the Orahovac municipality in Metohija region of the province have been living in the virtual ghetto, surrounded by violent Albanian neighbors and cut off from the other Serbian enclaves throughout Kosovo-Metohija. They are among the most vulnerable small Serbian communities in the province, exposed to constant vicious attacks and unable to rely on NATO troops stationed in their area. Although Serbs remaining there make wine of exceptional quality from their own vineyards — the oldest two being planted by the Serbian King St. Stefan Nemanja in the 12th century — ever since NATO/KLA occupied the province in July 1999 they can only till less than 20 percent of their vineyards, due to safety concerns.

Peter Handke, the greatest postmodern author since Becket, who has been ostracized in France and Germany, as well as by most of the Western Europe for his vocal opposition to NATO aggression on Serbia in the spring of 1999 and for refusing to join the chorus of international Serbophobes in labeling Serbs as the ‘genocidal’ nation, donated 50,000 euros ($66,937) to the people of Serbian enclave Velica Hoca — the entire amount of the prestigious Heinrich Heine award he received from his colleagues, Berlin intellectuals.

Along with Paschal greetings, expressing his gratitude to Serbs who chose to remain in Kosovo-Metohija province despite the ongoing pogrom, addressing them in Serbian, Handke said:

Velika Hoca is a small village, but it is a big place. The so-called world in Velika Hoca is in fact the real world. If there is no Velika Hoca, the world is indeed only ‘so-called’.

“I love Velika Hoca and that is why I wish to spend my money here. I love these children, this wine, rakija and these blue skies,” said Handke. Asked about the fact everyone’s attacking him because he is helping Serbs, the writer brushed it off, adding in a jocular fashion that “everything’s under control.”

Receiving the immensely generous donation in food and money on behalf of Serbian residents of Velika Hoca in Orahovac municipality, the Municipal Coordinator Dejan Baljosevic thanked the Austrian writer saying that it is by far the greatest monetary donation Serbs in the region have received thus far, and adding that Peter Handke and his German colleagues have brought back Serbian faith in Europe.

On his visit to Visoki Decani Monastery the following day, Father Sava greeted the writer expressing gratitude for his friendship and love. He said that, apart from material help, Kosovo-Metohija Serbs especially appreciate and need the moral support of kindhearted people around the world.

2004 four-part article about the people and suffering in this region, titled “Orahovac and Velika Hoca — Five years of life in the ghetto”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Part of Serbian television video recording of Handke’s visit and address.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:37 PM | Permalink

Serbian Orthodox Church to Her Spiritual Children at Pascha, 2007

PAVLE

By the grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church — to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

Christ is Risen!

“This is the day of resurrection.
Let us be illumined, O people.
Pascha, the Pascha of the Lord.
For from death to life and from earth to heaven
has Christ our God led us.”
The Canon of Pascha, Ode I

With these verses of the Paschal hymn, dear spiritual children, we, the believing people of God, begin the Celebration above all celebrations, Song above all songs, about the Event above all events — The Resurrection of Christ. The Resurrection, like the Crucifixion, is a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness for the Greeks, but we experience and celebrate it as the deepest experience of our faith and life. This is the experience which was first encountered by the holy myrrh-bearing women and the holy apostles, which they have graciously passed down to us and which we have received with faith — with the faith that becomes the power of life. Filled with joy by this fact of the new life, the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian proclaims his experience to Christians of every time with these words: “…That which we have heard, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,” is that which is “…Life made manifest…and we declare to you that Eternal life.” The Day of Resurrection is the day of Life.

Therefore, let us rejoice and be glad in it! We celebrate the Lifegiver, Christ the God-Man!

The day of Resurrection, dear spiritual children, begins a new era. If Great and Holy Friday was the particular “terrible judgment” by fallen man against God Himself, then the day of the Resurrection is the Day of the victory of God’s love and goodness. The Resurrection took place on the first day of the week. Thus it has received its beginning in time and space, just as on the first day of creation the world received the dimensions of existence of everything visible and invisible. The Day of Resurrection is not, as some would want and wish, only a spiritual and poetic event, but above all it is a historical-eschatological Event that has changed the history of the world. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away and all things have become new,” said the holy Apostle Paul.

The Unfading Light Which Has Shone From the Tomb

The Day of Resurrection is filled with Divine light — a light with which the Risen Lord Himself enlightens us. “Come, receive light from the unwaning Light!” — are the first words with which the Church invites us to the beginning of the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. If anyone would truly celebrate the Resurrection of Christ as his own life experience, he must first be illumined with the light of Christ. The gladsome light of the unfading Light is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He rose from the tomb as the sun rises in the east out of the darkness of night to shine upon the whole earth, to warm it and renew a life on it. Let us be illumined with the Light of the Resurrection, the light which has shone from the tomb. This is the light of the God-Man Christ, Who said of Himself: “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Today and always, through His Holy Church, He calls us to the enlightening of our mind, heart, and our whole being.

Pascha, the Pascha of the Lord! The Jewish people passed through the Red Sea in order to be delivered from sin-poisoned Pharaoh. How? With God’s help. For, “The Lord went ahead of them on the road as a pillar of cloud during the day, and at night as a pillar of fire, giving them light so that they could travel day and night.” This pillar of cloud and of lightening fire was exactly the radiant Light of the unfading Light, the Logos of God. Having crossed the Red Sea, those who until then had been slaves entered into freedom, exclaiming to the Lord: “…Gloriously has he been glorified; a horse and a rider he threw into the sea!” This was the Passover (Pascha) of God’s chosen people, that seed of Abraham’s faith. And the Passover (Pascha) which we celebrate today is the Passover of the Lord — truly the Passing Over of Him Who led the Jewish people from slavery into freedom. So this is His Pascha, which has a universal character. This is why the church hymnographer calls upon all people from every nation and time, and not just one nation, to celebrate the Pascha of the Lord, that is, Christ’s Passover from death and the tomb into the Resurrection, so that we all may pass with Him from slavery to sin and death into the freedom of life.

“Do Not Be Afraid, For I Have Conquered the World”

Seeing this dimension of the feast of Christ’s Resurrection, dear spiritual children, let us lay aside all earthly cares, and together with the angels of heaven and the choirs of the saints, let us live this new reality of divine life in Christ Jesus, let us sing and praise the Cause of our salvation! Our song is victorious because death has been destroyed by death! The death-dealing poison of sin has lost its power to kill. How? Through the love and goodness of the God-Man Christ, for He as a blameless Lamb took the sins of the world upon Himself and gave Himself to be crucified. Sin and death are no longer the alpha and omega of life. The Resurrected Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of our sanctification. With divine virtues and ascetic efforts, let us hasten into a new, virtuous life in the Resurrected Jesus Christ!

Living in time and space, we Christians measure everything and everybody with Christ’s values. We do not disregard this world and life, nor do we despise them. On the contrary, we sanctify them with the all-sanctifying grace of God. This world can be transformed by the energies of the Resurrected God-Man Christ. This is why our Lord unambiguously said to Christians: “You are light of the world.” This means: only with you and through you can this world be transformed and saved. The Savior said this as well: in this world you will have many tribulations! You will be persecuted as I was persecuted and crucified; the cup from which I have drunk, you also will drink! But do not be afraid, for I have conquered the world. And despite all the suffering which the Church of Christ has experienced throughout the centuries, and is going through even today, Christians remain “the light to the world,” just as He Himself was the only Light of the world to shine in the darkness that covered Jerusalem on Great and Holy Friday.

New Sanhedrin Fights Against Good in This World

Just as at that time the whole Jewish Sanhedrin (the chief priests and leaders of the people) was against Christ the Savior and aroused many people against Christ, so in our time, the “new Sanhedrin” fights against Christ and His Church. This new Sanhedrin fights against Good in this world. It is doing everything it can to make this world its sinful fiefdom and to conquer everything under its authority, by any and all methods and means. This is why it is imperative that all Christians carry on a spiritual warfare for this world and for the dominion of Good in it. The Good that the God-Man has brought and granted to the world by His Resurrection will not be conquered. “Do not fear!” said the Savior. Let us therefore rejoice and be glad as did the chosen people after they crossed the Red Sea exclaiming: Christ is Risen — Gloriously has the Lord been glorified!

Unfortunately, we are witnesses of great sins being committed daily in the world. From conception, the innocent child in its mother’s womb fears for its life. Millions of ordinary people are victims of poverty and hunger, while a few live in unlimited riches and carnal pleasures. Many nations are defending their freedom, earned with blood and suffering, from the aggression of globalization. In the name of false freedom and democracy, preplanned solutions (packaged in advanced) are being imposed. We are witnesses of the newest drama — again, the drama of us Orthodox Serbs — in Kosovo and Metohija. Our people are also afflicted with many tribulations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Croatia, and sadly, in Montenegro.

Shouts Can Still be Heard: Crucify, Crucify the Serbian People!

We cannot go without mentioning this Pascha the Golgotha and Great Friday of our Kosovo and Metohija; and the darkened conscience of all those who give themselves the right, trampling upon the world’s legal order, to cold-bloodedly pass sentence not only on imposed changes in the status of Kosovo and Metohija, but upon our whole history and culture, and the sovereignty of Serbia! In Kosovo and Metohija the Golgotha of the Serbian people has been taking place for centuries. This is seen by all and known by all except by those who are blind to seeing the truth and deaf for hearing justice. We hear “blacksmiths” speedily forging new nails and new spears with the intention to repeat and prolong the Golgotha of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. All this they do with the ‘blessing’ of those who swear upon justice, freedom, and democracy, but only for themselves! However, we still believe in the conscience of objective mankind, which was recently confirmed by the international Tribunal of Justice in the Hague. Even though the highest Court of justice decided this after having reviewed all the documents for and against, the shouts can still be heard: crucify, crucify the Serbian people!

We Cannot Give Up, We Cannot Fear

But we, dear spiritual children, cannot give up, cannot fear, because of injustice. Rather, let us commend our whole life to Christ our God! Christ did not commit sin, nor was there deceit in His mouth, and yet He was condemned and crucified. But, He also gloriously resurrected. If, God forbid, the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija undergo one more crucifixion, more terrible than the others, let us remain with Christ: do not slander, do not think evil; rather let us pray, and from the Cross let us witness to God’s love for all and everybody. Let us witness to Christ, the Victor over death, sin and all injustice. Those who do evil to others, do even worse to themselves. Sooner or later, if they do not repent, they will weep bitterly.

Celebrating the Resurrection of Christ with all the world’s Christians, today we rejoice and are glad with them and with all of God’s creation, and joyously exclaim to one and all:

Christ Is Risen!

Given at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade at Pascha 2007

Posted by Svetlana at 03:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Heavenly Jerusalem Beyond and Here on Earth — No One

“At first we were confused. The East thought that we were West, while the West considered us to be East. Some of us misunderstood our place in the clash of currents, so they cried that we belong to neither side, and others that we belong exclusively to one side or the other.

But I tell you, Irenaeus, we are doomed by fate to be the East in the West and the West in the East, to acknowledge only heavenly Jerusalem beyond us, and here on earth—no one.”

—St. Sava to Irenaeus, 13th Century

Stand Up Along the Righteous and Be Counted!

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

—Ephesians 6:12-13

Posted by Svetlana at 06:45 PM | Permalink

Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Christmas, 2006

P A V L E

By the grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church — to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Christmas greeting:

PEACE FROM GOD — CHRIST IS BORN!

“Great indeed is the mystery of our religion:
God is manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit,
seen by angels, preached among the nations,
believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”
(I Tim. 3:16)

These words of the Apostle Paul, our dear spiritual children, most fully depict all the beauty of the joy of Christmas in which we truly participate in the great mystery of God descending from Heaven to earth and man’s ascending from earth to Heaven and sitting at the right hand of God the Father. This, in essence, is the divine sonship of everyone who desires it through an active faith. The Son of God came to call us into the everlasting Kingdom of God and to bring us into the reality of eternal life, being that He, our Lord, is always the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:5).

The event of Christ’s birth from the Virgin Mary brings together all hopes and longings of mankind throughout the centuries preceding it, as well as the faith of all the centuries that followed it, and it will last throughout all the centuries to eternity. This is the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4), for God and man are united together in the person of Christ. God is born as a man without ceasing to be God, so that man can become “god by grace,” without ceasing to be man.

Are We Truly Responsible in Our God-Given Freedom?

Rejoicing in eternal and indescribable joy because of the great gifts of God’s love, let us ask ourselves as believing Christians, called out and sent into the world to be “the salt and light of the earth” (Matthew 5:13-14), are we, and to what degree are we, truly responsible in our God-given freedom. It is not good to make excuses for ourselves to someone else and yet see his mistakes, for condemning is not the way of faith. Often times this is an obstacle on the road of life and too heavy a yoke for him who acts this way. This is why we turn to you, sons and daughters of Christ’s Church, “not as lords over your faith, but as helpers of your joy” (II Cor. 1:24). On bended knees we implore you: show love without hypocrisy toward one another and toward all people — “let us not grow weary in well-doing.” (Gal. 6:9) Let us work to carry out the lesson of our Holy Fathers: “Every Christian needs to be such a person that God is never ashamed of him.” We can fulfill this axiom, noble people of God, but only if we make some effort will we succeed in the good works of our noble faith.

False “Greatness”

There are many selfish people today who think that they can do everything alone. Many are the false “great” people and nations and, each thinks that he alone can change the world. That is why we need the faith of the righteous Joseph, the simplicity and hospitality of Bethlehem’s shepherds, and the wisdom of the Magi from the East who, guided by the star, brought gifts to Christ without fearing King Herod. Let us believe with the faith of the prophets and righteous from the Old Testament, and let us persevere together with the holy apostles in witnessing to the great Mystery of faith, knowing that besides Christ “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

This knowledge in faith does not hinder us in love toward others. On the contrary, it directs us forward and opens us up to every person, regardless of who he is, how he prays, or whether he prays. For “God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Act. 10:35) Our faith that Christ is the Savior of the world and mankind, equips and enables us to always serve the improvement and salvation of the world. The Son of God, for us and our salvation, became man and our servant. So each one of us is called to serve for the betterment of life and for the salvation of all and everyone. How much better and different everything would be if we Christians would actively understand the meaning of the “great ones” serving the “little ones”! Life would be more beautiful and the world would be much better. It is possible — but only if each one conquers self-will, renounces his own selfishness, abandons personal self-interest, and exchanges it for a self-sacrificing and unselfish way of life.

Do Not Close the Door of Your Hearts to the Blessing of Life

We were committing lawless acts — let us stop, and God will forgive. The greatest error we commit is abortion, because we will not admit that it is the sin of murdering a child, motivated by the selfishness of unworthy parents. It is most hideous murder, the refusal of God’s blessing and the denial to a new person of the right to life. The unborn child is not a nameless embryo, a fetus; it is a person — a living soul. We implore you, dear parents, not to do this any more; do not close the door of your hearts and homes to the blessing of life. There is enough room and food for all. Remember those childless parents who with tears in their eyes beseech God to bless them with children! Do not let the lack of material possessions be an excuse for abortion. Do not cut yourselves off from God’s blessing!

We know that some self-proclaimed defenders of people’s rights will say that the Church is limiting freedom and the rights of people, but let it be known that we are counseling with love, without degrading. May God forgive their sin and may He bring them into the communion of love. We will rejoice if they favorably respond. Many nations give heed to their historical existence and eternal salvation, and our Serbian people have killed, regretfully, more unborn children than all our enemies in all wars put together. We would mention that in our homeland the annual number of deaths, more than twenty five thousand, is greater than the number of new births. It is hoped that this statistic will move many to a more responsible way of thinking and to better actions.

Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija Bear the Wounds of Christ and are Victorious

In doing good works, in forgiving and in prayer, we need to persist and endure to the end, for “when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate…” (I Cor. 4:12-13), knowing that “the victory that overcomes the world — (is) our faith.” (I John 5:4) Orthodox Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija experience and know this very well, along with all those who have been left homeless, driven by persecution from their homesteads. They bear the wounds of Christ on their bodies and are victorious over their persecutors. Many, because of their self-absorption and fear, do not understand them. They, like the early Christian martyrs and confessors, are victorious over those who think that they can reach their goal by defeating others. We deeply believe that the time will come when the aggressors will be put to shame. We pray for our enemies, that they may see that doing evil cannot bring good results to anyone. May it be known to them that after all debacles which they are inflicting upon others, in the end, they themselves will be defeated with hopelessness. And for them we pray that they may overcome “self” in order to become partakers of the peace which Christ gives.

We Have Survived All Golgothas and Crucifixions by the Joy of Bethlehem Shepherds and by the Wisdom of the Magi

Dear spiritual children, our holy Serbian Orthodox Church has survived all historical Golgothas and crucifixions by the joy of Bethlehem’s shepherds and by the wisdom of the Magi from East, and it will continue to survive forever, in conciliar unity with all the local Orthodox Churches which together comprise One Holy Church. In her fullness (sabornost) she gathers the entire Serbian population, on all continents and in all countries, and is open to all people of good will. She has gathered her faithful children throughout the centuries, walking the narrow path and building bridges of peace and love among people and nations.

We know well our downfalls, schisms and divisions. We pray to God that they cease, forever asking all of you to be one in our Lord, so that we may show others the pure faith and holy unity, all the beauty of faith in God and faith in the man of God. It will happen when we stop creating divisions among ourselves, mostly for foolish reasons. Let us strive, in the joy of the Christmas celebration, to reconcile ourselves and let us gather around the crib of the Divine Infant, overcoming all our senseless divisions!

Of course, it is necessary to think through everything, to encounter different opinions and to discuss things, but this cannot be a reason for hatred either among ourselves or towards anyone. The rule must remain in force which states: “he who would be first, should be servant to all”. Christ with His life showed all this, and we Christians have a sacred duty to affirm this life of service. Today is the most appropriate day to reexamine and correct ourselves and others so that our joy can be complete and lasting.

Every one of us needs to see in every other person the image of God, the image of our brother and of our eternal friend. Then will our hearts truly be Bethlehem’s cave in which Christ is continually being born anew. And the more hearts there are like this, the better everything will be and the better we will all be.

PEACE FROM GOD — CHRIST IS BORN!

Given at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade, at Christmas, 2006. (Julian Calendar)

Your intercessors before the divine Christ-Child:

Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch PAVLE; Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana JOVAN, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Coastlands AMPHILOHIJE, Metropolitan of Midwestern America CHRISTOPHER, Metropolitan of Dabro-Bosna NIKOLAJ, Bishop of Sabac-Valjevo LAVRENTIJE, Bishop of Nis IRINEJ, Bishop of Zvornik-Tuzla VASILIJE, Bishop of Srem VASILIJE, Bishop of Banja Luka JEFREM, Bishop of Budim LUKIJAN, Bishop of Canada GEORGIJE, Bishop of Banat NIKANOR, Bishop for America and Canada (New Gracanica Metropolitanate) LONGIN, Bishop of Eastern America MITROPHAN, Bishop of Zica CHRYSOSTOM, Bishop of Backa IRINEJ, Bishop of Great Britain and Scandinavia DOSITEJ, Bishop of Ras and Prizren ARTEMIJE, Retired Bishop of Zahumlje and Hercegovina ATANASIJE, Bishop of Bihac and Petrovac CHRYSOSTOM, Bishop of Osijek and Baranja LUKIJAN, Bishop of Central Europe CONSTANTINE, Bishop of Western Europe LUKA, Bishop of Timok JUSTIN, Bishop of Vranje PAHOMIJE, Bishop of Sumadija JOVAN, Bishop of Slavonia SAVA, Bishop of Branicevo IGNATIJE, Bishop of Milesevo FILARET, Bishop of Dalmatia FOTIJE, Bishop of Budimlje and Niksic JOANIKIJE, Bishop of Zahumlje and Hercegovina GRIGORIJE, Bishop of Valjevo MILUTIN, Bishop of Western America MAXIM, Bishop of Gornji Karlovci GERASIM, Bishop of Australia and New Zealand IRINEJ, Vicar Bishop of Hvostno ATANASIJE, Vicar Bishop of Jegar PORFIRIJE, Vicar Bishop of Lipljan TEODOSIJE, Vicar Bishop of Dioclea JOVAN, Vicar Bishop of Moravica ANTONIJE

THE ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF OCHRID: Archbishop of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skoplje JOVAN, Bishop of Polos and Kumanovo JOAKIM, Bishop of Bregal and locum tenens of the Diocese of Bitolj MARKO

Posted by Svetlana at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Guardian of Treasures

Article by Jori Finkel: After 15 Centuries, St. Peter Finally Leaves Home (New York Times)

It was a standoff in the desert heat between two kinds of authority: a Greek Orthodox monk and a group of Egyptian military officers. The monk, dressed in a long black robe and rugged gray vest, was clearly outgunned, but he was not afraid to raise his voice. Nor were the officers who stood in his way.

The soldiers had stopped the monk, Father Porphyrios, and his small caravan of cars and trucks at a checkpoint just before the Suez tunnel as the convoy made its way from the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai to the airport in Cairo. Their cargo could not have been more valuable: crates of centuries-old icons, devotional paintings that are as delicate as they are rare, destined for an exhibition 8,000 miles away in Los Angeles.

First the officers asked to see the customs paperwork, which the drivers quickly supplied. Then they demanded that the crates be opened. “There was a lot of shouting,” Father Porphyrios said, speaking through an interpreter in a recent interview. “There was no way I was going to let them open the boxes.”

They do not call him the monastery’s skevophylax, or guardian of the treasures, for nothing. After an intense hour of negotiation and some well-placed calls to the Culture Ministry in Cairo, Father Porphyrios prevailed. And the icons resumed their journey to the Cairo airport and their ultimate destination: the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons From Sinai

Starting Tuesday the museum will display these paintings along with a few other rare liturgical objects as part of “Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons From Sinai.” In all, 43 icons will be on view, 30 of which have never been lent before.

The Getty is undergoing something of a makeover for the occasion. The museum is dimming the lights and designing its main exhibition galleries to evoke the magisterial look and feel of St. Catherine, believed to be the oldest continuously operating Christian monastery in the world.

“We didn’t want to create a theme park version of the monastery,” said Kristen Collins, the Getty curator who organized the show with the Yale art historian Robert Nelson. “But we did want to try to evoke the experience of being there -- the whole sensory experience of hearing the chanting and just being wrapped by, surrounded by, these beautiful images.”

For starters they decided to build a streamlined version of a church’s iconostasis, a screen laden with icons that separates the bema of the clergy from the nave of the laity. Behind that they raised an altar, complete with treasures like a sixth-century bronze cross. And they have piped music into the room, hymns that will be heard in neighboring galleries and blend with chants from a short film, screened nearby, on the sights and sounds of St. Catherine at Easter.

Most of all, though, what promises to transform the space of the museum is the presence of the icons themselves. Richly colored paintings on wood panels that depict saints and other holy figures, icons play a very central and visible role in the Orthodox Church. For the devoted, praying before an image of a saint serves as a means of invoking that saint. And the icon serves as a window onto the spiritual world.

“They Call Me the American”

“I like to think of icons as reflections: in the classical sense where a mirror image was considered real, not illusory. It’s like a presence of the figure depicted,” said Father Justin, another monk from St. Catherine’s who, with Father Porphyrios, is staying in Los Angeles for most of the show. “To be surrounded by icons is to be surrounded by saints themselves.”

Even in the secular space of a museum? “Yes, even in a museum,” said Father Justin, who in his long white beard and flowing black robe cut a dramatic figure against the empty gallery on the first day of unpacking. “I’m positive once everything is installed, this will be a spiritual experience for those who seek it. We’re not making the museum into a church, but we are creating a reverential space.”

Born into a Protestant family in El Paso, Father Justin knows something about bridging two worlds. It was in college at the University of Texas at Austin that he began attending Orthodox services, after reading about the faith in general and St. Catherine in particular. He joined an Orthodox monastery in Boston before being admitted into St. Catherine, the only American ever to receive that honor.

“I don’t think of myself as American,” he said with a laugh. “But they call me the American.”

...Where Moses Saw the Burning Bush

St. Catherine is located at the foot of Mount Sinai, where it is believed that Moses saw the burning bush and received the Ten Commandments. The earliest written account of the monastery, dating from the fourth century, describes a small church and garden. In the sixth century the Byzantine emperor Justinian built a more impressive basilica on the same site.

Today that basilica remains the heart of the monastery. And its collection of Byzantine icons now numbers around 2,000, the world’s largest. Some were painted on the site by iconographers, monks trained in the symbol-rich and convention-heavy tradition of how to represent a saint. Others were brought as gifts.

Together they blanket the monastery. There are icons covering the walls and columns of the main basilica. (“Newer icons are within arm’s reach, older icons are on higher shelves,” Father Justin said.) Icons fill the 20 small chapels outside the main basilica. And there are icons, modern copies if not originals, hanging in the monk’s cells. The monks have even turned the treasury of the church into a small museum, catering to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who make the pilgrimage each year.

It is not an easy trip. For centuries traveling to the remote reaches of Sinai from Europe meant sailing to Alexandria and journeying inland by camel for maybe 15 days. Today the trip usually means flying to Cairo and driving six or seven hours from there. But this isolation has served the monastery well, especially during the heyday of iconoclasm in the eighth and ninth centuries. [...]

Entire article »

Posted by Svetlana at 05:38 AM | Permalink

False and True Power

When you go to worship the Lord in your bright and opulent church this Sunday, remember your Serbian brothers and sisters in Kosovo and Metohija who will offer their prayers and chants alongside yours, amidst the ruins of their glorious churches.

There are all sorts of news pouring in these days, about the new, even more fierce PR agencies hired by the Albanian lobbies to fight for the amputation of Serbian Jerusalem in Washington, Brussels and London; about their strong ties and support Kosovo Albanians are receiving from Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, about the United Nations’ and Western powers’ push for granting independence to Albanian jihadists, despite the fact they have achieved the “majority” in Serbian Kosovo through ethnic cleansing, illegal immigration from neighboring Albania and continuous terror of non-Albanians in the Serbian province over decades...

In the midst of so much pressure and psychological warfare, it is easy to forget the True Power is not in the hands of any single individual, organization or government, however powerful it may seem right now and that, however powerless each of us may feel, we are not merely observers.

St. Peter of Korisha Today, Westminster Abbey Tomorrow

Please do not allow yourself to be reduced to a passive recipient of the news -- act today, say and do the right thing, don’t let the future of Christian Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija be decided by the handful of overpaid, overrated administrators pushing the radical Islamic agenda through the major world organizations! Write to your elected representatives in the U.S., U.K., Canada and elsewhere.

By saying NO! to Kosovo independence, you are saying NO! to Kosovo ever happening in your country, to your children and your children’s children. Heed the warning Muammar al-Gaddafi issued to the world: “There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe -- without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

Don’t let it happen -- Kosovo and Israel are not Serbian and Jewish problem alone, they should concern you too.

Posted by Svetlana at 09:54 PM | Permalink

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”

O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us - he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Psalm 136 (137)

Posted by Svetlana at 11:43 PM | Permalink

The New Martyr Monk-Soldier Roman
(1971-1994)

Martyred in Bosnia on October 2, 1994

At the age of seventeen Father Roman left the world and joined the first mission to reopen Valaam Russian Orthodox Monastery, located in Valaam, Russia, after it had been desecrated and secularized for fifty years. His spirit was joyful and light, but his deep and sober soul heard a call when the Bosnian Muslims and the Catholic Croatians were cruelly and lawlessly killing the Orthodox Serbians. He entered the front lines and was martyred in 1994, on October 2nd, thereby joining the saints of Valaam in heaven. There were quite of few monk saints who, when need arose, would exchange their monastic garb for that of a warrior to save Holy Russia from the onslaught of apostates or pagans. These Christ-loving warriors considered it their duty to follow in the steps of the disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who went to the Kulikovo battlefield and saved Russia.

The New Martyr Soldier Evgeny of Chechnya
(1984-2002)

Canonized on August 20th, the day of his martyrdom

A young soldier named Evgeny had been captured by the Chechens along with five of his buddies.

Chechens promised to spare the young Russians their lives if they converted to Islam. The others agreed, but Evgeny refused, insisting that he was an Orthodox Christian. The Chechens beheaded him and subsequently sent his severed head to his mother as a sort of memento. This young lad had been recognized everywhere as a (Moscow and environs, Sergiev Posad, Murom, Diveevo, Arzamas) martyr, in a spontaneous, popular movement of piety. His picture was everywhere, usually with the caption “Martyred Soldier Evgeny.” He was martyred on his 18th birthday, 6 months after he started his service.

Chechen field commander Rusland Haihoroev beheaded Evgeny, after Evgeny denied conversion to Islam and refused to give up his cross (which, by the way, was part of the medal for bravery). Many months his mother searched for his body, and finally after paying $500, was shown the forest where he was buried. She found the bodies of 4 more boys along with his. A giant wooden cross has since been erected on his grave. His own cross, the one that he refused to give up, his mother, Lubov Radionova, has donated to St. Nicholas Church in Ordinka, Moscow.

The New Martyr Evgeny the Soldier was canonized on August 20th. A Church in his name is to be build in Hankala, near Groziniy. It will be the only Orthodox Church in Chechnya.

Holy New Martyred Soldiers for Christ, pray for us!

Compiled by Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes, at New Martyred Soldiers for Christ our Lord

Posted by Svetlana at 04:54 PM | Permalink

One vs. Many Wills

Ascetics in the wilderness labor to sever their will and to live according to the will of God.

Some erroneously think that the hermit lives completely in isolation. Not one hermit thinks thusly. He lives in the company of God, angels of God and the departed saints who have found repose in the Lord.

Wherever the mind of man is, there also is the life of the man. The mind of the hermit is among the greatest, the most pure and in the most numerous company in which one man can possibly be.

One time, Abba Mark remarked to St. Arsenius the hermit: “For what reason do you flee from our company and of conversation with us?” Arsenius replied: “God knows that I love you all but I cannot be both, together with God and with man. In heaven, thousands and thousands of thousands have but one will and, with men, there are many and various wills. That is why I cannot leave God and be with men.”

The Last Awaiting

“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14).

Brethren, what is our last awaiting? In the night we await the day and in the day we await the night and again the day and again the night. But this awaiting is not our last awaiting. Brethren, what is our last awaiting? In joy we tremble waiting for sorrow and in sorrow we wait with hope for joy and again sorrow, and again joy. But not even these awaitings are our last awaitings. Brethren, our last awaiting is the awaiting of the Judgment of God. When the judgment of God comes, the Dreadful Day “which burns like a furnace” (Malachi 4:1), then we welcome all that we deserve; a day for some, without change into night, and night for others, without change into day; joy for some without change to sorrow and sorrow for others without change to joy. Brethren, that is the last awaiting of the human race, whether he knows it or does not know it, whether he thinks about it or does not think about it.

But, you faithful should know this and you should think about this. Let this knowledge be the zenith of all your knowledge and let this thought direct all your other thoughts. In the knowledge and contemplation of this, include that which is even most important, include your diligence “that you may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless” (or still more correctly translated: pure and blameless). Be diligent to be pure in mind and in heart, correct in your conscience and in peace with God. Only in that way will the last awaiting not frighten you with unexpectancy, nor will it hurl you into the night without day or into sorrow without joy. As everything else in the life of the Lord Jesus was a surprise for man, thus will be His Second Coming unexpected, in power and in glory. Unexpected was His birth by the All-holy Virgin, unexpected was His poverty, unexpected also was His miracle-working and every word and humiliation and voluntary death, the resurrection, the ascension, the Church and the spreading of His Faith. Unexpected will be His Second Coming, unexpectation more frightful than all other unexpectations.

O Lord, O righteous Judge, how will we meet You, unclad in purity and blameless even in peace? Help us, help us that however much as possible we may prepare for the dreadful encounter with You.

By St. Nikolai (Velimirovich), Prologue From Ohrid

Posted by Svetlana at 12:05 AM | Permalink

Psalm 90 (91)

He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven. He shall say unto the Lord: “Thou art my helper and my refuge. He is my God, and I will hope in Him.”