33 posts tagged “church”
Today, Orthodox Sunday, is the 3rd anniversary of our being received into the Orthodox Church by Holy Chrismation and/or Baptism.
From Wikipedia, "The Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent. It is the celebration of the victory of the iconodules over the iconoclasts by the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Therefore, the service is to commemorate the restoration of icons for use in services and private devotional life of Christians.
Services often include the clergy or the faithful triumphantly processing around the church, holding icons of their patron or parish saints. In areas where multiple jurisdictions exist (such as the United States), Pan-Orthodox Vespers are also usually celebrated in the evening."
I'll repost the first icon I ever bonded with in memory of our son, Isaac.
Tonight at Vespers several Old Testament Scriptures were read about the Spirit's hovering over the surface of the waters in Genesis 1, the parting of the Red Sea, and the partings of the Jordan river for Joshua and for Elijah. In all these Scriptures the water was parted for the salvation of God's people. In an Orthodox baptism, which was performed tonight as well, the water is blessed, similarly to what will occur tomorrow all over the world on the feast of Theophany. We pray that the Father will grant that dragons, sinful passions, will be slain in the depths of our being as well as in the waters, by Christ's entrance into its midst. And that the blessed water will cleanse us from every infirmity by the hovering Holy Spirit.
LIFE OF
ST. HERMAN OF ALASKA
- (c.1756 - 1837)
- Feast Days: August 9th (canonization)
- & December 13th (repose)
In 1994 the 200th anniversary of Orthodoxy in America was celebrated — the bicentennial of the establishment of a Russian Orthodox mission on Kodiak Island, Alaska. On September 24, 1794, ten missionaries from the Valaam Monastery in the St. Petersburg (Russia) diocese, who had traveled for a year across 7,000 miles, finally reached their harsh new mission land in Alaska, or "Russian America," which had been a part of the Russian Empire until its sale to the United States in 1867. Only one of these original missionaries survived and remained in America—Holy Father St. Herman.
American Orthodoxy today owes a great
debt to these ten missionary monks, most especially to the simple and humble ascetic monk,
Father Herman. Truly the "North-Star of Christ’s Holy Church," and the last
survivor of the original 1794 mission, he worked among the Alutiiq people for 43
years, teaching them by word and by the example of
his holy life and great deeds. For most of those years he lived on Spruce Island—his
"New Valaam"—teaching and caring for the natives as his beloved children,
frequently defending them against the exploitation of the Russian fur traders. The people
quickly grew to love him and came to him with all their problems. He lived the most
ascetic life possible, eating and sleeping little, wearing the same ragged clothes
year-round, feeding the birds and wild animals (even bears), and in continual prayer with
his constant companions—God, the saints and the angels. When smallpox, brought by the
European ships, ravaged the native Alaskans, Father Herman personally ministered to them,
and brought all the orphans to his New Valaam, where he took care of them. He built an
orphanage, school and chapel. He grew food in his garden, caught fish and baked cookies
for the children. He taught them in his school, and showed them by his example how to live
a godly life. Indeed, the children and adults loved their dear Apa (grandfather),
and the native people have maintained their devotion to their beloved holy man until
today. (Most native Alaskans are Orthodox). St. Herman was a clairvoyant wonder-worker,
who saw into people’s hearts and into the future. Once, when a tidal wave (sunami)
threatened the island, the saint put an icon near the sea, and said that the water would
not come past the icon: it didn’t. Another time there was a similar experience with a
forest fire.
click here for the rest of the article
This is from the Vosoki Decani Monastery in Kosovo, At first I thought the candles where floating Hogwarts style, but then my daughter saw that it is a very large, but airy chandelier. My husband noticed that these candles must have been lit at about the same time, or they have a very fast monk!
"Visoki Decani Monastery is situated in the western part of the UN administered Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohia. It was built between 1327 and 1335 by the Serbian medieval king St. Stephen of Decani and was dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord. The monastery is settled in the picturesque valley of the Bistrica river surrounded by the mountains and forests of the Prokletije mountain range It is the largest and best preserved medieval monastery in Serbia. During its turbulent history the Monastery was an important spiritual centre with developed artistic and intellectual activities. Although the monastery buildings suffered damage from the Turkish occupation, the church has been completely preserved with beautiful 14th century fresco paintings. Today a young brotherhood of 30 brethren lives in the monastery continuing the centuries old tradition of the past. The brotherhood has developed various activities: wood carving, icon painting, book publishing and is also active in the missionary work. The beautiful monastic services are served according to the typicon of Mount Athos." (from this site)
She is our parish's Patron Saint so I'm off to Liturgy to celebrate her life.
The Holy Great Martyr Barbara lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-311). Her father, the pagan Dioscorus, was a rich and illustrious man in the Syrian city of Heliopolis. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to his only daughter.
Seeing Barbara's extraordinary beauty, Dioscorus decided to hide her from the eyes of strangers. Therefore, he built a tower for Barbara, where only her pagan teachers were allowed to see her. From the tower there was a view of hills stretching into the distance. By day she was able to gaze upon the wooded hills, the swiftly flowing rivers, and the meadows covered with a mottled blanket of flowers; by night the harmonious and majestic vault of the heavens twinkled and provided a spectacle of inexpressible beauty. Soon the virgin began to ask herself questions about the First Cause and Creator of so harmonious and splendid a world.
Gradually, she became convinced that the souless idols were merely the work of human hands. Although her father and teachers offered them worship, she realized that the idols could not have made the surrounding world. The desire to know the true God so consumed her soul that Barbara decided to devote all her life to this goal, and to spend her life in virginity.
The fame of her beauty spread throughout the city, and many sought her hand in marriage. But despite the entreaties of her father, she refused all of them. Barbara warned her father that his persistence might end tragically and separate them forever. Dioscorus decided that the temperament of his daughter had been affected by her life of seclusion. He therefore permitted her to leave the tower and gave her full freedom in her choice of friends and acquaintances. Thus Barbara met young Christian maidens in the city, and they taught her about the Creator of the world, about the Trinity, and about the Divine Logos. Through the Providence of God, a priest arrived in Heliopolis from Alexandria disguised as a merchant. After instructing her in the mysteries of the Christian Faith, he baptized Barbara, then returned to his own country.
During this time a luxurious bathhouse was being built at the house of Dioscorus. By his orders the workers prepared to put two windows on the south side. But Barbara, taking advantage of her father's absence, asked them to make a third window, thereby forming a Trinity of light. On one of the walls of the bath-house Barbara traced a cross with her finger. The cross was deeply etched into the marble, as if by an iron instrument. Later, her footprints were imprinted on the stone steps of the bathhouse. The water of the bathhouse had great healing power. St Simeon Metaphrastes (November 9) compared the bathhouse to the stream of Jordan and the Pool of Siloam, because by God's power, many miracles took place there.
When Dioscorus returned and expressed dissatisfaction about the change in his building plans, his daughter told him about how she had come to know the Triune God, about the saving power of the Son of God, and about the futility of worshipping idols. Dioscorus went into a rage, grabbed a sword and was on the point of striking her with it. The holy virgin fled from her father, and he rushed after her in pursuit. His way became blocked by a hill, which opened up and concealed the saint in a crevice. On the other side of the crevice was an entrance leading upwards. St Barbara managed then to conceal herself in a cave on the opposite slope of the hill.
After a long and fruitless search for his daughter, Dioscorus saw two shepherds on the hill. One of them showed him the cave where the saint had hidden. Dioscorus beat his daughter terribly, and then placed her under guard and tried to wear her down with hunger. Finally he handed her over to the prefect of the city, named Martianus. They beat St Barbara fiercely: they struck her with rawhide, and rubbed her wounds with a hair cloth to increase her pain. By night St Barbara prayed fervently to her Heavenly Bridegroom, and the Savior Himself appeared and healed her wounds. Then they subjected the saint to new, and even more frightful torments.
In the crowd where the martyr was tortured was the virtuous Christian woman Juliana, an inhabitant of Heliopolis. Her heart was filled with sympathy for the voluntary martyrdom of the beautiful and illustrious maiden. Juliana also wanted to suffer for Christ. She began to denounce the torturers in a loud voice, and they seized her.
Both martyrs were tortured for a long time. Their bodies were raked and wounded with hooks, and then they were led naked through the city amidst derision and jeers. Through the prayers of St Barbara the Lord sent an angel who covered the nakedness of the holy martyrs with a splendid robe. Then the steadfast confessors of Christ, Sts Barbara and Juliana, were beheaded. Dioscorus himself executed St Barbara. The wrath of God was not slow to punish both torturers, Martianus and Dioscorus. They were killed after being struck by lightning.
In the sixth century the relics of the holy Great Martyr Barbara were transferred to Constantinople. Six hundred years later, they were transferred to Kiev (July 11) by Barbara, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenos, who married the Russian prince Michael Izyaslavich. They rest even now at Kiev's St Vladimir cathedral, where an Akathist to the saint is served each Tuesday.
Many pious Orthodox Christians are in the habit of chanting the Troparion of St Barbara each day, recalling the Savior's promise to her that those who remembered her and her sufferings would be preserved from a sudden, unexpected death, and would not depart this life without benefit of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
(from oca.org)
The tarantula and the field mice were really leather-dry leaves blown across the light-tunneled road on my way home from Vespers.
For the sale, I prepared some brochures written by our Priest about our Church. This portion was on the inside:
SOME BASIC TENETS OF ORTHODOXY
Orthodox Christians believe that Christianity is a faith of revelation. That is, whatever we can say or know about God is possible only because God has taught us. He manifests Himself to the world so that we may come to know Him and thus have life. “And this is life eternal, that they might KNOW Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou has sent.” (John 17:13)
The Lord has revealed Himself as One God Who is at the same time three distinct divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God’s most perfect Self Revelation came to mankind through the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the only begotten Son of the Father, Jesus Christ. We proclaim Christ to be the Savior of the world. He is both God and man, fully divine and fully human. In contrast to some liberal tendencies of modern theology, Orthodox Christians believe in the virgin birth of Christ, His actual death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Through Christ we become children of God and thus citizens and heirs of a heavenly Kingdom. (John 1:12-13; Romans 8:17).
Christ’s saving life is imparted to us through the liturgical, sacramental life of the Church, Christ’s Body. Orthodoxy recognizes 7 major Sacraments: Baptism, Chrismation, Communion, Confession, Marriage, Ordination, and Anointing of the Sick (Unction). It must be stressed, however, that traditionally the entire life of the Church is considered “sacramental”.
Salvation in Christ is a gift that must be appropriated by each person individually through faith in Christ; through centering one’s life around the sacramental life of the Church; and through efforts at living a Christ-like existence. In general, salvation is viewed as a life-long process of becoming “holy as God is holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16), of becoming more and more God-like by His Grace. We cannot earn or merit salvation by our deeds. Yet we must strive always to “cooperate” with God’s Grace, to walk by His Spirit, and in this way “work out (our) own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
Prayer, both private and corporate, is central to the life of any Christian. Orthodoxy holds that without prayer there can be no Christian or spiritual life. “Prayer is the means by which all of the virtues and powers of God are obtained. Through prayer one unites one’s heart and mind to God and learns His Will” (V. Rev. Fr. Thomas Hopko). In fact we are called to make our entire life a prayer. Every thought, word and deed is to be referred to God, done with Him in mind. St. Paul says, “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ concerning you” (1 Thess. 7:17-18).
The Bible is venerated as the written inspired Word of God. Most importantly it reveals spiritual truths concerning the nature of God, man and their relationship to one another. The Bible was written by the Church and for the Church. It can be fully and properly understood and interpreted only within the context of the Church’s life. Through His Word God speaks to His people. A prayerful and meditative reading or hearing of Scripture places Christians in contact with the Lord Himself.
Orthodox Christians often speak of Holy Tradition, defined as the Church’s memory of Her experiences with God throughout the centuries. Anything which presents a truthful witness to what God has revealed to us about Himself, man and life in general, may be considered a part of Holy Tradition. The Bible is not separate from Tradition but is the Primary written expression of it. Other such expressions are: the Church’s liturgical services; the writings and teachings of the saints; and the decrees of numerous councils. Icons and Orthodoxy’s sacred art are also considered part of Holy Tradition.
As implied above, Orthodox Christians are traditionally “Churchly People“. That is they are “vividly conscious of belonging to a community,” (Bishop Kallistos Ware) and derive their strength from the life of that community, whose life is God. The Church is defined in the Bible as “the Body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12); “the Bride of Christ” (Revelations 21); “the pillar and bulwark of Truth” (1 Timothy 3:15); and “the fullness of Him that fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). These are powerful definitions serving to identify totally the Church’s life with that of Our Lord. In and through the Church God’s life is opened and we experience His love, forgiveness, peace and joy as fully as is possible for us. Following St. Paul and the witness of the Apostles, Orthodox Christians confess their belief in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. “There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4: 4-6).
“That they may be one, even as We are one…” (John 17:11, 21, 22, 23). This perfect oneness for which Christ prayed must manifest itself visibly in a common vision of God, man and life among the disciples. For two thousand years Orthodox Christians worldwide have shared this vision, being united in a single faith, confessing God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
