C O N T E N T S

Volume 20 Number 4
June 22, 2002

Martyrdom of Nun Barbara, The New Martyr Of Russia by Archimandrite Demetrios Serfes

Volume 17 Number 3
May 12 – June 22, 2002

CHRIST IS RISEN!

On Pascha from Arimathea
Mid-Pentecost from Anastasis

Volume 17 Number 1
February 3 – March 16, 2002

Report of the Cathedral Dean Igumen Christopher (Calin)
Germs & the Reception of Holy Communion
The Holy Gospel and It’s Study by Bishop Joseph of Arianzos

Volume 17 Number 2
March 17 ­ April 27, 2002

Archpastoral Message for Great Lent from Metropolitan Theodosius
The Ascetic Podvig of Living in the World by Metropolitan Laurus

Volume 16 Number 6
September 23 ­ November 3, 2001

Statement of the Holy Synod of Bishops on the Terrorist Attacks - September 11, 2001

Troparion of The New Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara

Fourth Tone
Emulating the Lord's self-abasement on the earth, thou didst forsake royal
mansions to serve the poor and disdained, overflowing with compassion
for the suffering. And taking up a martyr's cross, thou in meekness didst
perfect the Saviour's image within thee. Wherefore, with Barbara,
entreat Him to save us all. O wise Elizabeth.

St. Barbara The New Martyr

In describing the precious Christian devotion of Sister Barbara and her martyrdom, I am also presenting you brief accounts of the lives of the martyrs for their great Christian faith and duty, with her: HRH. Grand Duchess Elizabeth (Abbess of Ss. Martha and Mary Convent of Love and Mercy), Princes John, Igor, Constantine, Vladimir and Sergius, who were all martyred in Alapaevsk, Russia, on July 5/18, (new calendar followed by old calendar, as in Russia they follow the old calendar in the Liturgical life of the Russian Orthodox Church) the day after the holy martyrdom of the Holy Imperial Royal Martyrs Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia, and the Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexis, along with their friends.

From the teachings of the Orthodox Christian faith we learn to lay down one's life for the promotion and aid of another is the pinnacle of what is means to follow Jesus Christ, to be a child of Light and lover of mankind. The Christian witness of laying down one's own life -martyrdom, for the Greek word "martyria" literally means "witness" - is what our Savior accomplished for the life of the world (St. John 6:51). Jesus Christ was no mere mortal, since His death on the Cross was greater than any other sacrificial death in the history of the world. Jesus was the God-Man, truly God in human form, and thus His sacrifice on the Cross exhibited and demonstrated the superabundant love of God Himself for His entire creation: "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (St. John 3:16). Accordingly, as every Orthodox Christian believes, it is the emulators of this sacrifice of Jesus - the glorious Martyrs - who have always been considered to be the Protectors of the Faith, as they have throughout the ages preserved our Faith whole and pure from all defilement of the devil. Every local Orthodox Church which has in her history the record of martyrdom can rightfully be considered blessed by God and even justified in His eyes.


Royal Martyr
Grand Duchess Elizabeth
(Last known photograph 1918)

Concerning this test and witness, we have such a devoted God-loving handmaiden of our Lord Jesus Christ named Sister Barbara, a Russian Orthodox nun, who was the cell keeper of the Holy Royal Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, who was the Abbess of Ss. Martha and Mary Convent of Love and Mercy in Moscow, Russia.

Two nuns from the convent, named Sister Barbara, and Sister Catherine, were with Grand Duchess while under arrest by the local Red Guards on Bright Tuesday of the Paschal season in April of 1918. Carried off into exile, no one knew where they were taken, although the Grand Duchess Elizabeth was under the impression that she was going towards Siberia to help with her nursing skills, and that both Sisters Barbara and Catherine where going to help with the same cause. Then again the thought was that it was their road to Golgotha!
By train on the way they stopped in Ykaterinburg, where the captives spent several days under strict surveillance, (the Royal Martyrs Tsar Nicholas II and his Royal Family members, and friends had not yet arrive in Ykaterinburg), and then from Ykaterinburg the three nuns where transported to Alapaevsk, where they imprisoned the Grand Duchess Elizabeth with the nuns in a school building prepared for the purpose. There authorities had also imprisoned the others whom they had arrested: the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, Prince John Konstantinovich and his wife, Helena Petrovna, and their children, Vsevolod and Catherine, Prince Konstantine Konstantinovich, Prince Igor Konstantinovich, Count Vladimir Palovich Paley, and the steward of the estates of the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich - Theodore Semyonovich Remez.

At first the captives were under the strict guard of the Red Army soldiers, but they were allowed to go to church on feasts days and to work in the school garden, which during the course of a month, they had cultivated in such a way that even their enemies were amazed.
At times they were able to take walks, under guard, and even to talk to outsiders, with whom they spoke only a little, simply answering questions with a noble reserve, behaving bravely and not showing the deep pain of their hearts.
They lived in a spirit of struggle and prayer. Mornings and evenings they prayed for a long time, and the Grand Duchess spent much of the night in prayer. At midnight she could always be found in prayer.

The Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, the youngest son of the Grand Duke Michale Nikolaevich (the brother of the Tsar Liberator, Alexander Nikovaevich) was born on 25 Septermber 1869. He was named after St. Sergius of Radonezh, who cared and prayed for the Russian land.
From childhood the Grand Duke loved work and studies and while he was traveling through Russia with his father he became acquainted with the needs of the common people and came to love them with his whole soul. While serving in the post of General Inspector or the Artillery with the rank of Adjutant General, he always received those who came to him, doing everything possible for the petitioners. He was particularly distinguished among leaders by his simplicity and his sincere, affectionate manner. The Grand Duke was accessible to everyone, from the simplest peasant to the highest dignitary. He was faithful, sincere and devoted servant of the Emperor and his homeland to the end.

The three brothers, Princes John, Konstantine and Igor, were the sons of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich, who was the son of the Grand Duke Konstantine Nikolaevich (the ardent champion of the liberation of the peasants from serfdom), and his wife, the former Princess of Saxony-Alterburg, now the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavreikievna. These were the children of an august poet, renowned in the academic world, president of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and general inspector of the military academies. These were the children of a great man of government, whose lofty and diverse gifts marked his activities, enabling him to serve in various aspects of governmental and social life. These were the brothers of an august, great, modern hero, who fell on the field of battle, a valiant young champion, Prince Oleg Konstantinovich, who was mourned by the army and all Russia.
The right believing Prince John Konstantinovich, who was born on June 23, 1886, and named after St. John the Baptist, who suffered for the truth of God and whose life ended in a dungeon and martyrdom. Prince John was married to Helen Petrovna, the daughter of the King of Serbia. They had two children: Vsevolod Ioannovich, born on January 1, 1914, and Catherine Koannovna, born on July 12, 1915. The Prince was distinguished by a rare inclination for spiritual and religious matters and by his compassion for the unfortunate. He was sensitive and unpretentious to soldiers and to those people who were victims of cruel fate. He remembered the testament of his father: "Do not betray your high calling and stay in your homeland." During the hours of his grievous exile, he comforted himself with the words of his poet father: "Blessed is he who smiles, who with a joyful countenance bears his cross without complaint..."

At all historical religious festivals, Prince John Konstantinovich served as the representative of His Majesty the Emperor. In the spirit of his religious life, he was close to the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, with whom he many hours discussing moral and religious questions. Although he was a family man, he was nonetheless a great man of prayer, of love and of pure devotion; he lived not for the dark, fleeting moments of life, but rather for holy eternity, leaving his kin with a legacy of truth, good, love and humanity.

Prince Constantine Konstantinovich was born on December 20, 1890; his names day was the trwenty-first of May. He was an extremely modest officer of the Guard of the Izmailovsky Regiment, much beloved by officers and soldiers alike; along with them he was a brave soldier who distinguished himself in the past war, he was often seen in the trenches among the soldiers, risking his life.
Prince Igor Konstantinovich was born on Mary 29, 1894; his names day was the fifth of June. This martyr of duty was a worthy son of his great father. In general, all three departed brothers in that they were faithful to their civil duty, were also faithful to their Christian duty.
Count Vladimir Pavlovich Paley was the son of the Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich from his second marriage to Countess Paley, though morganatic had been performed in accordance with the church's law of matrimony.

Barbara Yakovleva, the nun from the Martha and Mary Convent of Love and Mercy, had been one of the first inhabitants of the holy convent and had always been faithful to all the traditions of the convent. Although she had been the closest person to the Grand Duchess (Elizabeth), she never took pride in this and always behaved like an ordinary nun accessible, kind, and pleasant to everyone. Everyone thought kindly of her. She was faithful to her great Matushka to very end, and voluntarily went to her suffering and death, fulfilling the command of Christ: "Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (St. John 15:13).

The noble Theodore Semenovich Remez, the steward of the Grand Duke Sergei Michailovich's estate, remained faithful to his master up to their martyrdom. By his example, he showed how one must serve and be faithful to one's benefactors to the grave. It is not in vain that people say you find out who your friends are in times of sorrow.

There you have a short biography of the departed ones.

The imperial prisoners spent the month of May tolerably well, although they were often subjected to insults and humiliations by their treacherous persecutors. In June, the regime became stricker. Apart from being deprived of complete freedom, all money, gold and silver in their possession, in general, everything of quality was taken away from them, and they were left with their poorest clothes and a change of linen. They were given the poorest food in limited quantities. God alone knows what the poor suffering ones bore, endured, and thought during these fatal days in bloodstained Alapaevsk.
During the last days of June (Old Style), sisters Barbara and Catherine were taken away from the Grand Duchess Elizabeth the Abbess, and sent to Ykaterinburg. Their parting with her was moving; all three cried like small children. They begged to be allowed to remain with the Grand Duchess to the end, but neither tears nor entreaties had any effect on the cruel hearts of their captors. The Grand Duchess was left alone, without her devoted cell attendants. However much she strove to be strong, there were times when she could not restrain her tears, and wept like a little child before the icon of the Mother of God. She clearly saw what this was all leading up to. Though she was strong in spirit, she was also human; though she had a cheerful spirit, her flesh was weak. Only divine grace supported her invisibly and strengthened her in the difficult moments of suffering, both of body and soul.
When sisters Barbara and Catherine arrived in Ykaterinburg, they were hauled before the regional soviet, where they tearfully entreated the temporal authorities to return them to the Grand Duchess, assuring them that they did not want to be set free, leaving their spiritual mother alone in her difficult imprisonment.

Their request was cruelty refused. The nuns, kneeling, begged to honor their request. At last, wanting to shock them by their cruel answer and to cool their ardent desire, the authorities replied: the elder of the two could return to Alapaevsk on the condition that she attest in writing that she would be willing to be tortured and die with the abbess; they predicted that the suffering and torture would be unprecedented in cruelty. Barbara, as the elder and closest cell attendant to the Grand Duchess, did not hesitate to answer bravely: "I agree to give you the requested signature, not only in ink, but, if necessary, in my own blood." Such an answer threw the vile people into confusion, but their pride forced them to live up to what they had said. They had never imagined that this delicate girl would voluntarily exchange freedom for suffering and death.

This heroine of spirit, Sister Barbara, was ordered to return to Alapaevsk to be imprisoned. sister Catherine was released despite her tearful pleading to exchange her freedom for imprisonment together with Barbara, (no one really knows what happen to Sister Catherine, but perhaps martyred).
How great was the joy of the Grand Duchess when she saw her faithful spiritual daughter returned to her in Alapaevsk. The captives hardly had time to rejoice when a new blow of inexorable fate struck. On the first of July, the wife of Prince John Konstantinovich, Princess Helena Petrovna, and the children, were taken away.

Neither the tears of the mother nor the tears of the children could move the heartless captors to halt the separation of a husband from his wife, of a father from his children. They were taken to Perm where they spent some time in prison; then they were sent to Moscow, and then on to Serbia because of the demands of foreign governments.

After this heavy blow of fate, the august prisoners immediately understood what awaited them in the very near future. They consciously prepared for death, prayed fervently and asked God to strengthen them in their sufferings. Now they thought of nothing earthly except their families, reflecting upon death, the spiritual preparations of the dread Judgment, eternal torment and eternal joy in the mansions of heaven. They repeatedly expressed the wish that God might preserve their sinful bones from being desecrated, for the sake of the joy and comfort of their kin and the people dear to their hearts, who would commemorate them. They asked one another to pray to God concerning this, because they felt that they would be treated cruelly and that there would be an attempt to hide the traces of this crime.

They wrote letters and notes containing their last testaments, put them in pouches or lockets and hung them around their necks with their crosses, in the hope that their relatives would find out their last behest's in this manner.
With tears streaming from his eyes Prince John Konstantinovich wrote a letter to his beloved wife and his little children.
They mourned for Russia, torn apart by turmoil, civil strife, by traitors and by foreigners, perishing without a sovereign and without a government which believed in principles centuries old and was devoted to the Holy Faith of their ancestors. They felt only the eye from the throne on high could see through the covert behavior of a two-faced judge, over the arbitrariness of a ruler, over the depravity of a prodigal, over the cruelty of brutish people. Their souls felt and perceived the signs of the last times, everything on earth was impoverished, oath breaking was accepted, and the living proclamation of heaven was not recognized.

The mysteries of God's judgment are hidden from us, but the temporary sojourn of the Imperial Martyrs will doubtless in itself have blessed traces, on which flowers of Christ's love and mercy will blossom towards a poor people who lovingly gave them refuge.
Holy St. Barbara, and All New Martyrs of Russia, Pray Unto God For Us!

The Resurrection: a thought .... or two

Eastern icon of the Resurrection is not an icon of His Resurrection, but of our Resurrection. It shows Christ descending into Hades to free Death's prisoners.
The ancient Anastasis service we now celebrate as the Proti Anastasis, the Vespers and Liturgy of Paschal Eve, is the Liturgy of the Resurrection of Humanity. We sing 'Arise, O God, and judge the earth...' In the Greek tradition, the priest throws laurel leaves about the church, the black shroudings are torn down, and the congregation makes an ear-splitting noise banging the stasidia, so that we hear the Brazen gates of Hell collapse beneath Christ's feet. ARISE! we sing and JUDGE! The Resurrection inaugurates the Great and Terrible Judgement: 'Now I rise up, says the Lord ...'
Free among the dead' - the rule of Death is bondage, confinement and restriction: He alone walks free among the dead. In Him, we too. Baptised into His death we become free of death's power and rise in Him in His resurrection.
'Arise, O God, and judge' ... the widow and orphan perish ... His Resurrection demands the restoration of Justice on earth. Deification is not simply the private inward transformation of a few chosen contemplatives: humanity is to be deified; the whole earth is to be restored to God. There is a splendid Mediaeval English word for it - we are to be 'Engodded'.
Adam and Eve are dragged out of death to new life. David and Solomon reign again.
An extraordinary Russian icon shows Christ as a young warrior, spear (the Cross) in His hand, sitting alone in the empty caverns of Hell.
If we celebrate His Resurrection as something that happened (then) to Him, or as something he did (there, then), we become mere spectators of the Mystery, moved perhaps, but not changed ... The ancient tradition of the Jewish Paschal Seder is that the one who says 'He freed them from bondage in Egypt' excludes himself: he must say and know and experience He freed us, indeed that he frees us .... We wish each other 'Kali Anastasis!' 'Good Resurrection!' - not merely 'A Good Easter!' or a 'Happy Pascha!' but may you too have a good resurrection!
We remember His Resurrection knowing it is our resurrection, a pledge of the future and a lived experience in the present. We stand in His light so that 'in Your light we may see light.'

On Easter night we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, His victory over death, a victory we are all invited to share. Each of us is invited to experience the Resurrection here and now.

Resurrection is not simply a return from death. The scriptures tell how the prophet Elias raised the son of a poor widow from the dead, how the prophet Elisseus restored life to the sun of the Shunamite who had shown him hospitality. The gospels offer us the stories of Jesus raising the son of the Widow of Naim, the daughter of Jairus, and of his calling his friend Lazarus back to life when he had already been buried for four days. These stories are stories of resurrection, but only in a limited sense. In each case, someone who had died was miraculously restored to life to carry on with the life death had halted. Their lives continued once more - but death still lay before them, and they eventually died.
The story of the Resurrection of Jesus is different. He does not simply return to walk the roads of the Holy land with his apostles and disciples, teaching and preaching. He appears where he will, freed from the limitations of space and time. He remains human, but now His eternal nature shines through; his human nature is renewed and glorified; it is saturated in Godhead.

By His death and Resurrection, the barriers between God and humankind, between Heaven and Earth are cast down. If our spiritual senses are awakened, we can see the light of Paradise glowing around us, smell its fragrance in the clouds of Spring blossom.
Easter is a Spring festival: the world about us is awakening to new life. But that new life is part of a cycle which will continue so long as the Earth lasts. The Resurrection does not lead us back into a cycle of birth, growth, decay and death, but out of that cycle, into a new birth into a life that is not trapped in the horizon of our own mortality, or even of the Earth's transience.

In the Resurrection we are no longer supine before the forces of nature, no longer trapped in fear, no longer left staring at a future where all ambition, all hopes end in the grave. We are no longer the inevitable victims of our own wrongdoing.
In the Resurrection, all things are made new. But how? At one level everything remains exactly as it was before. I came home from the Easter Service to the same house, I burned a cross on the same door with the Easter Fire, the same cat greeted me, the same water flowed from the same taps ....
The fourth century monk and philosopher, Evagrius of Pontus, the god-father of Eastern Christian mysticism, teaches there are three ways we can be aware of things, an angelic way, a demonic way and a human way.
If we think of gold, for example in an angelic way, we seek to know and understand its ultimate nature , - to trace its origin and its being back to the Creator who brought it into existence, to speculate on why the ore lies deep in the rock from which it is mined with so much effort, to analyze the process of refining and all the arts of the smith that transform it into priceless works of craftsmanship, forming it, he says "into the candlestick of the tabernacle and the censers and the vessels from which, by the grace of our Saviour, the King of Babylon no longer drinks."
Demonic consciousness has no time for such things; it is interested in one thing only, - how to aquire gold, as much as possible, and how to make it serve my interests and purposes.

And what of the human way? Truly human consciousness is driven neither by the need to plumb the uttermost depths of meaning, tracing all things back to their first cause and origin, nor by the demonic spirit of greed, acquisitiveness and lust. Human thought simply sees gold as gold.
The Lenten fast is a training ground in virtue and in clarity of mind. The discipline we undertake is meant to purify our vision, to loosen the bonds of demonic thinking. But not everyone fasts or undertakes that discipline.
On Easter night we read an ancient sermon, handed down under the name of John Chrysostom. He calls everyone to join the feast.
"If anyone has laboured from the first hour, come today and receive your due reward!
If anyone came after the third hour, let him celebrate with thanksgiving!"
If anyone has come only at the sixth or the ninth hour, he bids them fear nothing. If anyone has toiled and fasted only from the eleventh hour, let that person too join the feast, the Lord will accept the last as well as the first. The riches of God's love are here for all to experience. His table is set for all to share; His Kingdom revealed for all to see."
It is a good thing to come to the Resurrection with mind and senses trained and purified by the Lenten fast, but even if we are completely unprepared, the Light is there for us to see.
And what can that Light show us? In the icon of the Resurrection, as Jesus smashes down the brazen gates of Hell to deliver Adam and Eve, to deliver humanity from the bondage of death and sin, the light of His divinity shines in their faces too.
If we allow our spiritual senses to awaken, we can see the light of Divinity in the faces of those about us, in the eyes of the old black woman voting for the first time in her life in Soweto, in the eyes of the wounded child brought out of the horrors of Jenin, in the eyes of the family, friends and chance guests who share the Easter supper with us, in the eyes of those we pass in the street on our way home.
Daily life pushes us to think acquisitively, to grasp at what we need and want for ourselves, our parents, our children. We live on the brink of what Evagrius calls demonic thinking. In moments of calm reflection and simple curiosity we return to the human mode of thought. The light of the Resurrection invites to see the world in an angelic way - to find ourselves and the rest of our human family in God and God in us all.
... in us all .... and that is as much a challenge as a reassurance.

From ARIMATHEA.co.uk

Our Children on Pascha, 2002
Mid-Pentecost

Pentecost is the period of seven weeks, a week of weeks, after Pascha. The feast of Pentecost falls at its end.

In Jewish tradition Pesach, Pascha, commemorates the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery and oppression in Pharaonic Egypt and their miraculous escape through the Red Sea. At Pesach a Jew discovers what it is to be a Jew and what the love of God means to the children of His covenant. The feast unites this family gathered around this table with the generation that crossed the desert with Moses.

In Pascha a Christian discovers what it is to be a Christian, to be delivered from the bondage of death-fear and dread, of entrapment on the wheel of futility, by sharing the life of the Risen Lord, here and now, and eternally.

Pentecost, Shavuot, is, in Jewish tradition, the birthday of the world and the festival of the Giving of the Law; for Christians it is the birthday of the Church and the Festival of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Pesach and Pentecost were two of the three great pilgrim festivals, the third, Sukkot happens in Autumn, when a booth is built, open a little to the sky and the elements, and a pious Jew sits in it to study Torah, to greet guests, to eat and to remember minute by minute that "my father was a wandering Aramean" - to return in recollection, in symbol and sign to the lived experience of transience, insecurity, reliance on God's grace, openness to His call. Eastern Orthodox Christianity celebrates the equivalent of this feast at Mid-Pentecost, commemorating Jesus’ preaching in the Temple at Tabernacles, calling all who thirst to come to Him and drink - and the tradition of the fathers is that he cried His invitation aloud with a mighty voice.

Mid-Pentecost is the feast of the thirsty soul, longing for the living water the master offers. "At the mid-point of the feast," we sing, "water my thirsty soul"... Our eyes filled with the light of the Resurrection, the perfume of the clouds of incense that filled the empty church still in our nostrils, we can still recover that sense of thirst for the Spirit's living water.

Report of the Dean to the Parish Assembly for the Year 2001

We have passed through a year of impressive changes for the Cathedral parish. Spurred by the generous legacies of the Estates of Julian Klecan and Nathalie Laptieff, we undertook a massive program of remodeling and renovating our temple and vestibule. The work that was done was long overdue, but until now prohibitive due to its high cost. As a result, we now have a fully renovated sacred space, including the sanctuary, the nave and the narthex. Some finishing touches still need to be completed including the construction of a new holy altar table. Through appeals to our membership, we were able to raise an additional $29,000 for the work. I encourage all who have benefited from this project to prayerfully consider supporting us through financial contributions.

During the period of construction, from January 9 until Lazarus Saturday, divine services were held uninterrupted in the Cathedral undercroft; which itself was renovated and brought up to code in 2000 through the good will and generosity of a parishioner who donated $40,000. This converted space, enhanced by a lovely installation of religious themed wall drawings by Vesna Golubovic Stimac, saw the diaconal ordination of our Warden, Patrick Baumgarth on the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the priestly ordination of Fr. Boris Slootsky, now serving the diocese in New Jersey. We also hosted the hierarchal visitation of Bishop Nikoloz of Bodbe, from the Georgian Patriarchate. Because of the closeness of that space, we became more acutely aware of the negative impact that talking, during the services, has on our fellow parishioners and became a more disciplined and reverential community.
There were 118 adults who paid their assessment in 2001. Of that number, 13 either moved away or decided to join another parish in the area, and 1 reposed. There were two funerals, eight marriages and ten baptisms (seven children, three adults). We averaged 170 people in attendance at the Sunday Liturgy and 60 people at Saturday evening vigils.

The work of the parish is accomplished under the leadership of the Dean appointed by the Rector, with the help of the assigned and attached clergy, the Parish Council, the Choir, the Womens Council and numerous volunteers. I thank Archdeacon Michael Suvak for his tireless and constant work. He prepares for and serves at every divine service, makes the prosfora, and is in charge of complete building maintenance. Everyone who visits here is struck by the cleanliness and well-tended beauty of our Cathedral, and this is due directly to his dedication and labors. His staff of regular volunteers who lovingly and piously assist him in the church include Rodica Radu, Vasili Rukhadze, Nana Gonchitashvili, Luke Helenius and Shota Tskolia to name a few. Vera Yurchak, Tillie Cherhoniak, Nina Bykow and others helped him organize brass-polishing sessions before Pascha. He is Treasurer of the Parish Council, serves as a church schoolteacher, and planned our summer day camp for children. Deacon Patrick Baumgarth is also always ready to serve and assist in
any way is needed, and in addition to being highly knowledgeable of liturgics, is also particularly attentive to the heartbeat of parish life and needs of those who are ill or absent from church bringing these things to my attention and keeping me well informed.

The Cathedral is blessed to have the regular presence of Hieromonk Constantin (Chirilla), Archpriest Marqus Kubelashvili, and Priest Alexandre Ioukliaevskikh who assist at the services and substitute for me when I am absent for any reason; and Protodeacon Gregory Benc is frequently here when his protodeaconal duties permit, further enhancing the services. The senior altar servers serve as sub-deacons at hierarchal services, and tend to the various needs in the sanctuary including the direction and supervision of the junior servers and candle-bearers. We have two "teams" of servers which alternate serving each week.

The Parish Council is made up of the clergy and lay members of the parish. I thank George Elia who has served as Warden, for his willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, lending his expertise and knowledge of construction and building codes to inspect and ensure that the work we had done was of superior quality, and by coming and doing many himself thereby saving us time and decreasing our expenses. Olga Dorochovich continued to keep the financial records of the parish and send receipts for special donations we received, in addition to serving as Coordinator of the Church School Program. She is a source of wisdom and support, and I consider no major decision about the life of the parish without her input and advice. Under my direction George Elia, Olga Dorochovich, Madeline Nicastro and Sonya Salogub have begun to take a more visible role in the life of the parish, serving in a ministry of greeting the many new comers and visitors who walk through the doors of our church each week. Raisa Uglik has been managing the bookstore. These are key areas of initial contact with people and must be staffed with knowledgeable and committed parishioners. We hope to continue to develop these critical areas in the future by assigning and encouraging more people to commit to serve in these ways and help us to make the Cathedral a warm and welcoming community for those who come seeking a parish home. Although not members of the Parish Council, Robert Roth and Temur Tailuri volunteer to sell candles, and Mary Gelement helps the Treasurer by balancing the books.

Vital to the life of any Orthodox parish is a committed and stable choir that is prepared and able to chant the responses and hymns of the divine services of the Church. For the past ten years, Anastasia Neubauer has served as director of our choir and has faithfully been present at each and every service, feast, and special event as called upon by me. With her on the Kliros, together with our Reader Kevin Claiborne, I am confident that the services will run smoothly. Joining them are the volunteers who sing and in the choir and assist with the reading. Those who sing and serve in this way, sacrificing time to attend rehearsals, working to improve and share their talent and abilities also serve a vital ministry in the Church. With their voices, they give voice to the message of salvation and communicate the truth of the Gospel to us. It is a most sacred and awesome task.

The Women's Council seems to be at a critical juncture in its existence since its faithful and active members are few. Tanya Davis has served as president for the past few years. This year, in an effort to involve more people, they produced a wonderful cookbook with supplemental sections concentrated on Lenten cooking. In addition to providing the supplies for the weekly coffee hour, the Womens Council worked in cooperation with Rachel Andreyev and Sonya Salogub from the Parish Council, to assist and provide for various receptions. They sponsor two fund raising events each year, Maslanitsa (Meat-fare Sunday) and Palm Sunday. The cost of decorating the church with flowers for the feasts, the up-keep of church linens and vestments and the purchasing materials for the church school are paid for by them. This year we will seek to appeal to more women to join them in their work.
The Church School continues to grow and strive to meet the spiritual needs of our parish's children and youth. Under the attentive eye of Olga Dorochvich, this ministry is thriving, with five classes and a full complement of teachers and support staff serving 33 children and young adults. Children are not only the future of our Church, but they are also "the present," and must be nourished and lovingly guided and trained in the ways of piety and truth if they are to continue to love God and the Church later in life. Each of us, whether parents or not, have a responsibility set a good example for our children in behavior and speech, in devotion and obedience to the Church, and in good manners and deportment. Most parents strive mightily to keep their children near to them and attentive during the divine services, but if the children see others talking and inattentive, walking in and out, demonstrating lack of respect and heedlessness in the temple, they will mimic it. This is a tremendous disservice to them and to the entire parish community as well. Be attentive, one and all.

After reviewing all the above, it seems that the state of the parish is strong, however, we must never simply be content to rest on our laurels, but must constantly strive to exceed past accomplishments and grow in new ways as we manifest the Kingdom of Heaven in the world and in our city. We are surrounded with thousands of people seeking answers to the ultimate questions of human existence. There are still those who suffer from the terror and grief and loss resulting from the murderous events of 9/11 that need healing and comfort. There are some members who do not volunteer to work, or to give, or to assist the Church as the Scripture commands. Although we have a well-stocked bookstore and a full library, many people remain ignorant of the Gospel and even the most elementary teachings of the Church. While we were able to accomplish a great deal last year, much of it was because of the sacrifice and support of only a few, while many received the benefits. I struggle with finding ways to inspire and encourage a deeper commitment from each and every person who worships in the church. I hope for the day when no one needs to be reminded to "pay their assessment," or to "take and use their weekly contribution envelopes," or to "sign up to host coffee hour," or to "come to confession and prepare to receive Holy Communion."

Let us aim to go deeper into Christ, to allow our minds and hearts to be spiritually changed, to work toward the transfiguration of our lives and our own spheres of existence. It begins by each of us making a decision to follow Christ, to be obedient to His voice, to really support His Church, to continue serving the "Liturgy after the Liturgy." We do this by praying, assisting and comforting others, forgiving all everything, quelling destructive gossip and divisiveness, and by inviting and encouraging others to more actively participate in "Parish Life" which, since the time of the Apostles until now, flows forth from Christ Himself, "for in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

Igumen Christopher

A MEDICAL OPINION: Germs and the Reception of Holy Communion
...unto the Healing of soul and body...

by Emanuel Kolyvas, M.D.,
The Sign [of the Theotokos], Montreal reprinted from: Canadian Orthodox Messenger, Spring 1995

Contrary to popular opinion, wines, and other beverages of antiquity produced through fermentation, were probably more important in providing disease-free drinking fluids than in their tendency to intoxicate. Ancient Greeks drank their water mixed with wine, and also used wine to cleanse wounds and soak dressings. More recently, military physicians of the last century observed that during epidemics of cholera, wine drinkers were relatively spared by the disease, and troops were advised to mix wine into the water.

Wine has been shown to be an effective antiseptic even when the alcohol is removed. In fact, 10% alcohol is a poor antiseptic, and alcohol only becomes optimally effective at concentrations of 70%. The antiseptic substances in wine are inactive in fresh grapes because these molecules are bound to complex sugars. During fermentation these antiseptic substances are split off from the sugars and in this way become active. These molecules are polyphenol, a class of substances used in hospitals to disinfect surfaces and instruments.

The polyphenol of wine has been shown to be some thirty-three times more powerful than the phenol used by Lister when he pioneered antiseptic surgery.
Same year wines can be diluted up to ten times before beginning to show a decrease in their antiseptic effect. The better wines gradually improve with age over the first ten years and can be diluted twenty times without a decrease of the antiseptic effect. This effect then remains more or less constant over the next twenty years and becomes equivalent to a new wine after another twenty-five years. (Modern antiseptics and antibiotics for disinfecting wounds have surpassed wine effectiveness because the active ingredients in wine are rapidly bound and inactivated by proteins in body tissues.)
In preparing communion, the hot water that is added to the wine will increase greatly the antiseptic effect of the polyphenols. Disinfection occurs more rapidly and more effectively at 45 degrees centigrade than at room temperature (22-25 degrees). Another contribution to the antiseptic effect comes from the silver, copper, zinc that make up the chalice itself, ensuring that microbes are unable to survive on its surface.

Throughout the centuries no disease has ever been transmitted by the taking of Holy Communion. Diseases, such as Influenza and Hepatitis B, known to be transmitted by shared eating utensils, have never been acquired from the communion spoon. HIV is known not to be transmitted through shared eating utensils, and considering the antiseptic qualities of the Holy Communion received by the faithful, there is no likelihood of acquiring HIV infection through the Common Cup.

Q&A: Common Chalice and Spoon / Kissing Icons

This question does not mean to be offensive, but the issue of the possibility of spreading disease from contact with icons and the cross during veneration, and also from the communion spoon, has come up more than once from inquirers at our mission parish. One couple did not join the church because of their concern with receiving communion from a common chalice and spoon. Another inquirer was willing to accept that the Eucharist would not spread disease, but they were concerned with venerating icons, and asked if it was absolutely necessary to venerate icons and the cross by kissing them, or would it be acceptable to bow close to them or make some other form of physical contact beside kissing.

Especially in modern times, where the spread of disease is understood better and there are diseases such as herpes and AIDS, we need to understand this concern, be able to properly explain it to people and ourselves, and understand what alternatives are acceptable.

Could you please address how we should view the possibility (or impossibility) of the spread of disease from (1) veneration of icons and (2) from the common chalice and spoon?
Thank you for your enquiry. I hope that you will not consider my answer to be brief or glib, but there are only a few things one can say concerning these matters.

With regard to the reception of Holy Communion:

1. If one receives Communion in the proper manner, one would tilt one's head back and open one's mouth as wide as possible, thereby allowing the priest to simply drop the Body and Blood of Christ into the communicant's mouth without ever coming into contact with the spoon.
2. Even when the spoon does come into contact with one's mouth, it is highly unlikely that viruses such as AIDS would be transmitted since
a. it has been widely reported that the AIDS virus is rendered impotent when it comes into contact with air or water;
b. it has been widely reported that even the transmittal of AIDS through saliva is rare;
c. the alcohol content in the wine which becomes the Blood of Christ, combined with the boiling hot water added to the chalice right before the reception of Holy Communion, kills most viruses and other germs.
3. We, as Orthodox Christians, firmly believe that what is being received is the Body and Blood of Christ. It is a matter of faith that one cannot contract a disease from the Body and Blood of Christ.
4. On the lighter side, the priest or, in parishes that have a deacon, the deacon consumes the remaining Eucharist after it is distributed to the faithful. There are no cases of clergy becoming infected as a result of consuming the Holy Gifts after the Liturgy.
5. I believe that quite a number of years ago the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese had checked all of this out with a group of doctors, all of whom drew the same general conclusions that the transmittal of disease via the chalice -- especially the AIDS virus -- is not possible.

With regard to the kissing of icons and the cross: I have never heard of anyone who has become ill as a result of this. Of course, there may be cases in which individuals with serious flus or other ailments may wish to refrain from doing so.

I have been a parish priest for 25 years and have never encountered these concerns, nor have I ever feared for my health as a result of receiving or consuming the Eucharist or kissing an icon or cross -- and, believe me, priests come into contact with such things much more regularly than the laity. While I have heard from time to time concerns about the Eucharistic spoon, it would seem that the reception of the Eucharist directly into the mouth from the priest's hand, which may very well come into contact with a communicant's tongue and lips, may very well be less sanitary. The same would go for those confessions in which the faithful partake of the chalice by drinking directly from it.

Following the Eucharistic Liturgy and the consumption of the remaining Holy Gifts by the priest or deacon, the chalice, diskos, and spoon are usually cleanse with boiling hot water and carefully covered, protecting them even from the air, dust, etc.
While I would acknowledge that there are a host of viruses and diseases making the rounds in today's world, it would seem that in times past matters were somewhat worse. The Bubonic plague and Black Death come to mind here. So are the more recent times in which TB, polio and other diseases were rampant. If one focuses their faith on Jesus Christ, one must assume that His Body and Blood, which is the "fountain of life and immortality," simply cannot be the cause of illness, disease, or death.

Finally, I would ask an individual who would opt not to explore entrance into the Orthodox Church because of the Communion spoon if he or she is equally cautious about eating in public places. There have been far more reported incidents of people acquiring hepatitis, e-coli, and other diseases and conditions at restaurants, receptions, picnics, etc. than from the Eucharist. Just last week in Chicago quite a number of restaurants were shut down after rodent droppings were discovered in their kitchens -- and some of these were well-known, reputable establishments. Consistency would dictate that those who fear the Eucharistic spoon might also refrain from eating in any public establishments. After all, doing so implies that we put our faith in the owners, managers, and servers and their willingness to make sure that everything is sterile and virus free. Such, of course, is not always the case. [Recently there was a case in our area of 80 people who had contracted hepatitis at a wedding reception. It was subsequently discovered that one of the cooks was a carrier. Makes one wonder!]

Archpriest John Matusiak

The Holy Gospel and the Orthodox way of its study
by His Grace Bishop Joseph of Arianzos

The Gospel is not a good, beneficial, edifying book. It is not, as it has been called, "the king of books". It is the book of life. It is the Word of God. It is the voice of the Trinitarian God treasured in the Church and conveyed by the Church and through the Church to the world, for the salvation of humanity and the world. This is its primary distinction from every other book that has been or will be published on earth and on every planet (if there is ever life discovered beyond earth!).

The Gospel is a part of the Holy Tradition of the Church—undoubtedly the most basic and most central, but still one section of the whole Holy and Sacred Tradition.

The Church of Christ separated it from the numerous holy texts of its saints, and said that these specific texts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as the remaining particular writings of Paul, Peter, James and Jude, constitute the New Testament of God with the new Israel of Grace, namely the Christ - loving people of the Church. These and no other. In their specific form and no other.
The Church rejected other texts, which were perhaps beneficial and full of reverence, because its divine experience and the illumination of the Paraclete, which guide the Church into the whole truth, grant the possibility of "discerning the spirits" and allow it, through its Saints, to discern the Voice of its Lord from "the voice of enemies".

Thus the Church very early laid down, established and consecrated the "Canon" of Holy Scripture which can neither be added to nor subtracted from, nor in any other way changed. And at this point every kind of heretic that accepts the "Canon" and yet rejects its creator and Bride of Christ, the Church, is proved outrageously self-contradictory!

The Holy Spirit "taught wisdom to the illiterate", "rendered the fishermen theologians" and inspired the authors of the Gospels. The same Holy Spirit also enlightened other "saints of God" to discern the words of divine revelation and, to codify them into the "Bible" of life and salvation, and to place them in the centre of the life of the Church. This life of the Church is what is called Holy and Sacred Tradition and is identified with the life of the God-Man extended to the ages of ages.

The Gospel, then, is the heart of the Body of the Church, and is vigilant even when the Body appears to sleep either from extreme sin in the world (as today), or from extreme persecution and threat (former or contemporary), or else from indifference or lukewarmness of those called to be watchful guardians of the logical sheep of Christ.

For the Church, the Gospel has always been and always is the Image in words of the God-Man Bridegroom and Saviour, the Image in paper and ink. This is in any case why so great honour is attributed to the Gospel: it is placed on the fearful altar, indeed in its centre; it is covered with gold and silver ornaments, studded with precious stones; it is taken in procession with the festal proclamation and command: 'Wisdom, let us attend!"; it is kissed and venerated etc. It is characteristic that at Vespers of Holy Saturday, the Gospel is taken in procession and placed in the Holy Sepulchre of the Epitaphios while people venerate it and chanters sing the Aposticha 'When You were taken down from the Cross dead.." - here, the Gospel is itself the image of the buried Christ. The so-called Epitaphios (the actual material) is the material (or Air) borne by the Clergy on their shoulders when carrying the Gospel, for example during the Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy with the Holy Gifts. This is why we venerate the Gospel first and then the Epitaphios.
Likewise, on Sunday Matins, after reading the morning Gospel which preaches the good news of the Resurrection of our Lord, the faithful approach as the Myrrhbearing women and venerate the Risen Lord in the Holy Gospel.

With all this in mind, I was greatly scandalised when I recently saw an edition of the New Testament with "blue-jean" material on the cover, in the form of a "cowboy' pocket-book dared by Protestants, perhaps with the aim of supposedly rendering it accessible to modern youth!

* * *

And a detail, which is perhaps not so much a detail: The Gospel on the Holy Altar is sealed! Its frame has small locks that keep it closed. Furthermore, it is read from the height of the holy Pulpit or from the Royal Doors and by a member of the Clergy (Deacon, Presbyter, Bishop) after a special prayer is read ("Shine, O loving Master, in our hearts the unfailing light of Your knowledge, and open the eyes of our minds to the understanding of Your Gospel precepts...."). All this means that the Church proclaims the Gospel! It is the Body of Christ that preaches Christ! For those outside the Church, the Gospel remains "a book sealed with seven seals"! Inaccessible and incomprehensible! A two-edged sword! Light that burns!
Furthermore, the Holy Gospel and the Epistle readings are chanted, not simply read, as unfortunately certain modernising Clergy do, influenced by Western practice. The chanting signifies that it is not a normal reading of this world, but a harmonious melody of theology, the product of the musical harp of the All-Holy Spirit whose cords are the Evangelists.

The study of the Gospel, then, implies certain presuppositions. One not only needs to be a member of the Church, but one must also trace the way forged by the holy Evangelists who "evangelised peace and good". So one must live the holy life of the Church, struggle for cleansing from passions and for the acquisition of Christ-like virtues, be nourished by the sacred Mysteries of the Christian altar, be enlightened and sanctified by the Grace of God offered in all the Holy Sacraments and the liturgical life of the Church in general. One must at least be in the stage of purification according to Christ, in Christ and through Christ.

When one is comfortable in one's passionate and lowly life of sin, and is negligent in one's Godly struggle for salvation, for which all the Saints of the Church struggled - and they are in this respect also the infallible pointers and sure examples - then "in seeing, one does not see; and in hearing, one does not understand". Then one may study Holy Scripture and be darkened instead of enlightened. One may be deceived instead of led towards God. One may be condemned instead of saved! This is precisely the case with all the heretics who, because they do not the necessary presuppositions, gather only darkness, deceit, corruption, death and condemnation from the Gospel! They read one thing and understand another! They see one thing and conclude another, continually being estranged from the "hidden beauty" of the saving word of God! The Light of God becomes for them the "consuming fire" of hell.
And the reading of the Gospel by a member of the Clergy has a deeper meaning. Deacons were ordained from those who were in the first stage of Godly life, that of "purification;" Presbyters- from those who had progressed to the second and more perfect stage, namely ' illumination;" and Bishops- those who were raised to the third and supreme stage of "divine theory" or "theosis". Thus, the latter possessed, according to the measure of their struggle, analogous spiritual experiences with the God-bearing authors of the Holy Scriptures, although not exactly proportional since the Apostles and Evangelists are, after the Theotokos and John the Forerunner, at the highest possible point of divinisation to which one cannot, after those blessed ones, be elevated. Therefore, the Spirit-bearing Bishops had the ability to understand in depth and in precision the divine concepts of Scripture and to interpret unwaveringly and nourish with pure milk and clean food the Flock of Christ. This is seen literally in the Fathers of the Church. St. John Chrysostom, for example, interprets the Gospels or St. Paul's letters and conveys to the Church the exact meaning of the Evangelists and Apostles. The same applies to Athanasius the Great and Basil the Great and very Holy Gregory Palamas and others. The Presbyters in turn who were in the stage of illumination could also discern the divine concepts of Scripture and proclaim the Gospel without danger. The Deacons, finally, who were in the stage of purification, had the basic presuppositions with which not to lose sight of the spirit of truth behind the letter of the sacred texts.

In reading the Gospel thus, the Clergyman, in this action alone, claims that "no hand of the uninitiated should touch" "the dangerous" written word of God. This does not in any way mean that the study of the Gospel is not permissible for all. It is most certainly allowed but with certain conditions!
One basic condition is that the faithful, before taking Scripture in their hands, should be deeply convinced that it is not a book of human wisdom and knowledge subject to the criticism of so called "rational logic" but it is rather the word of the Word - the Enhypostatic Wisdom of God and, therefore, must be approached "with trembling hands" as a disciple and not as a judge, as one ignorant and not as a scholar, as a fool, and not as a wise, as a child and not as one who is "sober in oneself".

And before opening the holy pages, one should open one's heart before God to pray with warmth and seek with humility divine enlightenment and assistance, after of course basically cleansing oneself from the spot of sin through Confession and genuine repentance.
Having approached with these necessary conditions the Scriptural pasture with reverence and fear of God, and having delighted in the letter of the sacred text, then one should turn to the sure interpreters of Scripture. One should study the interpretation of the relevant text as offered by the divinely-enlightened Church Fathers, in order to see how the passage is interpreted by St. John Chrysostom, for example, who is more or less the simplest and most accessible to the majority. If one wishes, one could study the appropriate interpretation of the second and third and fourth Father. If one seeks deeper study, one may look for the "Consensus Patrum", the "Agreement of the Fathers", since each Holy Father, according to the variety of illuminating gifts of the Holy Spirit - which is also related to the degree of perfection of each Father - will perhaps emphasise certain rays of the same diamond of Gospel truth more so than others. This, with very few exceptions that serve rather to underline the rule, is not contradiction at all but only agreement. I would say it is like a musical symphony (= agreement) where with different notes, with the variety of instruments and voices, the same song is sung, and in this case the all-harmonious chant of true Theology, which is none other than Christ Himself—the Enhypostatic Wisdom of God, the human-loving God-Man, the Crucified, Risen, Beneficial, Redeeming and Saviour Lord.

* * *

The study, therefore, of Scripture which is based on our own poor ability and on our own capacity to conceive and understand the divine concepts - a capacity which is insignificant and non-existent, due to the darkness of passions reigning within us - is to be avoided as dangerous.
On the contrary: approaching the word of God with the above basic ecclesiastical presuppositions is necessary as the required nurture of the soul, as enlightenment of life without with one cannot exist, as medicine and source of immortality and as participation in God!

* * *

One may rightly ask: do today's Deacons, Presbyters and Bishops have the necessary presuppositions mentioned above in order to be the precise interpreters and sure teachers of the Gospel? The answer, even if negative, is that they can be through humble discipleship before the works of the Holy Fathers. By interpreting Holy Scripture in the Patristic light and by proclaiming the Gospel in the Patristic voice, yes, the teaching of the Gospel is clearly genuine, unadulterated, sure and saving. And I believe that - thanks be to God - most of today's fathers of God's people are - to their credit - good pupils of the Church Fathers. And to the degree that they are good disciples and sons, they are good teachers and fathers, worthy of trust from the Christ-loving people of God.

* * *

The presuppositions for the study of the Gospel equally apply to the whole of Holy Scripture—not only for the New, but also for the Old Testament. We should add concerning the latter that, for us Orthodox, it is not examined in isolation but always in relation to the New Testament. For whatever is contained in the Old Testament is prophecy and prefiguration of the New, in a way that without the light of the New, the Old is a hidden mystery, inaccessible and incomprehensible! So incomprehensible, that a contemporary thinker inexperienced in the ecclesiastical way of approaching the Scriptures could call it "Mythology of the Hebrew people"!!!

The Orthodox Christian, standing in the courtyard of the word of God, loosens the laces of his shoes and takes off the slippery sandals of egoism, self-sufficiency and rationalism, in the knowledge that he is in a holy place; and he receives the guidance of the God-bearing Fathers, full aware of his spiritual blindness; and he seeks the illumination of God on the darkness of his soul as a result of his passions; and he studies in humility, and in studying he is a pupil who prays and comes to understanding through prayer, to light through understanding, to sanctification through light and through sanctification to salvation.

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan THEODOSIUS at the beginning of the Great Fast, 2002

Once again, we enter the season of Great Lent, the "school of repentance," during which we prepare ourselves for the celebration of the glorious resurrection of the New Paschal Lamb Who voluntarily takes upon Himself the sin of the world (cf. John 1:29).

Great Lent is a time of fasting, of freeing ourselves from those things that, while well within our control, we have allowed to control us. It is a time of almsgiving, of sharing our time and treasures and very lives with "the least of the brethren" as we discern the Lord’s presence in all with whom we come into contact. And, coupled with our fasting and almsgiving, it is a time to intensify our prayer life, to quietly reflect on the many blessings Our Lord has so freely and lovingly granted to all who would follow Him to the cross, the tomb, and ultimately, the resurrection. Indeed, the "lenten spring" brings with it the joyous promise of new life – the new life of the Kingdom of God itself.

Beyond fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, Great Lent challenges us to overcome the tendency to live a superficial Christian life, filled with correct words and deeds but devoid of the transfiguring and saving Spirit. We recall the words of the Lord: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men" (Matthew 15:8-9).

In overcoming a purely formal and superficial approach to our faith, we move closer to the ultimate aim of our lives as Orthodox Christians: loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. It is precisely in this that we find the "dynamic tension" inherent in the Gospel -- the tension between the glamour of this world and the glory of the world to come. Saint Paul reminds us that, while we are in the world, we are not of the world. Yet it is precisely in the world that we are challenged to allow the transforming love of the risen Lord to fill us, to change us, and to prompt us to continue the work of salvation until Our Lord returns in glory.

As we enter the school of repentance, let us flee from the distractions and tensions of this world and focus our hearts and minds on the empty tomb at which we, like the Myrrhbearing Women, delight in the words of life: "He is not here; He is risen!" Let us shun that purely superficial and formal observance of Great Lent that can become an obstacle to true repentance and interior change. And, strengthened and renewed by fasting and almsgiving, prayer and repentance, let us engage the world by proclaiming the "life of the world to come" in a world which so desperately struggles to find and regain hope and direction.

Asking your continued prayers and forgiveness, I pray that the blessings inherent in the Lenten spring will in due time fill you with the joy of the risen Lord, to Whom belongs all glory, honor and worship now and forever.

With love in Christ,
+THEODOSIUS
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

The Ascetic Podvig of Living in the World
A Lecture Given by His Eminence Archbishop Laurus At the Eighth Annual St. Herman Pilgrimage

The situation of an Orthodox person, an Orthodox Christian who lives in the contemporary world, may be described, without any exaggeration, as extremely difficult. The whole of present-day life, in all its tendencies, in one way or another is directed against a person who is trying to live according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church. In life around us, in our environment, in our heterodox surroundings, everything is essentially a total denial of Christianity. If, in the beginning of the Christian era, Christ's beloved disciple, St. John the Theologian, could write, "... the whole world lieth in wickedness" (I John 5:19), then how much more justified we are in speaking thus of our times.

Being a true Orthodox Christian, prepared to preserve unto death one's faith in Christ our Saviour, is much more difficult in our day than it was in the first centuries of Christianity. It's true there were persecutions then and Christians were tormented, but the Christians well remembered the Saviour's words, " . . . fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" (Matt. 11:28). Being fortified by God's grace, they joyfully went to their martyrdom and gave up their lives for Christ. This was also the case in Russia during the torture and persecutions. Now nobody threatens us, living here in freedom, with persecution and torture, but in spite of this, a persecution in its most diverse forms is being carried on against Christianity and against the Christian way of life. Today we see that everything connected with faith in God, with the teaching of God's Word, with Christ's teachings and the teachings of the Orthodox Church, in one way or another is being driven out of a person's life. This process that is taking place in the contemporary world is a process of apostasy, and it can be detected in every aspect of life.

The Old Testament says, "God, to be sure, framed man for an immortal destiny, the created image of His own endless being; but, since the devil's envy brought death into the world, they make him their model that take him for their master" (Wisdom 2:23-25).

We have been given our holy Christian faith so that we might obtain eternal life in blessedness. But to conform perfectly with the spirit of the Founder of our faith, Christ our Saviour, and with His teaching, to really cleanse ourselves morally, to increase in virtue, to become acquainted with spiritual perfection, all this demands special, grace-filled cooperation from above, in addition to an Orthodox person's own efforts. This grace-filled cooperation is called sanctification and is given to us by the Lord. It is achieved by the Holy Spirit in the holy Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ for our sanctification and salvation.

You and I are children of the Russian Orthodox Church. The question arises, do we live as Orthodox Christians are supposed to live? No, we are far from living in the way we should.

At our holy baptism we gave vows (if we were baptized as infants, our sponsors gave them on our behalf), we made a contract with Christ and in this way we became His children, His servants, the children of God. At baptism the holy Church sings, "As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia."

Therefore, since we belong to God, we must live in accordance with God's commandments, in accordance with Christ's teachings and the laws of the Church. We are baptized, we are Orthodox Christians but we don't know very much about our Orthodox Faith.
All who are born in the bosom of the holy Church through holy baptism are born into a new life. They grow and are brought up in the Spirit of Truth and receive in the spiritual life grace-filled gifts for life on earth, with the promise of eternal gifts for the future life. Thus, to live in the Church is an essential condition for a Christian's moral development.

The Church of Christ was founded by our Lord the Saviour and He showed us the path by which we must go to Him, and He showed us how to follow His teaching. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Consequently, we must go by this path, pointed out to us by our Saviour.
Every path and every action demands a podvig—that is, an ascetic struggle. Therefore, our holy Orthodox Faith is an ascetic faith demanding ascetic labor in the struggle with our sinful passions and lusts.

How must we live and struggle? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself shows an example: "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15). The saints also provide us with an example.

In His Sermon on the Mount our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the whole essence of Evangelical teaching. This is found in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of the Gospel of St. Matthew. In the Beatitudes the Lord teaches us that we must be born again spiritually and thus prepare ourselves for the beatitude of eternal life in the heavenly man signs. The first step towards this is to recognize one's spiritual emptiness, one's sinfulness and worthlessness, to become humble. This is why "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). But only those who observe all the commandments will achieve this. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).

In order to go by the path that our Lord pointed out in the holy Gospel, we have to take ourselves under control; we must check and test ourselves.

Bishop Theophan the Recluse says:
The true Christian tests himself every day. Daily testing to see whether we have become better or worse, is so essential for us that without it we cannot be called Christians. Constantly and persistently we must take ourselves in hand. Do this: from the morning establish thoughts about the Lord firmly in your mind and then during the whole day resist any deviation from these thoughts. Whatever you are doing, with whomever you are speaking, whether you are going somewhere or sitting, let your mind be with the Lord. You will forget yourself, and stray from this path; but again turn to the Lord and rebuke yourself with sorrow. This is the podvig of spiritual attentiveness.

St. John of Kronstadt says:
Every day, hour, and minute, keep a strict watch and consider every thought, desire, and movement of the heart, every word and deed, and do not let yourself be defiled by one sinful thought, desire, or movement of the imagination, in word or deed, knowing that the Lord is the Righteous Judge Who is judging you every instant and is evaluating the inner man. Continually keep yourself pure for God.

Now the question will arise—how do you definitely find out exactly what is sinful and to what degree, so as to know clearly and distinctly if one has sinned, and how frequently, and to critically examine one's life like a strict and unhypocritical judge?

Bishop Theophan advises as follows:
To do this, put the law of God on one side and your own life on the other, and see where they are similar and where there is no resemblance. Take your deeds and subject them to the law to see if they are permissible, or take the law and see if it is applied in your life. So as not to omit anything in this important matter, you have to have an orderly system. Sit down and call to mind all your duties towards God, your neighbors, and yourself, and then go through your life in relation to all these. Or you may go through the ten commandments and the beatitudes, one after the other, and see if your life accords with them. Or read those parts of the Gospel of St. Matthew where the Saviour sets out the strictly Christian law, and also the epistles of St. James and the epistles of St. Paul, especially to the Romans and Ephesians. Read all this and then check your own life, how it conforms. Or, finally, take the rite of Confession and check your own behavior against it. The result of such an examination of one's life is to reveal a vast number of deeds, words, thoughts, feelings and desires that were against the law but were permitted, even though they should not have been; a vast number that should have been done but were not, and many that were done in accordance with the law but turned out to be defiled by an impure motive. From all this you will gather a vast number, and even your whole life, perhaps, will be made up only of bad deeds.

Perhaps someone will say that all this is not necessary for all Christians, but only for the monastics. But no, this is for everyone! A person is a Christian not by calling, but by his way of life. All of us, not just monastics, have to think about and be concerned for our salvation. The law of the Gospel is given for everyone.

In answer to the question, how must a Christian live, how must we act and behave? the Apostle Paul shows us. His words, directed to the Ephesians, are also addressed to us:
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient [not proper, according to the Slavonic—editorial note]: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolator, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever cloth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God (Ephesians 5:1-21).

We have to become interested in the holy Orthodox Faith, we must study it and live in accordance with it. We must take care concerning our salvation. We will do this if we read holy Scripture, if we study the law of God, if we pray morning and evening and at all times, if we fast, if we carry out God's commandments and the Church's commandments.

In addition to this, we have to acquire Christian virtues—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, generosity, mercy, faith, meekness, abstinence, etc. We have to go to church, attend divine services, be cleansed of our sins and be sanctified through the holy Mysteries which are given by the holy Church for our salvation.
We can find out from the holy fathers what significance prayer should have for us. The saints, who, in fact, tested the significance of prayer, wrote about this from experience. Therefore we must read what they wrote and learn from them.

This is what St. John Chrysostom writes about prayer:
Prayer is a refuge for those who are shaken, an anchor for those tossed by waves, a walking stick for the infirm, a treasure house for the poor, a stronghold for the rich, a destroyer of sicknesses, a preserver of health. Prayer keeps our virtues intact and quickly removes all evil. If temptation overtakes us, it easily drives it away; if we lose some property or something else, which causes our soul grief, it removes it. Prayer banishes every sorrow, causes good humor, facilitates constant well-being. It is the mother of the love of wisdom. He who can sincerely pray is richer than everyone else, even though he is the poorest of all. On the contrary, he who does not have recourse to prayer, even though he sit on a king's throne, is the poorest of all....

On prayer in church and on attending church services, St. John Chrysostom says the following:
The right confession of dogmas should be combined with righteousness of life and deeds so that we do not achieve our salvation only by halves. Nothing can so facilitate righteousness of conduct and purity of life as being here, in church, and sincere attentiveness. As the body needs food, so the soul needs the study of divine Scriptures, for "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). For this reason those who do not participate in this meal (liturgy) usually suffer hunger. Hear how God threatens such hunger and places it alongside punishment and torture: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send forth a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord..." (Amos 8:11). Is it not madness to do everything and take all measures to avoid bodily hunger but willingly to incur spiritual hunger? No, I beg and entreat you, let us not be so badly disposed toward ourselves....

Further, St. John Chrysostom continues:
To be here in church is the source of all blessings. When they leave here, it seems that a husband is more respectful to his wife and a wife is more kind to her husband, since it is not the physical beauty of the body that makes a wife loving, but the virtue of the soul, not cosmetics and beauty aids, not gold and rich clothing, but chastity, meekness, and constant fear of God. This spiritual beauty nowhere develops to such an extent as in this wonderful and divine place (church), where the apostles and prophets wash away, reform, and cleanse old sin and bring forth the brightness of youth; where they extinguish every stain, every blemish, every defilement of our soul .... Let us try, husbands and wives, to rejoice in our inner beauty.

We give very little attention to fasting, considering this to be something that the Church has laid down which is of no importance. But it is divinely established. The commandment to fast is as old as the world. It was the first commandment given by God to man. Because we did not fast, we have been banished from Paradise. Therefore we must fast in order to gain entrance again to Paradise (St. Basil the Great). Not to fast is to be like animals to which such a thing is unknown. Abstinence for the body is food for the soul (St. John Chrysostom). We do not live in order to eat, but we eat in order to live and fulfill our duties. Our Lord Himself fasted, as recounted in the Gospel. Often you and I see someone in need but go past without responding and without helping as we consider that there are no really poor people and no one who has genuine need. But according to the Lord's commandments, we have to help, we are obliged to show mercy.

St. John Chrysostom says this about mercifulness:
Consider mercifulness not for what you give but for what you get, not as a loss but a gain, because through it you receive more than you give. If you give bread, you will receive eternal life. You give clothing and receive the robe of immortality; you give shelter under your roof and you receive the heavenly kingdom. You give perishable joys and receive eternal blessings.

Thus we see that in accordance with Scripture, in accordance with the teachings of the Church and the holy fathers, we must struggle in order to go by the Orthodox path to salvation. The holy apostles taught their disciples and instruct us as well: "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). The Lord also says to us: "Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Matt. 7:13,14).

No doubt many of you will say or think: "There they go, they want us to live like monks or hermits. But look at our friends and acquaintances, and everyone around us, they live for their own pleasure, do what they want, and none of them ever think about what is being said here. They do not think about the heavenly kingdom, the future life; they do not spoil their mood by such considerations."

Yes, it's true—they live and pay no attention to the spiritual life. They do not believe in that or in the future life. Therefore there is nothing spiritual in them, they have no peace of soul, or spiritual joy. So they have no restraining center, nothing has any moral or spiritual value for which they might restrain themselves, or for which they might strive. Therefore they are connected with debauchery and lasciviousness, crime, spiritual suicide, and spiritual bankruptcy.

We children of the Orthodox Church have to beware of this and be careful and run away from all this as though from fire.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Anthony, the founder and first head of our Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, in his wonderful article entitled "How Does Orthodoxy Differ from the Western Denominations?" wrote of the profound difference between our Faith and heterodoxy. He sees this profound difference in the fact that the Orthodox Faith teaches how to arrange one’s life according to the requirements of Christian perfection, while heterodoxy takes from Christianity only that which coincides with the conditions of contemporary cultural life.

Orthodoxy views Christianity as an eternal foundation of true life and demands that each break himself and his life until such time as it agrees with that norm, but the heterodox looks on the bases of contemporary cultured life as on an unshakable fact, and only in areas of its existing private options does he indicate which of them are most approved from the Christian viewpoint. Orthodoxy demands moral heroism—podvig; heterodoxy considers what elements of Christianity would be suited to us in our current way of life. For the Orthodox, a man called to life after death in which true life will begin, the historically-shaped mechanism of contemporary life is an insignificant illusion, but for the heterodox the teaching about the future life is an elevated, ennobling idea, an idea which helps to arrange our real life here better and better.

These remarkable words of Metropolitan Anthony clearly and distinctly point out that bottomless abyss which separates the true Christian Faith—Orthodoxy—from its distortion—heterodoxy.

Orthodoxy is a podvig, a striving for eternity, while in heterodoxy we see a strong attachment to the earth, to faith in human progress.

Vladyka Anthony points out further that the Orthodox Faith is an ascetic faith, that:
The Golden Age which the worshippers of the 'superstition of progress' await on earth is promised by the Saviour in the life to come, but neither the Latins nor the Protestants want to accept this for the simple reason that (speaking openly) they believe feebly in the resurrection and believe strongly in the happiness of the present life, which, on the contrary, the apostles call a vanishing vapor (James 4:14). This is why the pseudo-Christian West does not want to and cannot understand the negation of this life by Christianity, which commands us to struggle, having put off the old man with his deeds and having put on the new, which is renewed after the image of Him that created him' (Col. 3:9-10).

If we were to follow up all the errors of the West, both those which entered into its teaching of the faith as well as those inherent in its morals . . . we would see that they all are rooted in a misunderstanding of Christianity as the podvig of the gradual self-perfection of the individual.
Christianity is an ascetic religion, Christianity is a teaching about the gradual extirpation of the passions, about the means and conditions of the gradual acquisition of virtues; these conditions are internal, consisting of podvig, and given from without, consisting of our dogmatic beliefs and grace-giving sacraments which have only one purpose: to heal human sinfulness and lead us to perfection.

This is what we must remember, and hold fast to the Holy Orthodox Church and her teachings. In doing so we shall not be far from the path of salvation!

Statement of the Holy Synod of Bishops on the Terrorist Attacks - September 11, 2001

To the Venerable Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America:

This morning, our minds and hearts were shocked beyond belief as images of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon flashed across our television screens. As the subsequent events of this morning began to unfold – the collapse of the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the severe damage done to an entire wing of the Pentagon, the crash of an additional hijacked airliner near Pittsburgh, and the subsequent fear of further attacks against other cities and targets throughout the United States – the faith of a nation was severely tested in a manner hitherto unknown. In an instant, the security and stability which we and our fellow Americans all too often take for granted vanished, reminding us that indeed "all things are but feeble shadows and deluding dreams," to quote Saint John of Damascus.

Even more numbing than the visual images now indelibly etched on our minds is the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives were lost as a result of this senseless evil. The perpetrators of these terrorist attacks blatantly revealed their complete lack of respect for the sanctity of human life, including their own. While buildings can be rebuilt and systems restored, the earthly lives of the innocent victims who perished this day cannot. And the lives of their spouses and children, their parents and friends, and, indeed, all of us who have witnessed these events surely will be changed in ways we have yet to consider or to comprehend. As the realities of today’s horrors begin to challenge the very heart of our lives and our faith, we might well join Saint John of Damascus in asking, "What earthly sweetness remains unmixed with grief? What glory stands immutable on earth?" Our faith is being tested, individually and collectively, as it has never been tested before, and we are reminded in the midst of this tragedy that it is in Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ alone that we find the faith and the hope we need to discover, in the midst of our righteous indignation, God’s love and presence.

On behalf of the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, I appeal to the faithful of our Church and to all North Americans to turn to God at this moment, to reach out to those who are forever scarred by the tragedies of this day, to strive all the more fervently to see within all whom we encounter the living and loving image of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and to pray with renewed fervor and intensity "for the peace of the whole world" – for the peace that "passes all understanding," for which our world today so desperately hopes and seeks.

Pray for those whose lives were cut short as a result of today’s evil deeds, as well as for those who are suffering and who will continue to suffer in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Pray for those who lost their families and friends, for those whose grief we can barely begin to imagine, and for those who will be scarred forever as a result of today’s devastation. Pray for those who in countless ways are assisting the injured and the bereaved, that Our Lord will guide them in their efforts to bring about physical, spiritual, and emotional healing. Pray for those who may be tempted to lose hope in the face of tragedy, that they may be touched by God’s mercy and compassion and the love of those who surround them. Pray for our civil authorities and leaders, that Our Lord will inspire them to do the right thing in the face of unimaginable anguish. Pray for the children of our nation who once again have been robbed of their precious innocence by witnessing such incomprehensible evils and tragedies. Pray for those who perpetrated today’s evils, asking the Lord to "make the evil be good" by His Goodness, as we pray in the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. And finally, let us pray for ourselves, that Our God will strengthen us to face the consequences of today’s tragedies and fill us with renewed faith and hope to abide in His love in a world that has grown cold and hard-hearted.

Our faith has been, and will continue to be, tested as a result of today’s horrible tragedies. May Our Lord use us as instruments of peace in the face of war, of love in the face of hatred, and of supreme goodness in the face of all that is evil.

With love in Jesus Christ, our only Helper in the face of adversity,
+ THEODOSIUS
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
And the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops