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An Orthodox Christian THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Orthodox Christian belongs to the Body of Christ, the Church of Christ. This Eastern Orthodox Church is organically the same congregation (or ecclesia) which was born at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem on Pentecost, a direct continuation from the Apostles by laying on of hands from each generation of priests to the next. The Orthodox Christian recognizes the rich Christian heritage and proclaims that he belongs to this Church, which corresponds to the Church of the Apostles as does a grown-up person correspond to a picture taken of him as a child. The Orthodox Christian has been baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity and follows the ideals and beliefs of both the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. He believes in a living and loving God, Whose Grace protects and guides him in the path of redemption. He believes that God has revealed Himself in the Bible through the Prophets and especially in the Person of Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son who is man's Savior. He especially believes in the Incarnation of Christ as God-Man, in His Crucifixion and Resurrection, in His Gospel and Commandments, and in the world to come. The Holy Angels -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In response to the questions about angels and in honor of St Dionysius the Aeropagite whose memory we celebrated this past Sunday (October 3 / 13, Old Calendar) who wrote down what his teacher the Holy Apostle Paul told him of what he learned during his vision of the third heaven (2Cor 12:2). The following is from the Minea of St Dimitry of Rostov and appeared in the November/December 1968 issue of Orthodox Life. This is taken from a reprint included in the booklet _Orthodox Teachings on the Holy Angels_ compiled by Fr Demetrius Serfes (It may still be available through St John of Kronstadt Press) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The nine orders of the angels are divided into three heirarchies, each of which is divided into three orders: the highest, the intermediate, the lower. The first hierarch, the highest and closest to the Most Holy Trinity, consists of the SERAPHIM, CHERUBIM, and THRONES. The God-loving six-winged SERAPHIM stand closer than all before their Creator and Mker, as the prophet Isaiah saw, saying: "And the seraphim stood around Him, each having six wings" (Isaiah 6:2). They ar fire-like since they stand before That One of Whom it is written: "For our God is a consuming fire." (Heb 12:29); "His throne was a flame of fire" (Dan 7:9); "the appearance of the Lord was like a blazing fire" (Ex 24:17). Standing before such glory, the seraphim are fire-like, as it said: "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire" (Ps 103:4). They are aflame with love for God and kindle others to such love, as i shown by their very name, for "seraphim" in the Hebrew language means: "flaming". After the seraphim, before the All-knowing God, Who resides in inaccessable light, stand the many-eyeed CHERUBIM in ineffable radiance. More than the other lower orders of angels, they are always radiant with the light of th knowledge of God, with the knowledge of the mysteries of God and the depths of His Wisdom; being themselves enlightened, they enlighten others. Their name "cherubim" in translation from the Hebrew language, means: "great understanding" or "effusion of wisdom", because throught the cherubim wisdom is sent down to tohers and enlightenment of the spiritual eyes is given for the seeing of God and knowledge of God. Thereafter stand the God-bearing THRONES (as St Dionysius the Areopagite calls them) before Him Who sits on the high and exulted throne, being named "thrones" since on them, as on inctellectual thrones (as writes St Maximus the Confessor) God intellectually resides. They are not called "God bearing" according to essence but according to grace and according to their office, as the flesh of Jesus Christ (as St Basil the Great writes) is called "God-bearing" according to essence since it was indivisibly united with God the Word Himself. The thrones are then called "God-bearing" not according to essence but according o grace, given for their service, which is mystically and incomprehensibley to bear God in themselves. Residing on them in an incomprehensible manner, God makes His righteous judgement, according to the word of David: "Thou hast sat upon a throne, O Thou that judgest righteousness." (Ps 9:4). Therefore through them the justice of God is pre-eminently manifesed; they erve His justice, glorifying it and pour out the power of justice onto the thrones of earthly judges, helping kings and masters to bring forth right judgement. Th middle hierarchy also consists of three orders of holy angels: the DOMINIONS, the VIRTUES, and the POWERS. The DOMINIONS are so nemed because, being themselves free, they dominate over the rest of the angels which follow behind them. Having abandoned servile fear, as St Dionysius the Aeropagite says, they voluntarily and with joy serve God unceasingly. Also they send down power for prudent governing and wise management to authorities on the earth set up by God. Further they teach how to control the senses, how to subdue in oneself dissolute desires and passions, how to enslave the flesh to the spirit, and how to rule over one's will and be above all temptations. The VIRTUES, [the usual translation of the name of this order of angels as "virtues" is readily misleading if the old meaning of the word "virtue" as "power" or "force", especially as regards to divine beings (cf Oxford English Dictionary), is not remembered. Note of translator.] filled with divine strength, quickly fulfill the will of the All-High and Omnipotent Lord, strong and powerful. They both work very great miracles and send down the grace of miracle-working to God's saints, who are worthy of such grace, in order that these may work miracles, such as heal every sickness and foretell the future. The holy virtues also help people laboring and those overburdened by the bearing of an obedience placed on them by someone - by which their names "virtues" is explained - and they bear the infirmities of the weak. They also strengthen every man in patience, so that he does not faint away in affliction but rather bears all misfortune with a strong spirit, courageously, and with humility, giving thanks for everything to God, arranging all for our benefit. The POWERS are so called because they have power over the devil, in order to restrain the power of the demons, to repulse the temptations brought upon people by them, and to prevent the demons from harming anyone to the degree that they would wish. The powers strengthen the good ascetics in spiritual struggles and labors, protecting them so that they may not be deprived of the spiritual kingdom. They help thos wrestling with passions and vices to cast out evil thoughts and slanders of the enemy and to conquer the devil. In the lowest hierarchy there are also three orders: the PRINCIPALITIES, the ARCHANGELS, and the ANGELS. The PRINCIPALITIES are named thus because they have command over the lower angels, directing them to the fulfilment of divine orders. The management of the universe and the keeping of all the kingdoms and princedoms, of lands and all peoples, races and nations, is also entrusted to them since each kingdom, race and people have for themselves a special deeper and manager from the heavenly order called the principalities, for all their country. Further, the service of this angelic order (according to the explanation of St Gregory the Dialogist) consists in teaching the people to requite each person in authority according to his calling. Finally, the angels of this order raise worthy people to various honorable offices and direct them so that they take power not for the sake of their own gain and benefit, nor for the sake of love of honr and vain renown, but for the sake of honor from God, for the sake of spreading and augmenting of His holy glory, and for the sake of the benefit of their neighbors - as serving the general needs of all their subordinates. The ARCHANGELS are called the great heralds of good news, announcing the great and most glorious. Their service (as the great Dionysius the Aeropagite says) consists in revealing prophecies, knowledge, and understanding of God's will which they receive from the higher orders of angels and announce to the lower order, ie. the angels, and through them, to men. St Gregory the Dialogist says that the archangels strengthen people in the holy faith, enlightening their mind with the light of knowledge of the holy Gospel and revealing the mysteries of devout faith. The ANGELS are the lowest of all the orders in the heavenly hierarchy and the closest to man. They aannounce the lesser mysteries and intentions of God and teach people to live virtuously and righteously before God. They are appointed to guard each of us who believe: they sustain virtuous people from fallen, and never leave us though we have sinned, but are always ready to help us, if only we ourselves want it. All of the heavenly orders are also called by the common name "angels". Although they have different names according to their situation and grace given by God (as seraphim, cherubim, thrones and the rest of the orders), yet all in general are called angels, because the word "angel" is not a denomination of essence, but of service, as it is written: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister" (Heb 1:14). But their service is different and not identical: each order has its own service; for the All-Wise Creator does not reveal the mystery of His design to all to the same degree, but from the one to the others, through the higher He enlightens the lower, revealing to them His will and commanding it to be as in the book of the Prophet Zachariah. There it is said that one angel, after conversing with the prophet, met another angel who ordered him to go again to the prophet and reveal the future fate of Jerusalem: "And behold, the angel that talked with me went forth and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, Run, speak to thes young man (that is, the prophet Zachariah), saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of mena and cattle therein: For I, saith the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about" (Zach 2:3-5). Deliberating about this, St Gregory the Dialogist says, "When one angel says to the other: 'Run speak to this young man' there is no doubt that certain angels send others, that the lower ones are sent, that the higher send" (St Gegory the Dialogist, Interpretation of the Gospels, #4). We find exactly the same thing in the prophecy of Daniel, that one angel orders another to interpret the vision to the prophet. From this it is evident that angels of higher orders reveal the divine will and intention of their Creator to angels of the lower orders, that they enlighten them and send them to people. The Orthodox Church militant, being in need of the help of the angels, celebrates the Assembly of all the nine angelic orders with a special supplication, as is fitting, on the eighth day of the month of November (Nov 21 OS) ie. the ninth month, since all these nine orders of angels will gather on the day of the Terrible Judgment of the Lord, which the divine teachers of the Church call the eighth day. For they say, at the end of seven thousand years will begin as if an eighth day, "When the Son of man shall in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him" (as the Lord Himself foretold in the Gospel - Matt 25:31). "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds." (Matt 24:31), ie. from the East, West, North, and South. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End and Glory Be to God
	Lenten Happenings HOLY WEEK AND PASCHA IN JERUSALEM by the Monk Parthenius -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the Christians the greatest feast days and festival were approaching. The time of joy and sorrow was approaching. We rejoiced because of this, that we would receive the new grace of the heavenly Fire, and celebrate the most radiant festival of Holy Pascha in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Yet we grieved in heart that the time was coming for everyone to part. We had lived six months together and had come to know one another. But most of all we feared those bitter moments when we should have to leave the holy city of Jerusalem, the holy and life-bearing Sepulchre of Christ and the other holy places. We came to our rooms, we ate dinner, rested and then went to spend the night in the Church of the Resurrection. Matins on Thursday was solemn; the early Liturgy was performed on the Grave of Christ; a bishop acted as proto-celebrant and there were many communicants at the Liturgy. The late Liturgy was in the Patriarchate; the Patriarch himself served. The washing of the feet was in the court opposite the holy gates of the Church of the Resurrection. There was a platform made three steps high; around it were railings and on the railings columns rested. There were large candles on the columns. The platform was spread with carpets. In the center there stood a gold-plated table, and along the sides twelve chairs. On the wall towards the east they hung icons and before them candles were burning; by this wall a throne was erected for the reading of the Gospels. A hundred soldiers came and stood around the throne. In the court, at St. Abraham's Monastery, at the Gethsemane metochion, in the patriarchal monastery, and in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre there were great multitudes of people. We stood in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We saw the Patriarch coming out of the Patriarchal monastery in all his vestments, accompanied by the bishops and twelve priests. In front of them went twelve boys in servers' vestments with candlesticks and candles; then the chanters; then deacons with censers. Then came the priests and seven deacons with the dikiri and trikiri. Behind them came the Patriarch who was blessing the people with both hands; behind him, the bishops in rassas. Having mounted the platform, the Patriarch sat in his place and ordered the other priests to sit according to rank. The bishops stood by and watched. The order of the washing of the feet began according to the typicon, and the archimandrite read the Gospel from the throne. Before evening the blessing of oil was performed in all the monasteries, and everywhere the bishops themselves anointed all the pilgrims with the oil. That evening the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was not opened and they allowed no one to spend the night there. But a Russian noblewoman petitioned the Patriarch and the consul to conduct the vigil on Golgotha half in Russian. The Patriarch respected their request and when it was already late in the evening, they opened the holy gates and allowed only the Russians into the church. Compline was read on Golgotha and they chanted the whole canon to the Cross in Greek. Then the Greeks went to sleep, and we Russians went to the cave where the Empress Helen found the Cross. There we read the twelve Gospels of the Passion and the synaxarion and other things appropriate for that day, and we chanted the Akathist to the venerable Cross. When they began beating the semantron for Matins, we all went to Golgotha, and Matins was served according to the typicon. They read the Gospels -- six in Greek and six in Russian. The antiphons and canons were chanted by the right choir in Greek and the left in Russian; and the service lasted six hours. The Royal Hours were all read and chanted on Golgotha in Russian. In the morning the doors to the church were not opened and there was silence in the church. At the twelfth hour of the day two deacons were sent to each holy place to cense it. First two Orthodox deacons censed. Then two Armenian deacons wearing mitres censed. Then two Coptic deacons went also, wearing mitres. The Latins did not cense. Their deacons wear clothing different from all other religions. Then everyone had processions. At one o'clock in the afternoon, they opened the holy great gates of the church. The people rushed into the church, and there was a great din in the church. Everyone rushed to get a place. We were already occupying our places. In a minute the whole church was filled with people. Half an hour later, suddenly, near the Grave of Christ there was a noise and the Arabs started shouting in their strange tongue; about fifty men joined hands and stood on one another's shoulders three-high and raised their hands to heaven and all began shouting. They began to run around the Sepulchre of Christ and then around the whole church: they ran and shouted until the evening. Then a thousand men of the Turkish military came and made a guard near the holy gates, and placed watchmen about the whole church. The Patriarch then came with much glory, and he was met majestically. Vespers was solemn; but they did not take the epitaphios from Golgotha because of the possibility of disorder. After Vespers the Arabs again took to their "work" and again began to run around and shout. I asked those who understood Russian, "What are they saying?" They told me that they were praising the one Orthodox faith, but were reviling the other confessions as being false and soul- destroying. They came to the Armenians and reviled them, saying that they themselves had wanted to receive the grace, but instead of that had eaten defilement. Let me tell you about this: At the Great Gates themselves, on the left side, stands a column made out of marble with a fissure from which the grace, that is, the Holy Fire, came forth. This column is honored by Orthodox as well as non-Orthodox, and even the Armenians. I would like to write a little about this incident, how the Orthodox Eastern Christians unanimously speak of it and the Turks themselves confirm it. In the wall there is an inscribed marble slab, and they say that this very incident is written on it; but we could not read it because it is written in Syrian letters, in the Arab tongue; and I only heard about it, but did not read it. But the incident happened something like this: At one time when the Greeks were completely oppressed by the Turkish yoke, some rich Armenians took it into their heads to force the Greeks out of the Holy Sepulchre and out of the Church of the Resurrection. They gathered a large sum of money and bribed the Ottoman Porte and all the Jerusalem authorities, assuring the unbelievers that the Holy Fire comes forth not simply for the sake of the Greeks, but for all Christians, and "if we Armenians are there, we also will receive it!" And the Turks, who are greedy for money, accepted the bribe and therefore did as the Armenians wished, and they affirmed that only the Armenians would be allowed to receive the Holy Fire. The Armenians rejoiced greatly and wrote to all their lands and to their faithful, that more of them should go on a pilgrimage. And a great multitude of them did come. Holy Saturday approached: the Armenians all gathered in the church, and the Turkish army drove the poor Greeks out. Oh, what unspeakable grief and sorrow filled the Greeks! There was only one comfort for them -- the Grave of the Saviour, and they were being kept away from it, and the Holy Gates were locked to them! The Armenians were inside the church and the Orthodox were on the streets. The Armenians were rejoicing and the Greeks were weeping. The Armenians were celebrating and the Greeks were bitterly lamenting! The Orthodox stood opposite the Holy Gates on the court and around them stood the Turkish army, watching so that there would not be a fight. The Patriarch himself with all the rest stood there with candles, hoping that they would at least receive the Fire from the Armenians through the window. But the Lord wished to dispose things in a different way, and to manifest His true Faith with a fiery finger and comfort His true servants, the humble Greeks. The time had already come when the Holy Fire issues forth, but nothing happened. The Armenians were frightened and began to weep, and ask God that He send them the Fire; but the Lord did not hear them. Already a half hour had passed and more, and still no Holy Fire. The day was clear and beautiful; the Patriarch sat to the right side. All of a sudden there was a clap of thunder, and on the left side the middle marble column cracked and out of the fissure a flame of fire came forth. The Patriarch arose and lit his candles and all the Orthodox Christians lit theirs from his. Then all rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs from Jordan began to skip and cry out, "Thou art our one God, Jesus Christ; one is our True Faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And they began to run about all of Jerusalem and raise a din, and to shout all over the city. And to this day they still do this in memory of the incident and they jump and shout, running around the Holy Sepulchre, and they praise the one true God, Jesus Christ, and bless the Orthodox Faith. Beholding this wonder, the Turkish army, which was standing around on guard, was greatly amazed and terrified. From amongst them one named Omir, who was standing at the St. Abraham's Monastery on guard, immediately believed in Christ and shouted, "One is the true God, Jesus Christ; one is the true faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And he jumped down to the Christians from a height of more than 35 feet. His feet landed on the solid marble as if though on soft wax. And to this day one can see his footprints imprinted as though in wax, although the non-Orthodox tried to erase them. I saw them with my own eyes and felt them with my own hands. And the column with the fissure still bears the scorch marks. As for Omir the soldier, having jumped down, he took his weapon and thrust it into the stone as though into soft wax, and began to glorify Christ unceasingly. For this, the Turks beheaded him and burned his body; the Greeks gathered up his bones, put them into a case and took them to the Convent of the Great Panagia, where they gush forth fragrance until this day. The Armenians in the Holy Sepulchre received nothing and were left only with their shame. The Pasha of Jerusalem and other Turkish authorities were greatly displeased with them and wanted to slaughter them all, but they feared the Sultan. They only punished them heavily: they say that they made each one to eat dung as he left the church. But now to return to the services in the Church of the Resurrection. Having reviled the Armenians, the Arabs reviled the Latins, saying that they do not believe in grace, and do not receive the Holy Fire from the Grave of the Lord, but they start their own fire. And we saw their ungodliness from what had happened the week before. On the sixth Sunday of the Fast we prepared for communion. On the eve of Lazarus Saturday we went to spend the night in the church at the Holy Sepulchre in order to receive the Holy Mysteries. In the evening they read Compline on Golgotha; then we wanted to read the rule of preparation for Holy Communion. But the Latins had begun a procession: for them it was Holy Saturday, and they were going to Golgotha with their cross. We wanted to wait until they passed by; but our Orthodox people, Russians and Greeks, were also standing on Golgotha to watch their procession and rites. There were very few of us; there were no more than fifty Greeks, counting the chanters. But there were more than five hundred Latins, and they also had with them about fifty soldiers. When they came to Golgotha, the Latins first chanted and read at their own place; then they went over to our place, where the Cross of Christ had stood. Our monks took down all the lamps which could possibly interfere with them and carried away the candlestands, and thus cleared the area. There remained only a covering on the Holy Table. The Latins set up their cross behind our Holy Table and said that we should take the covering off the Holy Table. The Greeks refused, saying, "We cannot do this, for the covering is never taken off, and the firman does not allow it; but you spread your own cloth on top"; when the Latins tried to take the covering off by force, the Greeks did not let them. Then the Latin archbishop came and scandalously grabbed the covering off the Holy Table. There were two consuls standing by: a Russian and a Greek. Immediately the Greeks made an uproar and dashed out into the corridor and brought many pieces of wood from the kitchen, and a fight began on Golgotha. The Greeks were beating them with pieces of wood, and the Latins hitting back with candles, but afterwards they also brought pieces of wood. The Turks rushed in to break it up, but their guns had been taken away; and they ran to save the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Resurrection, for at that time, since it was towards Palm Sunday, everything was ornamented with silver and gold. We did not know where to run and we froze from fear. The Russian consul was saving his own people and conducting them to the trapeza. We, about twenty of us, went to the Church of the Resurrection and from fear did not know where to go, whether into the altar or even under the Holy Table! Noise, shouting, cries rose to heaven, especially on Golgotha. All the Christians were sounding alarms -- the Orthodox on all the semantra, but also the Armenians, Latins, and Copts. The soldiers were standing around the Holy Sepulchre, hand to hand, with their weapons too, and so that there would not be any theft, they stood by the gates of the Church of the Resurrection. The fight had spread all over the church. They threw the Latin Patriarch down from Golgotha; it was good that he fell on the people, or else he would have been killed. Metropolitan Meletius began admonishing them to stop the fight, but they said to him, "You stand in your own place, Vladyka, but we will die for our faith here; for there are few of us and many heretics." Unable to do anything the bishop sat down with the Turks. The fight continued for more than an hour, until the Turkish army and the Pasha himself came. Then they separated them one by one and locked them up in the guest houses. We, the few Russians, went away to the Church of the Mother of God. The soldiers wanted to take us and shut us up also, but we said that we were Muscovites and they left us alone. Then for an hour they had a council: the Archbishop, the Pasha, and the consul were discussing the matter. At that time I was able to read the rule for preparation for Holy Communion. After the meeting the Pasha, Archbishop, and consuls each went home. The Latins began their procession again, and finished on the Grave of Christ; then the soldiers drove them all out and they went away themselves. They locked the gates of the church and sent everyone away. And again they began beating the semantra for Matins. We had Matins in the Church of the Resurrection and had Liturgy on the Grave of Christ, and I was deemed worthy to be a partaker of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. But Mount Golgotha was all covered with blood; and during the whole of Matins two men were washing it with water. Three people were killed. I have not seen such terror since the day I was born. Again let us return to the Holy Week services. The non- Orthodox gave money to the soldiers so that they would beat the Arabs who were reviling everyone else's faith and drive them away. For that reason the Arabs were all in a blood and sweat. They took their long shirts from their shoulders and would walk about half-naked. If someone would beat them, they would not worry, but would continue their task. When they ran around the Grave of Christ and the Church of the Resurrection they kept saying just one thing, and we found out that this is what they were saying: "One is God, Jesus Christ! One is the faith of the Orthodox Christians!" Then the Christians of all confessions carried the epitaphios: the Armenians, Copts, and Syrians. First they went to Golgotha, then to the taking down from the Cross, and then three times around the Grave of Christ and then went away to their own sections. Thus we spent the night until dawn amidst unceasing noise. In the church it was like a bazaar or a fair. Till now the pilgrims were scattered out all over Jerusalem; and now all Christians from different countries were gathered in the one church, at the Sepulchre of their Saviour, Jesus Christ. The balconies and all the galleries were filled with people. All were asking, all were pleading in their different ways. Crowds everywhere, and fights everywhere because of the crowdedness. No one understood the other's language and Turkish soldiers were ceaselessly dispersing the people. You could say that the church, like Heaven itself, was gathering in itself the whole world. Thus we spent the night until dawn. Then they began to beat the wood for Matins and the Arabs stopped making noise. The Patriarch began Matins and they passed out candles to all the Orthodox. They chanted the whole Kathisma "Blessed are blameless" in the Church of the Resurrection. They went to Golgotha to read the Gospel. Having read the Gospel they lifted the epitaphios and carried it from Golgotha with banners and lanterns. There was a great gathering of clergy: besides the deacons, priests, abbots, and archimandrites, there were six bishops and the Patriarch, and a host of chanters. When they had carried the epitaphios from Golgotha, they went around three times -- for the taking down from the Cross. Then they laid it on the place where Jesus Christ was wrapped in linen and anointed with myrrh for burial. Here a long sermon was given. Then they carried the epitaphios to the Grave of Jesus Christ, and carried it around the Sepulchre three times. They carried it into the Sepulchre and placed the epitaphios on the Tomb itself. The clergy stood around the shrine of Christ's Sepulchre. Only the clergy chanted the whole canon ("Kimati thalasses") and the verses. The people held candles in their hands. There they also chanted the Praises and the Great Doxology, and read the Gospel. And there, they finished Matins and the Hours. After this they took the epitaphios to its place and the Turks sealed the Sepulchre. After the service the Arabs took up their task again, but they had multiplied now, because the people of Jerusalem, merchants and old people, took off their turbans, took each other by the hand, and began to shout and skip. When dawn came, they began to put out the fires and lamps and nowhere was a lamp left burning. The Turks opened Christ's Sepulchre and put out all the lamps. Then the Turkish authorities and the Pasha himself came; and host of armed soldiers stood around Christ's Sepulchre. In the church everything had changed; everyone had become melancholy and the Arabs had become hoarse and weak. The church was unusually crowded and stuffy. Above, all the balconies were crammed with people in four rows. All the iconstasia and the domes were full of people. All were holding thirty-three candles in both hands in remembrance of the years of Christ's life. There was nothing lit anywhere. The Patriarch went up to the main iconostasis with the consul. Meletius, the Metropolitan of Trans-Jordan, sat in the altar with the rest of the bishops, all melancholy and hanging their heads. In the church the Moslems with their weapons of war were giving orders; the Arabs had already stopped running about, but stood lifting their hands to heaven and uttering compunctionate cries; the Christians were all weeping or continually sighing. And who at that time could withhold his tears, beholding such a multitude of people from all countries of the world weeping and wailing and asking mercy from the Lord God? It was joyous to see that now, although unwillingly, the rest of the Christians were showing some respect for the Orthodox Greek Faith and for the Orthodox themselves, and that they were looking upon the Orthodox as though upon the brightest of suns, because everyone was hoping to receive the grace of the Holy Fire from the Orthodox. The Armenian patriarch went to the altar with two bishops and the Coptic metropolitan, and they bowed to Metropolitan Meletius and the rest of the bishops and asked that when we receive the grace of the Holy Fire, that we grant it to them also. Metropolitan Meletius answered with humility and told them to pray to God. They went to their own places. Then the royal gates were taken off and were replaced with others with a special opening. It is not possible to describe what was then happening in the church. It was as though all were waiting for the Second Coming of the King of Heaven. Fear and terror fell upon all, and the Turks became despondent. And in the church there was nothing to be heard except sighing and groans. And Metropolitan Meletius' face was wet with tears. Then the Turkish Pasha came with the other authorities, and they went into Christ's Sepulchre to make sure that nothing remained alight there. When they came out they sealed the Sepulchre, but previously they had placed a large lamp inside, filled to the very brim with oil. In it floated a large wick. They put the lamp in the middle of the Tomb of Christ. Now there were no Christians near the shrine, but only the Turkish authorities. And from the balconies they let down on ropes hundreds of wires with bunches of candles attached. At eight o'clock according to Russian time (two in the afternoon), they began preparing for the procession with the Cross. The bishops, priests, and deacons, having dressed in all their sacred vestments, each took thirty-three unlit candles. Then from the altar, through the royal doors, were handed twelve banners, and whoever could took them. The soldiers cleared the way, and the chanters went behind the banners. From the altar through the royal doors came the deacons, priests, abbots and archimandrites, two by two, then the bishops, and behind all of them, Metropolitan Meletius. They went to the Lord's Sepulchre, and went around it three times chanting, "Angels in the heavens, O Christ our Saviour, praise Thy Resurrection with hymns; deem us also who are on earth worthy to glorify Thee with a pure heart." Having finished the procession, all the clergy went quickly into the altar with the banners. Metropolitan Meletius stayed alone at the entrance of the Sepulchre in the hands of the Turks. The Turks divested him, and the authorities searched him. Then they put the omophorion on him, opened the Sepulchre of Christ, and let him go inside. Oh, what fear and terror fell upon all them that were there at the time! All were silent and moaning and asking the Lord God that He not deprive them of the grace of His heavenly Fire. Some time passed, I do not know how long, for we were all beside ourselves from a kind of fear. But all of a sudden from near Christ's Sepulchre there shined a light. Soon light also appeared from the altar in the royal doors in the opening. And it flowed like two rivers of fire, one from the west, from Christ's Sepulchre, and another from the east, from the altar. Oh, what joy and exultation there was in the church then! Everyone became as though drunk or besides himself, and we did not know who was saying what, or who was running where! And a great noise rose in all of the church. All were running around, all were crying out in joy and thanksgiving -- most of all the Arab women. The Turks themselves, the Moslems, fell on their knees and cried, "Allah, Allah," that is, "O God, O God!" Oh, what a strange and most wonderful sight! The whole church was transformed into fire. Nothing could be seen in the church besides the heavenly Fire. Above and below, and round all the balconies the Holy Fire was being poured forth. And afterwards there was smoke about the whole church. And a good half of the people went out with the Fire and carried it about Jerusalem to their own homes and to all the monasteries. In the Great Church Vespers began, and then the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. The Metropolitan served with the priests, and he ordained a deacon. The people stood through the Liturgy with candles. When the Metropolitan of Trans- Jordan goes into the Sepulchre, he finds a large lamp standing on the Grave of Christ which has been lit by itself; sometimes it lights itself unexpectedly while he is there. However, he himself has never seen it light. In Jerusalem, I heard from many people with whom the Metropolitan himself had spoken about it openly: "Sometimes I go in and it is already burning; then I take it out quickly. But sometimes I go in and the lamp is not yet burning; then I fall down to the ground from fear and begin with tears to beg mercy from God. When I get up the lamp is already burning and I light two bunches of candles and I carry them out and distribute them." The Metropolitan carries the fire out into the vestibule and puts the bunches of the candles into iron holders and gives them out from the Sepulchre through openings made for that purpose, with the right hand to the Orthodox and the left hand to the Armenians and the rest. The Orthodox Arabs stand in a crowd near the opening. As soon as the Metropolitan shows the Holy Fire, one Arab, laying hold of it, runs straight to the altar and there through the royal doors it is distributed to the people; but one is hardly able to light his candles in the openings. Then the Metropolitan again returns to Christ's Sepulchre and lights another two bunches and goes out of the door of the Sepulchre. The strongest Arabs stand at the doors of the Sepulchre and await him. As soon as he goes out holding in his hands the thirty-three burning candles, the Arabs, taking him in their hands, carry him directly to the altar. All the people rush toward him. They all desire to touch his clothing. And with great difficulty, they are barely able to carry him into the altar. They sat him on a chair, and he sat through the whole Liturgy as though beside himself, with his head bowed; he did not look up and did not say a word; and no one disturbed him. As soon as they carried him out of the Sepulchre, the people rushed in to venerate it. And I was deemed worthy to do the same. The whole of Christ's Sepulchre was wet, as though dampened by rain; but I could not find out what it was from. In the middle of the Grave stood the large lamp which lit itself and a great flame was burning. After the Liturgy each person went to his place, and all congratulated each other on the reception of the grace of the Holy Fire. In the evening we all went to spend the night in the church at Christ's Sepulchre. And when we came to the church we beheld a wondrous and most glorious sight: the whole church, especially the Sepulchre, was wondrously decorated with various silver and gold icons and figures, and above a multitude of silver and gold-plated lamps, burning with a great brilliance. A host of candles made of white wax were set in place, but not yet burning. The whole church was hung with lamps; where there was previously one lamp, now there were ten; I wanted to count them, but I could not. Everywhere it was quiet and peaceful. The doors of the church remained unlocked the whole night through. The soldiers in the court started a fire. And that night was happiest of all: no matter where you went, you would find joy everywhere. And not only was this joy in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but all over Jerusalem. The whole night people were walking along the streets in crowds; everywhere they were burning fires, and all the monasteries were open. The Turks themselves became happy and meek, and went in crowds to look at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Only the Jews locked themselves in their homes, and not bearing to behold the light of truth, they stayed moldering in their evil. The Latins, however, although they are the enemies of the Eastern Church, celebrated with us. Although soldiers stood in the church around the Sepulchre of Christ, they did not prevent anyone from approaching the Sepulchre. Thus we spent the evening until ten o'clock. Then at the third hour before midnight they began to call us to Matins on various semantra, and with various rhythms all in a most solemn manner. The Patriarch came with his whole assembly, and there was a most ceremonial meeting for him. Then they began Matins. They chanted the canon "The waves of the sea" completely, verse by verse, antiphonally, with the heirmos and fourteen troparia. They chanted two hours. At that time they lit the candles and oil lamps around the whole church; in the domes themselves more than a thousand lamps were lit. We monastics all stood in the altar. Then the Patriarch and the metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, abbots, priests and deacons and all the church clergy, having put on all their sacred vestments, took twelve banners. The banners were richly adorned; they had been presented by ancient Greek and Georgian kings. They were sewn with gold and pearls. They bring them out only on Pascha. Behind the Patriarch they carried a banner which took three men to hold; it was sewn only with gold, and was an image of the Resurrection of Christ of Russian workmanship offered by Muscovite merchants. Then they gave everyone large candles of white wax. They also lit candles and oil lamps around the whole church. The Sepulchre seemed as though it were one fiery lamp. From the large candles in the hands of each person the whole church became as though on fire and the domes of the church shone like the sun. Those that were in the procession of the Cross took the Gospels, icons, crosses, and the candles and went from the altar of the Church of the Resurrection through the royal gates directly to Christ's Sepulchre, chanting, "Angels in the Heavens, O Christ our Saviour, praise Thy Resurrection with hymns; deem us also who are on earth worthy to glorify Thee with a pure heart." When they had gone in procession around the Sepulchre three times, the whole concourse of clergy stopped opposite the doors of the Sepulchre. Then the Patriarch himself read the Gospel of the Resurrection from Matthew which is read in the evening on Saturday in the Liturgy. Then he took the censer inside, and censed the Grave of Christ. When he came out he censed around the whole shrine and all the brethren. Then with all the bishops he went into the Sepulchre of Christ, and there, having censed, he exclaimed, "Glory to holy and consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages." The bishops exclaimed, "Amen." Then the Patriarch himself with all the bishops, from within the Sepulchre itself, chanted, "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the graves hath He bestowed life." And they chanted this three times. They did not chant in Russian, but only in Greek, that is, "Christos anesti ek nekron, thanato thanaton patisas, kai tis en tis mnemasi zoen charisamenos." Then the chanters chanted and all those standing around the Sepulchre of Christ chanted it many times. O what joy there was then, and who would not weep for joy, beholding the Grave of their Saviour Jesus Christ before their own eyes, standing empty, for He has risen from the dead! Who could not thank their Creator Who had deemed them worthy to celebrate Holy Pascha, His glorious Resurrection from the dead, in the Holy City of Jerusalem, around His very Grave and on that very spot where the mystery of our salvation was accomplished? What pen can describe our joy? Or who could explain it in words? Which tongue could tell of it? Only he can understand it who tastes of this joy in the purity of his heart. How is it possible not to rejoice or to be happy? We had gathered from the four corners of the earth, Christians of different tongues, all gathered in one church. We all stood around the Grave of our Saviour and were glorifying His glorious Resurrection from the dead. In truth, all things were now filled with light; then the canon of Pascha became for us real and clear. For that which we were chanting, we were seeing with our own eyes. And with what feelings did we exclaim to Sion on which we were standing: "Lift up thine eyes about thee, O Sion, and see, for behold, from the west, from the north, and from the sea and from the south as to a light by God illumined, have thy children come to thee, blessing Christ forevermore" (8th Ode, 2nd Trop.). Truly for us, holy and worthy of all solemn triumph is this redeeming and radiantly effulgent night, the harbinger of the bright- beaming Day of the Resurrection on which Light eternal shone forth in the flesh from the grave for all. There was a litany. When they began to chant the canon, they went into the great church; and on the Grave of Christ one priest with a deacon began early Liturgy. In the great church they chanted the whole canon. After Matins, without stopping, they began the Liturgy also. The Patriarch served with all the clergy in a most majestic and solemn manner. They read the epistle in three languages: Greek, Slavonic, and Arabic. The Gospel was read in many various languages: In Slavonic, they read three, and the rest in Helleno-Greek and Greek, Latin, Turkish, Georgian, Syrian, Arabic, Egyptian, and Abbysinian, and they read while beating the semantron. Everyone stood through the Liturgy with candles. We stood through and Matins and Liturgy in the altar. When Liturgy was finished, it had begun to dawn. The Orthodox went to the Patriarchate, and there at the gates they gave to each person two red eggs; then everyone went to their place. By the way it was made known to all Orthodox pilgrims that at the first hour in the afternoon they were to go to the Patriarchal Church for Vespers. And so we went into the Patriarchal Church. It was adorned and decorated with a multitude of lamps and candles. They gave into each person's hand a large candle made of white wax and we stood through the whole Vespers with candles. It was most solemn. For the entrance there came more than a hundred priests and a multitude of deacons. In front there were seven deacons with candles. Behind them they carried twelve fans. They went behind all the pillars. They read the Gospel like they did at the Liturgy, in many languages with the ringing of the bells. After Vespers there was food for the pilgrims. And then they opened the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the pilgrims went to venerate the Tomb. There -- a mournful sight: everyone was weeping, all were wailing. Everyone was embracing the Grave of their Saviour Jesus Christ, were wetting it with warm tears, because the time had come to part with it and to leave it forever. There was weeping and wailing all over the whole church; and especially the women were emitting loud sounds and wailing. And on all the holy places the people were lying and did not want to get up. Thus it was sad and grievous to part with Jerusalem and to be parted from the life-bearing Tomb of Christ. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The monk Parthenius (Ageev) was born in 1807 of Old-Ritualist parents in Jassy, Moldavia, and named Peter at Baptism. He was a child inclined to reading, especially the spiritual books which his parents had in their home. His soul was so influenced by these that at age 13 he ran away to a nearby monastery, only to be brought back by his parents after three months. As a young man he left Moldavia in search of an Old-Ritualist monastery where he could give himself over to Christ in the spiritual life. Disillusioned by the divisions between the various Old-Ritualist groups, he visited the Russian Orthodox monastery of Sarov, where he met the future Saint Seraphim. After returning to Moldavia and spending time in two Old-Ritualist monasteries, he was received into the Russian Orthodox Church at the age of 30. He then went to Mount Athos and entered the Monastery of St. Panteleimon. After being mistakenly arrested and spending fourteen months in Siberia (during the persecution of the Old Believers, while the abbot of St. Panteleimon's was away, Fr. Parthenius was mistaken for an Old-Ritualist priest in disguise), he returned to Mount Athos. He was counselled by his starets, the blessed Arsenius, to return to Russia as a missionary among the Old Believers. He spent seven years with the saintly Bishop Athanasius in Tomsk, Siberia, being made igumen of Berlukov, and was then commissioned by the Holy Synod to found Guslitsy Monastery. He fell asleep in the Lord in 1878 in the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, where he had retired, and was buried there. Of Father Parthenius' numerous writings, the most widely-read is his five volume work Report of the Wanderings and Journeys across Russia, Moldavia, Turkey, and the Holy Land, in which are described his diverse experiences, and acquaintances with many notable personalties. Four volumes were published in Moscow in 1855, the fifth being published posthumously by Archimandrite Nicon, after appearing in serialized form in the review "Soul- Profiting Reading" between 1989-1901. Fr. Parthenius journeyed to the Holy Land in 1845, shortly before the death of his beloved elder. The following account of Holy Week and Paschal services in Jerusalem and of the miracle of the Holy Fire in 1846 is taken from the second volume of his Wanderings.
Corner of Icon of Christ taken from the Cross
	The Apostles' Creed The Creed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, by Whom all things were made. Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the prophets. And in One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; I look for the resurrection of the dead; And the life of the world to come. Amen.

	Living the Faith â€œLIVING AS ORTHODOX CHRISTIANSâ€ A look at the teachings of St. John Chrysostom by Metropolitan Makarios of Toronto Of all the Church Fathers, St. John Chrysostom was one of the most prolific writers. He has left us a whole body of literature which he began to produce from the time he was a monastic. St. .John was born in Antioch of Syria in the year 347 A.D. His father being a military officer, St. John came from a wealthy family of the upper class. Both his parents were Christians. He was orphaned of his father when he was very young and his mother, whose name was Anthusa, devoted her life to rearing and educating her son. She remained in her widowhood and spent vast sums to provide the best teachers and tutors for her only son. St. John was educated in Antioch and did later studies in Athens. At that time he met and became close friends with St. Basil, who was later to become Bishop of Caesarea and is known to us now as St. Basil the Great. At the age of 18, as was the practice in those times, St. John was baptized and while he was studying in Athens, he and St. Basil made a pact that they would become monastics together. When he returned to Antioch, he announced to his mother, much to her chagrin, that he intended to go into a monastery. Like most mothers, she wept and she moaned and she groaned, pleading that he defer going into the monastery until she reposed. He acquiesced to her wishes and it was then that he was attached to Bishop Meletius, the Patriarch of Antioch. He was ordained as a reader and for two years he served the Church in this capacity. When his mother reposed, he went into a monastery. After four years in the monastery, he was given a blessing to go into the desert and there he remained for two years living in extreme asceticism. During this period his health broke because of the rigors of the ascetic life and the strict fasting. He returned to Antioch and was ordained to the deaconate by Bishop Meletius. About that time, because there had been a great deal of warfare raised by the Arians, Bishop Meletius traveled to Constantinople to help in the appointment to the Patriarchate of St. Gregory the Great, also known to us as St. Gregory the Theologian. While Bishop Meletius was in Constaninople, he reposed and upon learning that, St. John returned to the monastery and remained there for three years. The successor to Bishop Meletius was Bishop Flavian and he had a vision. An angel appeared to him indicating that he should go to the monastery, take St. John from there, and ordain him to the priesthood. On the following day, Bishop Flavian traveled to the monastery, announced to the community that he was going to take St. John and ordain him a priest for the Church in Antioch. St. John was then ordained in Antioch and it was during this period that he became a preacher and began to instruct the people in the churches in that city. He was so eloquent and brilliant in his sermons that they began to call him the "Golden-mouth", which is to say, "Chrysostom". This came about because one day when he was speaking in the church, an illiterate woman who was listening to what he was saying, in her enthusiasm cried out and said, "O Golden-mouth! The well of your knowledge and of your words is deep; but the rope of our minds is short and we cannot understand all the great and beautiful things you are telling us!" It was then that St. John determined that he would speak in a language more easily understood by the believers and though he remained eloquent, he changed the form of his homilies so that everyone could comprehend the meaning of his words. During this time there was a tax revolt in the city of Antioch and the Antiochians, in their recklessness, overturned a statue of the Emperor, who at that time was Arcadius. The fear that spread throughout the city following the uprising was so great that the citizens asked their Bishop to go to Constantinople to intercede on their behalf and to ask for forgiveness so that there would be no reprisals against them. Bishop Flavian traveled to Constantinople to intercede for the city. St. John, having been left in charge of the Church, immediately led all the Christians in intense prayers for it was the beginning of Great Lent. This time proved to be one of the most compunctionate and contrite periods in the history of the Church of Antioch. The people flocked to the churches and made fervent supplication that God would have mercy on them. St. John used this opportunity to preach to the Christians against the cruelty, hypocrisy, superstition, and vices of the time. He worked miracles of healing also and his fame spread through the city. The Bishop returned on the Holy and Great Day of Pascha and announced to the city that they were forgiven. It was a most joyous feast because all the citizens of the city, Christians and pagans alike, celebrated their reprieve together. The fame of St. John had spread beyond the city of Antioch all the way to Constantinople and it was Arcadius the Emperor who ordered St. John to the queen of cities to become Patriarch when the then Patriarch had reposed. On February 26 in the year 398, St. John, at the age of 51 years, was elevated to the Patriarchate. In his opening homily to the congregation in the Great Church, he specifically instructed the Emperor to stand fast saying that he, John the Patriarch and Archbishop of Constantinople, would reprove and instruct for the good of the Emperor's soul. He preached about and gave instructions on how to lead a moral life and warned against the vices, the passions of the flesh, preoccupation with entertainments, the theatre, unwholesome spectacles, and cruelty and duplicity in the conducting of the affairs of the Empire. As Patriarch, he established hospitals and provided for the poor and homeless. He preached constantly to the upper classes and the wealthy to give alms and to have compassion for those less fortunate. It was also at this time that he wrote the homilies explaining the Epistles of St. Paul, which we have to the present day. From the very beginning, because St. John censured the activity of the wealthy, the Empress Eudoxia, the wife of Arcadius, who was known for her avarice, her conspiracies, her gossip, and her cruelty, worked constantly to turn the hierarchs, clergy, and laity against him. She slandered him at every opportunity working for his removal. She even tried to involve St. Epiphanius of Cyprus by inviting him to attend a council, the purpose of which was to depose the Patriarch. Theophilus, who was then Patriarch of Alexandria, did come to Constantinople and did call a council and with trumped up charges, they deposed St. John. It was at this time that the Empress Eudoxia accused St. John of referring to her in a sermon as Jezebel and of slandering her by accusing her of avarice. The council, although it was a false council, succeeded in deposing St. John. He was called to the council but refused to attend because he knew they would condemn him and judge against him. The council prevailed upon the Emperor to send St. John into exile and this came to pass. Soldiers were sent to the Cathedral to take the Patriarch away. However, the supporters of St. John rallied and blockaded the entrance to the church. There was a stand-off which lasted for three days. St. John realized that there would be bloodshed on his account, so he quietly and secretly left the church surrendering to the soldiers and thereby avoiding what he thought would be a riot in the streets. He was sent into exile to the city of Praenetum near Nicomedia in Bythinia. When the supporters of the Patriarch realized that he had left and had been sent into exile, they did riot and there was bloodshed. An earthquake then struck the city and part of the imperial palace collapsed as a result. All those who were perceptive realized that this was an indication from God that He was not pleased with what had happened so St. John was called from exile. He preached and governed the Church for only two months. Just before the Feast of Pentecost, a statue of the Empress was overturned and again his old enemy Eudoxia blamed St. John claiming he had incited the populace against her and was inciting popular discontent. She again called another council to depose St. John. The Emperor sided with the Empress and under her influence sent orders to the church that St. John again leave and go into exile. He refused and under military escort he was removed from the church and placed under house arrest. After approximately two months he was secretly taken from the house and sent into exile. A further sign was sent from God to show His displeasure and the injustice of that act. A fire broke out in the church. It did very little damage in the church itself, but it came out of the church and went as if it were one of those new missiles and traveled from building to palace and from palace to building to the dwellings of those who had opposed the Saint burning only those edifices. The palace in which the council had been held which deposed him was burned completely. Mysteriously, the fire went through the city avoiding many properties in its path but aiming itself directly at the properties of those who had opposed St. John. The fire burned for three hours, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour (from noon until three in the afternoon), and though it was a fierce fire causing great destruction and havoc, miraculously there was no loss of life. The supporters of St. John were accused of setting the fire and were rounded up by the forces of the Emperor and given over to the Governor of the city who was an idolater and a pagan. He tortured many of them and they suffered a cruel death. In the meantime, St. John was humiliated and tormented constantly by the soldiers who were escorting him into exile to the city of Cuscusus in lesser Armenia. When they arrived, he was met by the Bishop of the city, Bishop Adelphus, who showed him hospitality and took care of him during his short stay. When the Empress became aware that he had been offered hospitality while in his place of exile, because she was so vindictive, she ordered that he be sent further away to a place called Pityus which is located on the Black Sea. As they traveled, they stopped at the city of Comana and stayed at the church of St. Basiliscus. St. Basiliscus had been a Bishop of that city and a martyr. It was the forefeast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, the thirteenth of September, and St. John asked to remain in that city to celebrate the feast. The soldiers refused saying that they had to keep traveling. The next morning they set sail under favorable winds and conditions and traveled for three hours. However, when they came into port, they were amazed to find themselves in the same city from whence they had departed! St. John again asked that he be permitted to go into the church to celebrate the Liturgy for the Elevation of the Holy Cross and the soldiers, understanding that God had intervened, permitted it. He went into the church and asked to wear the Paschal vestments. Thus adorning himself in white, he celebrated the Divine Liturgy and received the Holy Mysteries. At the conclusion of the Service, knowing that his end was at hand, he lay down and uttered those now famous words, "Glory be to God for all things!" Thus he fell asleep reposing quietly after all the humiliation and difficulties of the journey. Just as had been prophesied by St. Epiphanius, he never did reach the place of his final exile. When St. Epiphanius had come to Constantinople, he had violated the canons because he had ordained a deacon in the diocese of Constantinople and had celebrated the Divine Liturgy without the permission of St. John who was the Bishop, moreover, he refused to accept any hospitality from the Patriarch. There was an exchange of letters and St. John prophesied, "Because you have done these things, you will not see your Cathedral again." And so it came to pass that on his return to Cyprus, St. Epiphanius reposed in the boat as it was approaching the harbour in Cyprus. When St. John gave that prophecy to St. Epiphanius, he returned a prophecy and said to St. John, "and you shall not arrive at the final destination of your exile!" That prophecy was fulfilled because before they reached Pityus on the Black Sea, St. John reposed at Comana. His body was interred there for some thirty-two years. During these thirty-two years there occurred a constant and ominous rumbling in the tomb of the Empress Eudoxia who had also died. She had come to a very bad end due to her persecution of the Saint. Before her death, her flesh became putrid and brought forth a stench and she died evilly. When she was entombed, the tomb shook as if an earthquake were in the area and this continued for thirty-two years until the relics of St. John were brought back triumphantly to Constantinople on the twenty-seventh of January in the year 438 A.D. St. John had served for six years as Patriarch of Constantinople, three of which were in exile. His followers had witnessed his end and after they were released from Comana, they went to Rome and told their story to Pope Innocent who then excommunicated Arcadius and Eudoxia for their conduct and their actions. Arcadius responded to the excommunication, repented, and was able to receive Holy Communion before he died. Eudoxia, however, was unrepentant and died evilly. In the year 438 A.D., as we have said, during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II, who was the son of Arcadius, the relics of St. John were returned to Constantinople. The day they were returned remains as a feast day on the calendar of the Church. Thus, we have an idea of the life of St. John Chrysostom. He delivered most of his homilies while he was a priest in Antioch; the remaining were given while he was Patriarch in Constantinople. In reading the homilies of St. John and his commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul as well as the commentaries on the Evangelists John and Matthew, we are struck by the relevancy of those writings to today's times. Therefore, I thought it might be appropriate to review some of the things that St. John said in his homilies to see how they apply so directly and so dramatically to today. I will draw primarily from his Baptismal Instructions, which are a series of discourses written for those who were preparing to be baptized. These are instructions concerning the daily moral conduct of Christians rather than theological explanations of Church dogma. They deal mainly with what it means to be baptized and to become a Christian and they explain how once we are made part of the Body of Christ, there must be a change in the way in which we conduct our lives. He instructs the men in particular, first choosing to use our Saviour's words, "Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart and you shall find rest for your soul." It is with these words that he instructs the Christians telling them that what is needed and what our Saviour Himself asks of us is to imitate the Master's meekness. We are not to lose our temper or to be roused in anger against our neighbor or family members. St. John says," such a man will scorn all glory of this present life. Nothing of the visible world will win him over to itself for from now on he will see things through different eyes. The man who is humble of heart will never be able to envy his neighbour's possessions. He will not steal nor will he commit fraud. He will not yearn for wealth, but while showing great compassion for his kindred, he will even forsake the wealth he does have. Such a man will not undermine another's marriage since he has come under the yoke of Christ and has learned to be meek and humble of heart. He will follow in the steps of the Master and manifest every virtue in every way. "Let us, therefore, come under the yoke which is good and lift up the burden which is light that we too may be able to find rest. He who has come under this yoke ought to forget his old way of life and to keep a close watch over his eyes. The Master says that anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. We must put a guard on our eyes that death may not enter through them. We must keep a sharp watch not only over our eyes but over our tongues as well. It is written that many have fallen by the edge of the sword but not so many as have fallen by the tongue. As the other passions come to birth, we must curb them and make our minds tranquil. We must banish anger, passion, grudges, enmity, malice, evil desires, all licentiousness, and all the works of the flesh, which, according to St. Paul, are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, jealousies, drunkenness. It is fitting to force out of our souls all these vices and to be eager to acquire the fruits of the Spirit, namely, charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, modesty, and continence. If we purify our minds by constantly chanting the lessons of piety, we shall henceforth be able, by preparing ourselves beforehand, to make ourselves worthy to receive His gift, great as it is, and to guard the good things that are given. This then is the instruction given to us, to banish from ourselves the passions and the vices, and it is hard work." Next, he gives the instructions for the women. Here he says: "Let there be no concern for external embellishments and expensive clothing, but let all your zeal be directed toward making your souls comely that they may shine forth with a bright beauty. Pay no attention to garments made from the silkworm's thread nor to necklaces of gold for the teacher of the whole world who knew full well the weakness of women's nature and the unsteadiness of their wills did not hesitate to issue orders on these matters. Why do I say he did not refuse to instruct you about these matters? While giving counsel to you women on your adornments, did he not cry out, `not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothing!' Is not this all but an instruction concerning your desire to adorn yourselves and to win praise from those who behold you? "I shall call not only on your fellow human beings, but on the Master of all things to praise and honour you since Paul has spurned the adornment for women which depends on braided hair and gold ornaments and pearls and expensive clothing. See now with what raiment he does adorn them. For even if the golden ornaments and clothes with which a woman adorns herself bring a brief delight to her who wears them, are they not worn out after a while? Why do I say they are worn out? Even before time wears them out, they excite the eyes of the envious and turn the hands of the villainous to theft; but the raiment with which Paul adorns women can neither be stolen nor does it wear out. It lasts forever abiding with us here, going along with us hereafter. It provides us with confidence in abundance. We must, however, hear the exact words of the Apostle. What then does he say? `But with good works such as become women professing godliness' do deeds worthy of your profession. You profess godliness so do what is pleasing to Him, that is, good deeds. What is this phrase, `with good deeds'? He means the whole collection of virtues; scorn of this world, yearning for the world to come, disdain for riches, generosity to the poor, modesty, meekness, pursuit of wisdom, disposing our souls in peace and serenity, not cringing before the glory of this present life but keeping our gaze ever straining upwards so that we are ever anxious for the things of Heaven and desire the glory hereafter. "Since I am now speaking to the women, I wish to make certain other recommendations to them. I wish you women to abstain not only from other hurtful practices but also from the habit of painting your faces and adding to them as if the workmanship were defective. By doing so, you insult the workman, God. For what are you trying to do, woman? By using rouge and eyeshadow you cannot add to your natural beauty nor change your natural ugliness. These add nothing to your beauty of face, but they will destroy the beauty of your soul for this meddling with nature testifies to your interior weakness. Especially, are you heaping up abundant fire for yourself by exciting the looks of young men and attracting to yourselves the eyes of the undisciplined thus making complete adulterers of them. You are bringing their downfall upon your own head. It is fitting and helpful to abstain from these practices entirely, but if those women who are caught in the grip of this evil habit should be unwilling to give up the use of cosmetics, at least let them not use them when they are coming to the House of Prayer. "Why, tell me, when you come to church, do you adorn yourself in this way? You have come to worship God and to make confession to Him in atonement for your sins. Does He look for this beauty? No! He seeks the beauty from within. He looks for the activity which expresses itself in good deeds. He desires almsgiving, temperance, compunction, and strict Faith. But you have forsaken these virtues. You are trying to trip up as many of the careless ones as you can, even in the Church. By what thunderbolts do such actions deserve to be punished. You arrive in port and cause your own shipwreck. You came to the physician to have your wounds cured and you go away after making them worse. What pardon will there be for you hereafter? If some women in the past were so careless of their own salvation, now at least let them be persuaded to rid themselves of this outrageous practice. If the Apostle forbids the use of expensive clothing, how much more would he forbid the use of cosmetics?" This is indeed instruction for our time for we see how much attention especially our young people spend in adorning themselves to be attractive outwardly rather than attending to that inner beauty of soul which cannot be taken away and for which we will attain the Kingdom of Heaven. It is simplicity, modesty, and humility that God seeks and not the artificial which is produced by cosmetics and adornments. St. John goes on to admonish against the entertainments of the day and preoccupation with theatre and sports events which take us away from the Church with its Services and prayers and from the practice of modesty and sobriety which are the characteristics of the Christian. This is that meekness and humility of heart and that tranquillity of the soul that identify the true Christian. We ourselves who live in times given over to entertainments, amusements, and the pleasures of the flesh are particularly admonished by our Father among the Saints, John Chrysostom. I ask you to remember that this was written at least 1500 years ago and yet it sounds amazingly as though it were written just last week. This is because what was true then is true now and I do not believe that we are any worse than the people of Constantinople or the citizens of Antioch. I admonish and call to your attention that the instruction to be modest and to be sober is within the tradition and from the Fathers of the Church. It is not a recent invention of some monks or hierarchs of the later times. These traits are characteristic of the true Christian and these precepts are given to us from Apostolic and early Christian times. After he has exhorted us to be modest and to seek that humility of heart and meekness within, St. John goes on to instruct us in our combat against the devil for that is our business and that is our warfare. It is with the devil that we contend. St. John says, "Despair not! Because God through Christ has not abandoned us to the devil to fight and to conduct this war in an unbalanced way; but rather He Himself is on our side and He has provided us with armour for the warfare." He says, "it is a new kind of armour since it is a new kind of combat. Although I am a man, I must aim my blow at demons. Although clad in flesh, my struggle is with incorporeal powers. On this account, God has made my breastplate not from metal, but from justice. He has prepared for me a shield which is made not of bronze but of Faith. I have as well a sharp sword, the word of the Spirit. The devil shoots darts at me, but I have this sword. He is an archer, but I am a heavily armed soldier. We are not then abandoned by our Saviour but are provided with the virtues in order to combat and to contest against the enemy. In addition to this armour, the virtues, He provides us with an extremely powerful weapon and that is the Body and Blood of Christ Himself. Furthermore, He has provided us with an inheritance, the Church; and the Church, which is our fortress, strengthens us in our contest against the enemy. â€œSt. John the Theologian says that when Christ was dead but still on the Cross, the soldiers came and pierced His side with a lance and straightway there came out water and blood. The former was a symbol of Baptism, the latter, a symbol of the Holy Mysteries. Therefore, he did not say there came out blood and water, but that first water came forth and then blood since first comes Baptism and then the Mysteries." We have then this mighty weapon. Through Baptism we are grafted and made part of the Body of Christ, the Church; and through the Holy Mysteries we take into ourselves the very Body and Blood of Christ. We become the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit to assist us in our contest against the enemy. St. John Chrysostom goes on to say: "Beloved, do not pass this Mystery by without a thought for I have still another mystical explanation to give. I said that there was a symbol of Baptism and the Mysteries in that water and blood. It is from both of these that the Church is sprung through the bath of regeneration and renewal through the Holy Spirit. The symbol of Baptism and the Mysteries comes from the side of Christ. It is from His side, therefore, that Christ formed His Church just as He formed Eve from the side of Adam." These are thoughts to contemplate fully because there are those who would tell us that all the churches are the same; but the Church is from the Body of Christ and there was but one wound in that Body. The Church is one and indivisible. Those who would say that the Church is here or there are wrong and St. John the Theologian gives very strong testimony against those ideas. As young Orthodox Christians, do not be deluded. Do not be deceived. Do not fall into the trap of those who would have you think that there is truth elsewhere other than in the Orthodox Church. This is an extremely unpopular notion in today's world for all the so- called theologians of our time contest and contend that the Church is emerging, that there are truths here and there and that they are negotiable, that there are doctrines here and there and that they can be reconciled, and that it is the duty of each to tolerate the other and to look for truths and synthesize the truths from these various places. That is false, wrong, and totally corrupt. We stand alone in these times and because we are a small Synod with few people, there are those who would try to have us feel inferior. They say we are deluded, deceived, and prejudiced - this is not so - because we hold that only in the Orthodox Church is truth found and we stand fast in our confession of the Faith, on the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, on the canons of the Church, and on the practices as given to us by our Fathers. In recent days I have had several conversations with people, some from our own congregation, many from outside the congregation who have come to speak privately with me. Essentially, every one of them has said that we are not facing reality, that we are not dealing with our times. They try to give us the impression that we are outdated by much more than thirteen days! I confront them by asking, "Can we compromise and adjust the truth? What would you have us do? Our obligation is to hold the truths given us and not to bend the teachings of the Church and not to comply with what people want. We are not a popular movement." I was even told by one new calendarist that by taking such a stand we will lose our young people. To this I replied, "Do you really believe you have the young people in your church where you have provided all the comforts, where you have shortened the Services and have all but eliminated the fasts, where you give very little real spiritual instruction and the Sacrament of Confession is almost unknown, where you provide cushioned seats in an air-conditioned atmosphere, and where you have community centres with all kinds of facilities including basketball courts and soccer fields? In spite of all this, do you really have the youth of your church?" He looked at me straight in the eye and said, "No, I really do not think we have." And I said, "What you have also lost more importantly is the Faith because with all your innovations and gimmicks, you have failed. If we fail, it is not because of our doing and even if we succeed, it is not of our doing. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, of God Himself. But you, with all your youth groups and departments of laity and commissions, have accomplished very little." He admitted to me that they have fallen woefully short even though they have tried to keep pace with the times. It is not our objective to keep pace with the times for we are called out of the world and to follow the teachings of our Saviour. We know that it is not popular. We know that it is a struggle and if we come to that realization and determine to struggle, then we will attain salvation. The Church exists to help you attain salvation. It is not a centre for entertainment or activities that you can find elsewhere, recreational, social, or whatever. Our struggle is to retain the Church and to fight all temptation to have it become something other than the Eucharistic centre that it is, a place for the Holy Mysteries, for the preaching of the word of God and for the sanctification of souls. We are faced in this society with temptations to adapt. Since my coming to Toronto, I have observed and heard many things which concern me because I see there is a tendency to live one life when we come to the church and a different one outside. I am particularly concerned when I hear that many of the young people fall into the temptations of socializing on Saturday nights considering it to be "date night" or "the night out on the town" and that like most young Canadians regardless of their religious affiliation, they frequent the pubs and the bars and the discos. Saturday night is the day of preparation for the Lord's Day when the Christians are exhorted if they are not able to attend the Vesper Services, at least to remain at home quietly preparing for Holy Communion, reading and studying the writings of the Church. But many of us have taken on the ways of the world, of the Babylonian captivity and the ways of the Egyptians. We have not turned away from the allurements of the world but rather given ourselves over to the world wholeheartedly. I have been told that at functions like the wedding, which for us is a Mystery to be celebrated with hymns and prayers and chants, we do things with garters and other foolishness, totally unbecoming the conduct of Christians and totally unbecoming the celebration of a Mystery of the Church. How we can give ourselves over to this dichotomy, to this schizophrenia, coming to the church in modesty and then giving ourselves over to debauchery later! These are grievous practices and I ask and beseech each of you as you plan your social activities that you remain modest, lowly of heart and meek and that you not join in with those temptations and allurements of the current day. They will lead to destruction, to your destruction. It is not a matter of satisfying our parents or doing what the priest or Bishop asks, it is for your own salvation and for your own enlightenment that we beseech and exhort you to lead a life of modesty and sobriety, redeeming the time for the days are evil. Do not say you are a victim of peer pressure for you have a consolation. You have an ark like Noah. The ark is the Church. The consolation is found in the Church. If you are tempted to look at pornography, turn rather to the icons. If you are tempted to listen to rock, listen to the tapes of the chants of the Church. If you really listen to them, you will realize what nonsense the other music of the world is. I know you will try to justify yourselves. I know that you will say that these are the times and that you do not want to be any different from anyone else, but, if you resist and avail yourself of the defense and those weapons provided by the Church, you will find amazingly how God will protect you from the influence and ridicule of others. I exhort all of you as St. John has instructed us, first and above all to be meek and lowly of heart, to live and pursue the spiritual life, to crave and strive after the inner beauty of the soul, and to keep in mind at all times that your destiny is to save your soul, the most precious thing that you have, in order to attain to the day of judgement and to join in the Kingdom of Heaven which is provided for the Saints of the Church by our God Who loves and provides for us and to Whom is due honour and glory and worship now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen.
Let us Pray to the Lord.

"Unity Within Diversity"