ORTHODOX THANKSGIVING DAY

ORTHODOX THANKSGIVING DAY

Preparation for Christmas

     As Orthodox Christians, we celebrate Thanksgiving, not with sumptuous meals for we have learned how to fast and how to feast. In every season we render thanksgiving to God, and are now in the midst of the annual 40 day fast before the Nativity of Christ, preparing to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ, being born in the flesh from the Virgin in Bethlehem.  But we celebrate our American Thanksgiving with a feast of fish which we greatly enjoy. We strive to keep the our lives centered on the New Child to be born in Bethlehem lying in the manger. He is our Lord, for and the source of our lives and our existence who is also our great Benefactor. We also are most thankful for our country and its many benefits and we thank the Lord for our  life in the United States of America.

     There is something very important about the subject of  thanksgiving to Orthodox Christians that sets it apart for us from everything else.  While, according to American tradition, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day once a year, we celebrate and offer prayers and thanksgiving to God , not on one day, but every single day of our lives, for it is from Him whom we live and have our being. It is from Him that our country has received its bounty. No matter much and how often we offer thanksgiving to God, we can never offer enough gratitude, considering  all that he has done for us and given to us.  If we could offer him songs as numberless as the sand we would still have done nothing worthy of all that He has given to us. We will name a few. Our very existence and being. Our body soul and spirit. Our intellect, consciousness, our freedom and fervent hope.

      The importance of continuous thanksgiving is apparent to us for it is the name of the mystery celebrated at every Divine Liturgy, which is “the Eucharist”, a Greek word which translated is

Thanksgiving!

REBUTTAL OF STATEMENTS BY DOSITHEOS ANAGNOSTOPOULOS OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

REBUTTAL OF STATEMENTS BY  DOSITHEOS ANAGNOSTOPOULOS 

 OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

      Recently a spokesman for the Ecumenical Church, Dositheos Anagnostopoulos said some outrageous things about our holy faith and the inevitable union, in his view of Holy Orthodoxy with the unholy papacy.  He evens speaks more like a papist than an Orthodox, saying that the Patriarch and Pope  will  “hear Mass”.  While this phrase may apply to the papal  mass, it is most inappropriate to apply it to Orthodox Christians who do not go to hear, but to celebrate the greatest and most glorious mystery in all history, wherein  angels concelebrate with us and heaven bends down and embraces us so that we are in the kingdom of heaven – this is the Holy Orthodox Divine Liturgy!

   The spokesman says that there is different canon law but “no theological dispute.”  Orthodoxy does not have Canon Law, but we do have the Law of Christ. Sacred Canons have never been considered as laws and that is why they are limited to be used by bishops, who can apply them with leniency or strictness.

   "No theological dispute?” It is a gigantic theological dispute! And this man is an Orthodox clergyman?  The Pope claims to be the head of the church, the only one who represents God on earth, the infallible master of the all Christianity answerable to no one but never allowing himself to be questioned or challenged. The pope also considers himself the only guide of the church.  What does this mean and is it a theological dispute? Not at all. It is the overthrow of Jesus Christ as the only Head of the Church and of the Holy Spirit as the only Guide of the church, and the popes have usurped the authority of God himself, waged war against the Church, slaughtered Orthodox Christians, is in apostasy from the Church, reject the Holy Fathers and the Sacred Canons. They have attacked and torn down the Roman Church and on its ruins have built the papacy which is not a church at all, but a fabrication by the apostates.

  The spokesman says that “the pope is considered as the representative of Jesus Christ on earth that is for all Christians”.  This is an false statement or a gross error.  The correct statement should be: “the pope has been dogmatised by the papacy as the sole representative of Christ on the earth, stating that all Christians must submit to him.”

     The spokesman claims no theological disputes, and this is untrue. One dispute was argued by St. Gregory Palamas with the papacy who claimed that divine grace was created, while Orthodoxy calls it uncreated coming from directly from God. He says that "dogmas hardly differ.

     Dogmas hardly differ! So untrue!

    Let us examine the fundamental dogmas of both Orthodoxy and the papacy and behold the extreme difference.

Orthodoxy: Fundamental Dogma: Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and head of the Church

Papacy Fundamental Dogma: Believe that the Pope of Rome is the Vicar of Christ, the supreme and only authority in the church whom we must accept as head, guide and teacher of the church.

SUPREME AND ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY

ORIGIN OF THE GREATEST  LIE EVER TOLD 

The Popes of Rome without shame dogmatized as truth from heaven the extreme falsehood that the Pope alone  is the supreme authority in the Church:  Here is what they say: 

PAPAL DEFINITION

      “We renew the definition of the ecumenical council of Florence, in virtue of which all the faithful of Christ must believe that;  “the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff possesses the primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostle, and is the true Vicar of Christ, and the Head of the whole Church, and the Father and teacher of all Christians, and that full power was given to him in Blessed Peter to rule, feed, and govern the Universal Church”. 

(Decrees of Vatican Council on Faith and the Church,  p 15, Chair of Unity Apostolate, Graymoor Garrison NY.  

Conclusion:

    Whoever accepts and joins in union with the pope and papacy separates himself from union with Holy Orthodoxy and eternal life, loses union with the Head of Orthodoxy Jesus Christ, union with the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers, union with the Theotokos and Holy Martyrs; union with the entire Kingdom of heaven.

GOD WANTS TO ENTER OUR SOULS ONLY IF WE CONSENT

 GOD WANTS TO ENTER OUR SOULS

 ONLY IF WE CONSENT

    The Elder Saint Porphyrios commenting on the Athonite vigils at Kavsokalyvia, said:  the Holy Spirit came and flooded the monk’s souls with heavenly joy.”  Saying this he offered us a wake up call,  “Even now the Holy Spirit wants to enter our souls, like it did them, but it respects our freedom.”   It does not want to violate it.  It wants for us to open the door on our own, and then it will enter the soul and transfigure it.” His words reminded us of the book of Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with me.” ( Rev. 3:20)

     Our good and compassionate  God discreetly knocks at the door of every frail man and awaits patiently for him to open it for Him.  This He does so as to render him truly fortunate. Yet man frequently wastes the freedom that God has granted to him, and remains closed in within his shut door and misery.  How many of us have the good sense to put into practice the supplication, to the Holy Spirit:“Heavenly King and Comforter, Spirit of Truth, come and abide in us?”  We are very foolish  in not desiring what is good and best for us, and even ignoring it. How many of us , while repeatedly uttering the appeal to “come, and abide in us”,  that  are not barred in to ourselves with the loneliness of our own security?  God respects our foolishness because that is also an expression of our freedom. One day the Elder said to me, “God respects our will.”  And other day he said: “Whatever we do, do it because we want to be  freely  responsible for  our own decisions.”

    Reflecting on this, God gave us freedom because He wants us to be like Him. God is love and we must become like Him, loving even our enemies as He commands.   Love is freedom and is bestowed freely on another, as we choose.  It is impossible to genuinely love without freedom. If we were as slaves we would obey and do what our master commands out of fear of punishment. If we were as servants we would do the same out of desire for wages. But we who love God and are free men we do it willingly, for only a free man is capable of love.  

Christ says: “If you love me keep my commandments.”  

POPE TO VISIT ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH THE PAPACY – EMBRACING HER IS DISASTER AND BLASPHEMOUS

POPE TO VISIT ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

THE PAPACY – EMBRACING HER IS DISASTER AND BLASPHEMOUS

     Why does the  pope appears to be so friendly and exactly what are his motives?  He certainly does not want to become Orthodox for he believes that he is the vicar and infallible head of the Church of Christ, and he cannot  deny his primacy and infallibility, then what is his purpose in conducting meetings with Orthodox and others?  The answer lies in his thirst for universal domination of all Christians. He wants to swallow up the Orthodox, which is the objective of the papacy, rule over them  placing them under his dominion like the apostate uniates, who left Orthodoxy and commemorate his name. All he wants is recognition of who he is not, the head of the church and the only representative of Christ on earth.

  Sadly, we forget, but God and the victims never forget, the many crimes committed in the name of Jesus Christ by the papacy.  We Orthodox confess ourselves as being the Body of Christ and His holy Church, Why then do our upper leaders embrace and keep company with the very same inimical organization, whose past is stained with human blood.. Not only through their killer Crusades, but also through their demonic Inquisitions wherein they slaughtered myriads  and myriads 

     The Pope is not the Roman Papacy, for he comes and goes as its temporary head. Their claim that there were good and bad popes means nothing.  The crimes committed are by the organization called the papacy.  Popes claim to represent Jesus Christ.  How could anyone believe this when Christ is the humble and meek Godman who did only good, healing the sick, gave sight to the  blind, cleansed lepers and raised the dead. They cannot possible represent  Christ for Christ did not send out bloody crusades, nor did he conduct murderous inquisitions against opponents.   Here are a just a few of the tools which the papacy used against those who disagreed with them in their horrible inquisitions. If anyone says, well that was some time ago, they would like to forget but God never forgets, for every crime they committed is in the books of life and death. Take thought of the horror of the tools used by them and think – do we want to be their friend and fellow traveler?  Do we want to exalt those who debased humanity by their actions?  God does not forget.

These vicious tools were used by the inquisition against their own people.

Heavy pincers to tare out fingernails

The rack which stretched to dislocate joints

Thumbscrews to dislocate fingers

Molten lead to be poured into ears and mouth of victims

Hanging by the neck till dead

“Spanish boots” made to crush legs and feet

The Iron virgin was a hollow metal case with knives inside, which pierced the victim placed in it

Tools to gouge out eyes

Forced to jump off cliffs onto sharp spikes below

     "Making every allowance required of a historian and permitted to a Christian, we must rank the papal Inquisition along with the wars and persecutions of our time, as among the darkest blots on the record of mankind, revealing a ferocity unknown in any beast."
                                    (Will Durant,,  The Age of Faith p 784)

Let us heed the words of St. John of Kronstadt, who fell asleep in the Lord in December of 1908

                                         

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

     In the Orthodox Church we confess  ourselves as “the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”and  her  name as confessed by all Orthodox Christians throughout the world when they declare the sacred Creed. Why then do we all call her Orthodox? For the simple reason that heresies arose of old, addressing themselves as being the church, often using the church’s name, with various qualifiers, and later the Catholic Church did the same after sinking into the papacy. The papacy called themselves the one holy Catholic and apostolic church, and later the Roman Catholic church.. . The word Orthodoxy means the correct idea (doxa or do-keo “to think”)  or faith, and came into use to distinguish us from others including the heretical papacy. It is important how Orthodox Christians worldwide refer to their church with the name Orthodox.

     The history of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is clearly recorded in detail in its written tradition, specifically, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. In this early record can  be found the answer  to  many questions or disputes  regarding the structure of the Church, and who is in charge.. If any right thinking person reads the Book of Acts with faith and sincerity, he will see that only Orthodoxy continues as the only continuation of the Apostolic Church recorded in the Book of the Acts of the Apostle/s. 

The Protestants will find out that the Christians in the Acts kept various fasts, celebrated the Eucharist, had bishops, priests and deacons, and honored the saints. The Roman Catholic will surely find that Peter was never  in charge of the Church, for if  he was they would have to answer to him and this would certainly be recorded.  You will see that they answered only to the Holy Spirit who alone is in charge and directed them.  You will also see clearly that Christ is the only head of his   body which is the Church..

     If you are not in the Church you are outside the realm of salvation and partaking of  the kingdom. However, the Church does not lead to the kingdom of heaven, it is the Kingdom of heaven. For this reason the first words that are uttered by the Priest when the Divine Liturgy begins is: “Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Those who are outside of this kingdom derive no benefit, but are welcome to come, believe and be baptized/

  Further, the Divine Liturgy is not merely a human expression but is divine-human, and angels always take part in this service, visible to a few. The Liturgy is very personal and yet shared by all. Among the  many actions are calls for prayers in peace, many petitions to the Lord for necessities, we also, honor and glorify the Most Holy Theotokos and all the Saints whom God greatly honors and glorifies. The Liturgy is always alive and extremely active, for the minds and hearts that are taking part, communicating wit the Lord and absorbing everything, make it a joy and fulfillment.

  When we take part in the Divine Liturgy, our united prayers ascend to the throne of God , being received for certain, by the Son of God who is our head, whom we glorify and worship as the Logos who came down and became incarnate of the Ever-virgin Mary and became the Godman. Few people realize that the Lord has accomplished for all of us, for he has brought our humble created humanity to the throne of God in heaven.

     Faithful and true Orthodox Christians will apologize for and defend our holy faith at all times and never agree that we are one of many different Christian religions., For Orthodoxy is not a religion among the many, being a divine revelation and a divine human entity, Christ himself is always the center of worship and is, according to His promise: “to be with us to the close of the age.”. In the Divine Eucharist, He feeds us with himself as food which strengthen and nourishes our souls and completely sanctifies us body, soul and spirit. Our beliefs and celebration is not pie in the sky, but is a firm, enlightening and glorious personal participation in and experience of the kingdom. This is especially understood in our part in the Divine Liturgy when we know that heaven enters and takes part making it both divine and human. Through the Liturgy we are sanctified and elevated to our real and final destination , which is eternal life as was promised by our lord, who faithful and the life of the world.

TRUE BISHOPS IDENTIFIED

THEY MUST BE THE IMAGE OF CHRIST

   Most Orthodox are familiar with their Priests in  local parishes but have little contact with bishops, who are over the Priest and under whose authority he serves, being unable to serve without a bishop. What should the faithful expect from their Bishop?  He ought to be a man aware of his fearful duties before God, for he must shepherd the flock assigned to him who has total authority over him, who is over all of us and is the Good. The Bishop is obligated before Christ to assure by monitoring the purity of  Orthodoxy under their jurisdiction.The Bishop must also monitor the attitude and Christian behavior of Priests and laity, the preservation of all truths and assuring himself for certain that all the faithful know and be reminded that they keep the commandments of  Christ.  The Bishop must present himself as an image of Christ before his Priests and people. He must  reflect the humility and meekness of Christ, The countenance of the bishop must also radiate the love and peace of Jesus Christ. The people must see in the Bishop only an image of Christ.

   The Priest must honor his Bishop as his father in Christ  and the Bishop must honor the Priest as his son in Christ. The Bishop must shine with the joy and the love of Christ before his Priests and before his flock.  The Bishop’s entire flock of sheep when under    good  bishop’s example are  required to emulate the Bishop and to so also become like Christ. 

POISON TO THE SOUL IS DENIAL OF ORTHODOXY AS THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH

POISON TO THE SOUL IS

DENIAL OF ORTHODOXY AS  THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH 

     There is an all out attack taking place against and within Orthodoxy  that is poison to the souls of Orthodox Christians, for its aim is to deny these fundamental truths: which are not just true, but also are divine revelations.

1. Orthodoxy is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. 

2. Orthodoxy is the only true Church, there can be no other. 

3. Orthodoxy is the Body of Christ.

4. The Head of Orthodoxy is Jesus Christ.

5. Orthodoxy alone is guided by the Holy Spirit

     Jesus said:  “Upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” The Church is not a human institution, but is divine-human. When the Lord spoke the above words, He established that the gates of hades (mouths of heretics) would never prevail against His Church. That this promise has been kept is clearly seen by Church history, which shows that the Church Jesus Christ established remains untouched by heretics or heresy, even though attacks have been mounted from outside and within the Church. 

     That Jesus Christ is the only Head and Orthodoxy is His only Church and that the Church, cannot  be headed by a pope or patriarch, is shown to be true because the Church,  being the Body of Christ is  divine and human, necessarily can only have a divine-human Head. That the Church is divine and human is simple to grasp by its continuous divine and human functions, by its mysteries and wonder-working; by the abundant  outpouring of heavenly myrrh  everywhere, and by miracles as daily occurrences.

    As Jesus Christ the Godman is indestructible, so His Church cannot be destroyed, by anyone at anytime.  As Jesus Christ teaches only truth, so the Church His body also teaches the same  truth. Jesus Christ taught us of our Father in heaven and so the Church proclaims, “we dare to call upon Him, saying: Our Father who art in the heavens. . . ”  Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is God and the Church always begins prayers with: “O heavenly King and Comforter, Spirit of truth . . . ”   Jesus Christ proclaimed: “Upon this rock I will build my church . . . and we proclaim our firm belief in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Jesus Christ established triune baptism as the only form and Orthodoxy alone baptizes in this manner.  Jesus Christ warns that He will come to judge the living and the dead and the Church enforces that warning: “And He shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”  The harmony of the Church and Christ’s teaching is divine.

     The truths that the Church declares have always and will always be preserved within her.  She defines the precise books which belong to Holy Scripture, and that definition remains to this day. Heretics attacked the truth that Christ is God and man. The truth that He is God and man prevails in the Church to this day. Heretics attacked Christ’s dual nature, divine and human, and the Church continues believing in the two natures. Heretics attack  Orthodoxy as not being the true Church, but she remains and is alone the  true Church. Heretics attacked Orthodoxy as not being the only Church, but untouched she shines brighter than the sun alone enlightening the entire earth. Always being under attack meant that there were and are enemies within and outside the Church who seek to establish falsehood as true dogma, contradicting firmly established truths.

      Orthodox Christians!   Every one of us are duty bound and out of love for the church to place our interest in what is going on within the church, watch what our hierarchs are doing and listen carefully to what they are saying for the actual attacks against the Church continue and will continue, led by those who pretend to love her. The false idea and teaching that Orthodoxy is not the only true Church, that there is other churches outside of her, is being taught and preached during our days, especially among ecumenists The many meetings being held by the Orthodox with the Catholics over the years results in the bearing of poisonous fruit and blasphemy entering the Church.  Betrayers from within the Church have declared the papacy to be a sister church of Orthodoxy forgetting that one and one makes two and not one.  When they recite the Creed they say they believe in one church, but then go on to declare two churches. They blasphemously accuse the Holy Spirit of sanctifying the papacy and  her sacraments!  Imagine! This means that the Holy Spirit supports the pope and his papacy who falsely   lay claims to be the only true church, always seeking to destroy holy Orthodoxy. Also that He supports the pope who has usurped the authority of both Christ and the Holy Spirit, claiming to be the head and guide of the church.

     Orthodoxy will not fail but it is our sacred duty, not to fall into the trap but to come to her defense by speaking out against the attacks being hurled against our beloved Holy Orthodox Church.

YOUR CHOICE – JESUS CHRIST OR STEPHEN HAWKING

YOUR CHOICE – JESUS CHRIST 

OR STEPHEN HAWKING

STEPHEN HAWKING’S 

DIRE WARNING FOR HUMANITY

SPACE EXPLORATION IS THE KEY 

TO SAVING HUMANITY

“There is no heaven; it's a fairy story.”  (Stephen Hawking)   Stephen Hawking, greatly renowned for his work on black holes and expertise on the origin of the cosmos,  asserts that if one understands how the universe works, you control it in a way. That space exploration is the key to saving humanity, and warns that humans may not survive another thousand years! This makes him into not only a great genius regarding the origin of the cosmos, but also a self made prophet regarding the end of the cosmos!   But do his conclusions have any value to human race and is he a prophet whom we ought to believe?

      The Lord says: “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”  It is really unfortunate that the world considers men of Hawking caliber  of   “extreme intellect and wisdom” as their mentors and guides, even though the Lord identifies them as fools.  Astoundingly,  Stephen Hawking professes that he has some understanding of the universe, which is arrogant, for he shows that  he doesn’t have a clue about the purpose of creation. How can he possibly know anything of the mind of the Creator, when he denies His existence? He raises the question about creation as to what,  but not who is behind everything that exists. Who created it? Why did He create it? Who is man? What is man’s final purpose and destination?  These are critical questions, the answers being filled with good news for humanity. What value is knowledge of a black hole, or knowledge of how the universe began? Can such knowledge contribute to man’s well-being , welfare and happiness?  Can such knowledge e elevate man with faith, hope and love?

      Man cannot create something from nothing, nor can he create life, and it is obvious that everything that exists is created and has a relative cause. God, who is the Absolute Cause is of infinite intelligence, possessing  power equal to His will, being the glorious Creator who made matter from nothing,  and then the entire cosmos  with a definitely stated final  purpose. His infinite wisdom,  knowledge and glory is infinitely  beyond any comparison to the entire human race, for He is the source of all knowledge. That this is so, is demonstrated by man’s many activities, constant curiosity to understand things beyond his understanding. He uses his small intellect, studying, analyzing, and examining evidence ever so carefully . Some men devote their entire lives in the attempt to partially understand and unlock only a few of the hidden mysteries of the universe.  Of much greater value would be to study and learn from God Why does man exist and what is his final purpose is, for this directly affects each of us personally. 

What is our  purpose and final destination? Why do we exist?  Is it to just live and die? This knowledge is not  attainable except with an expert and infallible teacher and guide, who is the One who created man in His own image.  

CHRIST IS OUR ONLY HEAD ORTHODOXY IS HIS ONLY BODY

CHRIST IS OUR ONLY HEAD

ORTHODOXY IS HIS ONLY BODY

     “Away with Him! Let Him be crucified!” with these bitter cries of Christ’s enemies, they  branded themselves as Christ-killers, doing everything possible to degrade Jesus Christ, whom God sent first to Israel for salvation, but they greeted Him who loved them with a passionate hatred, evidenced by the way they spat on Him,  cursed Him, and assaulted him with bitter words of mockery. Fools! They did not understand that their actions were taking them  into an unescapable  trap.  For they unjustly killed the Lord and King of glory and no one could give back to Christ, the life which they stole from Him.  They will be judged by the law of justice  not mercy. The terrible injustice which they inflicted will cause their eternal condemnation.

      However Christ’s death was like no other death, for as He testified  He is the Life of the world, and Life cannot die: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  But the heavenly Father raised His Son according to the law, which prohibits an innocent man from being put to death The divine law calls for the return of four times the value of what was unjustly taken. Therefore Christ’s Resurrection, is infinite and is extended to all who are resurrected in Christ.  This is exactly as the Father had allowed the events to unfold and it is how God makes evil become good. What could be a worse crime that to sentence God to death, to be a murderer of the Godman.? What could be better than Christ being gloriously resurrected and His resurrecting all those who love Him and keep His commandments.  What could be better than being judged not by God’s justice, but by His great gracious mercy in Christ, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

     Life comes only from the Lifegiver, no one is able to produce life because life can only be derived from life.  The death of Christ instead of being an ordinary death was a live-giving death.  The Devil, through seduction acquired rulership over death, by using man as his tool, and  the fear of death was in the hearts of men. To avoid death they would often do the will of the Devil who used this to terrorize men, through every evil imaginable, such as  crimes, wars, murders, jealousy, hatred of good, thirst for revenge, lying, and stealing, etc. There is no evil that he did not maliciously devise. Why? Because he revolted against  God,  and seeing that man was special in God’s creation, he hated and warred against both God and man. Hence we are told to hate all evil and flee from even the thought of it.

Of course, the devil could never affect God power, and there is a deep mystery in these events and we must remember, that God alone knows everything and rules over everything. His plan proceeds exactly as He decides. That is why the Church sings: “Lord, I have heard of the mystery of your plan.”  God announced His plan in the beginning of the Book of Genesis: “Let us create man in our own image and according to our likeness.”  Christ being the first such man, and millions have followed Him, obeyed Him, lived for Him and died for Him, and will certainly be resurrected by Him.

     When any powerful earthly king would visit a certain place in his earthly kingdom, the results of his visit are felt for some time afterward. Jesus Christ the King of heaven and earth visited the race of man, and we will feel the effects of His wonderful visit until the end of time, for it involves salvation of the human race. The results of His visit means so much to those who honor and obey Him. For we see that His visit changed everything. Four-day dead Lazarus; Christ changed his death to life; cleansing the lepers, Christ restored them to their former glory as men; prostitutes, Christ changed them into virginal  like women.  When man follows  Christ he receives glory in place of shame and honor in place of dishonor.  Those who follow Christ achieve  nearness to God in place of estrangement; peace in place of enmity,  Whereas before Christ’s advent, death ruled the world, Christ’s followers see death as desirable to be with Christ, knowing that Christ put death to death and changed death  into a door opening  into eternal life. As death has no dominion over Christ, so it has no dominion over His Church.

    We must always call to mind, that this life is not given to us for our pleasure and enjoyment alone, although innocent pleasure and enjoyment may be part of life.  For we can marry,  rejoice, husband, wife and children, enjoy their company, teaching and playing with them and be thoroughly happy, for Christianity does not take away happiness for it is the only real source of happiness and the outpouring of joy, with the firm promise of great comfort and hope, for without hope man’s life is empty and miserable.  The present life is meant to be a   place of learning, testing, a strengthening and  a  preparation for life without end where there is no darkness but only light, no sadness but only joy, no evil but only goodness and peace, no death for life will be eternal with God, who will eliminate all sorrow.

THE GLORY AND EXALTATION OF MAN AND WOMAN

THE GLORY AND EXALTATION 

OF MAN AND WOMAN

   When God created man and woman, he foreknew that they would fall away  from Him, but He also knew how one day he would exalt them beyond all imagination, for His plans are perfect and will be accomplished.  The terrible degradation of man began with their breaking of God’s law upon accepting the advice to do so by the devil who appeared the form of a serpent and seduced them. Heeding his pernicious words, followed by their disobedient action they ate, breaking life- threatening law which firmly forbid this. By their action, Satan became their master while man acquired fears never felt previously. Death entered the world and man sunk from his noble and glorious rulership of all creation to the depths of enslavement to the devil. Nature released fury as well as beauty and food.

All evils that has entered the world came were released in the breaking of the law by the first created pair. This was not God’s intention nor is it ever right to blame God for anything because He alone is the Lover of all mankind and his great and mysterious plan for all creation was, not in the cherubim, seraphim or thrones, but in the exaltation of the race of man.

Today, if anyone will heed the voice of the Lord, there is prepared unbelievable glory and honor for those who offer their attention followed by a firm decision to pursue this glory, for this is truly the only destiny of man. Jesus Christ came into the world, born of the Virgin,  and it is he, whom we  speak of as the head of the race of man. He is the main person for while Adam and Eve made bad choices, and brought evils into the world, the Godman Jesus Christ was obedient to death even the death of the Cross, and brought all of God’s goodness into the world. For this reason God the Father has highly exalted Him. St. Paul describes this exaltation with these wonderful words: 

TWO BEAUTIES

TWO BEAUTIES

    In the fall of this year we saw the foliage looking in awe at the yellow, oranges, reds and in between colors and marvel, speaking to many others about this royal beauty/ How the Creator bestows on us sinful men such beauty!   In the winter will be another type of beauty with some discomforts from snow and ice.  I will never forget the one time that I was traveling on a small  “mountain” road, and on my way I saw that the branches of the trees were covered with glittering ice. As I ascended this road I was intoxicated by the absolute beauty of the ice covered trees, and the bright sun flickered all over. Made it look like millions of diamonds/  I got out of my car and making the sign of the Cross, I said: Lord your beauty is beyond words to describe!  There is also the beauty of the birds and their chirping music, the beauty of flowers and their aroma and bright colors, the fruits on plants, all come from the same soil, but by the wisdom and hand of the Creator of all that exists.

   There is another beauty which infinitely surpassed all other beauties, and that beauty is Jesus Christ.  Knowing that He is the Godman, and seeing Him weeping for the deceased  Lazarus,  almost breaks our hearts, and is couched in the two words: “Jesus wept.”  But of even greater is the beauty of  His life-giving and commanding voice: “Lazarus come forth.”   The ugliness and bad odor of death is immediately put to flight as Lazarus the dead man, comes out of death back into life. Lazarus now risen from the realm of death reflects the great beauty of Christ His Master, the author of our life. The joy and exultation that overflowed in the souls of Martha and Mary also reflects the beauty of Jesus Christ. We observe the beautiful man, who cured the deaf and mute, gave sight to the blind and the paralytics were walking vigorously after His wondrous works. 

Large crowds followed Jesus  attracted by His absolute divine-human beauty. Even the soldiers whose task was to take Jesus which they failed in doing, and when they returned without Him, they were asked why they did not take Him, they replied saying: “No man ever spoke like this man. Christ only by His beautiful authority and power would not rendered it impossible to take Him before His appointed time. Formerly blind men rejoiced when the Light of the world, enabled them to see worldly light. The beauty they experienced is this. Their eyes were opened and the physical light poured in making everything around them visible.  Another set of eyes were also opened at the same time, their spiritual eyes, for they saw with these ideas that Jesus was the Son of David and the Messiah or Christ.

In the world, men usually see only external beauty, but lurking beneath that external beauty is often  found ugliness in the form of egotism, arrogance and misery, for external looks are not genuine beauty. Genuine beauty is to be found in the person. Let us look at Christ’s internal beauty.  What attracted so many to him was His supreme virtue which radiated from Him with great brilliance.  The aura surrounded him  revealed to some his supreme kindness, His great compassion, and especially His unconditional love, For this love is a special aspect of His beauty, which we all attracted to is His being the only Lover of man or philanthropist. Greatly beauty is that when we were ugly and sinful, He in all His beauty and love willingly and in great forbearance, suffered His passion which He suffered for us and willingly allowed them to nail Him to the Cross.

Christ is beautiful and desires to share His beauty by creating man and woman in His image, thus reflecting His great beauty on all creation.  He  chose to create us out of clay, then breathed  into us a life-creating spirit, and by this spirit bestowing upon us freedom, intellect and feelings, with an active will to make choices and  decisions.  What has God wrought?   He has lovingly  given us the greatest gift possible, a gift for which we ought to glorify   Hin day and night. Yes we should thank Him for this temporary life, but we need to remember that the real life is the life in Christ, concerning which, Christ says: “Whoever believe in me shall never die/” The eternal life does not begin after we die, it begins here and now in this present world by our faith in Christ, our holy Baptism and the gift of Holy Spirit/

Jesus is our Head; Jesus is our Bridegroom; Jesus is our Savior; Jesus is the perfect example of what we must become. When we learn to love Jesus we will begin to see His perfect beauty. Everything is from the Lord Jesus Chrsit. All is given through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen genuine beauty until He sees the beauty of Jesus Christ. This is established when a man repents and confesses and approaches Him in a humble manner, with fear of God faith and love.

ORTHODOXY BETRAYED BY ENEMIES WITHIN

ORTHODOXY BETRAYED 

BY ENEMIES WITHIN

     As  her Head Jesus Christ was surrounded by those who loved and honored Him and those who hated and despised Him, so His Body the Church is surrounded by those who love and honor her and by those who hate and despise her.  Among the latter are the enemies within. These enemies are much more dangerous to people than external enemies for they confuse the true faith and muddle the true Faith, seeking if it were possible to destroy the Church once and for all. We know they will not succeed but will make strong attempts.

      In modern times, since the early 1900's. we have had patriarchs who were enemies within the Church.  During the period of upheaval in Greece, between the royalists and the Venuzelists, a stranger to Orthodoxy and truth,  Meletios Metaxakis from Crete and relative of Venuzelis became archbishop of Athens and later when the political climate changed, he was deposed from that position.

     In July of 1935, after six days in the throes of death,  Meletios died, being one of the most scandalous bishops in the history of the Church. He attempted to change the  traditions of the Church, such as changing feast days to fall on Sundays, do away with fasting days, allow married priests who became widowers to remarry; eliminate celibacy requirements, thus establishing a married episcopate, a common date for Pascha, and the adoption of the new calendar.  While still Archbishop of Athens, Metaxakis with others went to England to seeking unity of Orthodoxy with the Anglican Church. However Orthodoxy will not unite with any other group for she is the Church, but she welcomes those outside to be baptized and come inside, if they desire salvation and eternal life.

     In 1921 Metaxakis after being vested took part in an Anglican Service, bowed with the Anglicans in prayer, kissed their altar, preached and later blessed those who were present.   He also recognized the validity of Anglican orders, being a scoundrel, he left nothing holy  untouched. His countless  actions were anti-Orthodox, forbidden by the Church and the sacred Canons as well as by Holy Scripture. Such actions are treated by the Church with deposition of the guilty cleric.

THE JOY OF ORTHODOX LIFE IN CHRIST

THE JOY OF ORTHODOX LIFE IN CHRIST

     Joyful life in Christ begins when we are attracted and become interested in our faith to try to  follow Christ in His Church, keeping the four fasts of the year and Wednesdays and Fridays, and strive to keep all His commandments. Prayer life begins when, using a prayer book, we  offer morning and evening prayers, prayers before Holy Communion and prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion. These are a few of the activities which will make a wonderful change in our lives. They are usually accompanied by a distinct change in our attitude, such as less talking and more listening, watching our language speaking only worthwhile things without oaths or swearing. The Lord himself will teach you things if your intentions are sincere, for  He seeks to unite with us and desires that we unite with Him. For He is our Creator, the author of our lives and it is to Him that we owe faithfulness, honor and glory forever.

    The difference of life without Christ and life in Christ are like  light and darkness, like happiness and misery, and being filled with the resultant hope causes  despondency and misery to disappear from our lives. Truly this present world offers nothing but some pleasures, some joys, difficulties and sorrows,  suffering and eventual death.  But life in Christ is truly Paradise, for we are living and enjoying His kingdom in this present world.  Our true  faith which is always followed by fervent hope which heralds the most important virtue of all which is love.  We offer our sincere belief to God and He requites this by increasing our faith, This is utterly delightful and fills our hearts with hope, the hope is for everlasting life and true happiness. Then realizing all that He has given to us we begin to develop feelings of love for Him, especially because He is God our Creator, He is good and compassionate, and the Lover of man, and alone is worthy of our fervent love.

     If we wake up at night, let the very first thing we ought to do is make the sign of the Cross to raise our minds and hearts to Christ our beloved in the middle of the night. When we begin a task it is good to begin with the sign of the Cross. If we drive or ride in an automobile, as soon as we sit in the seat, our first action should be to make the sign of the Cross, the same upon arrival back from a trip. Every time possible our souls must ascend to Christ. And this will start to arouse great joy in our hearts, soothing us with calm and peace which are invaluable to the welfare of man.

      If we struggle to live this type of life, gradually we will feel its effects by a pleasant calmness and sweetness that only can come from Christ. In addition, we especially worship Him in Church at the Divine Liturgy, preparation for this being of utmost necessity. That is why  there are prayers before Holy Communion for the night before the Liturgy, and prayers for preparation on the morning of the Divine Liturgy. Standing in Church we stand before our Creator and God, who extends mercy and love to all who sincerely call upon Him in faith. He is not far but is present everywhere and awaits all those who call upon Him. Angels and heavenly beings attend Divine Liturgy with us even though they are not visible.

Struggling to live a Christian life causes many changes to take place within us, among them is the joy that only thinking of Him and loving Him  can bring, then the even greater joy of partaking of God Himself in Holy Communion/, where we are assured that He has entered our bodies and souls. Also, we must often reflect on the fact that we are sinners and that Christ came into the world to save sinners like ourselves. Turning away from sin is possible when we have Christ within us.  He has conquered the evil one who assaults us seeking only our destruction. But Christ has defeated Him and as long as we remain faithful He will never conquer our souls but will retreat in shame before the Conqueror who vanquished him..

     As we advance in prayer, church attendance, and life in fear of God, then faith, hope and love will fill us with divine thoughts?  As we increase in the kingdom of God , the kingdom of this world will diminish, and everything will change dramatically. For the world and its turmoil are replaced with continuous peace accompanied by joy which knows no bounds, joy such as the world can never know, for our hearts will overflow in divine joy. Upon awakening each day by making the sign of the Cross and entering into another day of struggle and happiness experienced in the kingdom. If we confess Him before men, He will confess us before His Father in heaven. Christ is our Bridegroom and awaits our repentance and return to Him, which must take place during this life, for when we leave this world, we can take no material with us, but only our faithful or unfaithful souls. 

   This article, The Joy of Orthodox Life in Christ is meant to be introductory, not all inclusive.   We ought to strive to read the Bible every day, for God speaks to us in the Bible, which is filled with His Spirit and divine grace.  We need to remember that In prayer we speak to God and make requests from Him, but in reading the Bible we listen to Him and learn from Hm with every word we read. His authority, power, justice, compassion, and great mercy is shown in the pages of Holy Scripture. 

THERE CAN BE NO BAPTISM OUTSIDE THE CHURCH WE SHOULD NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER BAPTISM

THERE CAN BE NO BAPTISM OUTSIDE THE CHURCH 

WE SHOULD NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER BAPTISM

     In the Holy Bible it is clearly shown that St. Paul would not accept St. John’s non-triune immersion, single immersion baptism, for when he asked John’s disciples if they were baptized, they answered into John’s baptism. Then St. Paul rebaptized them by triune immersion baptism. There is no other baptism than that performed by the Orthodox Church. Hence all those outside the Church  are unbaptized and have not put away their sins. Triune immersion was established by the Lord. 

   This is the text. Finding certain disciples Paul said to them: “Have you received the Holy Spirit? And they said unto him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Spirit. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is, Christ Jesus. When they heard this they were baptized by three immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in languages” Acts 18:2-8).

      After His Resurrection the Lord gave this firm command to the Apostles: “Go forth into all the world,  and preach this Gospel to every creature.  He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that does not believe shall be condemned” 16:15).

     Also, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore, and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you to the close of the age”     (Matthew 28: 19-20).

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS ARE TODAY OFTEN ASLEEP ABSENT FROM CHURCH

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS ARE TODAY OFTEN ASLEEP

 ABSENT FROM CHURCH

Sundays and Feasts day before modern times, perhaps prior to the seventies, both in the USA and in mother Orthodox countries, those attending church  On Feast Days if you did not arrive early, you remained standing due to the huge crowds in the Orthodox churches on Sundays and Feast days. The Feast Day vespers were also very crowded  Today, instead of huge crowds a scarcity of people is common.  It is a widespread problem, because the amount of people who support and go to church has gradually diminished. This is not promising an increase in the next generation.    

     Bishops are called upon to represent Christ, who would not tolerate such conditions, but would act. How? Preach the Gospel and forget foolish ecumenism which does not bring people into the Church. The Apostles as any one who reads the Bible knows were continually active. 

   Our holy Orthodox Faith is not just another Christian group, but  is the Church.  It is the Body of Christ, the  entire divine house of truth that came directly from Christ (“upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it”) and from His Apostles who He sent, (“Go forth and preach this Gospel to all nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit”) All other Christian sects are outside of the Church by their own choice.  

    Sadly, those in the Church who have been born into Orthodoxy, do not realize the treasure by which they are surrounded, and while some just ignore it, others attend church sometimes  and some more frequently. But there is so much more that is missed by most everyone. The church is much more than attending and singing and socializing.  Our Orthodox Faith is meant for each one of us to live the actual  life that Christ, by His example and teaching taught us to live. Faith is only a beginning, and is followed by hope and love. But faith must be enlivened and increase, and needs nourishment. 

PROTESTANTS ARE ALL PAPISTS INDULGING IN AUTHORITY AND INFALLIBILITY

PROTESTANTS ARE ALL PAPISTS

INDULGING IN AUTHORITY AND INFALLIBILITY

    The Protestants in many various sects  have one thing in common.  Each individual is free to divide from the other believing whatever he sees fit, and even worse,  using the Bible as his guide, interpreting it as he will,  thinking that their interpretation is infallible, disregarding tradition, the Holy Apostolic and Church Fathers and the Seven Ecumenical Synods.

    Protestants,  also known as the reformers were organized upon a great falsehood. The falsehood?  That the  Church founded by Christ, which they believed the Papacy to be, became corrupted and needed to be reformed. They believed a lie for Christ promised that the gates of Hades would not prevail over His church, which remains true. They took the Papacy to be the church but it was the Papacy which was corrupted. 

      The Papal Church in England, broke from the Papacy, becoming the Anglican Church, which the King Henry VIII formed when he abandoned the Papacy, because he couldn’t have his way.  He was an adulterer and murderer, and founder and head of the Anglican church! The  Episcopal Church is derived from the Anglican Church.

     The Roman Catholics or western church after apostasy from the mother Church evolved from  being a former church of Christ and became the extreme and worldly powerful Papacy, which enthusiastically utilized the powers of this world with her own organized  armies, killer crusades and terrible inquisitions.

THE PROPHECY OF ST. AGATHANGELOS

THE PROPHECY OF ST. AGATHANGELOS

He prophesies that Germany will be the instrument 

that brings holy Orthodoxy to the west.

“Constantine began and Constantine shall lose the Byzantine Kingdom of the East. Son of man, number from the first Constantine until the twelfth number of the same name, and you will find the number [year] in which it will happen.

God has decided and fixed the divine resolution, ascertained to be genuine, shall be irremovable. It will be fulfilled during the fourth hundred of years, from the fifty-second to the fifty-third, in which the vast kingdom shall fall into the hands of the Saracens; and the houses will be spoiled, the holy churches sullied, and the believers persecuted until the eighth century decisively; because God wants that the people should learn His justice and feel the weight of His omnipotent hand and return to Him, and then become spiritually able and well acceptable . . . .And in  the manner of the Jewish people were subjects of Nebuchadnezzar, so will this people be subject to the impious Hagarenes until the determined time, and they will remain captives under the yoke until the approximate completion of four hundred years”.  

The Byzantine Empire came to its end in 1453 A.D.!

AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL ACCURACY!

     St. Agathangelos wrote his prophecies in 1279 A. D. Thus he mentions only hundreds of years fro the beginning of the millennium [1000]. Constantinople’s fall would take place in the fourth hundred  [of years] from the 52nd to the 53rd year i.e. 1453.  While the liberation would occur after nearly four hundred [years] after 1453.  And so this happened. In 1828 the first government of the Greeks was formed; 1828 -1453 is 375 years or almost four hundred exactly as prophesied.

     Ieronymous Agathangelos flourished in 1279 A.D. He was a Priest-monk Confessor and lived in a Cenobitic Monastery for 51 years.  In his 79th year of age, as he says, at Messina in Sicily; and at dawn on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, he experienced a majestic vision by which was foretold to him:

a. The fall of Constantinople, including the date and time of the Hellenic liberation from the Turks.

b. The shaping of European history after the said fall.

c. Western Europe’s apostasy, through Martin Luther against the Pope.

d. Napolean’s action, his campaign and his doom in Russia, about which he says surprisingly: “O Frenchmen, where are you going? The new king leads you to the slaughterhouse, and you shall leave your lives upon the high mountains; and your enterprises shall be manifestly abandoned.”

e. Partition of Austria and Hungary and banishment of the Kaiser after World War 1.

f. The previous Soviet system of Russia. The defeat of Germany after World War I and its dismemberment into two Germanies after World War II. The Prophets said: Germany, Germany, why are you so proud? You will be divided into two.

CONCERNING GERMANY

“But know that one of your sons of the same blood shall return against you and detests of the Latin [papal] dogma, and become the head of the heretics [Martin Luther]. I see your friends alienated, and introducing as many novel heresies as there are colors on the wings of the white swan [which Agathangelos saw in his vision.  I see the holy days repelled, the faith lame, your church without a guide, a ship without a rudder//, and lacking a captain, and your faith is groundless.

Great is the corpse, O God!  But wonder, O son of man, because even from this heretical Germany and through her, truth and the veracious worship of the Orthodox faith shall rise.  She [Germany] shall most firmly and more than any other nations vindicate the Apostolic Truth, the eastern dogma shall again shine in her!”

St. ANDREW FOOL FOR CHRIST + 936 CONCERNING CONSTANTINOPLE:

St. ANDREW FOOL FOR CHRIST + 936

 CONCERNING CONSTANTINOPLE:

     This town (Constantinople) ruling over many nations will be unconquerable by the nations, and unsubdued, for God’s Mother has kept it from such a fate, through the protection of her own wings; and by her mediation it will be kept invulnerable. And there is a prophetic word saying that the Hagarene (Turk) nation will come into it and will slay large crowds of people with the sword.

     And I myself say that also the blond nation [Russia] shall come into the town, the nation whose name is the 17th letter of the 24 letters recapitulated (Greek Rho); but it will come in and they will strew the ground with corpses of the sinners, and woe to them from the two branches whose swords moving like a breeze, and sharp scythes too, mowing wheat in summer, will not return to their places anymore, and neither will they stay here . . .  Because, in the last days God will raise a king, from poverty and he will reign in justice; and will abolish every war, and he will take cause that the poor become rich, and there will be peace the way it was in Noah’s days, because none will wage war.

     In those days men will become rich in peace, and in deep calmness, eating and drinking, getting married and making marriages, living in much freedom, unmindfully relying on earthly things; and owing to the lack of war on earth, they will cut up their swords and change them into scythes and agricultural tools.

     And after that he will turn toward the East and will humble the sons of Hagar; because the Lord will be angry with them because of their blasphemy, blaspheming our Lord Jesus Christ, and because of the sodomy  which they practice.

And many of them, receiving holy Baptism will become agreeable and will be honored by the devout king; as to the rest of them, the king will destroy and burn and put the rest to death.

     In those times all the planet will be restored; Also Illyricon of the kingdom of the Romans (Greeks); and Egypt will bring her treaties. And he will lay his right hand on the nations all around; and he will tame the blond nations; and will defeat those who hate him; for thirty and two years he will govern the kingdom.

     He will not impose taxes for twelve years and will not accept gifts. And he will raise the shattered altars and will have the Holy Churches rebuilt.

     There will not be lawsuits in those days, and neither wrongdoers or wronged people; because all the earth will shrink from before his face and he will, through fear, make the sons of men be prudent; and he will exterminate those magnates who will transgress the law.

     Saint Andrew through a heavenly revelation became a fool for Christ. He lived in Constantinople, also called Eptalophos,  being situated on seven hills. Inspired by God,  he reveals important events that will occur in the future, and have occurred just as he prophesied, thus he was a true prophet of God.. 

 He prophesies:

      Constantinople will not be subdued

The Hagarenes will enter the city and slay many

The blond nation ( Russia) will come into the city

Identifies that nation as beginning with the Greek rho or R for ROS or Russia

They will come in with strange weapons, swords like a breeze, meaning bullets, missiles, bombs, etc, not steel swords which return to their places or sheaths.

After horrific battles an era of peace will begin, “men will be rich in peace”.

A cessation to all war on earth.

Hagar refers to all Moslems who constantly blaspheme Jesus Christ. 

From their minarets the blasphemy that God is not the Holy Trinity and Mohammed alone spoke for God.

Hagarenes will be humbled and some will  accept the truth for the Saint says.

Many Moslems will accept Christ and be baptized.

After a  Devout king will reign and rule in peace, but first will come great destruction.