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.

PROPHECIES FULFILLED AND TO BE FULFILLED

PROPHECIES FULFILLED AND TO BE FULFILLED

THE ANONYMOUS PROPHECY (1053 A.D.)

KOUTLOUMOUSIOU MONASTERY

MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE

ALREADY PARTIALLY FULFILLED,

SEE WHAT HAS AND HAS NOT BEEN FULFILLED

1. A Great European War

2. Defeat of German; the catastrophe of Russia and Austria

3. Defeat of the Turks by the Greeks

4. Reinforcement of Turks by the western nations and the defeat of the Greeks by Hagar

5. Slaughter of Orthodox peoples

6. And great anxiety for the Orthodox

7. Invasion of foreign troops from the Adriatic Sea. Woe to those on earth; Hades is ready!

8. The Hagarene (Turk) is great for a moment.

9. A New European War.

10. Union of Orthodox people with Germany.

11. Defeat of the French by the Germans.

12. Revolt in India and its separation from England.

13. England left to the Saxons alone.

14. Victory of the Orthodox peoples and general slaughter of the Turks by the Orthodox.

15. The world is in anxiety.

16. General despair on the earth.

17. A battle of seven states in Constantinople.  Slaughter for three days and nights. Victory of the largest state over the six states.

18. Alliance of six states over the seventh.  Slaughter for three days and three nights.

19. Cessation of the war by an angel (of God and of Christ), and delivery of the city to the Hellenes.

20. Submission of the Latins (Roman Catholics) to the faultless faith of the Orthodox believers.

21.  The Orthodox Faith shall move outward from East to West.

22. The barbarians fearing and trembling at it.

23. Discharge of the Pope and the proclamation of one patriarch for all of Europe.

24.  In five and fifty years, the end of afflictions, and in the seventh there is no miserable man, there is not a banished man, returning into the rejoicing Mother’s arms (the Church).  So shall it be and we wish it to be. Amen. Amen. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. The End, one flock and one shepherd shall there be, from the true Orthodox Faith. We wish it be done. Amen. Amen. Amen.  (A slave of the true God’s Christ)

VERSE  BY  VERSE   

OUR INTERPRETATION  OF  FULFILLED  PARTS

PROPHECY

1. A Great European War

FULFILLMENT

World War One Allies vs Germany and allies

THE PERFECT MANHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

THE

PERFECT MANHOOD

OF JESUS CHRIST

 In the tenth Kontakion of the Akathist to the Theotokos is the following verse on which this article is based.

The Kontakion

    “Willing to save the world, the Ruler of all came to it spontaneously.  And though as God He is our Shepherd, for us He appeared to us as a Man; and having called mankind by His own perfect Manhood, as God he hears Alleluia!”

  “Called mankind by His own Perfect Manhood!”

     The Lord would not appear before men unless He humbled himself to become like us, and became incarnate.  Being the highest God, he lowered himself, took on our nature and  became one of us, who originally came from the earth. This very close humble and wonderful intimacy of God with man was not only to set him free and bring him to salvation. This because the Lord’s will must be fulfilled which occurs when His purpose is accomplished.  In the beginning of the Bible  He clearly stated His final purpose  when He proclaimed the reason for creation, saying: “Let us create man in our own image according to our likeness.”

     Jesus Christ, Son of  the Perfect Woman, the Virgin Mary, is that Perfect Man in the image and likeness of God. God’s desire is that all men become His perfect image and likeness.  He began with the creation of the first man Adam, in His own image but having the potential to also become His likeness.

L I G H T

      Light is  necessary, so much that without it there would be no life.  Light helps us to move about in an orderly fashion, walking or in a vehicle.  Light enables us to buy and sell, to study and learn.  Light enables us to work and accomplish many tasks. It is beyond our ability to estimate light’s great value.  But the light that we see with our eyes is one kind of light. There are actually three types of light, physical, metaphysical, and moral.  We are all familiar with the first type of light, the second can best be understood thinking of our individual existence, for we are each conscious of who we are and have remained. This is metaphysical light the light of consciousness and awareness.

     The least known and understood light is moral light. It shines forth into men’s souls through their consciences, and enters through awareness of their conscience as well as through the Bible, other people in the school system, government and church. All that we contact directly or indirectly are sources of knowledge.

     The moral light of the world is Jesus Christ, promised to the Jews and accepted by many nations, His light is also unique in that it is a light that is immaterial, lighting up the mind and heart of man. A blind men derives no benefit from physical light which evades him. A spiritually blind man derives no benefit from the moral light which always seeks to shine in him.

     Before Christ came into the world the nations were in deep darkness and often behaved more like beasts than men. They had the inner light of conscience but instead of seeking it, they responded with idolatry. There exists in  man the desire for something higher, better, superior, having knowledge which man lacks. Instead of using right reason, and seeking the true invisible God, by just addressing Him, they used their sinful imaginations and designed gods out of wood and stone. Then they bowed to their manufactured goods  and worshiped them as true gods.

     But men did not do this alone, they responded to the invisible Devil and demonic powers who fooled men in this way. When they went to their manufactured gods and sought answers, demons would  speak and provide an answer, which caused delight to men and increased their belief in their gods. These gods who were actually demons, successfully drew them into fornication, adultery, lying, stealing, and every vice. And this satanic authority made imprisoned men, spreading misery and injustice to prevail everywhere.   

     After thousands of years, suddenly the following event took place  as expressed in this hymn:

From on high did you descend, 

                        O Compassionate One; 

And you did submit to the three-day burial;

That you might deliver us from passions,

O Lord our Life and Resurrection, glory to you!

  Brighter than millions of suns, the Godman dwelled in the Virgin’s womb, was born and grew up, standing before men who saw him as: The true God who descended to free us from prison and save our souls. Other men who were evil and servants of the evil one, saw him as a malefactor not worthy of life and constantly sought every opportunity to extinguish this eternal who is God himself.

     They slaughtered him by nailing Him to the Cross; the fools had no comprehension of  the enormity of the crime they were committing. They rejoiced at His suffering, mocked His apparent powerlessness, urging Him, if He were truly the Christ, to come down from the Cross and save himself. They knew what they were doing and every malicious bone in their bodies was energized to fulfill their evil intent. Again they did not see the trap that the Cross really was, and that this trap would snatch all authority from their cohorts the demons and their father the Devil. What did they accomplish by their work, of what gain was it to them?  They permanently cut themselves of from the Light of mankind, from the Fount of goodness and will inherit eternal death.

“I am the Light of the world, whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

EVERYONE THAT DIES GOES TO HEAVEN!     WHY WORRY?

      Concerning this title – this is a most important subject in our days for the idea that everyone goes to heaven was condemned as an  ancient heresy espoused by Origen, and condemned  by the Church Fathers at the Fifth Ecumenical Synod. Today this heresy is very much alive and permeates our society  and its advocates are often Patriarchs, Popes. Metropolitans,  Bishops and their followers, found especially among the ecumenists and philopapists. This heresy was known as the apokatasasis, or restoration. It advocates, it including Origen imagined salvation could not be found in terms of the rejoicing of the saved in heaven while those condemned were  suffering in Gehenna or Hell. How could we enjoy ourselves surrounded by so much misery? So, contradicting Jesus Christ, overthrowing His Gospel,  they embraced the false doctrine which establishes that in the end every creature will be restored and no one anywhere will be condemned to suffering; some went so far as to claim that this included the devil and demons. Simply, said, everyone that dies goes to heaven.   So why worry?.  

     Their false reasoning is their assertion that God being good can do no evil. The kindness and mercy of God is so great that He cannot stand to see anyone suffer. That this reasoning is wrong can be seen by the fact that God is not the villain who makes men evil.  For God is the source of everything good and only good can come from Him. The villain is the devil and his demons, who inspire men who become the suffering victims who did their will. Man is free and can choose what he wants, good or bad, virtue or vice. The freedom of man places full responsibility for evils squarely upon his shoulders. 

Today in our “everything goes” societies, all agree that you must die, but no one knows of or remembers the teachings of the Fathers of the Church or Jesus Christ, and they are both ignored. So we hear when someone dies, may his or her soul rest in peace,  Indeed in our present society belief doesn’t  matter nor does sin offer a barrier to the kingdom of heaven , in people’s minds . Baptism is unnecessary and the church shows no useful purpose to  people. For everyone that dies goes to heaven.

     Orthodox bishops go to funerals of prominent heretical bishops and pray that their souls be among the righteous, and so they pray for them. But they never approach theses false bishops to tell them the saving truths of Orthodoxy, and the necessity of them abandoning error and coming into the true Church, instead why worry?

What does this doctrine do? It overthrows all the teaching of Christ and calls the truth a lie. Jesus’ teaching is crystal clear, but the evil one always seeks to muddy the water so as to promote his own poisonous lies.

AFTER DEATH,

WHAT HAPPENS?

\Whether there is life after death, whether there is a judgment of innocence or guilt, and who will be the Judge of all men, these things have in our days, even among nominal Christians, been reduced to simply a sharing of opinions which disagree with one another.  Many teach that death is the end of everything asserting that each of us merely go out of existence, saying: When your’e dead your’e dead; others  teach that death enables their particular group of believers to enter Paradise The Papacy teaches that most Roman Catholics will go to purgatory to be purified of their remaining sins.

     Many simply deny the existence of a Creator and Judge. These people have no infallible guide acceptable to all of them that could lead them truth and escape falsehood. Think of this! It is the most important subject in our entire lives, for if there is eternal life after death it is well worth, and even necessary to learn about it now.

It is good to start at the beginning: “In the beginning God made heaven and earth,” begins the account of the Old Testament in the book of Genesis. “In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was God.”  begins the Gospel of John in the New Testament. God calls  us first through our conscience then through Holy Scripture.

   It is impossible that the material  universe is also its Creator, thus confusing the Creator with creation. It is no different than saying, that this car is a man, when we know the car is not man but was made by man. The sun did not establish itself did not set itself in the heavens, nor was it set in place by a fictional mother nature, but by the Lord God who placed it in a  precisely perfect position to sustain life and provide heat and light for creatures. Grass did not just appear out of nowhere, and then multiply itself, but was formed by the Creator, who established the means of propagation of all plants, animals and men. Man did not create himself for he is a creature formed by the hand of God, from whom He received life, intellect and ability to feel pain and pleasure, love and hate.

THE FALLACY OF PURGATORIAL FIRE

THE FALLACY OF 

PURGATORIAL FIRE

   It is the official teaching of the Papacy that faithful souls must endure the burning flames of purgatorial fire after death to purge their souls of any remaining sins , and this would render them pure and fit for paradise. To begin with there is absolutely nothing, not purgatorial fire or any other substance that can cleanse the souls of men in the entire universe, except, the only thing that can cleanse souls and render them sinless is the blood of Christ, a single drop of which can1 can purify the entire world, for it makes the spirits of men divine and thoroughly cleanse their souls.  If the papacy believed this they would never dream up a fictional purgatorial fire.

Only the blood of Christ’s sacrifice and His blood is the only remedy to purge anyone’s sins for He is the living sacrifice for all of us.  Protestants simply reject this thinking they are following the Bible. Followers of the Pope do not believe it or they would not be selecting another way – purgatorial fire, which even if it did exist could not cleanse the human being from sins.

The sinful man, according to papal teaching has his soul purified in purgatorial fire, but his body who helped him to sin and is therefore sinful as well as his spirit. So the man is not purified at all, even if this teaching was true. However, the sinful man is not cleansed, hence there is no possibility for this doctrine to be true.  These are important facts.  The soul of man is not the whole man. The body is not the whole man. The soul and body together with a spirit from God constitute the whole man, which can only be purified and deified by the Blood of Christ. These facts St. Paul affirms: “I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23).

This biblical testimony from St. Paul completely destroys any idea of improvement after death in a fictional purgatory. 

1. It describes the whole man as being body, soul and spirit not one or the other

2. Being blameless means being without any defects or sins, guilty of  nothing, but this process must take place before death and not after death.  Upon death we must already be totally purified, for after death comes judgment and its too late.

3. Man is not one of these three but the three together constitute man.

Further, who is going to control the fiery flames of purgatory, the demons? But they have not been given such authority by God.  The angels? but they would never1 burn people with fire to improve them, for they know well that only the blood of Christ can cure.

Numberless people have died over the centuries, believing the popes of Rome who promised them his fictional purgatorial fire and when they departed they found something they did not expect.

The only thing that happens after death, according to St. Paul.

“And as it is appointed unto men to die, but after death is the judgment.”  St. Paul, speaking truthfully does not allow for a purging purgatorial fire, only judgment.

Further, the idea of purgatorial fire degrades the sacrifice of Christ, who alone endured the suffering meant from each of us. Or are we better than He that we should undergo suffering in place of Him? Insanity! Absolutely nothing untouched by Christ’s sacrifice, can be purified, for this is the only sacrifice acceptable to God. Any other suffering is inferior and of no benefit to anyone, for Christ did it all as the God-man. Jesus Christ says: “I am the bread which came down from heaven, and if a man eat this bread he shall never die. For my flesh is food and my blood is drink.":

WHY DO WE PLACE VIGIL LAMPS 

BEFORE HOLY ICONS

First – because our faith is light . . .  Christ says: “I am the light of the world, Whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12).

Second – in order to remind us of the radiant character of the Saint before whose icon we light the vigil lamp. For Saints are called  “sons of light” (John 12:36;  Luke 16:8.

Third – in order to serve as a reproach to us for our dark deeds, for our evil thoughts and desires, and in order to call us to evangelical light; and so that we would more zealously try to fulfill the commandments of the Savior:  “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

Fourth – so that the vigil lamp may be our small sacrifice to God, who gave himself completely as a sacrifice for us, and as a small sign of our great gratitude and radiant love for Him from whom we ask in prayer for life and health, and salvation and everything that only boundless heavenly love can bestow.

Fifth – so that terror would strike the evil powers who sometimes assail us even at the time of prayer and lead away our thoughts from the Creator.  The evil powers love the darkness and tremble at every light, especially at that which belongs to God and to those who please Him.

Sixth – so that this light will arouse us to selflessness.  Just as the oil and wick burn in the vigil lamp, submissive to our will, so let our souls also burn with the flame of love in all our sufferings, always being submissive to  God’s will.

Seventh – in order to teach us that just as the vigil lamp cannot be lit without our hand, so too, our heart, our inward vigil lamp, cannot be lit without the holy fire of God’s grace, even if it were filled with all virtues.  All these virtues of ours, are, after all, like a combustible material, but the fire which ignites them proceeds from God.

Eighth – in order to remind us before anything else the Creator of the world created light, and after that everything else in order: “And God said, let there be light; and there was light ” (Gen. 1:3).  And it must be so also at the beginning of our spiritual life, so that before anything else the light of Christ’s truth would shine within us.  From this light of Christ’s truth subsequently every good deed is created, springs up and grows within us. 

May the Light of Christ illumine you as well: St. Nicloai Velimirovich

WHY WE ARE LIVING?

THE TRUE LIFE

       Life continues on and children are constantly being born.  With or without love and marriage children are born and without a father and mother not one of us would be living this present life. The process for a man and his wife to reproduce children has been around from the beginning but it has changed drastically and this is an essential factor in answering the question raise, why are we living? What is our purpose here on this earth that we live a very temporary life?

      Today the truth of what a family is has been greatly distorted and this distortion may increase even more in the future. The traditional family of the not too distant past was unlike today’s substitute. There was the father, who was a worker and organizer, a businessman, manufacturer, engaged in various pursuits. He was the provider and head of the group called a family. The father was usually stricter than the mother which gave a wonderful balance to the happy family. The mother prepared meals,   fed her family, helped her husband get off to work and the children to school. She not only cooked, but she cleaned the house and made the beds and did countless other things. A loving and industrious father and a sweet mother produced children that enjoyed the best environment for their ascent to adulthood, where they would carry on the traditions which they had experienced in their family life, and the bonds formed in such a family remained until death and after death in memories..

     World War II, accompanied a masculine labor shortage, then came economic situations, and other factors which destructured much of the family unit. Working mother flooded the factories and babysitters, contributed to the gradual fracturing of the family. Economic conditions often caused the fractured family to lack the joyous atmosphere except in rare cases. 

THE ORTHODOX TRUTH OF THE VIRGIN MARY FALSE PAPAL DOGMA “THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

THE ORTHODOX TRUTH 

OF THE VIRGIN MARY

FALSE PAPAL DOGMA  

“THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION”

 The Orthodox Church honors with great exaltation and glory the Holy Virgin Theotokos because she is beloved, and having willingly contributed everything, especially her Son  for our salvation. The Church has always praises her ascetic and hesychastic life in the temple from three years of age to puberty. She never committed any sin nor did she ever stray from the Lord’s commandments, for she was sinless in all her actions. However, we do not attempt to honor her popishly with false declarations regarding her birth, for she was born from a father and mother as all men are born, not without sin as the Popes falsely dogmatized. It is through birthgiving that the propatorical (not original)  sin is transmitted from generation to generation.  The only one who did not inherit the propatorical sin was Jesus Christ, for He was born without seed of man. However it is a fact that  the Virgin’s father is Joachim. Whom no one can deny, carried the propatorical sin. The Church has never dogmatized or considered her to have been conceived without sin like her Son Jesus Christ, the only sinless one,  for she was born naturally of Joachim and Anna whom God had joined together in matrimony, and He gave them Mary as an only child in their elderly years, and they in turn gave her to God according to their vow.

     The Roman Catholic Church before it tumbled into the papacy never dogmatized that the Virgin Mary was sinless, and even after it became the papacy, all the way to the year 1853 they never  claimed that Mary was conceived of Anna sinlessly. Yet they did this in 1854.  Not knowing what they were doing, they declared her to be freed of original sin while in her mother’s womb, with the fabricated claim that this was a doctrine revealed by God. This took place during the reign of Pope Pius IX, the same Pope who through clever manipulation  established another papal dogma, that popes were infallible. Both of these dogmas are not Christian but papal for they are untrue..