The Most Uneducated, Educational Blog on the Internet: A look At Orthodox Review Youtube Channel

 

The most uneducated, educational program on the internet today. If you haven’t heard Raphael Fiedler speak, then you honestly don’t know what you’re missing.  I converted to Holy Orthodoxy five years ago this November and for much of that time I have listened and learned from one of the most knowledgeable people I know. Raphael takes in-depth looks at a variety of orthodox resources that allows people to learn and grow in the faith. There have been several books that I have picked up right after he recommended them. Today we’re going to look at Orthodox Review and I am going to highlight this man’s great work.

First let me say, that without Raphael there may not be a Tsar’s Corner blog. His ability to promote the Orthodox faith and do so in a way that is both relatable and educational is the foundation for this blog as well. I am no means better than Raphael, in fact I feel inferior to his knowledge and love of books and reading, but I learnt a great deal by watching his videos over the course of the past few years. I first came across Raphael and Orthodox Review two years ago when he was first reviewing the Jordanville Prayer Book, a book that I really want and hope to someday acquire a copy of. His ability to highlight the features of the prayer book and detail the history of the publication allowed me to get an understanding of why and how books like this have shaped the faith both here in America where Jordanville is and abroad. From there Raphael branched out to psalters, New Testament translations, bibles, and other prayer books. Each one of them having a history and a background what was both good and bad about them.  Not only that but Raphael has provided people with the tools to help perform the services at home in the role of a reader, especially during the trying times of Covid when many people have not ventured out to church in two plus years. He also has reviewed the use of prayer ropes and lestovkas which led to me purchasing a lestovka about two years ago now, though that one got used so much it has worn itself out. From his suggestions I have acquired the Monastic Diurnal, the Hapgood Service Book (which is still my all-time favorite book by the way), and more recently a copy of the Small Book of Needs. Something also that I find very interesting is his love of both western rite books and old rite books, something that was very foreign to me when I first converted to Orthodoxy. Not only the reviews of the books, but his talk about the divine liturgy is a thing of beauty! The way he is able to articulate the parts of the divine liturgy and why the Orthodox do the things we do, makes me cherish the faith even further. I have always been one to learn history and you certainly will learn history and a have a fun time with Raphael over on his YouTube channel. So please I implore you to seek out Raphael and Orthodox Review on YouTube and give his channel a subscribe. It is a blessing for me, and I believe it will be a blessing for you.

Amen.

Holy Places of God: A look at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

 

I think I’m going to start a new series on the blog, along with the teachings and things I find interesting about the faith. This series is going to detail different locations and places within the Orthodox community that have had a particular interest to me or an impact on my life. As I detailed in a previous article, I wholeheartedly believe in the mission of Orthodox Africa and what they are doing to achieve great things on the continent. Another organization and location I am particularly fond of is St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, a place that I hope to one day visit and express my love for. I hope to detail the history and the meaning behind this seminary and why it is important not just for the Orthodox of America, but for the whole world.

               The beginnings of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary begin earnestly in 1794 when eight monks would travel from Russia to sow the seeds of Orthodoxy on Alaskan soil. Though it would become American soil later, this place was firmly rooted in Russian culture up until the sale of Alaska to America. These monks established a school on Kodiak Island, where they taught and grew the local population in the faith. Eventually His Grace, Archimandrite Innocent of Alaska established a seminary in Sitka. Though this place had a growing number of Orthodox Christians and populations, the community was still predominantly an immigrant one, with the priests and bishops being sent from the mother church in Russia. St. Tikhon of whom I have written about before on this blog, knew there was a great need for American born and bred priests and other clergy if the church was to survive in this part of the world. He established a seminary in Minneapolis in 1905, and eventually moved it to Tenafly, New Jersey where it was renamed St. Platon’s.  From there, it eventually closed and 1938, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary was officially established.

               After the second world war, things began to grow for St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary with the arrival of several renown Orthodox scholars from across Europe. The sixties were shaped by Father Alexander Schmemann who helped even more to formulate the seminary into what it is today. Father Alexander believed as many Orthodox do, that the liturgy should be the focal point of our lives and we should spend our time in prayer and repentance. Father also searched for a permanent campus home for the seminary and did so by 1962. A new chapel was dedicated by the Patriarch of Antioch and a new administrative building was dedicated by the Primate of the OCA Metropolitan Theodosius.  The Summer Institute was established as well as the Octet. The SVS Press from where I get many of my books was established and the bookstore as well. The eighties saw the growth of the library and the growth of married student program and housing was also an integral part of the seminary during this time. Perhaps the most important period of the history of the seminary was during the time of Father Thomas Hopko. Father Hopko was the first American born dean of the seminary and was appointed in September 1992, a month after I was born.  During this time the financial growth of the seminary and the building of new areas of the seminary were conducted. While Father Hopko retired in 2002, his lasting impression on the seminary makes him one of the most widely read and respected priests of the 21^st century. John Erickson became the first layman and convert to the Faith to be appointed to the position of dean. While as dean he was eventually ordained to the Holy Priesthood. Though governance of the seminary has changed after the retirement of Father John in 2006, the seminary remains strong, and the teaching of the seminary has been far reaching.

               The seminary continues to produce many good priests and holy men. The seminary is growing under the leadership of Dr. Ionuţ-Alexandru Tudorie, a professor from Romania. I hope that in the future the seminary continues to grow the faith in America and abroad, leading all to the Kingdom of God and proclaiming orthodoxy to the whole world. While I have covered many of the important details of the ministry of the seminary here in this short article, I pray that you will do your own research and will learn about this amazing institution. May God use these men and teachers to create a place of divine grace and spread that grace through the world.

Amen.

A look into Orthodox Africa

 

Its not very often that I take a break from the theology of the Orthodox Church and delve into something that is different and unique. I believe in wholeheartedly sharing the faith as best I can, and time does not allow for frivolities. You must always be on a mission from God. However today we are going to look in depth at an organization that is doing just that. One that I support and believe are doing some phenomenal work in the world of Orthodoxy. Today we are going to be looking into Orthodox Africa and the work they are doing on that continent.

I was first introduced to Orthodox Africa through a friend of mine, Subdeacon Nektarios, who works in conjunction with the organization. I was not too familiar with what they were doing in Africa, but he suggested I check them out and discover the joy of missionary work they are carrying out for myself. So, I did. After brief research into this fine group of dedicated people, I can assure you that they are indeed bringing the spirit of the apostles with them to Africa.

Orthodox Africa was founded in 2015 by a Hieromonk, Silouan Brown. He received the blessings of Metropolitan Hilarion of ROCOR and Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen who is the former Primate of the OCA. His mission was simple. Hieromonk Silouan would go into orthodox communities in Africa and establish self-sustaining missions where the parishes could take care of themselves without the need for foreign aid. They have now established parishes, agricultural projects, raising animals, schools and clean water programs. The spiritual director of the organization is Metropolitan Jonah of who I mentioned earlier. Hieromonk Silouan remains as the director of Orthodox Africa. My friend Subdeacon Nektarios is the Associate Director and long-time priest Father Seraphim Holland is a member of the board. The two countries in which Orthodox Africa works in at the present time is Kenya and Uganda. Both countries have a growing population of Orthodox Christians.  Because of the nature of the orthodox in Africa liturgical items are very hard to come by and must be sourced from Orthodox countries, especially in Eastern Europe. It is my hope that one day we as Orthodox Christians will be able to have supplied Africans with enough time and effort that these items can be produced within the countries themselves. Father Silouan himself is currently in Georgia to obtain these items and he also recently relocated to Uganda full time. He has established St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Christian Mission Center in Kampala to become the very first headquarters on the continent. Eventually a school for clergy will be established there, training locals to become priests and tend the flock themselves. All in all the work that this organization is doing is very helpful to Africa and is bringing the people closer to Christ. While I am not asking for you to donate, if you feel compelled to do so, the website is orthodoxafrica.org. I pray for all Orthodox Christians and especially those on the continent of Africa that their faith remains strong and that do not fall away. May God bless Father Silouan and all who work for Orthodox Africa.

Amen.

Tollhouse Cookies or Tollhouse Road: The Final Ascent Tollhouses 11-20

 

Yesterday we looked at the first ten tollhouses in which God will allow the demons to test your faith on your journey after death. We looked at how one would be judged and the sort of things that will be asked of you by the angels and demons as God makes his judgment regarding your soul. The first ten were relatively concentrated on the pride and the dereliction of your duty with fellow man. We have seen that pride is the root cause of all life’s problems and as we reach further up the ascent into heaven we no doubt will as well encounter the tollhouse of pride. While I would again stress this is figurative language, the journey of the soul is something that we Orthodox take seriously. Especially as it regards to the prayers for the dead and if you haven’t read that blog I suggest you do so.  May God grant us understanding as we continue this discussion on the tollhouse road.

The eleventh torment is that of pride. Yes, after we have endured all our sins that we have committed regarding avarice, envy, and love of riches we come to heart of the matter. We come to pride. It is here at the eleventh tollhouse all of the prideful moments of our lives will be laid bare. All the times we have forgotten to honor our parents, our government, and the superiors God has placed over us, will be exposed. We will be asked to account for our sins as they have taken place. There is often a lot of talk in the media today about pride. The LGBTQ+ community has even rallied around the very term in a sense to be proud of who they are. God does not ask us to proud of ourselves. Because without Him our lives are nothing. God asks us to be humble, to be meek, to seek Him and Him alone. Being self-absorbed in ourselves we lose the focus to focus on those around us. Taking care of others, being kind and in short we become lovers of ourselves.  God does not look kindly on us rejecting his plan for our lives, seeking our own earthly desires. But here the pride we have accumulated in ourselves will be exposed. It is a grave sin brothers and sisters. Do not fall into it.

The twelfth torment is that of anger. Christ himself was once filled with holy anger for the things that he found in the temple, and how he drove the moneychangers and others from the temple in Jerusalem. However, we are not so much concerned with holy anger for the things that God abhors and detests. We are talking about the things said to those out of anger and hatred for our fellow man. How many times do we lose our temper when things aren’t going our way and we lash out because we are filled with such rage that we become hostile to those around us. We speak ill of each other and we harm the salvation and very being of people by our actions. Do we punish our children severely when an encouraging word or a light punishment was sufficient for their actions? Do we show wrath against people who have wronged us? Oftentimes we do. We live in a world today where people are seeking to be first without equals, not among equals. We don’t treat each other with respect. We cancel those who disagree with us, and we shame those with a dissenting voice. We create in ourselves this self-righteousness that is not at all how Christ acted. He could have gotten angry and lashed out at Pilate, Herod, the pharisees and Sanhedrin. But he did not. We must control our temper lest it is laid bare for us at this tollhouse and exposes us as a fraud and hypocrite. We must walk with humility and patience. Knowing that our fellow man is also sinful. Anger and hatred have no place in the heart of a Christian. We must root this out with prayer, fasting and the Holy Eucharist. Otherwise here at the 12^th tollhouse the demons will come and will be able to overcome us.

The thirteenth torment is again exposing more of the same, but it hearkens back to what Christ says, “love your enemies.” The thirteenth torment is that of holding grudges. How many people do we absolutely hate and cannot forgive them for their actions? Here I am convicted again of my own sins in my own life where I have despised someone for a wrong they have committed against me. And I humbly ask you to pray for me that I might forgive them for their actions. I pray that we will forgive all people for their actions. People today do not want to forgive their neighbor, believing themselves to be above reproach and that what they want is more important. Holding grudges and basically already judging them in place of God is a dangerous sin. Are we better than God? Do we have more knowledge and wisdom than the God that created all things? If we believe this brothers and sisters, we must repent immediately. We must turn from our wicked ways and go and seek forgiveness not just from God but from the person we have a grudge against. We must learn to let it go. The thirteenth tollhouse will expose this and I would not want for Satan to have any way of accusing us at the judgement of my failure to love.

The fourteenth torment is murder. Christ says hating one’s brother or sister is already committing murder in the heart. Have we killed? Have we struck someone down because we wanted to? Taking a life is never easy, but so too is holding anger in hearts. Committing murder in our souls against our neighbor. We must restrain ourselves from harming one another. Even if it means rejecting our passion of harming someone who has harmed us.

The fifteenth torment is that of sorcery. Now today’s world places a large emphasis on sorcery with the Harry Potter novels, the Charmed television series, and other books that feature fantastical feats with use of magic. We dear brothers and sisters, must reject it for what it is. We must reject it, because magic is using the power of the demons to achieve our goals. To achieve what we want. Magic is real. Wiccans today perform magic through the use of their spells and other acts that a Christian must reject. It may be enjoyment for us to watch shows and want to have that sort of power. But when we let the demons creep into our minds using their subtle but effective methods we could get the idea that we too should practice witchcraft and use the power of the demonic arts to achieve our goals. Here the sins of sorcery and witchcraft will be laid bare for us. If we have not participated in this we have nothing to fear for we must be reminded that God sees all and forgives all. If we only repent we will not be subject to the terrors of the demons.

Now we come to the sexual torments. Those of which are terrible and great in the world today. We see these most often in the culture that we live in especially here in the United States. The sixteenth torment is fornication. Lust and the power of sex is rampant in the world today. We see this with Onlyfans, with Instagram, and other social media sites catering to our desire to fulfill our sexual urges. Porn is easily accessible to our youth, to everyone really. Pornhub caters to people who are seeking to fulfill a longing for companionship. We do not wish to seek the companionship of God. We want earthly desires to take away the responsibility of living our lives in fellowship with God and do not want to account for our actions. It is said here that these sins will be exposed and the demons as our prosecutors will accuse of us all the sins we have committed in fornication and lusting after those who we find desirable.

Next is the seventeenth torment. Getting closer to paradise, but still a ways to go. Adultery is here exposed. The seventeenth torment will see all that which we have done in relation to the marriage bed laid bare. Have we been faithful to our spouse? Have we sought another while being married to the person God has intended? For most Christians and people this will be an easy tollhouse as for most keeping the marriage bed sacred has been a duty and an honor. They have found the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with and will do anything to keep it pure. But for others, through divorce and their own pride they have sought to destroy it whether openly or secretly. Swinging and websites like Ashley Madison have made it easy for a person to cheat on their spouse with the help of few people or a few simple clicks. People have rejected the love of their spouse and the love of God for love of themselves.  We must not fall into that trap brothers and sisters. We must rise above it, whether we are celibate for the glory of God or have found a spouse. We must keep the marriage bed sacred and love the person God has entrusted to us with the upmost purity.

The eighteenth torment is that of homosexuality and sodomic sins. These sins are those where we have lusted after the person of our same gender our same kind. We have turned from the love between a man and woman and twisted it. We see this with the LGBTQ+ community today, calling for love is love. We see people accept it as natural, as a way in which God has intended but this tollhouse and Christianity in general know that it is not. It is a foreign concept that has invaded the minds and hearts of the people of this generation.  I have known many people who were of this persuasion in my life and it is an unnatural persuasion. It is not the life God has intended for us. Yet, through repentance they too can be saved. It is not that God will condemn them and sentence them, for we know God will forgive everything if we only confess. But confession must be pure, it must be an about face. We cannot continue to live in sin when we know it is not God’s chosen plan.

The next to last torment, the nineteenth torment is that of heresies. I have spoken quite often on heresies here, but this is once again a serious issue and must be taken accordingly. Here we will be asked if we upheld the doctrines of the Church. Whether we held within our hearts the true faith, or if we have allowed false teachings to permeate our lives. Have we clung true to the faith that has been preserved for 2000 years or have we allowed new ideas and teachings to be adopted as our own. The Orthodox Church is unchanging and unrepentant in our belief that we have protected the faith that God established and that everything outside of it is heresy. Yes that will be off putting for some, but you must look and discover the truth for yourself. I nor anyone else can come to a realization of faith for you. Heresy is a dangerous game, one that if not carefully discerned can lead to the corruption of the soul and eventually its condemnation.

Finally the twentieth and last torment. Here the soul will experience the greatest of trials, where nothing else but mercy will matter.  Have we granted mercy in our life time to those who deserve it? Have we rejected giving it when it mattered most? This is the last and greatest trial the soul will take up in the ascension to heaven. But do not fear, for God forgives all. We must only be able to understand and ask for mercy. Here in this lifetime we must seek mercy for all people, not just our own life. We must be willing to give mercy to even those who we believe do not deserve it. It is difficult, but with God’s grace and love in our hearts everything is possible.

We have reached the end of our journey and have completed the road to paradise. The tollhouse road was filled with distressing things. My mother told me other day after reading Part 1, that I need to remember that the demons do not have the power to drag us to hell. And yet she is indeed right. Only ourselves condemn us. The demons do not have the authority to drag us down and bring us into hell. Only by the judgment from God. Though this is figurative language and much of it is misunderstood by even the most scholarly of priests and clergy, we must understand that these torments are indeed real and will be used to judge us as to whether our salvation has been secured through Jesus or if we were simply going through the motions. Our lives are filled with opportunities to turn to Christ or to turn away. I am saved, am being saved, and will be saved. It is not a once saved always saved mentality. It is a living our lives in accordance to the commandments and we must fulfill them to have a true Christian faith. For most they will fall away. Others will rise to the occasion and live out as best they can the teachings of Christ. So I leave you with a question. Will you take up your cross and follow Christ or will you follow Satan and his demons?

Amen.

Cancelling Cancel Culture

 

Cancel Culture. How does it relate to Orthodoxy, and Christianity in general? The most obvious part of cancel culture is that it does fit the loving, caring and forgiving nature of Christ.  At its core, cancel culture seeks to destroy and devalue any and every position that it finds as wrong and distasteful in the sight of the world. At its core, cancel culture has a sense of pride about it. This is pride is that what anyone believes that goes against the collective majority is wrong and must be stamped out for the greater good. Christianity as we will see will indeed have a cancel culture within it, but not what you might think.

            First, we must understand that cancel culture is a mob mentality. It is a sense of pride and arrogance that the person who has been offended has more value to the world than those who they are trying to cancel. The person who is speaking, usually against something that is morally or spiritually wrong is told that their views are outdated, misogynist, homophobic or racist. While there is some of that going on in the world, yes, the majority of it is trying to belittle their fellow man and create god in their own image. They want a world free of the responsibility of sin, a world in which man can do as he pleases and does not answer to a higher power. We have allowed those who want to allow sin to creep into our doors and places of worship to overrun the society in the media, the government, and the schools that teach our children.  They seek to destroy the fabric of our faith with ideas foreign to that of the gospel, to the teachings of the Church. They seek to liberalize Christ and reject the words that he preached. For example, those who speak against homosexuality. We as Christians know from Romans 1:26-27 that, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”  Thus we know from the writings of Paul that homosexuality is a sin. Those who stand up for this belief are told that God is love and that he wouldn’t allow for people to feel this way if it wasn’t natural. The same could be said for me when I want to eat a piece of cake. That cake looks good, its natural to eat food, but if I eat that cake it could cause me to have diabetes down the road. So while it may be “natural” it is a sickness that causes men and women to lust after each other and to commit sins against their own selves. But in the eyes of the world, they are considered pure, almost holy for being homosexual. The same with transgenderism, where men want to become women and women want to become men. The enemy has twisted the minds of people into believing that gender is construct, that people can change who they are based on what they feel in the inside. If you speak against it, you are labeled as evil yourself, and against people being who they are. We as Christians want people to be who they are, but we want them to be built in God’s image, not their own. This is pride. My last final thought on the pride of cancel culture is that of misogyny. People who believe women are devalued in the eyes of the world, the church, and society in general. This in the context of an Orthodox perspective is that the church should allow women priests, because it creates equality, and men and women are equal.  I would argue that Orthodox men and women are some of the most respectable people when it comes to equality, our greatest saint, and the pinnacle of faith is Mary, the Mother of God, called the Theotokos. As far as men and women being equal St. Paul also gives us a teaching regarding this, when he says, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” Paul clearly says that women should not speak or teach in the church. This isn’t a view that women are inferior, but rather that men should take the roles of leadership and allow women to do what they do best, serve. That is why for 2000 years men have been chosen as priests, bishops, and patriarchs. They have governed the church and preserved the faith. Again, it comes back to pride. Instead of humbling themselves, women who call for a women priesthood are prideful and arrogant, unrepentant of their sin and refusing to accept their role within the structure of the church.

            Secondly we see that cancel culture devalues humanity. Instead of instructing and growing a person to become more knowledgeable or to correct their views on an issue, people want them mocked, removed from society. We are seeing this now with those speaking against Ukraine, with those in support of the Nazis in Ukraine calling for the arrest of anyone speaking against the war. We see this with celebrities who have stood for truth and justice being blackballed and removed from roles and other jobs because they did not agree with the narrative. Instead of showing these people the error of their ways, it has created a “My view is the right view and everyone else is wrong” mentality. Eventually when enough people believe the lies they are told, it becomes a mob mentality where the masses rule and the truth is squashed. Though the truth of the Church can never be overcome, see Matthew 16:18 for that, people want to marginalize the Church and its teachings to a point where it can not have any influence on society. People have established in their hearts that something is amiss, and they can fill this void with everything but Christ. They have tried their best to discover hidden truths, hidden messages, forgotten doctrines, instead of leaning on the understanding of the Church for 2000 years. The scriptures again tell us that this is dangerous, when it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  The scriptures remind us that we should not rely on our own thoughts and beliefs but to rely on the Lord. Those that have twisted the scriptures and twisted the hearts and minds of the people have not relied on the Lord, and instead have created this false narrative that permeates through the society and has created this cancel culture. If we are to do anything about it, we must return to the Church and place our faith solely in Christ, nothing else.

            Finally I said I would speak about Christianity having a cancel culture of its own but not in the way you would expect. This of course is the cancelling of sin. Sin cannot abide in the House of God, in the Body of Christ. Sin is a disease that sours the whole loaf. It creates problems and drags down those who even though they might seem strong will break at the very thought of something that goes against their beliefs. Therefore, the Church guards closely against heresies and false teachings. It is why the church only allows members to be entered into the church after a period of reflection and even then some will fall away, either because of their own sins, or because of the sins of others. The Church thus has a system of excommunication in which it expels members for a time to allow the person to repent of their sins and to come back into the fullness of faith. It is a foreign concept to most western Christians, because their churches do not practice it, but it is a custom as old as the Church itself. It when used correctly sees the person living in sin return to the fold stronger and more willing to follow the teachings of the church. When a person rejects the excommunication put on them it leads to further heresies and prelest. The Church cancels sin. It is a part of our culture. We therefore cannot stand idly by when a person is endangering their soul and causing havoc on others. We must stand for what is right and defend the truth.

            I had a lot to say in this article and I hope everyone was able to grow and learn from this today. May God bless you and keep you, guiding you to the place where there is no sorrow or suffering, but life-everlasting.

 

Amen.

St Patrick of Ireland

 

Holy Bishop Patrick, faithful shepherd of Christ’s royal flock, you filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel: The mighty strength of the Trinity!  Now that you stand before the Savior, pray that He may preserve us in faith and love!

            Today is March 17^th, St. Patrick’s day to those who celebrate it, and just another day for other people…who are crazy. Among the Irish people of Europe and North America today is a national day of celebration, a day of great importance and remembrance for a hero of their people. But who really was St. Patrick? Why do we as Orthodox still remember this great Patron Saint of Ireland and why was his teaching important to the furtherance of the Kingdom of God? I hope to in turn answer some of those questions today.

            First, who was St. Patrick? He was the son of a deacon, born in Kilpatrick in Scotland, he was of Scottish origin, not Irish, which most people believe.  His father, Calpurnius the deacon, was part of the Christian minority in Britain at this time, and was the son himself of a priest. Patrick was raised in the Christian faith, but did not have a strong belief in God at this time in his life. Patrick, it seems was the typical teenager questioning the beliefs of his parents and not strong willed. At the age of 16, Patrick was captured by a raiding party and carried off as a slave to Ireland.  It was during this period of captivity, that Patrick’s faith in Christ was fully realized. Obtaining the grace of the Holy Spirit and becoming well versed in Christian theology and the Faith. Patrick at the age of 22, left Ireland and sought clerical training, becoming a priest, and in 430 at the age of 40 a bishop when he returned to Ireland. From there Patrick preached the gospel to the various kings of the counties of Ireland, and gained permission to teach their subjects.  For nearly 31 years of his life, Patrick brought the pagan worship of Ireland to an end, establishing Christianity on the Emerald Isle and bringing light to the darkness. He reposed in the Lord in 461, around the age of 71.

            The next question I would like to answer is why St. Patrick is still remembered by the Orthodox. For most people, St. Patrick is a Catholic saint, who is most revered by the Roman Catholic population of the island. While this is true that St. Patrick is also recognized by the Roman Catholics, we must remember that St. Patrick born in 390 A.D. was born before the Roman Catholics broke away from the Great Church. Before 1054, or even earlier by some accounts, the Orthodox Church was whole, no breaks of communion and no loss of fellowship or heresies were present in the church. Thus, St. Patrick taught an orthodox theology to the people of Ireland. He taught what the Church had always believed. He preached the Creed without the filioque. He did not promulgate the Arian or Nestorian heresies. St. Patrick is Orthodox rather than Roman Catholic because Roman Catholicism only was established with the break of communion with Constantinople and the other 3 patriarchs in 1054. So, St. Patrick is remembered in the Synaxarion by the Orthodox because he was Orthodox before everything else.

            Finally, why was St. Patrick so important for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God? The most obvious answer is his teaching on the Trinity. As many who read the blog know, the earliest of heresies dealt with the Trinity and relationship between the personages of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So too in Ireland the pagans who worshipped many gods, were confused by the Trinity. It is a teaching of the church that has wrought the downfall of many and causes people to rationalize everything and fall into heresy themselves. So much so that among the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is a created being, rather than God Himself. St. Patrick in defense of the Trinity is famous for using the shamrock, to describe that while each leaf on the shamrock was different, and had its own portion, it was still one shamrock. That is why he is painted on the icons with the shamrock, and why we see shamrocks in stores and decorations around this time. We see his devotion to God in his Lorica, the Breastplate of St. Patrick. This prayer calls upon the trinity and reaffirms the faith of the apostles. It teaches us of the protection God gives through the saints, through the angels. The prayer also calls upon God to shield him from the heretics, from the wiles of the demons, and other evil things. The prayer is a testament not only to the faith of St. Patrick, but to all who call earnestly on the name of God. St. Patrick realizes as do all who yearn for the love of Christ that they can do nothing without Him. (Philippians 4:13).  He also recognizes that salvation comes from nothing else than Christ. You can’t place your faith in riches, in people, in items, in talismans. Salvation is Christ’s and Christ’s alone to give to those who he sees fit. Lastly, St. Patrick is important because he created a bastion of the faith in Ireland. He established a place where Christianity flourished. Though Roman Catholicism and its heresies have taken root in Ireland, Orthodoxy is slowly returning to the isle and many monasteries and churches are being reestablished there. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia came to the island in the 1920s after the Soviet Revolution. The Greeks came in the 1980s. The people of Ireland though wandering aimlessly for all that time never forgot their original faith, and Orthodoxy is again alive and well in Ireland.

            St. Patrick is more than a leprechaun, more than a celebration of Irish heritage. He is a true beacon of hope in the troubling times that we live in today. He has given us the faith of our forefathers. He brought a land out of darkness. St. Patrick is an inspiration to us all who follow Christ. May we remember his love and his devotion on this his feast day and all days in honor of a true hero of Christianity.

Amen.

An Explanation of the Creed

 

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen.

 

                The Creed. The Symbol of Faith. Perhaps no other document outside of the Holy Scripture is so much beloved and well known to Christians. Especially those of us in the Orthodox Faith. The Creed is the lifeblood of the Church, it shapes it, gives it its purpose and its mission. It confesses everything we need for salvation. While rummaging through another of Father Spyridon Bailey’s books I was once again compelled to write an article. This time not so much a book review of “Small Steps into the Kingdom” which is the book for anyone interested. No, this time I was compelled to write an article because it is extremely important for the truth to be proclaimed. The Nicene Creed is just that truth.

                The Nicene Creed, more commonly known as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is the creed proclaimed by the Church Fathers in Nicaea in what is today Turkey but was once a part of Greece. The Council was formed to stop the spread of heresy and to establish the basis for everything that Christ had taught and had been passed down from one bishop to the next. Most protestants will be interested to learn that the Church was already an established hierarchy by the time this council was established, and more so when the canon of scripture was established.  The Church in turn chose their successors to from among the honorable men, and in turn the process has continued until this very day. These group of bishops, the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council not only reaffirmed the Faith that had already been preserved by God through them but reaffirmed the faith for all generations. The Nicene Creed is and will forever be the vow of all Christians who truly place their faith in Christ and believe in the true wholeness of the Church.

                Let’s take the first statement. I believe. This isn’t a group of people talking about something they think or want to think is real. This is actual wholehearted belief. It is something as I have mentioned before worth dying for. I believe, means that you not only think it, that you also dwell on it, and that you would act on it. It is the very fiber of your being. The statement I believe, means your whole soul is committed to the words that come after it. If not, you are a Pharisee and a hypocrite. You are paying service with lips, not with actions and you certainly have no place in the Kingdom.

                The second phrase-In One God. Christians do not have a pantheon of gods, a whole host of gods who rule the stars, the air, the winds, the trees, the forges and the lightning. No, there is but One God, whose name is the Most High. He is the source of all beings, the source of all life, the source of all light. He is called the Father of Lights in one of my favorite prayers the priest prays. One God, nothing other than Him can sit on the throne of our hearts. He is called Father, Creator, Almighty. These are descriptions, they describe who God is. We cannot know God in his essence, but we can know God in how he works. He is the Father of us all, whether we acknowledge that reality or not, He Is. He is also Almighty, full of might. Nothing is impossible for God. He does what he wishes, and he wishes what he does.  He cannot contradict himself; he cannot do what is outside his nature. He is who He is. He is also Creator. The trees, the birds, the fish, and yes humans are his creation. He gives us the nous to let us flourish and grow in Him, to mature and become citizens of Paradise.  Even the invisible the Creed says, those things that the human eye cannot perceive are created by Him. The spiritual realm, the realm where the angels work and do the bidding of God is all his domain. Nothing in and of itself can do anything without the permission of God.

                Moving forward in the Creed, we get to the part about Jesus. Now this was crucial in the earliest days of the Church, because as I have said before there were those who denied both the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. Light of Light-I’ve already said God is Father of Lights. He is the creator of everything, and light is one of those things. So Jesus being Light of Light confirms his status as God. But then the Council really hammered the point home, when they said True God of True God. Confirming that Jesus was indeed God, not some created being like the Jehovah’s Witnesses would have you believe. Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, again confirming that Jesus was both human and divine. But also granting Mary the title of Theotokos, the Mother of God. Then there are those who like the Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but rather turned someone else into a copy of Jesus and was not crucified. The Church Fathers reaffirm the scriptures as the Scriptures reaffirm the Creed when it says he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried. Yes, Christ actually died. He suffered, it wasn’t a mirage, it wasn’t some trick laid on by the eyes, it happened, and Christ was buried. His tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem can still be seen to this day. It is not the “garden tomb” that is promulgated by some protestant Christians.  He rose again on the third day after. Yes, he was dead is now alive. Revelation says as much. His ascension is recorded in the Book of Acts, and Jesus spoke often about His Second Coming. He will return. He will judge the living and dead and His Kingdom has no end.

                Now we get into the controversial portion of the creed. It was bound to happen. And in the Holy Spirit the Lord, the Creator of Life, Who proceeds from the Father.  Now all you Roman Catholics and some of you protestants just had your minds either blown or they exploded in a fit of rage. You’ll say to me he proceeds from the Father and the Son.  Actually…. No. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, and not from Jesus Christ. The filioque as you would put it, was only added later and at the condemning by the eastern patriarchs and only accepted by Rome. The Holy Spirit is and always will be God, and in saying that he proceeds from Jesus Christ only diminishes His role within the Trinity.  

                In one holy catholic and apostolic church. First there are not many churches. There are many faith traditions within Christianity, but only One Church, the Orthodox Christian Church. We are not Eastern Orthodox, though some call us that. We are catholic, with a small c to avoid confusion with the Roman Catholics. We are a universal church, we can be found on every continent, in almost every country and every land. The Church is holy, because it was established by Christ, not by man. It is apostolic, because we have an unbroken line of succession from the apostles to the current bishops today. For example, Patriarch Bartholomew is the 270^th Patriarch of Constantinople, founded by St. Andrew, brother of St. Peter. Theodore II of Alexandria is the 115^th successor, meaning the 116^th Pope of Alexandria, founded by St. Mark who the wrote gospel that bears his name. So, you see the Church is reaffirming what is already believed, and was established at this point in time.

                Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Again self-explanatory. We understand that baptism is a crucial aspect of salvation, not just a mere symbol. It is our entrance into the Church, our act of faith that admits into the mysteries of the church. Without baptism there is no salvation. There is a baptism not of water, but of blood, the blood of the martyr which the church teaches as well. So baptism here is not a baptism of the Holy Spirit, but rather, water that Christ spoke about with Nicodemus. The Resurrection of the dead.  We all accept that Christ will return and will resurrect the dead when he comes. The dead shall rise first and then those who are alive. The life of the age to come means the eternal life. The life we have beyond this mortal being and spend with Christ in glory.

 

So, there you have it. A simple explanation of the Creed. I hope that you get a chance to continue growing in the faith and will love as Christ loves.

 

Amen.  

On Repentance and Salvation

 

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.

The choir of the saints has found the fountain of life and the door of

Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance, the sheep that

was lost am I, call me up to You, O Savior, and save me.

It seems like my heart has been heavier than ever these past few weeks and days, mainly because of everything that has been going on in the world. I have been dealing with a lot of struggles and demonic attacks as of late and could use your prayers as I pray for you. However, I would be remiss if I did not discuss repentance and what it has meant to the Church and the world around us. It is during the worst of times that God can bring about the most change in our lives because when we live in peace, we often think we don’t need God. Today let us discuss repentance and hope of salvation. 

                First let us set the groundwork for salvation. Salvation is a topic that many in the world believe they understand, but few truly grasp its real presence in their lives. I am not sure who said this so I can’t give credit to the following statement, but I know from experience, that I am saved, am being saved and will be saved. Salvation is not in itself a one time walk down the aisle pray a prayer and magically one is granted entrance into heaven. Salvation is a process. A process by which one becomes more like Christ. In the Orthodox Church we call this Theosis. Theosis while not a common term one might find in English bibles, it is plain to see in the scriptures especially written by St. Paul. Galatians 4:3 says, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” The bondage of the world is the slave to sin, Theosis is the bondage of Christ, becoming a servant of the Most High. Colossians 1:18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” If he is the firstborn among the dead, so too must we die to ourselves and become new creatures. The way through this is the path of salvation. When we participate in the divine liturgy, the services of the church, the prayers that come from our prayer books we unite ourselves to Christ in such a way that his divine energy the Energeia in Greek (Ενέργεια του Θεού). He is allowed to work through us and with us, only by our choosing, protestants might say that we must accept the gift of salvation. Christ uses us as the instruments by which divine grace is poured out on the world and distributed among the nations of the world. He uses the priests to distribute the gifts of the Eucharist, the Bishops to uphold the teachings of the church, and the laypeople to go out into the world and sow the seeds of salvation by example, drawing all people to himself. Though many reject him, this is still the divine plan, whether they accept it or not.

                The way to salvation is a simple one. It is the way of repentance. We have discussed what salvation is, in that is the way in which God brings all people to himself and unites himself with us in union, but how must we unite ourselves to Christ. Surely, we just live our lives and God accepts for who we are right? No. That is not the case. It never has been and never will be. God being a Holy and Just God cannot dwell in the realm of sinners and cannot dwell where the stench of evil lives. The Greek word for this is called, metanoia. Repentance according to my own jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America says, “The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, denotes a change of mind, a reorientation, a fundamental transformation of outlook, of man's vision of the world and of himself, and a new way of loving others and God.” It is more than a prayer, reading the scriptures, or any other sort of act that we do. It is a complete change of mind and heart. The things that we once enjoyed, the things that are mundane and fleeting become dim lights in the eyes of one with true repentance. They look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming, and they participate in the services with joy and gladness. They do not seek the wealth and pleasures of this world. Theirs is a home in paradise where there is no sighing or suffering, but life everlasting. To achieve this, one must seek Christ and his saints through prayer, through offerings and through actions. It is one thing to confess Christ, it is another to act upon it. If you believe in something so strongly that it consumes you like Christ should, you will act upon this belief. People who walk down the aisle of protestant churches, or are chrismated in the Orthodox Church, who never return once the service is over have no true repentance in their hearts. They only offer lip service to Christ like the Pharisees did. Repentance is allowing Christ to take that which is corrupted by sin, and to restore you to the way things were prior to the fall. Just as salvation is the way that Christ acts within us, repentance is the gate that must be open for Christ to come in. You must break down the bars of your own Hades, so that Christ can come in and harrow it. In this, the light of Christ can be shown through you, and you truly become the salt of the earth. My favorite Orthodox hymn repeats the phrase, “For His Mercy endures forever and ever alleluia.”  This hymn reminds me it is never too late for you to accept Christ in this world. You have the chance now. Don’t waste it on the things of the world. Nothing in this life can compare to the things prepared for us in heaven.

                I am hoping that life and Lent finds all you well as we have entered into the second week. I pray that you are struggling against the devil as St. George did with the dragon and will not yield. I pray that this article might give you hope as it does to me.

 

Amen.

On Seeking Earthly Glory

 

            Today’s blog is going to be about something that has been on my heart for a while now, and something that is important to understand in this trying time in the world. We recently just had the Olympics and the Paralympics and watching those athletes was a sight to behold. I was .5 seconds from the Paralympics and know all so well how hard it takes to train, eat and become the champion so many want to become. I never made it. For reasons that are now not so important in my life, but nevertheless I am happy where life has led me and to the people God has placed in my path. So, it is fitting that we should be discussing earthly glory today, and what a Christian should do about it.

            A lot on this blog has dealt with Arius and Nestorius, two early heretics whose teachings have permeated the realms of Protestant and Roman Catholic thought and have largely been rejected by the Church though some still cling to these falsehoods. While both Nestorius and Arius tried to bring down Christ in their rational and logical minds to make God in their own image, we know the Church has preserved the truth about Christ and his divinity for these 2000 years. It is Christ’s divinity that makes it possible for our salvation. Had Christ been a simple man, a good teacher, he would have fallen into the same corruptions that people across the world are falling into today. Whether it be the latest fashion trend, the latest food craze or even among the younger generations the latest TikTok dance, people are drawn to fame and glory like a magnet.  Christ wasn’t. Christ was sent to bring man out of the perpetual cycle of pride that it had fallen into for all those centuries. Christ was sent by God to give us life, hope and fulfillment in Him. We were to be like a bucket of water, filled not with water from the well, but from the living well, that is Christ. People today, they want faster cars, more money, more power, larger titles, larger offices, and to be respected among society. But as we know from the scriptures, Christ never sought this, in fact he told the scribes in Matthew 8:20, “Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Jesus didn’t come to seek a glorious earthly kingdom or money. He came to bring people to himself. People today want followers on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, not because they have something wonderful to share with the world, no it is because it is seen as a status symbol and a sense of pride for the person. When I mentioned Jesus didn’t seek an earthly kingdom I was instantly reminded of the conversation between Pilate and Jesus at his trial that reads, “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.” “Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason, I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.” (John 18:36-37) Even then Jesus only came to testify to the truth.  John later speaks in his first universal epistle about seeking earthly glory when he says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Seeking the things of this world is a dangerous game, one in which we play at the expense of souls.

While not all of us can be monks and live our lives in quiet solitude, it is the goal of each of us to sit and to focus on those things that is holy and pure, St. Paul says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8) Christ also says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” St Paul says in Hebrews, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Again, we are called to a higher purpose, a better purpose, one that has been ordained for us from God, not of our own devices. In fact, 2 Corinthians speaks of this when St. Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  We should throw off the yoke of servitude that we do to service ourselves and begin to serve God with the same vigor that we put into making YouTube videos, and planning for expensive vacations.  We should be focusing on raising awareness for the poor, for the needy, for our fellow man. We should be in our churches day and night praying for the salvation of all mankind. Holding vigils, saying an Akathist, and reciting the Jesus Prayer. Time after time, we get caught up in the pleasures and life of this world and forget the next. I personally, do not want to spend my eternity in the place of eternal torment, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. I want to spend my eternity in the light of Christ, in the Heavenly Liturgy. I may not make it. I may not have the strength to embrace Christ as much as I can in this life. But I pray that God’s grace be poured out not for me, but for those around me. I know that I am weak, and God sees my weakness. I am as much preaching to myself on this issue as I am to all of you.

We have come full circle once again as I wrap up yet another blog article where I judge myself harder and harder the more, I write these. Seeing my own failings is a difficult thing, because we want to be light on ourselves. Yes, as I sit down to play Madden 22 for the 3000^th time this year it would have been nice for God to allow me to be a famous football player for my New York Giants, or to have made the Paralympics and won a medal. But God did not see fit to bless me with those gifts. I no longer wish to seek any earthly glory, and I am content with where I am placed in life. I pray that all of us, whether given much or given little will seek to use what we have, to glorify God and not ourselves. Earthly glory will pass away but Eternal Glory lasts forever.

Amen.

A look at Orthodox Monarchy

 

            When choosing a name for something, like a dog or your children, a lot of thought goes into the decision. You may talk with family members, you may seek advice from your priest, you may even pray about the decision. All of these are noble and good, and in the end the name that you give your child especially will be carried with them the rest of their earthly and eternal lives. So too when I took up my keyboard to first write this blog, I took my time in deciding a name for it. As you all know by now if you’re reading this, the name of the blog is The Tsar’s Corner. That’s not by accident, and certainly not a misnomer. When something is laid on your heart, a wellspring of the Holy Spirit pours forth and if you allow it, God can speak through you. I don’t imagine God uses this 29-year-old young man from the spiritually inept regions of the United States to do much good, but I pray that as God guides me on my journey, he might just give me the grace of the Holy Spirit to do a few good things in this life. This article you are about to read is one of those things I pray God blesses with the uttermost blessing. A chance to share with you a passion of mine, as well as something that I have grown to understand is the basis of how God not only rules the universe but has ordained man to govern the earth. It is a foreign concept in our age of enlightenment, in our age of reason, but nonetheless it is the way God has intended. I am of course talking about monarchy. And my friends that is why this blog is called the Tsar’s Corner. Named in honor of St. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia.

            With that said, let’s look at the most recent Orthodox monarchy, that of Russia for our first inspiration. Russia, that bastion of orthodoxy that has in recent years come under so much scrutiny from the west and the United States of America was once the mightiest of the Orthodox lands, the third Rome if you will. Now, I am not going to go into detail over whether it is the Third Rome, that is an entirely different argument, but it is important that it was center for Orthodox thought from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to 1917 when it itself fell to the abominable and morally heinous Soviet Regime. Out of Russia, great saints of the faith rose certainly after this especially during the great periods of persecution and tribulation that was suffered at the hands of the soviets, but so too before this. We witness of course, Seraphim of Sarov, of who’s name I carry. We witness the Optina Elders, Valaam had its greatest period of spiritual growth during the reigns of the Tsars and certainly the people were allowed to worship fully in spirit and in truth during the reigns of the Tsars from St. Vladimir the Great, to the final Romanov monarch St. Tsar Nicholas II. St. Vladimir, influenced by the repentance of his grandmother St. Olga of Kiev, sought the light of Orthodoxy in Constantinople. It was there that his emissaries said, “We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."  The truth of Christianity was brought back to Kievan Rus and there it stayed and has not left since.

            Though Russia was the last bastion of Orthodox Monarchy, it was not the first. We know that from the reign of St. Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helen, that Byzantium and the Eastern Roman Empire was a Christian nation. It was there when the forging of the great Nicene Creed, the ecumenical councils, and when the church fathers began to write. God was the King of the Universe, and the Emperor was God’s chosen vessel to rule. Now this seems eerily familiar with the so called “Vicar of Christ” title the Pope of Rome has assumed, but no, it was different. The Emperor wasn’t chosen by God to rule over the Church and create new teachings and new policies or to rule over the thoughts of men, but rather to bring peace and stability to the people and govern justly and with the heart of Christ.  The Emperor would from time to time be asked to solve disputes within the church, but as an outside adjudicator. The Emperor was after all, not an ordained priest, but a layman, under the guidance of a spiritual father. A confessor. The Emperor was meant to be one of virtue. Now we know that this wasn’t often the case, many were corrupt men, as all men are. We also know that many saints and many of the elders of the church were at one time royalty, surrendering everything they had for the sake of Christ. These men and their spouses were to uphold the commandments for all to follow, to be the shining example of their people. If we compare it to today’s politicians, we see that those men are not examples for us to follow, rather they are laughed at, mocked, and often times are involved in things that as Christians we should and must scorn.

            Finally, we reach the last argument I will make regarding monarchy. Heaven. Yes even heaven is a monarchy. With Jesus as King and Sovereign over the universe, and the angels his ministers, or as the bible more eloquently puts it, “He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” (Psalm 104:4) I am reminded of the Lord of Spirits podcast, of the teachings of Fathers Andrew Damick and Stephen De Young, who as Orthodox priests proclaim the truth that Orthodoxy has maintained, in that Jesus as the King, and the angels his ministers, sit in council together, and final authority rests of the shoulders of God, and thus heaven itself is a monarchy. Though God does take counsel, he being creator of all, and omniscient, knows everything. He makes the decisions for the world that is best for us. He being the good king, like an Aragorn of Lord of the Rings note. Again, don’t take my word for it, rather read Isaiah 37:6 which says, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” Or Psalm 95:3 which says, “For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods,” I might do a future post on God of gods, and the like but now is not the time. Another verse that shows that heaven is a monarchy, is 1 Timothy 1:17 it reads, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  Psalm 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. Even Matthew says in 4:!7, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Revelation 11:15 talks about the victory that Christ won at His Resurrection, and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God when it says, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

            So you have seen the examples of Russia and Byzantium. You have also been given scriptural references that Heaven is a monarchy. So what do we do with this information now that it is presented. There are always two options. The first is to reject it. As often men do when it doesn’t fit their narrative. They reject it and come up with a rational explanation. No, heaven is a monarchy, people should be free to govern themselves, a king would only make matters worse. If we look at the democracies of the world in which this argument has been made, then, it is a lie. Countries of the west, like Britain, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States are all spiritually weak, and feeble minded. We see this with the politicians, and leaders of the countries allowing mob rule and for morality to be thrown aside for comfort and ease. Places like Russia and Ukraine and the Eastern European nations that once held fast to the Tsar are albeit spiritually sound but struggling against the pulls of the devils and their wiles to bring down these nations and destroy them. When power rests in the hands of one person, decisions can be swift, and taking the council of a few chosen who have been learned in the scriptures and writings of the Church can make the actions of the ruler much more informed. What happens when we allow all to make a decision is that no one agrees on anything, and they try to profit off gaining their own interests and power. Sad really. So that is why I pray for the return of an Orthodox Emperor, one who can unite the Commonwealth of Peoples under the Orthodox banner of faith and restore peace and stability to the world. Not in a one world new world order sort of way, but one that will bring honor and glory to God and God alone.

 

Amen.

 

 

 

The Triumph of Christ

 

“ As the prophets have seen, as the apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the teachers have set forth in dogmas, as the whole world has understood, as Grace has shone forth, as the truth was demonstrated, as falsehood was banished, as wisdom was emboldened, as Christ has awarded; thus do we believe, thus we speak, thus we preach Christ our true God and His saints, honoring them in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, and in icons, worship ping and respecting the One as God and Master, and honoring the others, and apportioning relative worship to them, because of our common Master for they are His genuine servants.  this is the Faith of the apostles, this is the Faith of the fathers, this is the Faith of the Orthodox, this Faith hath established the whole world.”

 

This was going to be an entirely different post when it was first written, but as I have said before God has a mysterious way of working in the hearts and minds of men.  God has called us to preach Christ and to honor him in our writings, thoughts, churches and in the icons of the faith. And this blog I like to think I am in some small way carrying on the tradition set by the apostles. Which leads me to our discussion today. While yes, the council was restoring Icons to their proper place in the worship of God in the Church all those many years ago, it is not without the Victory of Christ that the Victory and Triumph of Orthodoxy was achieved. Without it, there would be no Sunday of Orthodoxy, Holy Pascha, The Nativity of Our Lord, and so on. The Victory of Christ is the victory over death and the victory for all mankind.

Death is a touchy subject for many, especially those who do not grasp the reality of life, and forget the power Christ defeated with his Holy Resurrection. Death for many in the world today is scary thought, a fear that grips their minds, their hearts, their souls. Death in the minds and hearts of people is the end, the sudden fading into black. We see this in many movies, tv shows, books, and writings of people that surely once we pass from this life, there is no next. But, we know this is not the case. First let me draw you to Mark, Chapter 12, Verse 27, where it states quite clearly, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”  If God is the God of the living, then those who have “died” must continue on living, this life is the next, the afterlife it is called. Jesus again in John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Jesus has conquered death by his resurrection. Why should I fear death? In fact Christ also answers this question when says also in John 14:1-4, when says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.” The Book of the Apocalypse, called Revelation says in 1:18, “And the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”  Jesus was of course talking about himself in Revelation, after all it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, but it remains, that Jesus was dead, and is alive. He is the God of the living, not the dead. He has broken the power of death in our lives to fulfill it with His life, His Body, His Blood. We partake of this life every service when we have The Eucharist at the end of the Divine Liturgy. The living water that Jesus offered to St. Photini at the well is given to us freely at Divine Liturgy with open arms and a willingness to heal our bodies and souls if we only repent and ask for it. And yet, there are still some that fear death. Fear what decay and destruction might come to their mortal bodies, and yet they do not fear what could come to their immortal souls.  1 Corinthians 15:26 is a favorite verse of mine, not just because it was used in one of my favorite books, but rather because it speaks to the hearts of men, telling them with courage to embrace death, because it says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” When we pass into life everlasting, we too defeat death, because it is Christ living in us, that has already and will forever defeat death. There is no need for fear, but joy and happiness. I think that’s what amazes me about Orthodoxy more than anything is the amount of people who when they repose in the Lord, a smile can be seen on their faces, because they are embracing Jesus in all his glory upon their repose.

We have once again come to the opening paragraph. I discussed the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which was celebrated this passed Sunday. But more than anything it isn’t about the Icons, the saints, the churches we gather in. Many in Africa, and the poorer regions of Orthodoxy may have these things, but they are not as grand as in Eastern Europe or here in America. Yet they still celebrate with full vigor and joy unending. Why? It is not because we defeated the iconoclast heresy long ago. No it is because we have a Savior, a Lord, a God who defeated death so that we do not have to fear it. We have Jesus Christ, the God-Man who united the divine with the mortal so that man could be who God meant him to be. We have forgotten that. People today either fear death, or they accept it as something that ends their existence. But to those of us Christians who remain true, death is not something to fear, rather it is something to embrace. Because Jesus has destroyed its power.

Amen.

Facing the Persecutor

 

Persecution. Not the greatest of topics, but as the past two blogs have become a running theme, it’s the logical next step in our discussion that I have taken up on my blog. We have discussed St. Sophronios who was beloved by his flock but saw that the persecution of the Christians was due to lukewarm hearts and disdain for true and righteous beliefs. We discussed St. Ephraim, who left his home in Greece to become a monk and come to America, a foreign and strange land to him where he would be looked down upon for his simple way of life and his status as a monk. But we have not gotten at the heart of the matter, rather the heart of the world. Our discussions on this blog have shown that persecution does exist, sometimes subtly, other times as it was with the Islamic Invasions of the Holy Land, very real and very straightforward. But both times it is there. It lurks in the shadows as does the devil. He doesn’t need to work in the light, for by working in the shadows does he do his greatest damage to the hearts of men. When the devil corrupts, he corrupts only to the point in which we allow him to. Just like God, he doesn’t force himself on us, but whispers and connives and plots in hearts until we are so ensnared by his thinking, we pass it off as our own and often the world sees what the devil has created as normal. And that is where we land ourselves in this article today.

You see we see it in the world around us whether we admit it to ourselves or if we are ignorant and blissful of the situation, but it is real. From political leaders who wish to tear down the fabric of society and remake it in their image, or from so called religious leaders who beg and plead with those they have been entrusted with to make evil good and good evil. But dear brothers and sisters this is simply persecution in its subtleness. Jesus spoke of those who would hate true Christians and seek to destroy them. He says in John 15:23, “He who hates Me hates My Father also.” He also says even before that in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” The world is constantly working against Christians. That is why I have spoken at great length about the bastions of faith like Elder Ephraim and St. Sophronios. Father Seraphim Rose’s book was such an eye opener for me, that it has changed how I view the world and how I interact with it. The world hates what we stand for, they are willing to go into destruction of their own accord by being themselves deceived. And yet, they do not want to admit this. Sin has corrupted their hearts and minds and allowed them to persecute the Church and her members in the name of preserving peace and prosperity. In fact, Jesus even speaks of this, because he in John 16:2 in the same discourse as the two previous mentioned verses in this article says, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”  We have seen this time and time again. St. Paul before he was appointed as Apostle to the Gentiles was himself a great persecutor of Christians. There have been martyrs too numerous to count who have surrendered their lives, by being beheaded, burned alive, fed to wild beasts, pushed off cliffs, broken on wheels, and other such torturous devices.  

The hopes of these people who commit these acts is not as I have said to preserve peace and prosperity, but to eradicate their own conscience and to try and expunge the name of God from the Earth. They wish to not have to confront their own demons, their own sins. They wish to again as I have said place the blame on others for their own rejection of God. My dear brothers and sisters, it is just beginning. Elder Ephraim speaks of the neo-martyrs of America, others have said what began in Russia will be finished in America. Elder Paisios was known to have spoken about the war between Russia and Turkey and retaking of Constantinople and the defeat of the NATO forces. All of this in preparation for the coming of Jesus and the beginning of the age of eternity. These times may come in our lifetime, they may be years, decades away, it is not for us to decide but to wait and watch. God calls us to be protectors of our nous, our hearts and minds, our souls.  Persecution will come. It will grow stronger as the chains that bind Satan will be loosened. This however will be for a short time. Just like in the days of the early church when droves went to the arena and contested for their faith among the multitudes, we ourselves might be called once again to great contests. If that is the case, we must arm ourselves with spiritual armor, with the hope of salvation. We know that times will test us but when we are strongest is when we have our faith solely rested in the Bosom of God.

Amen.