A World of Wonder: Orthodox Miracles and Prophecies

 

First before we start, I would like to congratulate newly elected Bishop Alexis of Alaska. His election marks the beginning of a new era in Alaska, one that I pray will be full of blessings and renewal of the Orthodox Faith in the land of Alaska. With that said today we are going to look at something that has been on my mind the past few days. Miracles, Miracles, and more miracles. Oh, and some prophecy too.  We know that God works everything for our good and does not that will harm us or hurt us in any way. Those that blame God for their problems and troubles in life are nothing more than denying their own reality in the fact that they have rejected God and fled far from him. We also know that God only does things that will benefit our salvation. In a time when people are searching for signs and revelations from God in an increasingly bizarre and worsening world, people look to signs to give them comfort, confirmation, or belief. Unfortunately, most of the people searching for these signs are also trying their best to disprove the existence of God.

Miracles have existed since time began. Miracles occurred throughout scripture, beginning with the creation of the world, the exit of Adam and Eve out of the Garden, the mark placed on Cain after he killed Abel, the flood and so on. Miracles were then sent by God to either pronounce judgement or blessing on the people of Israel throughout both the judges period and the kingship period. After this we reach the New Testament where Christ begins his earthly ministry with the changing of water into wine, the healing of blind men, the healing of leprosy and many others that I do not have the time to recount here. The biggest miracle scripturally is the focal point of all Christianity, the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third on Holy Pascha. We also witness the apostles in the book of Acts performing signs and miracles bringing the pagans and Jews out of idolatry and into everlasting life with Jesus Christ. Paul himself uses handkerchiefs and aprons that would heal the sick from illnesses and disease. (by the way noting this it is one of the many examples you can find within scripture in regards to relics being venerated a vital part of Orthodox Christianity) We see that miracles have been performed by the saints of old, and the early church in drawing people to Christ through these wonders and yet people today dismiss them as being only performed in the bible, that miracles today do not happen. I believe this is because people’s faith is not what it once was. People have forsaken the truth found in Holy Orthodoxy and the scriptures for science and the faith of man. They reject anything that they cannot tangibly hold in their hands or explain with reason.

               I would like then to offer another point of view here. The Orthodox Church has never believed that miracles have ceased to exist. In fact if you look closely you will find miracles all around us. I have been delving into a few that I found interesting that have happened in recent years. Many of these are easily accessible on the internet, and in fact there is a whole YouTube channel dedicated to them that I find very interesting. One such miracle I heard about recently being performed was that of witnessing the Passion of the Christ (not the movie the actual passion) at the site of Golgotha. The person who witnessed this miracle recorded the whole experience and when one watches the video, you can hear the breathing of Christ, the whipping of Christ, the dragging of the cross across the surface of the rock and his heartbeat. I was given chills when I watched the video. I also recently watched a video in which the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, was transformed into the flesh of Christ by the spirit in the form of a dove, and if it was not the same video a very similar video in which the Eucharist was transformed into the broken and disfigured face of Christ. All these miracles have occurred for our benefit, allowing us to see the power of God within the world and to not be scared or frightened of the future no matter what the New World Order and rulers of this world say. Continuing with the miracles that I have recently seen on video, I recently saw a photograph taken by a layman who was swimming in the ocean when a large group of fish began congregating near the bottom of the sea. The person took a photo of the location and when he went to look, there at the bottom of the ocean resting on the sea floor was an elder monk, prayer rope in hand praying for the whole world. Which elder this is I cannot say, some have said St. Kosmas, others St. Paisios. 

Perhaps the most famous Orthodox miracle that I can point to and there are several videos on it, is the Holy Fire of Jerusalem, that occurs on Pascha every year celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Holy Fire only appears on Holy Saturday and has appeared for centuries. The Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the tomb, but only after a non-orthodox Christian checks the entire church for signs that no oil or flames have been left burning so that the Patriarch cannot be accused of lighting it himself. Once the Patriarch has been given the go ahead, he prays special prayers inside the tomb and the Holy Fire descends from Heaven. This fire is described as blue, then regular flame, and it can neither burn nor hurt you. People have put it up to their faces without the faintest hint of a singe. The Holy Fire of Jerusalem is a miracle I personally want to witness myself in person one day. If I could ever get to Jerusalem. Before we talk about prophecies to end this article today, I would like to mention that the first miracle I heard about when inquiring about Orthodoxy was that of the Snakes of Kefalonia. These snakes appear on August 6^TH the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, and stay until the 15^TH of August at the Dormition of the Theotokos. They are not seen again until the following year. While I could continue on there are too many miracles to count and I would be here all day. So let’s discuss prophecy

I want to discuss prophecies that have been fulfilled in recent years. Especially those of St. Paisios. St. Paisios was a beloved man and elder of our Church who died a few years after I was born. He was gifted with the ability of foresight and knew what was to come. Now we understand that only God knows when the time is that prophecy will be fulfilled and some due to repentance or failure to repent may not come at all. St. Paisios, however of note has two prophecies that I would like to expand on here. The first is that of the Hagia Sophia. As many of this blog will note, the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world before its capture by the Muslims in 1453 and transformation into a mosque. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire it was transformed again into a museum so that neither Christians, nor Muslims could claim it as their own. However in 2020, in the midst of Covid-19 it was rededicated as a mosque for use in Islamic worship. St. Paisios predicted this would come to pass and that it was sign that Turkey was going to be brought to its knees. The second prophecy also regarding Turkey is that of the Six-Mile. In recent years there has been talk of extending the Six-Mile to 12 miles and thus the water borders of Greece would be extended further. St. Paisios discussed this at length and said that the time you hear of this, it would not be long before then that the war would begin. In this he also discusses Turkey being separated into three parts, one part killed, one part Christianized, and one part fleeing to the very depths of Turkey never to be a nation again. In this same prophecy he talks about the city of Constantinople being given back to the Greeks and the restoration of the Hagia Sophia. All of this has yet to take place at the time of writing so I could be decades and years away, though personally I think we are closer than anyone knows. I say this because if you look this up, my facts are easily fact checkable. So if you want please do.

There are many signs and wonders in the world today, many of which people leave unnoticed because of the hustle and bustle of the world. I believe if we just would slow down and look at the world we would see a world full of wonder, a world full of beauty, and a world filled with God.

Amen.

The Church's Response to War

 

War. War never changes. Its an age old saying that truly embodies the very nature of violence that is shed in the name of various factions and rulers as they vie for land and resources. It causes innocent people to lose their homes, their lands, and the families for the sake of disputes and arguments that often times can be solved through diplomatic and peaceful means.  That does not mean that sometimes fighting breaks out and at that point people must do what they must do to protect themselves. But as Orthodox Christians, and as Christians in general what can we do and how should we respond to war?  That is the question I would like to answer today.

First, let me make clear, that the Church prays for those both in public service and in the armed forces at every divine service celebrated. It is part of the very litany of prayers that the Church reads at every service. We pray for peace for the whole world, the holy Churches of God, the deliverance from wrath, danger and necessity. They are our petitions that God would have mercy on us and save us from these troubles that are called. The Church recognizes the need for armed forces and for government.  In the gospels, we see that Christ never nor his disciples commanded the soldiers that they met or witnessed to renounce their job and quit fighting. But the Church does understand that nonviolence and pacifism is the goal of all men. Matthew 26:52 says… “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” The Church also teaches that if a man would devote his entire life to Christ, that both political and military service becomes nonexistent to him. Priests and clergy who have spilled blood even by accident cannot continue in their ministry.  It is a very serious offense and rightly so.  A Christian by example must live his life in complete obedience to God and the teachings of Christ. Just as Matthew 16:24 says, “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” While it may be cliché to say, a Christian would rather surrender his life than for him to take the life of another.

The Orthodox Church and Christian teaching understand that living a completely peaceful existence is not possible in the world today. Not only that but Romans 13:4 gives the authority to the government to punish wrongdoers. It says, “for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.” We also know that due to the fallen state of man, violence, anger, and other forms of brutality are commonplace. Therefore, it is our duty, our responsibility to pray. Not just for those who are for us, but for those against us. Because Christ also said for us to love our enemies. We look at the example of St. Nikolai of Japan, who though Russian by birth was the hierarch of the Church in Japan.  He had been given the flock of the Japanese people who at the very time of his witness in Japan were at war with St. Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian people. Did he abandon those who his country of birth were fighting against? No. Did he condemn his motherland for their actions? Also no. St. Nikolai of Japan prayed for both sides of the war, and commanded his parishioners to pray for the defense of their homeland.

We are seeing in the world today, that people are taking sides in the struggles of the world. There is always a bad guy and a good guy. There is no middle ground. However, Orthodoxy is the Royal Path, the middle road. We strive to deviate not to the right or to the left. Thus, finding the right course of action is difficult. In society today we are called to choose sides and if we are on the opposing side we are often looked upon with disdain. Even now the current situation in Russia with Ukraine has caused many well-intentioned people to falter and lose their way on the straight and narrow path. They have chosen sides in this war without discerning the proper place for the Christian in this conflict. There are many Orthodox Christians on both sides of the war. There are many devout civilians on both sides. The Church calls us then not to condemn but to forgive. These men and women who are risking their lives on both sides are doing so in obedience to their government. Whether right or wrong, the Christian is also called to give obedience to the government.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus lists the beatitudes, and in those one of them are the peacemakers, who will be called the Children of God. It is our duty to acquire the spirit of peace, the Holy Spirit. Let us pray not just for peace in Ukraine or peace in Russia, but the whole world. Today my dear friends the world needs it now more than ever.

Amen.