Did I hear your question correctly, General: “Was the Savior (Christ) for war or against it?”
Sorry, but this question is similar to another: “Is the mother for or against the rod for her child?”
GOSPEL AND WAR (St Nikolai Velimirovich of Serbia)
Did I hear your question correctly, General: “Was the Savior (Christ) for war or against it?”
Sorry, but this question is similar to another: “Is the mother for or against the rod for her child?”
MEMOIRS BY ARCHIMANDRITE NEKTARY OF ELEON (1905 - 2000)
As a young boy, still before the Revolution, I had a terrible dream: the south-west part of the sky was illumined by a bloody, glowing sunset, like a fire, and on this bloody sky was written in huge, shining letters the word, "the end."
At that time I did not attribute any particular meaning to this dream. But I never forgot it. It was so vivid and stunning that my entire life afterwards was colored by the presentiment that this dream would definitely be fulfilled.
And so it did. It began in 1917, and with each passing year it became increasingly evident that the world was coming to an end. In the beginning old Russia was destroyed, the Tsar was overthrown, the antitheistic regime came to power, and then began the annihilation of thousands of innocent people and the persecution of Christians on an unprecedented scale. Churches were blown up, monasteries were closed and blasphemously turned into the most disreputable places. All this was seen as the coming to power of the beast of the apocalypse.
In recent years we see that the power of this beast is beginning to spread over the whole world. The process of apostasy, begun several centuries ago, is today approaching its final stage. We are entering the age of the apocalypse.
And now the meaning of the dream I had so many years ago has finally become clear to me.
Defending and Speaking the Truth in a Time of Falsehood: The Patristic Teaching
“Anyone who is capable of speaking the truth but remains silent, will be
heavily judged by God, especially in this case, where the faith and the very foundation of the
entire church of the Orthodox is in danger. To remain silent under these circumstances is to
betray these, and the appropriate witness belongs to those that reproach (stand up for the faith).
St. Paisios of Mount Athos:
“You see people abusing and reviling holy and sacred things and
others not saying anything. Being meek on such an occasion is demonic.”
On perfection (St Macarius the Great)
A brother asked Abba Macarius the Great: What is perfection?
The elder replied:
A person cannot be perfect unless he acquires humility in soul and body, so great that he does not praise himself for any action, but humbly considers himself below every creature; never judge anyone but himself; endure insults and dishonor, and remove all impurity from your heart; strive to be patient, good, brotherly, chaste, and temperate, as Scripture says: "Until now the kingdom of heaven is needy, and the needy are pleased with it" (Mt. 11:12); look straight with your eyes, hold your tongue, avoid every empty and mentally harmful hearing, observe uprightness of hands, purity of heart before God, and purity of body; constantly have a thought and a remembrance of death; To put aside all anger and malice, to renounce all material and carnal pleasures, that is, the devil and all his works; to submit completely to the All-King God and all His commandments, and to have Him constantly before you at all times, in all things, and in all your actions.
Source: Ancient Patericon
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MIRACLE OF SAINT SPYRIDON (1716)
The theologian said it would be a very good and holy act to build a precious marble altar inside the Church of Saint Spyridon, so that a Latin Mass could be celebrated there. And "Your Excellency may hear the Mass in your own language when you are present," he said. The theologian's advice pleased the governor, who ordered the materials to be prepared immediately. However, before the materials were prepared, he thought it appropriate to call the priests of that church (where the relics of the divine Spyridon were kept) and inquire how they could be of assistance. As soon as they received the unexpected news, they told him bluntly that it was a dangerous innovation and they had no desire to assist him in his plan. The governor angrily responded that even if they were unwilling to help, as the supreme authority, he would do as he wished and order the materials to be collected outside the saint's church without fail. Asbestos, plaster, marble, and a slab of select marbles, superbly crafted for an altar, were thus collected.
Orthodoxy in America: Its Historical Past and Present (St Seraphim Rose)
We have gathered here today to venerate St. Herman, first saint of the American land, first Orthodox missionary to America, bringer of Orthodox Christianity to the New World. This feast gives us an opportunity to look at the Orthodoxy he brought: what has happened to it since his time, where it stands in this country today, what are the hopes for it -- and for us, who are today's Orthodox Christians -- in the years ahead, nearly two hundred years after the seeds of the true faith were planted here.
What Orthodox Iconography is (Photios Kontoglou)
Christ calls His religion "new wine" and "bread that cometh down from Heaven." The Apostle Paul says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new."
In a religion like this, one that makes the believer into a "new man," everything is "new." So, too, the art that gradually took form out of the spirit of this religion, and which it invented to express its Mystery, is a "new" art, one not like any other, just as the religion of Christ is not like any other, in spite of what some may say who have eyes only for certain meaningless externals.
The architecture of this religion, its music, its painting, its sacred poetry, insofar as they make use of material media, nourish the souls of the faithful with spirit. The works produced in these media are like steps that lead them from earth up to heaven, from this earthly and temporary state to that which is heavenly and eternal: This takes place so far as is possible with human nature.
For this reason, the arts of the Church are anagogical, that is, they elevate natural phenomena and submit them to "the beautiful transformation." They are also called "liturgical" arts, because through them man tastes the essence of the liturgy by which God is worshipped and through which man becomes like unto the Heavenly Hosts and perceives immortal life.
SAINT AELFHEAH, HIEROMARTYR ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (+1012)
The qualities of a true missionary (Fr Daniel Sysoev)
The word "mission" signifies the proclamation of the intact Holy Gospel to those outside the Orthodox Church. If we speak to baptized but unchurched people who consider themselves Orthodox, this is not a mission—it is catechesis. Only two types of rational beings live on Earth: homo sapiens and homo christianus. They differ from each other as the dead differ from the living. A living Christian differs from inanimate (ordinary) people. As the Apostle Paul says, "You, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air… God… has made alive together with Christ" ( Eph. 2:1–5 ). When a missionary goes out to preach, he goes into what is called in the Acts of the Apostles the region of Satan, the place of darkness, the place of rejection, where the children of God's wrath live, under the power of Satan and under the shadow of death - people enslaved and captured by the devil's snare.
On the remembrance of death (St Philaret of New York)
“Man thinks much, dreams much, and strives much,” he said in one of his sermons, “and almost always achieves nothing in his life. But no one will escape the Terrible Judgment of Christ. Not in vain did the Wise Man once say: "Remember your last days and you will not sin forever!" If we remember how our earthly life will end and what will be asked of us afterward, we will always live as a Christian should. A student facing a difficult and critical exam will not forget it but will constantly remember it and try to prepare for it. But this exam will be terrible because it will be a test of our entire life, both internal and external. Moreover, after this exam there will be no re-examination. This is the terrible answer by which man's fate will be determined for immeasurable eternity... Although the Lord Jesus Christ is very merciful, He is also just. Of course, the Spirit of Christ, who descended to earth and gave Himself totally for our salvation, is full of love. salvation of man. But it will be terrible in the Terrible Judgment for those who see that they have not made use of the Great Sacrifice of Incarnate Love, but have rejected it. Remember your end, man, and you will not sin forever and ever."
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