Lives and works of the Russian New Martyrs

 

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Life of St John the Hut-Dweller (V century)

In Constantinople, during the reign of Leo the Great (603 ), there lived a wealthy and distinguished military official named Eutropius and his wife Theodora. He had three sons, two of whom were given over to imperial service and had already achieved significant ranks. The third, the youngest, named John, was sent to study various sciences. While still a twelve-year-old boy, John stood out from his peers, so much so that even his teachers were amazed at his abilities and remarkable development for his youth. He excelled not only in worldly matters but also in spiritual wisdom. Under the grace-filled influence of the Holy Spirit, he grew into a meek, gentle, and modest boy. After school, he spent his time not in the games typical of childhood, but in reading holy, divinely inspired books and diligently attending church services. His heart was warmed by love for God, and the fire of this love began to burn like a strong flame in his soul.

The Life of Our Venerable Father Paul of Thebes (+342)

When Saint Anthony was living with his disciples in the Egyptian desert , the thought once occurred to him that no other monk had ever been as perfect as he, no one who had settled in the desert before him and chosen such a solitary life. He himself later recounted that when he thought this, he heard a voice in a vision that said:

"Anthony! There is one servant of God who came here before you and who is more perfect than you. If you wish, you can find him in the distant desert; only go to him quickly, before he departs to the Lord."

On Christian Love (St Philaret Voznesensky of New York)

• Christian love as the fundamental principle of morality.

• Her characteristic features.

• The hymn of Christian love in Apostle Paul is chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians.

Life of Saint Sava of Serbia (+1236)

 

The Serbian Grand Zhupan (Patriarchal leader) Stephen Nemanja had two sons, Stephen and Vukan; yet, he and his wife Anna desired, if it be God's will, to have another child. Their pious prayers ascended before God, Who heard their petition and blessed them with their last child, a son who was born in the year of our Lord 1175. At baptism the child was given the name Rastko, a name derived from the Old Slavonic verb "rasti" which means "to grow." And grow divinely he did. There were many special things about Rastko: he was a lovely child, with pronounced features and smooth skin, and possessed, already in his childhood, an unusually alert and pious demeanor. Little did Rastko's parents and all those of the Royal Court (and even the entire Serb nation) realize that his birth and baptism into Orthodoxy would providentially set in motion their own historical and spiritual journey, which would result in the blossoming of their Christian faith, nation hood and total Christian cultural orientation. This young child, Rastko, whose monastic name later was Sava, became and still remains the most beloved of all Serbian Orthodox saints, considered by all Serbs everywhere and at all times as the ultimate expression and example of what it means to be fully human, that is, what it means to be a devout and committed follower of Jesus Christ.

Life of Saint Nina, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Enlightener of Georgia (+338)

Saint Nina lived in the fourth century after Christ. She was born in a city in Cappadocia to the military commander Zebulun and his wife Susanna. Her father, a pious man, wished to dedicate the rest of his life to God and, to this end, traveled with his wife and daughter to Jerusalem, where his wife's brother was patriarch at the time. There, Zebulun, with his wife's consent, withdrew into the desert and ended his life in Christian asceticism. His wife, Susanna, remained in Jerusalem and, ordained a deaconess by her brother, was assigned by him to serve the poor and the sick. Susanna gave her daughter Nina to be educated by a pious old woman, from whom Nina firmly learned the rules of faith and piety. Nina's favorite reading was the books of Holy Scripture. Reading the Gospel account of the Savior's crucifixion, she developed a strong desire to know the whereabouts of the Lord's tunic, which had been given by lot to one of the soldiers dividing Jesus Christ's garment. When Nina inquired about this with her tutor, she told her that northeast of Jerusalem lay the land of Iveron, and in it lay the city of Mtskheta, where the Savior's tunic had been sent by the soldier who had given it by lot. This story so deeply penetrated St. Nina's soul that she began to fervently pray to the Most Holy Theotokos that She would grant her the ability to see the land of Iveron, to find the Lord's tunic, woven by the hands of the Mother of God, and at the same time to preach the name of Christ to the ignorant people living in that land. One night, Nina saw the Virgin Mary, who said to her, "Go to the land of Iveron and preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ there. I will be your protector." But Nina was perplexed how she, a weakling, could be the instrument of such great service. Then the Most Holy Theotokos handed her a cross made of grape branches, saying, "Accept this cross: it will be your cross and protection against all visible and invisible enemies. By its power, you will establish there the saving sign of faith in My beloved Son, Who desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." Awakening from sleep, St. Nina was amazed to see the miraculous cross in her hand. Tying it with her hair, she went to the patriarch, her uncle, and told him of the vision she had had. The blessed patriarch, seeing in this a clear will of God, gave his blessing to the young maiden to undertake the feat of evangelism.

Signs of the Times (St Seraphim Rose)

 

WHY STUDY THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?

The subject of this talk is, watching for the signs of the times.1 First of all, we have to know what it is meant by the phrase “signs of the times.” This expression comes straight from the Gospel, from the words of our Savior in Matthew 16:3. Christ tells the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to Him, “Ye can discern the face of the sky,” that is, tell what the weather will be; “but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” In other words, He’s telling them that this has nothing to do with science, or with knowing our place in the world, or anything of the sort. It’s a religious question. We study the signs of the times in order to be able to recognize Christ.   

During the time of Christ, the Pharisees and Sadducees did not study the signs of the times in order to see that Christ had come, that the Son of God was already on earth. There were already signs that they should have recognized. For example, in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, there is a prophecy concerning the seventy weeks of years, which means that the Messiah was to come about 490 years from the time of Daniel. Those Jews who read their books very carefully knew exactly what this was all about, and at about the time that Christ came they knew that it was time for the Messiah.

But this is an outward sign. More importantly, the Pharisees and Sadducees should have been watching for the inward signs. If their hearts had been right with God, and if they had not been merely trying to fulfill the outward commandment of the law, their hearts would have responded and recognized God in the flesh when He came. And many of the Jews did—the apostles, the disciples, and many others.

This same passage in the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew speaks further about signs. Our Lord told the Jews, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.” The events of the Old Testament contain prefigurations of events in the New Testament. When Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, this was a prefiguration of our Lord’s being three days in the tomb. And this sign—the sign of Jonah—was given to the people of Christ’s time.

Our Lord was telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that an evil and adulterous generation seeks for spectacular events—that is, fire coming down from heaven, or the Romans being chased away, angels manifesting themselves and banishing the foreign government of the Romans, and things of that sort. Christ told them this kind of sign would not be given. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after this, but those who are pure of heart seek rather something more spiritual. And the one sign that is given to them is the sign of Jonah. Of course, it is a great thing that a man should be three days in the grave and then rise up, being God.

Thus, from our Savior’s words, we know that we are not to watch for spectacular signs, but we are rather to look inwardly for spiritual signs. Also, we are to watch for those things, which according to Scripture must come to pass.

THE ASCETIC IDEAL AND THE NEW TESTAMENT (Fr George Florovsky)

 

If the monastic ideal is union with God through prayer, through humility, through obedience, through constant recognition of one's sins, voluntary or involuntary, through a renunciation of the values of this world, through poverty, through chastity, through love for mankind and love for God, then is such an ideal Christian? For some the very raising of such a question may appear strange and foreign. But the history of Christianity, especially the new theological attitude that obtained as a result of the Reformation, forces such a question and demands a serious answer. If the monastic ideal is to attain a creative spiritual freedom, if the monastic ideal realizes that freedom is attainable only in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and if the monastic ideal asserts that to become a slave to God is ontologically and existentially the path to becoming free, the path in which humanity fully becomes human precisely because the created existence of humanity is contingent upon God, is by itself bordered on both sides by non-existence, then is such an ideal Christian? Is such an ideal Biblical New Testamental? Or is this monastic ideal, as its opponents have claimed, a distortion of authentic Christianity, a slavery to mechanical "monkish" "works righteousness"?

Heresy of ecumenism in Italy and the Italian Saint of intolerance St Tatiana of Rome who is celebrated today

Foreword by St Seraphim Rose on the heresy of ecumenism:

''The ideology that underlies ecumenism, which inspires the actions and statements cited above, is itself a certain heresy: the Church of Christ does not exist, no one possesses the Truth, the Church is still only being formed. But without further ado, it is clear that the self-liquidation of Orthodoxy, the "Church of Christ," is simultaneously the self-destruction of Christianity as such: for if no single church is "that Church of Christ," then the combination of all sects will not be "that Church" either, at least not in the sense intended by its founder, Christ. And if all "Christian" groups are related to one another, then all of them taken together are akin to other "religious" groups, and Christian ecumenism can only lead to a syncretic world religion.''

(Orthodoxy and the Religion of the future)

How Zacchaeus outplayed the matrix

Zacchaeus is the chief tax collector. Translated into contemporary terms, he's a traitor, a degenerate, someone who built a personal paradise on the tears of his compatriots. But behind this façade of power and money lies an ontological horror. He's a figure drowned in his own pettiness and insignificance.

In general, it seems to me that modern society is deliberately cultivating Zacchaeus, like vegetables in a greenhouse. The world is shrouded in a film of propaganda that obscures the sky. But people believe they are free. In reality, they merely repeat what they've heard, follow what they've been told, and make the choices others have made for them. People are becoming like zombies, living within a hedonistic value system. Everything they care about, everything they care about, everything they're passionate about, everything they strive for, exists within a purely horizontal plane of existence.