Tag: Christianity

Talmiche, Huehuetenango Department, Guatemala, October 23, 2024

    

In recent decades, thousands of native Guatemalans have converted to the holy Orthodox faith, and now one of them has been a consecrated a bishop for the first time.

On Sunday, October 13, 2024, Bishop-elect Evangelos Pata Tuctuc of Sasima was consecrated at the Orthodox Seminary in the mountains of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, which was Seminary-Mission Center opens in mountains of GuatemalaA 2.5-year project in the mountains of Guatemala has come to an end with the formal opening of a new Orthodox seminary and mission center.

“>formally opened in February of this year.

The episcopal consecration was held in a covered outdoor church due to the thousands of faithful in attendance, reports Romfea.

    

The consecration was celebrated by Metropolitan Iakovos of Mexico, Exarch of Central America and the Caribbean Islands of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, with auxiliary Bishops Athenagoras of Myrina and Timothy of Assos.

The new hierarch is another auxiliary to Met. Iakovos, serving as Regional Supervisor of Central America with jurisdiction over Guatemala and Mexico’s Chiapas region. He received the name Osios in his consecration.

He is the first Guatemalan bishop, a spiritual protégé of Andrés Girón, missionary to the Maya people.

Bishop Osios of Sasima personally serves 84 parishes and communities and oversees a total of 114 with a population of 300,000 indigenous faithful, assisted by 5 priests and 2 deacons, all serving without salary.

Orthodox Church Opens Medical Clinic in GuatemalaWhen the people of Aguacate crowded into this new clinic on August 20th, they asked “why us?” with a sense of awe and bewilderment.

“>In 2015, an Orthodox medical clinic was opened in Guatemala.

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In an early October massacre, at least 150 people, including many Christians, were killed in northeastern Burkina Faso’s town of Manni, in what turned out to be a brutal terrorist rampage.

Days after the massacre, Aid to the Church in Need, a pontifical charity working for the cause of persecuted Christians globally, learned that the attack had occurred Oct. 6. Manni is home to a large Catholic community, and many Christians, as well as Muslims, were killed in the massacre, ACN said on the organization’s website.

Sources told ACN that the terrorists first cut mobile phone networks before attacking the local market, where many people had gathered after Sunday Mass.

“They then opened fire indiscriminately, looted shops and set fire to several buildings, burning some victims alive. The same sources reported that the next day, the perpetrators returned to attack medical staff and kill the many wounded in the city’s hospital,” ACN said.

A new incursion took place two days later, when the terrorists again invaded the town of Manni, massacring all the men they could find.

Many of the victims were residents from nearby villages who had sought refuge in Manni after being driven out of their homes by terrorists.

“The situation is beyond horrific,” one of the local sources told ACN. “But even if the terrorists burned everything, they didn’t burn our faith!”

In an Oct. 9 message addressed to priests, consecrated persons and laity, Bishop Pierre Claver Malgo of Fada N’Gourma, described the attack as “barbaric” and expressed his “sincere compassion for all the bereaved families,” emphasizing that “any threat to the dignity of man and to his life must touch the very heart” of the Catholic Church.

The bishop also stressed the importance of not losing heart and keeping hope alive “for a better tomorrow.”

The attack in Manni comes amid a continuing deterioration of the security situation in Burkina Faso, where armed extremist groups have intensified their offensive, targeting both security forces and civilians.

For several years in a row, Burkina Faso has endured the highest level of extremist violence in the entire Sahel region. At the end of August, the country experienced the worst terrorist attack in its history in Barsalogho. Since then, estimates of those who were killed in the attack have risen to at least 400 dead, according to information gathered by ACN.

Pope Francis started the month of September by expressing deep sorrow over the August terrorist attack in the town of Barsalogho. In extending his condolences to the families of the victims, the pope said, “I condemn these horrific acts against human life and stand in solidarity with the people of Burkina Faso.”

Burkina Faso, dubbed “the world’s neglected crisis,” faces the reality of over 2 million people, or 10% of the population, internally displaced.

Burkina Faso regularly sees Christians persecuted and murdered, with ACN warning that “in only a decade, Burkina Faso has become an epicenter of terrorist violence, with over 40% of the country’s territory outside of government control.”

The Catholic Church there “is one of the institutions that provides material and spiritual support in this situation,” ACN said in its latest news release about Burkina Faso.

Over the past decade Burkina Faso has leapt from one crisis to another. Since 2021, churches have been targeted and scores of worshippers killed. In February of this year, at least 15 people were killed and two others injured following an attack on a Catholic church in the northeast of the country. The authorities have been battling Islamist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State, which have taken over large swaths of land and displaced millions of people in the Sahel region.

Attacks have increased in recent months. At present, six of the 15 Catholic dioceses in the country are heavily affected by violence.

According to Open Doors, Burkina Faso is now the 20th worst country in the world to be a Christian, up from 33rd place a decade ago.

Maria Lozano, press director of ACN International, knows the country well. Having last visited in 2020, she has seen firsthand the methods used for recruitment.

“Terrorists manipulate and indoctrinate young Muslims,” she said. “They arrive in villages on motorcycles, gather the people, and instruct them not to go to school, not to obey authorities, and compel men to grow their beards and women to wear the Islamic veil.”

According to ACN sources, the terrorists are attempting to divide the population, which is otherwise known for its harmony between Muslims and Christians. “The Catholic Church is doing everything it can to maintain these good relations,” ACN said.

The world often turns a blind eye. The Norwegian Refugee Council said in June 2023 that “for the first time, Burkina Faso tops the list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises.”

“Neglect is a choice — that millions of displaced people are cast aside year after year without the support and resources they so desperately need is not inevitable,” said Jan Egeland, NRC’s secretary general.

Several of ACN’s national offices have chosen to dedicate their Christmas campaign to this West African country “faced with the immense suffering and the significant needs of the Burkinabe population, which have been largely ignored by the international community,” the organization said.

Leo Morawiecki contributed to this report from London.

On October 21, 2020, the good shepherd, Archpriest Dimitry SmirnovSmirnov, Dimitry Archpriest

“>Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, reposed in the Lord. With his gift of the word, he was able to awaken people to repentance, give them hope, and inspire them to a more attentive inner life. A special place in his sermons was devoted to teaching his flock the most important commandments of the Lord: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Matthew 22:37–39). Here we would like to remember Fr. Dmitry and reflect on his teachings about love for God and neighbor.

    

Radiate love

A person who desires to live with God must necessarily learn to radiate love outwardly. To do this, one must overcome his fallen nature, which requires struggle—it demands a complete transformation of oneself. All our troubles, all our misunderstandings, and all our sins arise only because we are incapable of love—and the goal of spiritual life is precisely to learn this.

Constant effort and self-denial

To attain love in your heart, constant effort and self-denial are required—only in this way can love be acquired. One must struggle against all iniquity and sin within oneself. If, despite all our desires, aspirations, and opinions, we still strive to follow God’s law in our lives—that is, to live righteously even while being sinners—then the Lord, seeing our efforts, will gradually cleanse us from sin. We will slowly scrape away sin after sin from our souls. However, it is not we who can cleanse ourselves—the Lord Himself will cleanse us. And when we have attained all Christian virtues in our hearts, especially humility, then love, the culmination of all perfections, will dwell in us.

We have to make space in our hearts for love

Some people feel that there is no love in their hearts, and they repent, saying, “Lord, I have no love.” But how can love appear in their hearts when there is love for money, for comfort, for tasty foods, for self-indulgence, for a carefree, serene life, and for entertainment? If we do the opposite, constantly breaking ourselves, gathering ourselves, and working diligently—and this can be done anywhere, in any situation—then the Lord, seeing our continuous effort, will gradually cleanse us. And without even realizing it, we will be transformed from people incapable of very much into something else. We will gradually acquire the qualities of noble, wise, honest, and pure people. Our conscience will be purified, our minds will become clearer, kindness will emerge, along with silence, meekness, and humility. These virtues will grow, little by little; and as they increase, love will also arise.

If we love someone we will do anything for him

Regardless of a person’s own nature, if I love him, I am ready to do anything for him, whatever my heart dictates. I love him, and so I am willing to wash for him, to clean after him, to spend thirty years by his bedside, to sacrifice myself for him, to give everything, and to go anywhere. This is love, but such love is rarely seen today. Everyone strives to please themselves, which is why there are constant quarrels, fights, hatred, ill-will, misunderstandings, and mutual suspicion—because no one truly knows what love is. Love has grown cold, and people don’t even realize what is necessary to attain it. The more self-denial and self-sacrifice a person brings to the pursuit of love, the more they acquire divine qualities and the more they partake of this love. This is what spiritual life is about.

Learning to love

And if we wish to learn love, we must also live for the sake of our neighbor. We are not gods, so we cannot live for all of humanity—but that is not required. Look around! Here are your neighbors, and each one needs to be shown love, regardless of whether you feel it or not. You must compel yourself to love, to act as noble and holy people do, those who have love in them. To do this, you must constantly crucify your own egoism. If we do this, we will gradually taste and experience this joy. And it turns out that giving is much more blessed than receiving. It is not necessarily about giving something material—love can be expressed in any form. But it always requires sacrificing something of yourself for another. How wonderful, how noble, how divine this is!

    

What have we left behind us?

It turns out that in Communion, we are united not only with God but also with one another. We are supposed to be one body, yet each of us lives our own life, with our own concerns and ambitions, caring only for ourselves. It is a blessing if even a resemblance of something like love happens between two or three people, but try to speak honestly, or rub someone the wrong way, and you will see what kind of love is shown you. Why do we have such poverty and lack of understanding of what is most important? What are we living for? To satisfy our own ambitions? To insist on something? To make a point or prove ourselves? Well, go ahead! But what awaits you afterward? A coffin made of rough, unfinished boards… What will we leave behind? Whom have we inspired with our love? Whom have we led to faith? Where are our children? Where are our grandchildren? What is radiating from us? What have they become? Where is the love? Where is the continuity between generations? We will die, and what will happen to them? Have we shown them love? Have we taught them what life means, what nobility, holiness, the Gospel, beauty, and the Kingdom of God mean? Where is all of this? None of this is in our families. Not only in our families—it’s nowhere. Complete impoverishment, horror, darkness, a nightmare. This nightmare must be driven out of our souls before it’s too late. And there is still time.

Don’t waste grace

Scripture says that love does no harm to its neighbor. Yet we constantly pester others, seek our own way, blame and criticize each other, and point out faults. This is why we are not children of God, for no matter how often we are told not to act in this way, we stubbornly continue. Thus, we squander the treasure the Lord has given us. In baptism, we received grace, and instead of gathering it and receiving grace upon grace, so that it grows in our hearts and nourishes others, we waste it, trampling it into the dirt; we do everything contrary to God’s commandments.

The greatest commandment

We, who are seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, turn to God together in church prayer, participate in one Divine Supper, and commune from one Chalice. We do this to learn love, to learn how to unite with one another and with God, so that we do not each live for ourselves, but follow the greatest commandment—love for God and love for our neighbor.

We must learn to love those who do us harm

God is love, and if a person has attained love, they have attained God. But what is love? We often do not feel, understand, or know what it is. The Lord gave His disciples a spiritual testament at the Last Supper. In particular, it concerned how people should relate to each other. Love manifests itself in humility before the one you love. But the Lord desires that we reach a love that extends to every neighbor, where our love does not depend on whether the person is close or distant, good or bad, whether they love us or are our enemy and wish us harm. The Lord gives an example of this kind of love, and we must learn from it. Whether someone irritates us or not, whether they understand us or not, whether we feel love toward them or not, we must still show love to that person. We must reach a state of heart where even if a person does harm to us—and we know he does, and we know what kind of person he is, always bringing us trouble—we must still learn to love them. This is very difficult and takes a lifetime of effort.

Love seeketh not her own

God’s name is Love. We gather in church not just to pray for the living or the departed, but to learn love—at least in some small way, while we are still here, even just a little bit.

Love is when one person sacrifices something for another. How does a dry and selfish person become kind and compassionate? By striving to show love to their neighbor, to anyone and everyone, all the time. In this way, we constantly exercise and soften our hearts.

A disciple of Christ must dedicate his entire life to serving God and neighbor—from beginning to end. To be a disciple of Christ is to acquire love. And love, as the Apostle Paul says, seeketh not her own—no personal benefit, no gain, no dreams for oneself, but only to serve Christ.

    

Strive for the Chalice

If our conscience is alive, then by constantly reviving it within ourselves, by continually kindling love for God, and striving for the Kingdom of Heaven, we should also strive towards the Chalice, repenting of our sins—not just listing them mechanically day after day, but with each confession taking a step, however small, towards purity and light.

God seeks the highest for us

A disciple of Christ must strive to serve everyone and, under no circumstances, consider anyone worse than themselves. They should strive to receive each person with love, even if that person is their enemy.

Love for God is expressed in loving others as well. To love means to feel compassion for one another. As the Apostle Paul says, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15). In other words, we should share in another’s joy as if it were our own—not envying, but rejoicing with them. If someone rejoices, we should say, “Thank God, how wonderful!” We must strive to be respectful to others, with love and mercy, for the sake of Christ’s love, for the sake of righteousness, and to finally fulfill what the Lord desires from us.

The Lord requires the highest from us. He does not expect the mere fulfillment of external norms; He wants us to genuinely love each other from the heart, not just in words but truly. Love is a gift from God, and it is given only by grace. The Holy Spirit, through His divine energies, comes into a person’s heart and makes them loving.

Love is when, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, you turn the left. This is how it manifests—when nothing in the world can extract evil from your heart, because there is no evil in your heart at all. No matter how someone treats you, no matter what they do, there is no response of evil from you. And this is granted by the grace of God.

Love constantly seeks new ways to serve, new ways to please God, new ways to bring joy to God. But out of the five billion people who inhabit the earth, how many live in a way that brings joy to God? Very few.

God is love. That is why He gave the commandment: These things I command you, that ye love one another (John 15:17). Whether we like it or not, if we have accepted God’s word, we must love others. For he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God (1 John 4:16). There are no justifications or excuses; any enmity or evil is a violation of the commandment. Even if an enemy stands before you, someone who wants to kill you, you must pray to God for them, you must love them. How can this be accomplished? Only through practice. That is why other commandments are given.

The only way to achieve love is forgiveness

What is the point of receiving Communion weekly if it leaves no trace in our lives? If we still argue, harbor anger, hold grudges, and are unwilling to cover the weakness of another with love? But what if the other person is wrong? Of course, they are wrong. What if they did something bad? Yes, it may be terrible; their actions may be horrifying and wrong. So what? Forgive them, because there is no other way. This is the only way to live together, the only way to achieve love—forgiveness. The Lord said that you must forgive a person 490 times a day if they sin against you. This is love.

Only perfect love for God casts out fear. When a person attains this love, they fear nothing; they simply entrust themselves to God, knowing that not even a hair from their head will fall without His will.

Love often consists in being lenient and understanding toward others, and there is no humiliation in this, neither for the person nor for yourself, for Christ Himself acted in the same way.

Nothing can separate one from the love of Christ

Whoever burns with love for God and desires to attain what the Lord Himself called the Kingdom of Heaven, the Lord will grant it to him. The Kingdom of Heaven is when the Lord dwells in a person’s heart, and he experiences the most indescribable bliss in communion with God. You could tear such a person to pieces, do whatever you want with him—nothing can separate him from the love of Christ, nothing can shake them, no external circumstances, because the joy of knowing the Lord is with you is inexhaustible, unchanging, and cannot be diminished in any way. This is true Christian spiritual life.

Three states have picked up a lawsuit previously dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its removal of safety restrictions on abortion drugs.

In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision saying the group of pro-life doctors and organizations who filed the original case lacked standing as they could not show they had been harmed by the abortion drug mifepristone’s widespread availability.

The states of Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho argue in the new lawsuit, filed in the same Texas federal court as the original case, that “women should have the in-person care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs.”

Since the FDA rolled back its regulations, the states wrote in the filing, abortion drugs have been “flooding states like Missouri and Idaho [where abortion is otherwise regulated] and sending women in these states to the emergency room.”

The plaintiffs describe the FDA’s move to deregulate the drug as “reckless,” noting that the FDA’s own label estimates that about 1 in 25 women who take mifepristone “will visit the emergency room.” Though side effects of the drug include severe bleeding, life-threatening infections, and ruptured ectopic pregnancies, abortion providers are no longer required to report nonfatal complications.

“This elimination was based on past data collected under the originally approved safety standards, not the new deregulated regime,” the states pointed out, calling the deregulation “unreasonable.”

The original FDA requirements for the drug upon its approval in 2000 limited use to 49 days of pregnancy, required three in-person visits, and could only be administered by certified health care providers at a clinic or health care center. In 2016, the gestational limit was extended to 70 days and the number of in-person consultations reduced to a singular visit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the FDA dropped its consultation requirement altogether and further authorized all certified health care professionals to be able to distribute the drug. Telehealth providers were initially given the temporary ability to distribute the drug via mail that same year. The Biden administration eventually solidified the practice as a norm in 2023.

Although most of the country requires parental consent for the drug to be prescribed, 18 states — including California, Colorado, Maryland, and Illinois — do not require parental consent for minors to access mifepristone.

The states also claim in the filing that the FDA “ignored the potential impacts that the removal of commonsense safeguards would have on adolescent girls” and that the administration purposefully categorized pregnancy as a “disease” to avoid having to complete otherwise necessary safety assessments among pediatric patients to approve the deregulations.

The new filing calls for the drug to be prohibited among patients under the age of 18.

“The FDA has acted unlawfully,” the states concluded in the amended complaint. “Now, the state plaintiffs ask the court to protect women by holding unlawful, staying the effective date of, setting aside, and vacating the FDA’s actions to eviscerate crucial safeguards for those who undergo this dangerous drug regimen.”

According to my observations, many Christians have some problem with their own Church. Many people think that the Church is a kind of spiritual institution and is limited to those serving at the altar: bishops, priests and deacons who are obliged to celebrate Church services and pray for other Christians. Those who think so believe that it is enough to be baptized and go to church on the major feasts such as Pascha, Christmas and Theophany, or occasionally drop in at church to light a candle.

    

Other Christians are so busy with their daily chores, worries and problems that they do not even find time to think about God, the Church and their spiritual life. They show up in church only on the occasion of a Baptism, a wedding or a funeral, more to observe the tradition. Others turn to the Church in moments of temptation, illness, or setbacks in life to seek a priest’s help. And others think in a sectarian way, believing that they do not need the Church because God is in their hearts, and individual prayer at home or anywhere else is enough. Unfortunately, very few Christians live a genuine Church life and understand that Christ heads the Church, and God hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, Which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all (Eph. 1:22-23). The Church is the living, mystical Body of Christ.

Let’s consider more closely what a church is. Firstly, it is a place of worship where the faithful gather for What is Prayer?A great prayerful power is at work in the prayers of the Holy Fathers, and whoever enters into them with all his attention and zeal will certainly taste of this prayerful power to the extent that his state of mind converges with the content of the prayer.

“>prayer. In the Jewish tradition, the places of worship were the tabernacle, the Temple in Jerusalem and synagogues. In the Christian tradition, these are churches now scattered all over the world. Places of worship are holy because they are dedicated to God, and actions performed there are not only human, but also Divine. The Savior called the Temple in Jerusalem, where He would go to pray and preach to people, My Father’s house (Jn. 2:16). That is, a church is a house of God, which is filled with the glory of the Lord—that is, His presence: And, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house (Ezek. 43:5).

Church prayer has a special power, because it is not only the prayer of an individual person, but of a whole community, of the whole Church. From a mystical point of view, the Church is a continuation of the redemptive sacrifice and mission of Christ, Who always abides with the faithful: And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Mt. 28:20). The Holy Spirit works in the Church sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Ordination, Confession, Marriage and Unction, as well as in other services and prayers. In the Church we commune with Christ both spiritually and in the form of Eucharistic bread and wine, which, through the prayer of the Church—that is, a community of the faithful—become the Body and Blood of Christ. In this way, we gradually become more and more united with Him and with each other.

A true Christian can say with the Apostle Paul: Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal. 2:20); But we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16); Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5). The Church is a living body in which all those who promised at Baptism to renounce satan and unite with Christ participate. Through Baptism we become members of the Church, in which we grow spiritually through prayer, feasible asceticism and participation in the Church sacraments, Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Just as a branch torn from its trunk withers and cannot bear fruit, so a Christian who does not abide in God cannot grow spiritually: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing (Jn. 15:5).

    

What is the On The EucharistDuring the Liturgy, God’s fulfillment of His promise to be among men accomplishes man’s fullest enlightenment.

“>Eucharist? It is the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, which the Lord Himself established at the Last Supper before His Passion. Indeed, at Vespers on Holy and Great ThursdayOn this day, Holy and Great Thursday, according to the order which our Holy Fathers inherited from the Holy Apostles, and the Holy Gospels, we celebrate four events: the Holy Washing of the Disciples’ feet, the Mystical Supper (the institution of the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist, which we celebrate to this day), the Lord’s Agony in the Garden, and His Betrayal. “>Holy and Great Thursday we hear that the Lord took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My Body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me (Lk. 22:19). The Eucharist is the principal sacrament of the Church, which creates it. The Church—that is, a community of the faithful—celebrates the Eucharist, and the Eucharist transforms believers into the Church, into the Body of Christ. By partaking of the Holy Gifts, the faithful become one with Christ and with each other. The early Christians understood this very well and therefore they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42); And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul (Acts 4: 32). Thus, there is an identical internal connection between the Church and the Eucharist.

The Orthodox Church believes that Christ is really present in the Eucharistic bread and wine. Bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Lord through the Descent of the Holy Spirit by the prayer of the faithful presided over by a bishop (or a priest). This is a mystery that our mind cannot fathom, but which we accept through faith. Attempts to explain the Church sacraments intellectually and rationalistically have always led to heresies and divisions among believers. We must not doubt what Christ has told us, namely that the bread and wine consecrated at the Divine Liturgy are transformed into His Body and Blood. If someone doubts the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, it means that he doubts both God’s Incarnation and the preaching of the Gospel, which will spread through the Church until the end of time.

Since ancient times two Liturgies have been celebrated in the Orthodox Church: those of St. John Chrysostom and of St. Basil the Great (both from the fourth century), and they are very similar. Both consist of two parts: the Liturgy of the Catechumens (that is, the Liturgy of those who are preparing to be Baptized, but in which the baptized also take part), and the Liturgy of the Faithful. The second part is the Eucharistic Canon, or the Anaphora, with the Epiclesis (the invocation of the Holy Spirit to bless the bread and wine), and the Communion of the Holy Gifts by the faithful. The Liturgy of the Catechumens includes readings from the Holy Scriptures (the Epistles and the Gospel), along with prayers in the form of litanies for the faithful and catechumens alike. The Liturgy is preceded by the proskomedia, which the priest performs in concentration before the beginning of the service itself. This service is very rich and full of symbolism, and the atmosphere at church is mystical. All this attunes believers to inner concentration and contemplation of the mystery of our Savior’s life. In the Liturgy His whole life is actualized—from His Nativity to Ascension.

There is a profound mystery in the Orthodox Church. Every prayer of a believer, even liturgical prayer, must descend from the head into the heart, encompassing his whole heart, because it is the center of a human being. At the same time, the heart is the home of baptismal grace—God abides precisely in the human heart. That is why it is so important when our mind constantly descends into the heart, and then we will find peace. When the mind and the heart are scattered, it leads to mental stress and anxiety, depression and a state of dissatisfaction. That is why concentrated individual and liturgical prayer is so vital.

    

The Divine Liturgy has the nature of a meal and a sacrifice. To participate in it requires special preparation, so that the faithful can partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1–14) Christ draws our attention to a man who comes there without wedding garments and is driven out. The Divine Liturgy symbolically represents the marriage of our soul with the sacrificial Lamb, before Whom we must appear in wedding attire. Such a robe of the soul is its purity. We attain this through prayer and feasible ascetic life, through good works, through concrete acts of love for others and through confessing our sins to our spiritual father.

Nowadays, Orthodox Christians receive Communion quite often, and some at every Divine Liturgy (as is customary, for example, in the Greek, Russian, Antiochian and other Local Churches, and in the Romanian Church, unfortunately, to a lesser extent). In the Romanian Church, confession is not necessarily connected with Communion, but it is connected with sins committed. Thus, in confession we repent of our sins, and especially grave ones, such as renunciation of Christ, murder, adultery, fornication, cohabitation, hatred or oppression of our neighbors. All this separates us from Christ and His Church. Confession is the sacrament of reconciliation with the Church, from which we fell away through sin. This sacrament brings us back to the status of full-fledged members of the Church. Those who commit grave sins can receive Communion again only after confession and the fulfillment of the penance given to them by the priest. In confession we promise God that with His help we will not repeat the sins we have committed anymore.

Thus, our “wedding clothes” or “shining baptismal robes”, stained with sin, are cleansed through confession. Remembering our sins, we make even more efforts on the path of prayer and asceticism, which purify our souls and unite us with God. Prayer should become the breath of a believer. We will be able to feel and perceive God as reality, as the deepest foundation of our being provided that we pray much and unceasingly, as the holy Apostle Paul advises us. Therefore, the Holy Fathers of the Church have compiled a number of prayers for all life situations, as well as before and after Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Note what prayerful beauty the Anaphora has!

    

In addition to prayer and abstinence—that is, fasting—the struggle against sin to free ourselves from passions is important in the Orthodox Church. The Christian life is essentially an ascetic one: Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life (Mt. 7:14). It is accompanied by many temptations and sorrows that we cannot overcome except through patience and perseverance in fasting and prayer, through moderation in everything and abstinence from everything that can harm the soul in its longing for God. Therefore, for instance, the Orthodox Church has preserved the tradition of marital abstinence during Lent. We also fast before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, which is called Eucharistic fast. On the surface of it, this restricts human freedom, but in fact it is through restrictions that we attain real freedom. Salvation, like all good skills and virtues that should adorn a Christian’s life, is a gift from God: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights (Jas. 1:17). But God does not force anyone to accept His gifts. The acceptance of these gifts on our part comes through faith at the moment when we open our hearts to Him. Faith in God is not just a reasonable consent to Divine revelation, but, above all, spiritual consent and feeling that require us to lead a new way of life.

Christianity is a new life in Christ. But in order to be able to live this new life we must first abandon the old life, reject the old man, who is used to sin and lust, And… put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24). This rebirth into the new man begins with Baptism and should continue throughout our lives. But after being baptized, most of us stray from the right path, and our hearts harden and cease to be receptive to the grace of God. And we no longer allow grace to work in us and no longer co-work with it. If we realize our mistake and awaken, we must run to church and try to start to live its life anew. After all, it is there, through the holy sacraments, that we will be able to receive help on our Christian path. God rewards us for our struggle with passions, for our efforts to acquire the virtues that give us back the freedom that we lost through sin.

As a matter of fact, our whole life is a continuous effort to move forward on the path of goodness and virtue to becoming like Christ. And in this striving, we are continuously sustained by the grace of the holy sacraments, especially the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. All the gifts we have always come from God, but at the same time it depends on our will, whether to accept or reject them. The acceptance of Divine gifts takes place through our life according to faith and through ascetic life: Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin (Heb. 12:4); But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1 Cor. 9: 27). The Eucharist and all the other Church sacraments are a gift from God that sanctifies us and unites us with Christ. But this happens only to the extent that we make an existential effort in faith through prayer and feasible asceticism.

The Vatican and the Chinese government are renewing their agreement on the appointment of bishops and extending it from a two-year to a four-year term, both sides announced.

Lin Jian, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in Beijing Oct. 22, “Through friendly consultations, the two sides have decided to extend the agreement for another four years,” reported The Standard, a newspaper based in Hong Kong.

“The two sides will maintain talks with a constructive spirit and continue to promote the improvement of China-Vatican relations,” the Chinese spokesman said.

A few hours later, the Vatican issued a statement saying, “In light of the consensus reached for an effective application of the Provisional Agreement regarding the Appointment of Bishops, after appropriate consultation and assessment, the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China have agreed to extend further its validity for four years from the present date.”

“The Vatican Party remains dedicated to furthering the respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese Party, in view of the further development of bilateral relations for the benefit of the Catholic Church in China and the Chinese people as a whole,” the Vatican statement said.

In 2018, the Vatican and the government of China signed an agreement outlining procedures for ensuring that Catholic bishops elected by the Catholic community in China are approved by the pope before their ordinations or installations. The provisional agreement, which has never been published, was renewed for two years in 2020 and 2022.

When the Vatican first signed the agreement, Pope Francis also lifted the excommunications or irregular status of seven bishops who had been ordained with government approval, but not the Vatican’s consent. It marked the first time in decades that all the Catholic bishops in China were in full communion with the pope.

In mid-September Pope Francis had told reporters flying with him from Singapore, “I am content with the dialogue with China. The results are good. Also, on the nomination of bishops, the work is going forward with goodwill.”

However, the Vatican has complained at least twice in the past six years when China named or transferred bishops in apparent violation of the accord.

A few days before the Vatican and China announced the renewal of the agreement, Vatican News published the speeches the two bishops from mainland China gave at the Synod of Bishops and noted that it was only after the agreement was signed in 2018 that any bishops from the mainland could participate in a synod at the Vatican.

One of the two Chinese synod delegates, Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu of Funing-Mindong, was among the seven clerics readmitted “to full ecclesial communion” with the signing of the Vatican-China agreement in 2018. He and four other priests were ordained bishops without Vatican approval in 2000.

Mworoga, Kenya, October 22, 2024

Photo: exarchate-africa.ru     

A dozen children were baptized into Christ in at a church in Kenya last week.

On Sunday, October 13, at the Church of St. Tikhon of Moscow in the village of Mworoga in central Kenya, the area dean Fr. Theoklit Kitinji and Fr. Nikifor Mugambi celebrated the Divine Liturgy, reports the Russian Orthodox Church’s African Exarchate.

Photo: exarchate-africa.ru     

After the Liturgy, the Sacrament of Baptism was also celebrated. In all, 12 children received the washing of regeneration.

Kenya: Seven students baptized at growing Orthodox schoolFr. Antipas Odhiambo of the Ngando Orthodox Christian School and Community Outreach Center in Nairobi, Kenya, is glad to report that he has received seven more youths into the faith from his student body during a recent Baptismal Liturgy, increasing the number of converts to his flock coming from the school.

“>In August, OrthoChristian reported on the Baptism of seven students at an Orthodox school in Nairobi.

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Dalj, Croatia, October 22, 2024

Photo: spc.rs     

Over the weekend, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia consecrated one of the largest Serbian Orthodox churches in Croatia, that was previously closed by the Ustaše authorities.

The Patriarch led the consecration and Divine Liturgy at the renovated Cathedral of the Great Martyr St. Demetrios in the village of Dalj on Saturday, October 19, together with several other hierarchs, including the local Bishop Heruvim of Osijek-Polje and Baranja, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Photo: spc.rs “Without God’s grace, without communion with God, whatever we are—famous, rich, powerful, successful—whatever we are and whatever we have, if we don’t have communion with God, everything turns into meaninglessness, into dust and ashes, sooner or later, because we are created in the image and likeness of God. We are created for eternity,” Pat. Porfirije preached in the newly reconsecrated church.

“We say that wherever we are, as long as there’s a church, as long as there’s the Liturgy, as long as there’s prayer, we exist, because then we’re in Christ, but what’s more important, not only that we exist here and now in history, but that we all together have eternity, we have the Kingdom of God, because that’s our goal. That’s why we are called from non-being into being; that’s why we’re born.”

Bp. Heruvim spoke of the glorious history of the Church of the Great Martyr Demetrios, which suffered much, as did the people who built it, renovated it and prayed to God in it.

Photo: spc.rs     

“But the strength of the Church of Christ is precisely in that suffering, because suffering is the path to resurrection and confirmation of the true path of salvation. The entire history of the Church proves this: very often the Church was in an unfavorable position before persecutions or prohibitions, but it never faltered before any temptation, but, on the contrary, became stronger and stronger,” the hierarch said.

Following the Liturgy, His Holiness blessed the slava bread on the occasion of the feast of St. Stefan Štiljanović, the patron saint of the Diocese of Osijek-Polje and Baranja.

***

The history of the cathedral:

Photo: spc.rs     

The Cathedral of the Great Martyr Demetrios in Dalj is one of the most beautiful and largest churches of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Its history is as turbulent as the history of the Serbian people in the area of eastern Slavonia, western Syrmia, and Baranja.

The original wooden church was built in 1715, and the following year it was consecrated by Metropolitan Vikentije Popović Hadžilović of Karlovci. The construction of a new church made of solid material began in 1756. The current church was built in 1799, renovated four decades later, and consecrated by Metropolitan Stefan Stanković on the Nativity of the Theotokos in 1840.

During World War I, the bells were removed from the church. In World War II, the church suffered great destruction by the Ustaše authorities of the Independent State of Croatia, when it was closed on the feast of St. Peter in 1941. At that time, four bells were removed, the famous baroque iconostasis was demolished and destroyed, and the treasury was looted. The roof tiles were also removed from the church, the bell tower was mined, and the walls collapsed.

The church has been renovated and refurbished several times, and today, through the efforts of His Grace Bishop Heruvim of Osijek-Polje and Baranja, it begins to shine in full splendor, to the pride of the Serbian people and the Church of St. Sava.

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Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, October 22, 2024

Photo: Cherkasy Diocese Telegram     

After the godless schismatics of the “Orthodox Church in Ukraine” went on a violent rampage through the Archangel Michael Cathedral last week, a longtime social ministry at the church came to a halt.

Metropolitan Theodosy diagnosed with burns and concussion after violent seizure of Cherkasy cathedral (+VIDEO)Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy and Kanev was severely injured. During the attack, he was beaten, his klobuk was torn off, and his bishop’s staff was snatched away and used to strike believers.

“>On October 17, OCU militants attacked the church twice, brandishing gas pistols and tear gas, which they used against the peacefully praying Orthodox Christians. They also brutally beat His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy, who suffered a concussion and corneal burns.

Since the OCU was created by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2018, its representatives have violently seized hundreds of churches from Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. In many cases, the churches have simply stood empty after being taken, because all the believers remain faithful to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

And in the case of the Cherkasy Cathedral, the OCU canceled services at its other churches in the area to try to increase the turnout at the violently stolen cathedral.

However, one of the Orthodox Church’s important social ministries run through the cathedral did not take place as usual on Sunday.

For years, the Orthodox Sisters of Mercy in Cherkasy have prepared and fed hundreds of hot meals to the poor and needy at the cathedral every Sunday.

However, this past Sunday, “no one distributed hot lunches near the cathedral, no one provided spiritual support to people, no one spent time with these people. And they need so little—attention and a bit of warmth,” writes the canonical Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC.

“They didn’t seize the cathedral to carry out the Orthodox mission and Christian love!” the diocese continues.

“How much goodness and mercy left the cathedral grounds along with the true believers…

God be your judge…”

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Thessaloniki, October 22, 2024

Photo: imchalkidos.gr     

The Orthodox faithful festively greeted a venerated icon of the Mother of God that arrived from the island of Evia yesterday.

The Panagia Faneromeni Icon, from the pilgrimage site of the same name, arrived yesterday afternoon as part of the extended celebrations of Thessaloniki’s patron, St. Demetrios the Great Martyr and Myrrh-streamer, whose feast falls on October 26.

The icon was brought by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Chalkis and greeted by Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki with the clergy, faithful, and officials of the city, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

It was then transferred in a procession to the Holy Church of the St. Demetrios, accompanied by the Philharmonic band of Thessaloniki and the Greek police, military contingents, a delegation of Red Cross volunteers, and representatives of various cultural associations.

At the church, an official Doxology service was held, followed by Vespers and the Supplicatory Canon to Panagia Faneromeni.

A Hierarchical Vigil, with Matins and the Divine Liturgy) was celebrated in the evening by Met. Chrysostomos of Chalkis and Met. Philotheos of Thessaloniki.

The events in honor of St. Demetrios will continue through November 3.

***

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

The Metropolis of Chalkis tells the story of the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God that led to the foundation of the Panagia Faneromeni Monastery in Evia:

Three decades after the violent separation of the Artaki people from their Asian Minor homeland, at noon on April 29, 1951, Pascha Sunday, a miraculous event occurred in their new homeland, Nea Artaki, Evia, which was to mark their ecclesiastical life.

Eight girls, aged 10-12 years, were at a coastal location and, in the resurrection atmosphere of the day, were playing and singing. Suddenly, at a short distance from where they were, they noticed a black-clad, exceptionally beautiful woman, kneeling and in a posture of prayer. On her hands, she wore golden cuffs, and on her head, she had a black veil and a halo.

The little girls, faced with this sight, were troubled and, full of fear, left the place to notify their parents. However, when they arrived at the site, the black-clad woman had disappeared. But not the traces of her presence. The imprints of her knees were still in the soil.

The little girls reported the events to the village priest, the late Fr. Spyridon Athanasiou, and he to the late Metropolitan of Chalkis Gregorios (Pliathos) (1922–1968), who called the girls who confirmed the miracle to him, even telling him that the woman appeared in their sleep, telling them that she was the Panagia and that they should build a church at the site of her appearance.

After these events, the Metropolitan gave his canonical blessing for a holy church to be built in honor of the Panagia, which later became a holy pilgrimage site.

The foundation stone of the holy church was laid by Metropolitan Gregorios on August 12, 1951. From then on, people’s offerings to the Panagia began, which continue to this day, as a precious legacy left to us by our ancestors.

The holy pilgrimage site was built and acquired a wonderful holy church, for the name of God to be glorified and the name of His holy Mother to be magnified. It was consecrated in 1969 by the late Metropolitan of Chalkis Nikolaos (Selentis) (1968–1974).

At the site of the theophany, a holy chapel was erected, and above it, the bell tower of the holy church.

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