Tag: Christianity

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is celebrated on the Friday after the second Sunday following Pentecost.

From its earliest days, the Church has meditated on the mystery of Christ’s wounds at his crucifixion, and the blood and water that poured from his side. In the 11th and 12th centuries, we see indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart, beginning in Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries.

Specific devotions became popular after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a Visitation nun, received a personal revelation, which involved a series of visions of Christ, as she prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. She wrote, “He disclosed to me the marvels of his Love and the inexplicable secrets of his Sacred Heart.” Christ made the following promises to those who consecrate themselves and make reparations to his Sacred Heart:

• He will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
• He will establish peace in their homes.
• He will comfort them in all their afflictions.
• He will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
• He will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
• Sinners will find in His Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
• Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
• Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
• He will bless every place in which an image of His Heart is exposed and honored.
• He will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
• Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in His Heart.
• In the excessive mercy of His Heart that His all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in His disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. His divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

Gn. 3:9–15 / Ps. 130:1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8 / 2 Cor. 4:13–5:1 / Mk. 3:20–35

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has just been healing and casting out demons in Galilee. Along with the crowds, who flock to him so that he can’t even take a break to eat, come people who do not understand what he is doing.

Even his friends think he has lost his mind and needs to be taken away for a while. But the scribes who came down from Jerusalem are not just honestly mistaken; they accuse him of being possessed by the prince of demons.

The reality is just the opposite. Jesus is revealing himself as the one promised in our first reading. He is the seed of the woman who has come to crush the head of the demonic serpent. In the parable of the strong man, Jesus reveals that He has come not just to punish the devil but to free those bound by him.

As St. Bede explains, “The Lord has also bound the strong man, that is, the devil: which means, He has restrained him from seducing the elect, and entering into his house, the world; He has spoiled his house, and His goods, that is men, because He has snatched them from the snares of the devil, and has united them to His Church.”

The scribes blaspheme by attributing this work of the Holy Spirit to demons. Jesus adds a statement that shocks us at first: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness.”

That does not mean that there are any limits to the mercy of God (CCC 1864). Rather, the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the deliberate refusal to accept the mercy offered through the Holy Spirit. Instead, we must imitate those who sat at Jesus’ feet. For, as he said, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Photo: kvreal2018.com     

I recently spoke with a dear friend who dolefully reported that a distant family member had left his very traditional Protestant church (with its stress on doctrine and Reformed worship) for a group called “The Bridge”. The name of the group reminded me of similar names of such new churches, such as “Connect”, and “Relate”—i.e. the names were intended to highlight their emphasis on relationships. So much for “St. James Anglican Cathedral”, or “Ferndale Baptist Church”, or even “Living Waters Pentecostal Assembly”.

As well as emphasizing their hope of new members forging relationships at church, the unusual names also served to emphasize how the community was unique, new, daring, un-traditional, innovative, and exciting. To me, however, the name simply served to demonstrate how all the new unique churches were absolutely cookie-cutter identical and completely interchangeable: the same praise band, the same large staff, the same offering of para-church groups, the same self-help sermons sprinkled with God-talk, and the same lattes available during the service.

The more I perused their website, the more I began to see my friend’s point and the more doleful I became as well. The founders of these communities are very business savvy: they know very well that many people feel isolated from others, and long for connection. We rarely know all the neighbours on our street as our fathers and grandfathers once did, and we are cloistered behind our anonymous keyboards and cellphones. We may have 450 Facebook friends, but cannot name the children of our next-door neighbour. We feel cut off from others because we are cut off, and so we are starved for relationship and connection.

Enter the Bridge—or Connect, or Relate, or whatever name it goes by, a group promising hungry people that they can provide what they are longing for. (It reminds me of the old tele-evangelists promising divine healing to those suffering from cancer, if only they would believe—and of course, send money.) Those attending the praise band churches are good people. They are also what professional salesmen term “motivated buyers”.

None of this, of course, is wrong, and none of it in itself de-legitimizes those groups. Indeed, thriving Orthodox missions also try their best to provide a healing matrix of relationship and love to those who join them and offer them a close-knit church family. We are social animals made for such relationships, and the Church is part of God’s provision for us.

The problem (and the source of my friend’s dolefulness) is the length to which such groups will sometimes go to provide welcome. The emphasis is on “inclusiveness” (a magic word which shows up reliably in almost every website promoting such groups). If by “inclusive” was meant that no one was disdained or turned away because they were of a certain colour, language, ethnicity, or if they were poorly dressed, this would be laudable. But I’m afraid it often means something very different.

For example, one website promoting an Anglican congregation answers the question, “Are you inclusive and affirming?” by declaring that their congregation “welcomes and celebrates all people regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status. We believe and preach that all people are made in the image of God and are worthy of love, belonging and safety.” In plainer speech, they mean that those who are practising homosexuals or transgender or who are sexually active outside of marriage will not find such choices subject to correction or condemnation, but will be affirmed and celebrated.                                                                       

The Bridge is also concerned to affirm. On their website, under the “Our Values” tab, and under the sub-heading of “Inclusive”, they declare, “We believe that both male and female are full participants in God’s community. It’s not your gender, but your GIFTS that determine your ministry. We believe everyone is called to ministry. Everyone is a ‘10’ at something. We do everything in TEAM… People are all at different places on their journey. At no juncture is it part of a person’s ministry to judge anyone.”                                                        

I smiled a bit at their bold declaration that both male and female are “full participants” in ministry at the Bridge as if it were daring and new, and which the older mainline churches have been doing for about fifty years now. Of greater interest was their declaration that “everyone is a ‘10’ at something”.   

This is clearly nonsense. Speaking of the person I know best (i.e. myself) I am not a ‘10’ at anything—and I am perfectly okay with it. Like everyone else, I do certain things very well, certain things less well, and many things very badly. Telling everyone that they are a ‘10’ at something is flattery, pure and simple. It aims at increasing their self-esteem and making them feel good about themselves, whether they deserve it or not.                                                    

Significant too is their declaration that that “at no juncture is it part of a person’s ministry to judge anyone.” That too is nonsense. In fact, it is the Church’s job, through its clergy, to judge and to declare what is right and what is wrong. We have this from St. Paul, who writes about those impenitently doing what is wrong that the local church must “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13). The Church is a hospital for sinners, but it presupposes that the sick sinner wants to be made well. If the sick sinner denies he is sick and embraces and justifies his sin, judgment from the local church (i.e. expulsion) is required.                               

Here then is the main problem with churches which make “inclusiveness” the sole and governing virtue (or, if you prefer, their ruling passion): that community has abandoned its God-given mandate to exhort its members to repentance. In place of messages condemning sin and encouraging repentance, the members are treated to a continual warm bath of affirmation aimed at increasing their self-esteem. You are not a sick sinner, fighting for health; you are a ‘10’, and no one may judge you lest it decrease your self-esteem and make you feel bad. Such churches are trap-doors to hell.                  

Hopefully the Bridge is not among such places, and it offers a better homiletical diet than suggested on its website. I am happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. But one thing is certain: any church worthy of the name has a duty not only to welcome all sinners to the embrace of Christ and the embrace of their fellow-members. It also has a duty to warn its members of the consequences of sin and the folly of following the World in this crooked and perverse generation. The Church must be a bridge from earth to heaven, and the bridge and the path on it which leads to life is narrow (Matthew 7:14). The task of the Church is encourage its members as they walk that narrow path, and as they cross that bridge.   

Paula “Paulette” Harlow of Kingston, Massachusetts, became the 10th and final pro-life activist to be sentenced for her participation in an October 2020 blockade of a Washington abortion clinic.

On May 31, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kottar-Kotelly sentenced Harlow to 24 months in prison for violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, and a charge of conspiracy against rights.

Final sentencing of pro-life activist

Harlow, 75, a grandmother who uses a wheelchair because of illness, has been on home confinement since her conviction last November. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of just under three years.

A DC judge just sentenced 75-year-old Paulette Harlow, who is in poor health, to 2 years in prison for praying outside an abortion clinic. Her husband fears she might die there. pic.twitter.com/SHg0kHmdRz

— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) June 3, 2024

Like her sister Jean Marshall, also of Kingston, she is a Secular Franciscan. Marshall, 74, was earlier sentenced to 24 months in prison for the same blockade.

The blockade, which was livestreamed on Facebook, occurred at Washington Surgi-Clinic. Lauren Handy, who led it, received worldwide attention for a later press conference in which she said she had retrieved a box from that clinic containing 115 aborted fetuses and five late-term infant corpses.

No one was charged for that, and the five corpses were retrieved by the District of Columbia medical examiner’s office. The box of fetal remains was buried in a private cemetery in West Virginia, presided over by a Catholic priest.

Blockade details

According to court documents, Harlow, on Oct. 22, 2020, “jostled past three employees attempting to keep the flood of obstructionists out. With a bike lock affixed to her neck, (she) then chained herself to four of her co-conspirators and blocked the main entrance to the clinic’s medical procedure area.”

The “melee,” as prosecutors described it, began after Jay Smith shoved a door open, forcing a nurse to fall backward, spraining an ankle.

The clinic manager “rushed from the medical procedure area into the waiting room with a broom to attempt to erect a barrier separating two patients from Handy, Smith, and others. Joan Andrews Bell “slipped through an opening, dragging Harlow with her while Smith fought with the nurse.”

The court documents continue, “As the clinic manager attempted to stand her ground, a much larger Harlow purposefully fell on top … forcefully shoving the clinic manager into a waiting-room chair.” Prosecutor described this as “body slamming.” Harlow “then slid to the floor” which allowed the other blockaders to enter.

When a police officer with a power saw “attempted to remove the chain connecting Harlow, Bell, Smith, and (John) Hinshaw, Harlow and Marshall insisted that (the officer) would injure them if he tried. Harlow, prosecutors stated, “then tried a different tack, lecturing (the officer) that he “ha(s) a conscience” that should lead him to “let (the conspirators) stay” in the clinic to “save lives.” He eventually used the saw.

Handy, 30, of Alexandria, Virginia, received the longest sentence, 57 months, becoming the first person in the nation to be sentenced under the FACE Act. Her attorneys at the Thomas More Society have filed an appeal in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and have said their ultimate goal is to get the FACE Act overturned by the Supreme Court.

Others sentenced

Others sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were:

William Goodman, 54, of the Bronx, New York, 27 months; Herb Geraghty, 27, of Pittsburgh, 27 months; Jonathan Darnel, 42, Arlington, Virginia, 34 months; Heather idoni, 59, of Linden, Michigan, 24 months; Bell, 76, of Montague, New Jersey, 27 months; Hinshaw, 69, of Levittown, New York, 21 months. All sentences include an additional three years of supervised release.

In March 2023, Smith, 34, of Freeport, New York, entered a guilty plea and received a 10-month sentence.

The FACE Act

The FACE Act, adopted in 1994, prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

There are FACE Act sentencings ahead in July over a clinic blockade in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in 2021 and a September trial for a clinic blockade in Sterling Heights, Michigan, in August 2020. In addition, the Justice Department has announced it is seeking steep fines and penalties against seven pro-life activists involved in blockades at two abortion clinics in Ohio in June 2021.

The Catholic Church opposes abortion because it holds that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death. However, the church also makes clear that all advocacy for justice must use only moral means.

In his 1993 encyclical, “Veritatis Splendor,” St. John Paul II said, “Though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good, it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it.” He said a person cannot “intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order … even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general.”

“To follow in God’s footsteps with the children”

Pilgrimage Organizer, Speech Therapist, and the Mother of a Big, Second FamilyTalking about family traditions, their work and hobbies, these women have sincerely shared with readers what helps them overcome difficulties, what joy they feel when they observe the good fruits of their labors, and how happy they are in their service.

“>Part 1. Pilgrimage Organizer, Speech Therapist, and the Mother of a Big, Second Family

Olga Koikova introduces children to the art of bell-ringing     

Olga Koikova, teacher of the Rodnik Home for Children with Learning Difficulties in Murygino, wife of the rector of the Church of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Girsovo:

Olga Koikova For thirty-seven years I have been working at the Rodnik Boarding Home for Children with Learning Difficulties in Murygino as a teacher, carrying on the cause of my parents, both of whom used to work here as well. In 2012, it occurred to me to organize a house church at the Home, and with the blessing of Vladyka Mark the building of the church commenced. It is small, only about 390 square feet, but this church has everything it should have: a sanctuary, a place where children from the Home can have confession, and a kliros; there are candle holders where you can put candles for the health and the repose of your loved ones.

Children from the Rodnik Home gladly come to services. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated once a month, and twice a month we organize prayer services. Batiushka comes to us to perform services. During the Paschal season there was a cross procession around the Home—it is a special joy for us and the children. We are so grateful to the priests who cooperate with us! After the Divine Liturgy, batiushka and I go to give communion to all the bedridden children and sprinkle them with holy water. It has been noticed that children become calmer after this. Sometimes as you walk along the corridor you hear children make noise and shout, but once batiushka gives the Body and Blood of Christ to the children, silence begins to reign there and the children calm down.

Our house church has existed for fourteen years now. Fr. Valery Goshev helped us and started organizing everything. Many good, kind-hearted priests pastored our Home. After him came Fr. Nikolai Repin, who miraculously found an approach to children. It was the very difficult time of the pandemic. He always called us, wondered how we were doing, and brought us prosphora and holy water when we were in quarantine. Many thanks to him for such support. Then Fr. Nikolai Veselov began to pastor us. Cheerful and good-natured, he found an approach to the children quickly, and they came to love him with all their hearts. Today we are pastored by Priest Alexander Popov.

Olga Koikova with her husband, Fr. Vladimir     

The children followed in the footsteps of God very cautiously. At first they took very timid steps. We just taught them the basics of Orthodoxy; the staff tried to show them by their example how to venerate icons, how to make the sign of the cross, and how to pray. But at first it seemed to us that the children couldn’t remember anything, and we even complained to the priests who visited the Home that we were unable to do anything. But they humbly said: “Keep sowing the seeds, and someday they will grow.”

Pilgrimage trips have greatly helped us to follow in the footsteps of God. For children who live in the Home in isolation it is a great joy to escape somewhere. The “From Vyatka” pilgrimage service took us under its wing. Nadezhda Shapoval developed itineraries that were understandable and interesting for our children with special needs. Pilgrims often confessed to us that at first, when Nadezhda informed them that children with special needs would join them, they were scared and even were about to cancel, fearing that the children would be very noisy. But everything turned out the other way around: the children were very obedient, they always stood calmly and upright at services and prayed sincerely with all their hearts. And, of course, the children in the Rodnik Home look forward to their next meetings with the Lord; they always behave perfectly at services and take Holy Communion. The older children help at the Liturgy in our house church. They have already grown up, so they help us with the younger children: they help them stand in line for Communion, give them some prosphora and some wine mixed with warm water right after Communion and teach them how to eat prosphora carefully so as not to drop any crumbs.

Olga Koikova with children from the Rodnik Home Here is one of my observations. For several years the children just stood at the service, listened to church hymns, watched and were silent. But quite recently we had a miracle: they started singing along with the choir! Now we have many mute children; we communicate with them using sign language. And once, they began to mumble! The choir director and I exchanged glances. We usually sang, while they just listened to us. And suddenly they started singing “Our Father”, then the Creed, and then quickly began to join in the singing throughout the service. The priest blessed the participation of these children in services. The choir director, Elena Grigorievna Mamayeva from the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the village of Murygino, shows them with her hands where to sing “Lord have mercy” and where other words are needed. And on their own level, they have already begun to accompany almost the entire service with their “mute” singing: sometimes they help themselves with their hands as they are unable to pronounce words distinctly, but we humbly admire them and rejoice that they walk towards the Lord their own way.

The sacrament of Baptism in the Rodnik Home is always a special event. There was a point when we realized that some unbaptized children had been admitted to it, and batiushka baptized them. We would bring a font, appoint a day, and our friends from pilgrimage trips and Orthodox youth would come to us. These were touching, unforgettable moments. There were also moments when the older children became the godparents of the younger ones, and now they take them to Communion, rejoice for them, and help us take them on pilgrimage trips. That is, the older children guide the younger ones in their steps to God.

The children like to do crafts for the major feasts and draw churches. And if they go on a trip, they will definitely reflect their impressions in drawings later. They take part in the annual “My Dream Church” competition and win prizes.

Not long ago, my husband was ordained priest. Of course, it is a great responsibility. Becoming a priest’s wife was a serious step for me. I am supposed to help batiushka and the church parishioners. They ask a lot of questions, and sometimes I don’t know how to answer them and say that I will be able to give an answer at the next service. Then I prepare and answer these questions. Our parishioners like to gather for spiritual conversations. Meanwhile, from the time I became a priest’s wife I have had inner humility, more patience, and peace of mind.

The parish of the Church of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Girsovo My husband, Father Vladimir Koikov, was appointed rector of the Church of the The Pochaev Icon of the Mother of GodThe Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God is among the most venerable sacred shrines of the Russian Church.

“>Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Girsovo. There are many things to do in the village church—you need to help in the church shop, read the Hours, and in the absence of a bell-ringer you fill in for him and provide the service with choir singing. The church is being built, and we are restoring the bell-tower on our own. Our parish is small, but very united; we decorate the church for the feasts, build Nativity scenes from snow, and clean up the area—we do everything together. And today the parish is already discussing meeting the Velikoretsky cross procession. How gratifying it is that people have joined the church, united, and are following in the footsteps of God together.

This year on the feast of the holy Myrrh-Bearing Women, after the Divine Liturgy Fr. Vladimir Koikov greeted the Orthodox women in the parish, gave them presents, wished them spiritual joy, prosperity and good health.

We also have this interesting aspect in our family—our children (daughter and son) support us. They know that the children in the Rodnik Home call me “mother”, and we take some of them to stay with us for a week in the summer.

I remember many stories about children with special needs from the Rodnik Home, how earnestly they prayed that their mothers who had not visited them for years would come to them, how icons started “weeping” after their prayers, how the older children prayed for their own homes… And everything was sorted out! Glory to God for all things.

“The main thing is to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep”

Ekaterina Molokanova, administrator of St. Seraphim’s Cathedral, wife of the cleric of the Church of the Great-Martyr Panteleimon in Kirov, Priest Sergei Molokanov:

Ekaterina and Priest Sergei Molokanov at St. Seraphim’s Church I have been the administrator and shop assistant at the Cathedral of St. Seraphim of Sarov as an obedience for three years now.

It is a great joy to labor in such a holy place as our church, to be part of such a wonder as St. Seraphim’s Cathedral. It still evokes the atmosphere of pre-revolutionary Russia and preserves it. And, of course, I want everyone who enters this church to feel this, and take a bit of its warmth away with them, returning to the fuss of everyday life. The task of everyone who meets a parishioner on the threshold of the church is to help him feel this warmth in his heart.

Unfortunately this does not happen everywhere, and sometimes we hear sad stories from people who met indifferent or even unfriendly church workers in another church, who frightened them away from church with their rude words.

It was the same with me. I met a cantankerous church worker on my way to God whom I now remember with a smile. But then, after listening to my complaints, my father-confessor said: “You can’t put a kind and sensitive person at every candlestand. Try to work there yourself.”

These words became a “seed” that was destined to grow only seven years later. But I regret a single time that I labored in the house of God. As one elder said, if people could see with their spiritual eyes what abundant grace is poured out during the Liturgy, they would collect the dust from the floor and wash themselves with it.

I want to ask all of us: If you see someone enter a church without a headscarf, or light a candle from an icon lamp, or read prayers on a smartphone, don’t reproach them! People are coming to God—we mustn’t stop them. Visitors often ask church workers to show them one or another icon with the words, “Take me to the Mother of God.” And we do it. So, let’s walk together!!!

But any work that is pleasing to God is accompanied by difficulties and temptations. Moreover, there are plenty of them in working with people. It would seem, I gave a candle to a visitor, submitted intercession lists, and the job is done. But this is only at first glance. People come to church in the hope that they will be listened to, guided and treated kindly. All of them!

Therefore, the most important thing in our service is to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and all this on the same day. And I would place emphasis on the ability to listen to a person without judging him even with a glance or gesture. People are doubly grateful for this.

Ekaterina Molokanova and her husband Priest Sergei with their children during a horse ride Of course, we send people with purely spiritual questions to priests, but it often happens that it is easier for a person to ask a church worker about something, especially if he sees that she is friendly. Therefore, you have to be a psychologist, a missionary, a catechist, a historian, and even a guide. Last week, for example, an icon of the Apostle John the Theologian in our church reminded a visitor of the painting, “St. Luke”, by the Flemish painter Franz Hals, and it was vital for her to discuss with me all the differences between these two canvases. It appears that it’s good to be a little bit of an art critic. It is necessary to know Orthodox literature well in order to recommend books to parishioners for reading. At the same time, new prospects for inner development appear: there is room to grow, to explore the world of the Orthodox faith, Christian culture and literature in order to share discoveries with people around us—those whom we meet in the church of God.

The To the Velikaya River with St. NicholasThe feet are burning, the back is aching under the weight of the backpack, the sunglasses tinted grey from a heavy layer of dust (this year’s procession was held during an uncommonly dry and hot week), when, out of line, I am awash with joy: Lord, help me keep this prayerful mood, let it linger longer! Thank You, Lord!

“>Velikoretsky cross procession is a special time for the entire Vyatka Metropolia and for our church. Indeed, at this time, the palette of interesting meetings shines with new colors. Communication with pilgrims is priceless! And we, in turn, want them to have kind memories of our St. Seraphim’s Cathedral. We help them find a pair of sneakers, a mug for the journey, or the way to the train station.

Ekaterina with her daughter Elisaveta But moments of joy are rare and fleeting, while the sea of human tears that are shed in the church of God is bottomless. Today, of course, these are tears of the mothers and the wives of the fallen soldiers. Since the very beginning my husband, Fr. Sergei Molokanov, a cleric of the Church of the holy Great-Martyr Panteleimon in Kirov, and I have been compiling a list of fallen soldiers from the Kirov region for their prayerful commemoration. There are also several female parishioners in our St. Seraphim Church who, with the blessing of their father-confessors, pray for the killed soldiers.

Our family keeps in touch with the mothers of some soldiers—together we visit the graves of their heroic sons who laid down their lives for the sake of their friends. Their mothers are true myrrh-bearing women who, like our Mother Theotokos, sacrificed what they held dearest—their sons—for us.

And, of course we, the parish church workers, sometimes also need support. And we have someone to turn to. The church’s head priest, Archpriest Sergei Sizikhin, is like a spiritual rock, our support. Batiushka always cheers us up with his kind pastoral words.

He was touched by the fact that we in church are not mere church workers who “provide services”, but also part of the parish, brothers and sisters who had once decided to devote our lives to serving and helping others here in church.

Come to the church to pray, participate in the sacraments of the Church, light a candle or just pray to God quietly. And may you meet only good church workers!

“After God, family should come first in our lives”

Xenia Filimonova, a rheumatologist, Associate Professor of the Department of Internal Diseases of Kirov State Medical University, a member of the Union of Writers of Russia, wife of the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael of the Raduzhny neighborhood of Kirov, Priest Oleg Filimonov:

I am the mother of four children, but I also work. To be honest, I never believed that I should stay at home. After all, if God has given me talents, I must use them. I always studied well at school and chose my profession thanks to my mother. She is a teacher with fifty years of experience, and she used to tell my me and brothers: “Don’t become teachers—it’s very difficult and responsible.” Being a doctor is a wonderful profession. But in the end both my older brother (who had studied at the Polytechnic Institute) and I (after graduating from the medical academy) received Ph.Ds and stayed at our alma mater as teachers. Of course, I did not give up my medical work either. Our Department of Internal Diseases, of which I am an associate professor, is located at the Kirov Railway hospital, where I recieve patients as a rheumatologist.

I like my job because I feel that I can give something to students based on my own experience and knowledge. I try to instill in them the desire to be good doctors. Because now half of the success in treating patients is mere attention to them, since in our age of universal digitalization doctors often simply don’t have time to look at his patient—the main thing is to enter data into a computer. I don’t speak directly about the faith. If asked, I’ll answer, but I think I should set a good example by my behavior.

One of my main hobbies is writing poems and songs. I’ve written poetry since I was eight, and I started composing songs at the age of fifteen when I learned to play the guitar. Since 2017 I have been a member of the Union of Writers of Russia. In total, five books of my poems have been published, and an audiobook with poems and songs have been produced in the Living Voice project.

I am often invited to meetings in libraries with schoolchildren and adult readers, where I try to share the joy of life, faith, the beauty of my native land, love for children and the world. In my works I speak about the Velikoretsky cross procession and my favorite feasts: Christmas, Theophany and Pascha. Lately I have been writing melodies based on poems by Vyatka authors. I really like meeting good people in the provinces.

But let’s return to the most important thing—to the family. Even in my school years I would go to Sunday school, which was led by Fr. Vladimir Trukhin, and I always prayed to God to send me a good Orthodox husband. While studying in Kirov, I attended the “Philokalia” Orthodox youth club in Novovyatsk, where I met my soulmate. We dated for three years and were married in 2004. Now I can say that God sent me the life partner that I need. Priest Oleg Filimonov is my complete opposite; he does not like big events and performances. But he supports me in this, and it’s not a burden for him to sit with our children and cook dinner, for example. Now I help my husband (as the editor-in-chief of the Vyatka Diocesan Bulletin) by proofreading the newspaper’s materials. Another “obedience” is writing small congratulatory texts for Christmas and Pascha for the “From Vyatka” pilgrimage service, postcards with which circulate throughout monasteries and parishes of Russia.

Not long ago I realized that after God, The Meaning of Family ValuesThe holy fathers call marriage a remainder of paradise on earth.

“>family should come first in our lives, and only then work, hobbies, traveling and so on. No work, no colleagues, or audience will be with you always. When you realize this, everything falls into place; only your children, husband, and relatives will remain with you. Of course, there are problems in child-raising and in family life, but prayer, patience and love always help us!

Legislation to protect access to contraception nationwide failed to advance in the U.S. Senate on June 5 in an expected outcome.

A procedural vote to advance the Right to Contraception Act failed 51-39, falling short of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to proceed. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who supports the bill, switched his vote to oppose advancing the bill so he can potentially bring it back up in the future.

The legislation would codify the right of Americans to have access to contraceptives including birth control pills and intrauterine devices (IUDs), but also sterilization procedures, including vasectomies.

In remarks prior to the vote, Schumer argued that opponents of the bill expressed concern about abortion and threats to religious freedom, both of which he said were not in the bill.

“If you believe all women deserve to have contraception then you should vote for this bill,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.”

But Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., argued in his own remarks on the Senate floor that the matter was a “show vote” that was expected to fail without the support of 60 senators.

“Under the guise of protecting access to contraception — something that is not under threat — the Democrat leader is bringing up legislation that would not only funnel money to Democrats’ allies at Planned Parenthood but would wipe out conscience protections for health care providers,” Thune said.

Polls consistently show most U.S. adults support access to contraception, and Democrats have sought to tie the issue of contraception to abortion restrictions in an election year. The Catholic Church opposes artificial methods of birth control, but supports couples using natural fertility-based awareness methods for either achieving or postponing pregnancy as an exercise of responsible parenthood.

The vote followed comments from former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, where he appeared to suggest he was open to restrictions, before walking it back, signaling his support.

Trump, on his Truth Social website, wrote at the time that he does not support a ban on birth control, adding that the Republican Party will not either.

The day prior to the vote, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released a memo advising GOP Senate candidates to express their support for birth control.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and 21 other Republican senators who voted against the bill signed a joint statement critical of the bill itself, rather than contraception.

“There is no threat to access to contraception, which is legal in every state and required by law to be offered at no cost by health insurers, and it’s disgusting that Democrats are fearmongering on this important issue to score cheap political points,” they said. “This bill infringes on the parental rights and religious liberties of some Americans and lets the federal government force religious institutions and schools, even public elementary schools, to offer contraception like condoms to little kids. It’s just another way for Democrats to use activist attorneys and our courts to advance their radical agenda and that is why we oppose this bill.”

The closely watched vote prompted reaction near the capitol as well. Americans for Contraception erected a 20-foot inflatable in the shape of an IUD outside Union Station in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate their support of the legislation.

In a guide about the church’s teaching on issues including contraception, the National Catholic Bioethics Center describes contraception as “any action that is specifically intended, whether as an end or as a means, to prevent procreation either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse.”

While contraception “is never to be directly intended,” the guide states, its use for “therapeutic means needed to cure diseases is not illicit, even if it results in a foreseeable impediment to procreation — provided the impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that unlike contraception, “the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.” These are known as fertility-based awareness methods of family planning; the methods are sometimes collectively referred to as natural family planning.

This miracle of Blessed Liubushka of Susanino took place exactly thirty years ago, during the snowy winter of 1993.

About Blessed Liubushka

Blessed Liubushka Susaninskaya Here is the brief information about the life of the Blessed Liubushka of Susanino.

She was born in 1912 in Smolensk Province to a large peasant family. Her full name was Liubov Ivanovna Lazareva. Her mother died very early and her father died during the years of Soviet repression, which made orphans of their many children. Liubushka was brought up by a relative, and when she turned eighteen, she came to Leningrad to live with her older brother. At first, she worked at a factory, but later decided to set out on the path of a homeless wanderer. St. Seraphim of VyritsaMeanwhile, Vasily Nikolayevich Muravyov (St. Seraphim of Vyritsa’s secular name), a well-known fur trading merchant from St. Petersburg, did something unfathomable to ordinary human reasoning: He shut down his business, offered generous severance pay to all of his employees, and distributed the bulk of his capital to the needs of various monasteries.

“>St. Seraphim of Vyritsa was her spiritual father.

Liubushka traveled as a pilgrim to holy places, monasteries and churches. But she would always return to Vyritsa. Finally, in the 1970s, she remained there, settling down in the house of a pious woman, Lukia Mironova. A few years later, they moved together to Susanino. That’s where Liubushka began to receive the suffering and afflicted in a house located next to the Kazan church. Her name became widely known, and Orthodox people flocked to see her about their sorrows and needs. Liubushka met everyone meekly, and her intercessory prayers performed all kinds of miracles. She prayed rather unconventionally, by placing a finger on her palm and quietly whispering her intercessory prayers. And the Lord heeded these humble petitions and fulfilled them.

Blessed Liubushka’s favorite icon was the The Complicated History of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of GodThe history of the Kazan icon began in the sixteenth century. Yet people find the circumstances and place of its appearance unusual and surprising even to this day.

“>Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God and she prayed often before it in her cell, holding conversations with the Mother of God. According to eyewitnesses, Liubushka almost never slept—she often spent nights in prayer, only allowing a little nap while sitting on the sofa. She wasn’t talkative and kept quiet.

Just before her death, Liubushka settled in the convent dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God in Vishny Volochok, which was being restored. This is where she ended her earthly sojourn. She reposed blessedly in the Lord on September 11, 1997. The eldress was buried in the chapel by the altar of the majestic Kazan Cathedral. Her favorite cell icon of the Kazan Mother of God was placed at the tomb of the blessed eldress.

Many faithful who turn to Liubushka in prayer receive help and consolation.

Miracle with my sister Svetlana

Blessed Liubushka Susaninskaya at church I will tell you about a miracle of the blessed eldress to which I was a witness. I saw Liubushka only once in the winter of 1993. But I will cherish the memory of this meeting all my life, as it illuminated it with a gentle heavenly light.

Our meeting was preceded by sorrowful events. My younger sister Svetlana lived in Irkutsk at the time with her husband, who worked the nightshift in a military unit.

One evening, when her husband posted for night duty, his relative stopped by for a visit. Svetlana said that her husband was on the nightshift. The guest was about to leave, but then (already standing in the hallway) he asked for a hammer (supposedly to fix his shoes). Svetlana, thinking no evil, handed the hammer to him. But he snatched the moment and attacked her, utterly defenseless, hitting her on her head with the hammer. Svetlana fell down. The bandit continued his attack, trying to strangle her, when she wheezed and lost consciousness. Thinking that he had killed her, he began to search the apartment to rob them. As for Svetlana, she regained consciousness and ran out of the apartment. Drenched in blood, she was running along the snowy street in deep sub-zero temperatures of Siberian winter barefoot, wearing only a housecoat. The bandit ran out after her. She managed to get to a community police office—as, luckily, in the 1990s, 24-hour law enforcement offices were located all over the cities. Thus, she was saved from a brutal death.

But that was only the beginning… Svetlana was seriously wounded and was in a state of shock. She was taken to a trauma center, given medical care and had her wounds dressed. Later examination revealed that not only was her skull injured, but the brain as well. My sister was admitted to the hospital. The doctors made only two prognoses for her: she will either die or will go mad, provided that she survives.

Her doctors predicted two outcomes: either death or insanity, provided that she survives

This happened in December of 1993. I was told about this tragedy by a relative who flew from Irkutsk to Moscow. He also told me that my sister needed cerebrolysin, a special brain medicine not available in Irkutsk.

Surprisingly, on the eve of this meeting, a friend of mine offered that we go visit blessed Liubushka in Susanino, saying that she was a true ascetic. We packed our bags and decided to depart to Petersburg just during those days. It was as if someone had planned this wondrous trip in advance for such an occasion.

Having sobbed enough, I decided that I go first to the blessed eldress and ask her to pray for my sister. So off we went—first by train to St. Petersburg and then by train to Susanino.

It was a bright snowy Sunday afternoon. The trees were wrapped in fluffy hoarfrost and the day was frosty and fairy-tale-like. Somehow it made me feel better.

There were many people in a church, and the Divine Liturgy was still in process. I wondered about the blessed eldress: Where is she? How will I recognize her? Everyone stood soberly in prayer and only a certain old woman with a child-like face was walking back and forth in the church as if she didn’t hear the chants. She looked odd, this old woman. She wore a white kerchief pulled over her forehead, while her long pink chintz blouse had two large pockets that bulged out with all sorts of tasty snacks, such as cookies, candies, and mandarins, peeking cheerfully from her pockets. I got used to the orderly behavior at the divine service in our Moscow church, so I wasn’t very happy to see such unceremonious behavior at Liturgy…

When the service was over, we learned that we could go see the blessed eldress right there in the church annex where a queue had already formed. After waiting, I entered the cell with trepidation and was met by two nimble women helpers. They pointed to where I should go, and I saw that same old woman in the pink blouse. She was standing there, calmly looking at me…

Liubushka silently turned away from me, came up to the window and stared up into the sky through the open window

The gentle gaze of her heavenly eyes touched me so much that I went down on my knees in front of her and began to tearfully tell her what had happened to my little sister. I begged her to help my sister. Liubushka silently turned away from me, came to the window and stared into the sky through the open vent window. She kept staring there for quite some time, or so it seemed to me, as I was on my knees all the time she stood there and stared out of the window. Since she remained silent, I assumed that the blessed woman didn’t want to speak to me because of my sinfulness, and so I was about to leave. I looked quizzically at the women helpers and in a whisper asked if I am supposed to leave. They immediately began to say hush implying that Liubushka was praying for us. No, she was pleading God for us.

And indeed, Lubushka finally turned to me and said in a quiet little voice that everything will be fine with my sister. And that’s all. Then she asked where I was from and what I was doing. I answered that I was studying at the icon painting school in Moscow. She offered her admonition to me and predicted my icon-painting future. Everything she was saying was brief, laconic, just a few concise words, but also so voluminous and weighty like the words of the Gospel that transform your whole life…

Everything happened exactly according to Liubushka’s words.

I left her a completely transformed person—renewed, inspired, and serene. My soul had been transformed.

When I reached Moscow, I immediately started looking for cerebrolysin. Despite having difficulties, I was able to get this medicine and went to the airport. As soon as I entered the airport terminal, I saw a huge priest in black vestments—he was standing opposite the entrance with the collection box seeking donations for the restoration of a church. I approached him and asked for his blessing and prayers for the flight. He blessed me. At that time, it was a true wonder—seeing a priest at the airport…

You had to stand through a long line at the ticket office. There were no tickets. I got discouraged, but suddenly my eyes fell on two other windows on the side—they had no queues, no one stood there at all, and they had a huge sign “RESERVED TICKETS” (or something else of this kind) above them. I rushed there and started begging to help me fly to Irkutsk. To my surprise, the girl accommodated my request and—lo and behold!—she found an airplane ticket! After my visit to Liubushka, everything went marvelously well. I flew. Despite the fact that this was a challenging time to fly (a blizzard, awful turbulence, and as a result, the Irkutsk airport didn’t accept our flight and the airplane left in the other direction landing at some distant airfield), but I was still able to reach Irkutsk.

I was going home with shudder—what will my parents say about my sister? Is she alive? Is she conscious?…

I rang the doorbell. A radiant little sister with a wide smile opens the door for me! I stood there mute, never expecting such an obvious, enormous, and true miracle… All I could do was to utter , “Why aren’t you in the hospital…?”

Svetlana said she had been discharged the day before. All the doctors were shocked that she suddenly regained consciousness and stood up. They could find no explanation, as they had never seen such a case in medical practice before, when a practically dead person suddenly comes to life and is up and about! They didn’t find any brain damage, but for order’s sake, they put her under observation for a year.

A year has passed and no deviations from her usual, full life were observed. Svetlana was crossed off the register. She fully recovered without any consequences… Only the cerebrolysin, left unused by my sister, served for many years as a reminder of this story…

Liubushka saved my sister’s life—a beautiful person who was not yet baptized. She kept putting it off and refusing. But this time everything was different. I brought three crosses from Moscow for use at the Baptism. Without resisting, my sister chose a cross for herself and received the Sacrament of Baptism! Her soul was born into eternal Life.

And this is the merit of our dear eldress Liubushka!

The annual Order of Malta pilgrimage in May to the Lourdes shrine in France is always an emotional encounter, with the organization sponsoring dozens of malades (“sick” or “disabled people”) to travel to the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

The trip typically consists of washing of the feet, collecting and bathing in water from the Grotto of Massabielle, and a candlelight procession. This year, Archbishop José H. Gomez joined the pilgrimage and celebrated a special Mass for pilgrims in the Lourdes grotto.

The malades make the trek to experience some kind of healing — not necessarily a miracle cure to what ails them, but for peace and joy in the face of suffering.

These are just a few of the narratives from some in the Western U.S. who went, served, witnessed, and experienced the pilgrimage, from April 30 to May 8.

Michelle Carter, malade

The washing of the feet ceremony was an emotional, exhilarating, blessed moment. The sense of humility and care of others was tangible in the church. I serve as a doctor of psychology and I usually contain my emotions. As a knight washed my feet and my husband had his arm around my shoulders, tears streamed down my face. The only way of describing the feeling is to say, “I felt like I was in heaven.”

One of the knights said the trip to Lourdes is like Disneyland for Catholics. I responded, “I think I will name this pilgrimage ‘a Spiritual Boot Camp.’ He laughed. The combination of humor, laughter, tears, reflection, prayers, camaraderie — there are no words to describe. Both my husband and I have felt this is a journey of a lifetime and will forever be grateful to the members of the Order of Malta.

Ben Lochtenberg, Order of Malta provisional knight

I have witnessed feet washing in our own parish when our pastor washes the feet of 12 members of our community every Holy Thursday. I understood the symbolism of the act, although I was never an active participant.

Today was a special experience. At the designated time, I moved into position and helped Michelle take her seat while I adjusted the jug and bowl for optimal efficiency. I removed her left shoe and sock and firmly held her perfect and beautiful foot in my hands. I was immediately overcome by the Holy Spirit and realized that it was no longer a mechanical task ahead of me. I was now an instrument of God’s healing power.

I poured some cold water, perhaps only one tablespoon, and immediately enveloped Michelle’s foot firmly with my two hands. I paused and said a prayer of healing. I did not want to let it go. The feeling was of pure joy and peace. The power to give, to serve, and to heal came all of a sudden over and through me. I have never felt such a purpose to serve and the ecstasy of that moment. I did not want it to end.

Father Patrick Mulcahy, Order of Malta provisional chaplain

One of the beautiful ironies of ministry is that so often the givers become the receivers. That became the reality for me as a first-time chaplain to accompany this journey to Lourdes. I began by thinking about all that I could do for our beautiful malades. That was my plan.

I was immediately disarmed by an early encounter with one, a woman who is facing great challenges in her life. She began by reminding me of a previous encounter at a retreat and that she has prayed for me every day since that retreat experience.

“Wait a minute, I am here for you,” I thought. And at that moment, I realized we were here for each other. That is the essence of the Christian life and it set the tone for the rest of my beautiful time here. I was as broken and in need as those whom we called malades, and we ministered to each other in the person of Christ.

Dennis Diekmann, Order of Malta knight

Lourdes has called to me ever since I was a child.

In the winter of 1956 my parents, Albert and Otillia, boarded a plane in Long Beach, California, on a pilgrimage to meet with our mother in Lourdes. 

In 1948 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37. She had a mastectomy followed by radiation and chemo as it was available at that time. I was born in 1951 and my mother received the news that her cancer had returned in 1954. This time it was in her spine, and it would later metastasize to her lungs. Neither the doctors nor her priest thought she would be able to make the trip, but my mother’s will was such that my parents boarded that flight in January 1956.

Once they were checked in to the Bethanie Hotel in Lourdes they met an American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Culligan from San Bernardino. After talking with my parents and realizing what condition my mother was in, Mr. Culligan quickly organized a small private pilgrimage group with a couple from Indiana and another couple from Australia. 

The six of them stayed with my parents the whole time, going to the baths, the stations of the cross, the Masses, and the benedictions for the sick, and accompanying them to and from their hotel. My mother, who could only walk a block or two back home, walked the half-mile from their hotel to the grotto each day. That itself was a miracle.

My mother passed on to her heavenly reward in January 1957 and my father was left to raise three boys by himself. 

My mother had hoped that I would become a priest but that was not to be. Instead, through a long and circuitous route, I had found myself back in Lourdes. I say I was back because I have always felt that a part of me was there with my mother in 1956.

And so now the circle was complete. My mother and father were helped on their pilgrimage by strangers that became friends. Now I have the privilege to be the stranger who is able to help other pilgrims on their journey. I know the pain, the uncertainty, the doubts that so many of them experience. Whether you are a malade now or in 1956, those feelings are the same.

Gala M. Riveros, malade, 10 years old

One event that was moving was the baths. My Mom, Dad, and I went into a small private room where a lady guided us on what to do. She gave us water to put on our faces and our hands, then she gave me a cup to drink out of and told us to pray to the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Here at Lourdes, it feels like Mary is with us, and I love that feeling.

Words just cannot describe how beautiful it is at Lourdes. If you are blessed to come here like I was, you are in for a treat!

Sister Anne Marie, Carmelite sister and volunteer

What made the deepest impression in my heart was the unexpected grace of seeing our petitions being brought into the plaza and reverently placed at the feet of Our Lady. 

We had placed these written prayers in the grotto that morning, prayers that reached out in supplication to Our Lord at the hands of Our Lady. I know that a few of them were from people whom I know and love, others from people I may never get to meet on this side of the veil. Tears fell from my face in an overflow of joy and gratitude to an awesome God who loved us so much that he gave us his own mother to be ours. 

I pray that in some way all will be able to feel this consolation and come to know that Our Lady is here to be with us through it all.

Denise Morris, companion to a malade

This journey was the fulfillment of a promise I had made to the Blessed Mother nearly 39 years ago. After my husband and I married, I struggled for years to conceive a child. I desperately wanted to become a mother. I prayed fervently to our Blessed Mother.

A dear friend and co-worker named Kathleen was planning a trip to Lourdes. Kathleen had been battling cancer for years. After a long remission, her cancer had returned. There was nothing more the doctors could do for her, so Kathleen decided to travel to Lourdes, not necessarily for a miracle cure, but for peace and strength. She knew all about my fertility struggles and promised to ask our Blessed Mother for help. Kathleen returned from Lourdes filled with peace. Sadly, she passed away a few months later. 

Shortly after Kathleen’s passing, I learned that I was pregnant. I truly believe that the Blessed Mother had heard Kathleen’s prayers. I made a promise to Our Lady that one day I would travel to Lourdes to thank her in person and to pray for dear Kathleen. The beautiful Mass at the grotto was especially meaningful to me, as it was celebrated on May 4 — my daughter Danielle’s 38th birthday, the daughter I was blessed with thanks to the intercession of our Blessed Mother, and a little nudge from Kathleen!

Bosko Brkic and Admira Ismic   

My kum¹ and I don’t really like to talk about “spiritual things in general”. We prefer to discuss his views on the harvest, for example. Moreover, it’s not really possible, it’s even stupid to make contrived conversation about the “spiritual”—like, “let’s have a talk”. The most spiritual moment in my relationship with Dragan was when he discovered that I had wickedly overslept a festal service. Dragan burst into my room, barked something like ‘good morning’, then practically dragged me out by the scruff of the neck, stood me before the church entrance, and announced, “Moli se, budaletino!” This “budaletino” sounded Italian at first, but I later learned that it means something simple and to the point: “Pray, you little fool.”. My kum from Kosovo knows how to explain complicated spiritual things. He’s a natural catechist.

During our brief visits we discuss linguistics, mainly Slavic, and history. Even love for bombers. Not long ago, Dragan reminded me of the words of ”Let us be human!”The words of Patriarch Pavle are relevant today, and will be for years to come.

“>Patriarch Pavle: “We can’t turn the earth into paradise. We have to prevent it from turning into hell.”

“It seems to me,” I said, “in our days, this means even geographically, so to speak, we have begun to sense such attempts, and that the Patriarch was clearly right.

Dragan smiled sadly. “I told you a thousand years ago that ‘all of this’ applies not only to Serbia and Serbs, but to Russia and Russians. I remember that you didn’t really believe me. Well, that’s okay. I’ll tell you about Bosko and Admira. No, it’s not a Life of the Saints, it’s just life, which is still trying to keep the earth from turning into hell. More precisely, into Perspectives on DeathSo, I was thinking: why don’t we all write a summary of the life we lived at some point? I bet without a doubt it’ll scare us; some will break out into a cold sweat, and from this, good life changes will be born. Mortal memory, after all, is so… creative.

“>death. It’s a recent story, but a forgotten one.

It was what they call love at first sight: A young student from a school in Sarajevo, Bosko Brkic, fell in love with a young student of the same school and class, Admira Ismic. Their attraction withstood the test of time and grew into true, mutual love. The two were always together. Youth, happiness, love, romance. It seems to me that the annoying attention of the surrounding society could have stymied their feelings. You see, before the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, with everyone talking about the brotherly relationship between the peoples of what was then Yugoslavia, they were continually dogged by the press, which considered their love a real find for showcasing. True love, and not just mutual attraction, is shy—in the good sense, of course. So the two young people were fed up with the general attention, and they were glad when the journalists found some new attraction. Their love was not even hindered by the fact that Bosko was Orthodox and Admira, as you can guess by the name, was from a Muslim family. Radmila Brkic, Bosko’s mother, says that they would visit each other’s families with no trouble at all, amazing their relatives and neighbors with their constancy. They made plans, quite logically—all of this means a wedding is coming up. Admira wanted to be baptized, and then naturally to be married in church. A matter of tradition? Of course, we can be wary; but with real love and faith, such things just won’t pass muster. This is more than a stamp in your passport.

“In 1992, the civil war began in Bosnia marking the end of Yugoslavia. Things that didn’t matter before suddenly became a matter of life and death, like your name and surname, your pronunciation, how you said words from what is basically our common language. To kill you or not depended upon whether you tomaitoed or tomatoed (for us Serbs it was whether you ‘chocked’ or ‘shtocked’). Killing was not a problem—as the those who lived Sarajevo at that time can tell you, ‘whoever had the cannon was the boss’. I won’t describe the butchery in Sarajevo—now you can see it all with your own eyes in your own cities. Bosko’s father died, and his mother had to flee from her native city to Serbia, which by that time was a foreign country. Everyone should have fled, but Bosko said that he couldn’t leave his beloved. Let his mother go alone, while there is still a chance.

“So, just imagine a city divided by hatred, and somewhere in the middle, two people who truly love each other are huddled in a battered apartment building. They know that neither of the warring sides will accept them—in both places, one of them will be a ‘turncoat’, a ‘traitor’, or an ‘apostate’. Once again, they understood how fleeting and false worldly glory is. Yesterday they were praising them affectionately on every street corner, but today they are tearing them apart. What do you think? They lived that way for a year. Friends on both sides helped them out—the world hasn’t gone completely haywire.

“A year later, this was in 1993, they made a firm decision. That’s it, we can’t go on like this, we have to move to Serbia—through the front lines. That is, forgive me, through the line of military contact. This is something that I think many of you are familiar with—in order to get out of a city under siege to freedom, you have to pay bribes. The head of the Muslim side of Sarajevo agreed to let the youngsters out for 18,000 German marks (there was no such currency in Bosnia then)—a completely insane amount of money—but they found it, collected it by some miracle, borrowed it. This was the agreement: We quickly cross the bridge over the Miljacka River to the Serbian side of Sarajevo, and your snipers leave us alone. Then we go to Serbian Kruševac, where mother lives. That’s it. They went out to the bridge.

“Bosko was the first to be killed. He died on the spot. The second shot wounded Admira; she was able to make a couple of steps to her fallen friend and then fell down herself, with just enough time to embrace him. They lay there on the bridge for a week—the UN peacekeepers said it was too dangerous, and didn’t go there to evacuate the ‘civies’. Serbian soldiers gathered their bodies. Now they are buried together in the same grave in the Lav cemetery in Sarajevo.

The death of Bosko Brkic and Admira Ismic     

“Smelling blood, the journalists quickly blamed the Serbs. The Serbs demanded an investigation, which never began. Nowadays in the Muslim side of Sarajevo you won’t hear a hint of this story; Admira’s parents ask that no one talk about it, so as not to draw attention to themselves. How familiar it all is…

“Bosko’s mother says that she doesn’t care who fired the shots. She has only one question for the murderers: ‘Why?’ No, Radmila has no hatred or thirst for revenge. Her tears have dried long ago, now only wordless lament and prayer remains. She also prays for Admira, who loved her son to the death.”

“And I propose,” Dragan ended the story, “that we relate attentively to the daily prayers for the world; we hear them continually at the Liturgy. Not with just automatic ‘hearing’. We need to participate in them. Then perhaps the earth will not turn into hell.”

The grave of Bosko Brkic and Admira Ismic     

P.S. Dear brothers and sisters, we continue to help the Kosovo Serbs and the churches and monasteries of Kosovo and Metohija. If you have the possibility and desire to help, you can send donations to:

• Sberbank MIR card: 2202 2014 2978 2747 (recipient: Петр Михайлович Д.)

• PayPal: dn718214@gmail.com

• Write, “Help to Kosovo”.

Catholic activist Jimmy Lai’s trial on charges of violating a Chinese-imposed national security law is nearing the 100-day mark. He is the highest-profile Hong Kong resident to be tried under the law, and his case is considered a landmark case.

The trial of the 76-year-old pro-democracy advocate was suspended for a day June 3 after Lai’s lawyers said he was not feeling well. They told the judge that Lai, who is being held in Hong Kong’s Stanley Prison, had seen a doctor the previous night and had been prescribed painkillers. The trial resumed June 4, with one judge telling Lai he could notify the court if he felt unwell again.

Lai’s son, Sebastien, has said his father suffers from diabetes and was diagnosed with high blood pressure while in prison in 2021.

For decades Lai, who founded the now-defunct pro-democracy Apple Daily, campaigned for freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Hong Kong, which was designated a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997, when British rule ended after more than 150 years. Hong Kong’s Basic Law was supposed to allow the region “to exercise a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.”

However, after a year of pro-democracy protests in 2019, China in 2020 Chin imposed the national security law, which has all but silenced dissent in Hong Kong, The Associated Press reported.

Under the law, Lai was arrested in August 2020 and has been imprisoned since December 2020. He has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiring to publish seditious materials. If he is found guilty, he could face life in prison.

In January, Alice Jill Edwards, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, said evidence in Lai’s trial might have been obtained by torturing a witness in China.

In addition to the charges to which he has pleaded not guilty, in December 2021 Lai was convicted for his role in trying to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. The Chinese government said about 240 people were killed June 4, 1989, when Chinese tanks attacked protesters in the square; the Chinese Red Cross said 2,600 people were killed.

In August 2023, a Hong Kong Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of those accused of organizing an unlawful assembly, but it upheld their convictions for participating in an unlawful assembly.

In a June 4 commentary for ucanews.com, Benedict Rogers, a British human rights activist and CEO of Hong Kong Watch, said a secret cable from the British ambassador to China at the time put the Tiananmen Square death toll as high as 10,000. Rogers noted that until the imposition of the national security law, “Hong Kong was the only city under China’s sovereignty that could still openly mark the anniversary.”

Rogers — named by prosecutors as one of the foreign agents with whom Lai colluded — noted that Lai had served a “13-month sentence for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a Tiananmen vigil.”

“Let’s remember also that the reason he founded the pro-democracy Next magazine in 1990 and the Apple Daily newspaper in 1995 was because he was so moved and shocked by the Beijing massacre,” Rogers said.

Hong Kong Diocese’s justice and peace commission often helped with commemorations of the Tiananmen massacre, and in 2009 Cardinal Joseph Zen called the victims martyrs who died to promote democracy and clean government in China. Lai has been Cardinal Zen’s biggest financial backer.

In another ruling under the national security law, in late May a Hong Kong court convicted 14 pro-democracy activists, including several former lawmakers, of conspiracy to commit subversion. Those convicted were among hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents who voted in an unofficial primary election in July 2020.

The Associated Press reported election organizers had said they wanted to hold the Hong Kong government accountable by gaining a majority in the legislature, but the court ruled the unofficial election undermined the authority of the government.