Tag: Christianity

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet and moral philosopher, authored “The Divine Comedy.” His three-part journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise, with the Latin poet Virgil as his guide and the ethereal Beatrice as his muse, is perhaps the greatest work ever written on romantic love.

Dante started the “Inferno,” his description through the nine circles of hell, in 1307, five years after he was exiled from Florence on politically motivated corruption charges.

Reams have been written about this iconic poem: Dante’s innovative jettisoning of Latin in favor of the Italian vernacular, the terza rima (third rhyme) that makes translating so fiendishly difficult, the debates over which of the 109 and counting English translations has remained most faithful to the text.

What we do know is that the poem was inspired by Dante’s first encounter with the real-life Beatrice Portinari on the streets of his native Florence, possibly when he was only 8 or 9.

In “Religion and Love in Dante: The Theology of Romantic Love” (Kessinger Publishing, $18.95), Charles Williams describes her effect on him like this:

“The heart, where (to him) ‘the spirit of life’ dwelled, exclaimed to him, at that first meeting: ‘Behold, a god stronger than I, who is to come and rule over me.’ The brain declared: ‘Now your beatitude has appeared to you.’ And the liver (where natural emotions, such as sex, inhabited) said: ‘O misery! How I shall be disturbed henceforward.’ ”

Heady stuff — but if you’re anything like me, you’ve read the “Inferno” a few times, mesmerized by its gruesome punishments, and more or less skipped over “Purgatorio” and “Paradiso.”

Enter PBS with a fantastic two-part, four-hour documentary film called “DANTE: Inferno to Paradise.”

The series puts this epic poem, almost universally regarded as one of the pinnacles of Western literature, in historical, theological, political, literary, and very human perspective.

Through images, music, dramatic reenactments, voiceover, and commentary from scholars around the world, we learn of Dante’s childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.

He entered into an arranged marriage and his wife bore four children, but Beatrice — who had also married, and died in 1290 — never left his mind nor heart.

Exiled under penalty of death from his beloved Florence in March 1302, Dante would roam impoverished, mostly about Italy, for the rest of his life.

At first, he hoped the vast poem he had in mind might both confirm his greatness as a writer and grant him reentry into Florence.

But when the “Inferno” was published and circulated around Florence, by 1317, instead the powers-that-be — many of whom were skewered in its verses — were enraged. Dante’s exile was now final and complete.

Christianity had always conceived of heaven and hell, but purgatory was in a sense Dante’s invention. Did such a place of purification exist? If so, where was it? What was it for? In imagining such a place in the afterlife, the series observes, Dante had a huge influence, however indirect, on the development of Catholic doctrine.

Good Friday marks the beginning of Dante’s journey through hell; “Purgatorio,” the penitential leg of the pilgrimage, starts on Easter Sunday.

While hell is static, frozen, utterly stagnant, “Purgatorio” is conceived as an ascent up a mountain with its souls in constant movement.

When he finally reaches the top of the mountain, Dante is faced with walking through the walls of purifying flames through which every other traveler must pass. Beatrice awaits him on the other side, Virgil reminds him. So he braves the fire and, in “Paradiso,” meets her at last.

Just as in real life, the long-anticipated meeting doesn’t go entirely smoothly — but if you want to see how things turn out, watch the series, then read all three parts of the poem.

“The Divine Comedy” can be interpreted many different ways: as a journey from sin to redemption; as an attempt to resolve the conflict between erotic and spiritual love; as the movement from fearful ego-based possessiveness to the transformed consciousness that at last allows us to know the “love which moves the sun and the other stars.”

However you read it, Dante laid down his life for it. His truest abode became the poem; the poem became his destiny.

As a human being, as an artist, and as a follower of Christ, he saw that his vocation was to continue to speak the truth — and so he did, and does, for us.

By 1321, the narrative of the poem and Dante’s life had converged almost completely. Hollowed out by the rigors of exile, and of writing, he completed his masterwork at last.

In September, he made an ambassadorial mission to Venice at the request of his patron, contracted malaria, and died.

Florence almost immediately regretted its mistake and tried to reclaim its native son — though it took the city council almost 700 years, until June 2008, to rescind the death sentence of arguably the greatest poet the world has ever known.

In “Dark Wood to White Rose” (Morning Light Press, $34.95), Dante scholar Helen M. Luke observed: “The man who wrote the last canto of the ‘Paradiso’ knew that we can never come to this vision by any shortcut. We cannot bypass the experience of hell; and still less can we evade the long struggle of purgatory, through which we come to maturity in love.”

Or as the series concludes: “Dante meant the poem to change our lives. Your life matters. Take care of it.”

Pope Francis is planning to make the longest trip of his papacy in September, visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore, the Vatican press office announced.

During the 12-day Asian tour, the press office said April 12, he intends to visit: Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, Sept. 3-6; Port Moresby and Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 6-9; Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, Sept. 9-11; and Singapore Sept. 11-13.

The last papal trip announced by the Vatican — a visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 1-3 for the U.N. climate conference — was canceled three days before Pope Francis was scheduled to leave because he was suffering from bronchitis.

The longest foreign trip Pope Francis has made was his September 2015 visit to Cuba and the United States. Vatican News, which tracks the length of papal trips by both days and distance, said the 2015 trip lasted eight days, 23 hours and 45 minutes and covered a distance of 19,171 kilometers, which is close to 12,000 miles.

The Vatican did not mention the possibility of the 87-year-old pope extending the trip to include Vietnam.

Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, was visiting Vietnam April 9-14. According to Vatican News, he discussed a possible papal trip to the country when he met April 10 with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính, Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Son and Home Affairs Minister Pham Thi Thanh Trà.

In an Italian television interview Jan. 14, Pope Francis said, “In August I have to make a trip to Polynesia.” It was widely assumed he was referring to a trip originally planned for 2020 to Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and perhaps other countries, but plans were scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ten days later, the foreign minister of Papua New Guinea said his government had received an “official note” that Pope Francis intended to visit the country for three days in August, but the director of the Vatican press office had said plans for a trip were in the “very preliminary” stages at that point.

Pope Francis would be the third pope to visit Indonesia. St. Paul VI visited in 1970, and St. John Paul II went to the country in 1989 on a trip that also included Timor-Leste. St. John Paul II made two brief visits to Papua New Guinea in 1984 and 1995.

The Polish pope, who set an absolute record for both the number of countries he visited and the number of trips he made, had spent five hours in Singapore in 1986 during a trip that included Bangladesh, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and the Seychelles.

A landmark report published April 10 in the United Kingdom said children had been “let down” by a lack of research on the use of puberty blockers.

The so-called Cass Report — named for the pediatrician who compiled it, Dr. Hilary Cass, said clinicians were deeply affected by the “toxicity” of public debate around transgender identities.

“There are few other areas of healthcare where professionals are so afraid to openly discuss their views, where people are vilified on social media, and where name-calling echoes the worst bullying behavior. This must stop,” Cass wrote.

Addressing children and young people in her foreword, Cass stated: “I have been disappointed by the lack of evidence on the long-term impact of taking hormones from an early age; research has let us all down, most importantly you.”

Britain’s health secretary has criticized what she described as a “culture of secrecy and ideology” around health care for children experiencing gender identity confusion.

In March, the National Health Service in Britain announced that children experiencing issues with their gender identity will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers, saying there is “not enough evidence” the drugs are safe or effective.

Puberty blockers pause the physical changes of puberty as children grow, such as the development of breasts in girls and facial hair in boys.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins welcomed the pause and said an urgent update on the practice of hormone prescription must now follow. She also praised clinicians who spoke out about their concerns.

“I commend those brave voices who spoke up to raise the alarm about how treatment was diverging so far from guidance — a culture of secrecy and ideology over evidence and safety. Today I’m saying ‘enough,’” she wrote in an opinion article in the London-based Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The publication of Cass’s report revealed that six of seven adult clinics had refused to take part in the study — meaning that the outcomes for approximately 9,000 people who were moved from child services into adult care were not included in the report.

Cass described this as “hugely disappointing” as these people’s experiences would be valuable in studying the long-term impacts of hormone treatments.

The reasons adult clinics gave for not taking part included ethical considerations and concerns about funder motivation and political interference.

Many children were treated at the Tavistock clinic, which was NHS England’s only specialist gender clinic for children and young people. It closed in the first weeks of April, four years after it was rated as “inadequate” by inspectors.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also has responded to the review, saying the findings “shine a spotlight” on the need to “exercise extreme caution” when it comes to gender care for children.

In the newly released declaration, the Vatican said that — among other things — being a Christian means defending human dignity and opposing gender transition.

“We cannot separate faith from the defense of human dignity, evangelization from the promotion of a dignified life and spirituality from a commitment to the dignity of every human being,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote in the opening section of the declaration “Dignitas Infinita” (“Infinite Dignity”), released at the Vatican April 8.

It also condemned gender theory as “extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal.”

Gender theory, the document said, tries “to deny the greatest possible difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”

The Catholic Church teaches that “human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift from God,” it said. “This gift is to be accepted with gratitude and placed at the service of the good.”

Quoting Pope Francis’ exhortation “Amoris Laetitia,” the declaration said gender ideology “envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family.”

Dicastery members said it is true that there is a difference between biological sex and the roles and behaviors that a given society or culture assigns to a male or female, but the fact that some of those notions of what it means to be a woman, or a man are culturally influenced, does not mean there are no differences between biological males and biological females.

“Therefore,” they said, “all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected.”

The advocacy group Christian Concern welcomed the Cass Report, saying it “makes clear that vulnerable children have been failed by clinicians who have followed an affirmative approach to treating children with gender dysphoria and prescribed powerful drugs which lack evidence to support their use in such ways.”

While the report does not recommend an outright ban on social transition or on puberty-blockers or cross-sex hormones, it does advise “extreme caution” on these treatments.

The review notes, “Whilst some young people may feel an urgency to transition, young adults looking back at their younger selves would often advise slowing down.”

Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said, “The Cass Review makes clear that children have not been told the truth by clinicians and other adults.”

Historians have the term “monastic colonization of Russia.” In the fourteenth century and later, ascetics traveled to settle in the deserted places such as forest for solitary prayer. Disciples would soon settle next to them and monasteries were founded there. The lay people drawn by the grace of the new monasteries would build their dwellings nearby to form so-called “posads” (or trading settlements) and towns, thus making the previously uninhabited places on the outskirts of Russia an organic part of the country. When those lands were historically inhabited by pagan tribes and peoples, they also, peacefully and non-violently, became accustomed to the culture of our Orthodox country. Therefore, Russia expanded not “by fire and the sword,” or in pursuit of gain, but because its people sought out God, purity and freedom of spirit. Our country has a new “desert” these days—empty places where villages and hamlets once stood a mere half a century ago. Some of them still have their churches. What if these churches could serve for the revival of the Russian countryside?

We are sitting on a bench in front of the Archangel Michael Church that crowns a small hill. Around us is a vast expanse of fields and forests, a practically pristine country road, and… a deserted land. It is hard to believe that some forty years ago this place was bustling with life. The village of Zarubinki was buzzing with activity and its church was full of people on major church feasts. I am talking with Hieromonk Theodosy, the rector of the church and the confessor of a tiny monastic community gathered around him.

The Archangel Michael Church in Zarubinki   

“A hundred years ago, this was the center of the village: a school, a post office, gardens, and houses,” batiushka says. “About a thousand five hundred people lived in Zarubinki. The Archangel Michael Church served several villages. It was open during nearly all the years of Soviet power; for some time, was one of only two functioning churches in the area between Smolensk and Vitebsk. Of course, people also suffered persecution here as well. Fr. John, the church builder and its first rector, was gunned down. In the late 1930s, the bells were taken down and moved to an unknown place, and the bell tower that could be seen as far as twenty kilometers away has been demolished. I met people who remembered it. They were over ninety years old when we began to restore the church. Another thing: it was forbidden to paint the interior church walls in light colors; it was imperative that lime was mixed with soot, so that the church was dark and gloomy inside. When I arrived, the walls were painted with black enamel and it took us a lot of effort to chip it off. As for the 1980s, the old residents recall that the collective farm didn’t forbid them to attend church; apparently, the leadership at that time was quite loyal and the church became the center of a vibrant and joyful life. We still have many visitors who say they were baptized or went to services as children here. But the last rector, Fr. Victor, passed away and they were not allowed to have a new one. The Archangel Michael parish was attached to the Kazan church in Kasplia and so it had only two services held in a year, on its patronal feast days.

The interior of the church     

—How did it happen that the church is being restored again?

—Apparently, by God’s Providence. It is not without reason that the St. John of KronstadtSt. John of Kronstadt

“>Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt and the Emperor Nicholas II: Rare Photos from Family AlbumsWe here present rare photographs of the tsar from 1907 to 1915 from six family albums that were taken abroad by the empress’ lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova.”>Tsar-Martyr Nicholas Alexandrovich took on the construction of this church. The locals needed it: when I first arrived here, the bench you and I are sitting on today was already here before us. It was here when the church was closed down, because there were people who came here to sit, pray, think, and simply admire these great spaces. And to find comfort and help from the Lord.

    

—How did you come to serve in Zarubinki?

—I served in Safonovo, also in the Smolensk region. It so happened that I had to transfer, but since there were no vacant parishes at that time, I decided to move to Belarus where I was born. I received the blessing of the hierarchs and even packed my belongings. And then… my documents got lost somewhere. I waited for two months, but I never arrived where I thought I would end up. I never even heard about Zarubinki at the time. But then suddenly our Metropolitan calls me and asks me to stay in the diocese, and offers to show me this church. Vladyka said: “Batiushka, go and see it, they really need a priest, the church is beautiful and large, but it stood closed for about thirty years…” And he promised that if I didn’t like it, he would give me another parish. A small group of devout parishioners, I’d say, a closely-knit group of friends in the faith and I got in the car and drove to Zarubinki. This took place on March 8, 2018; everything was still under thick carpet of snow. We came and saw this beauty. How could we not agree to take it? I didn’t even go to check out another church–the first choice is from God, the first blessing of my bishop.

Hieromonk Theodosy (Khomenia)   

—Were you scared?

—I had no doubts, such as, “It’s hard; how shall we survive?…” Except that we had to find an answer to a tough question: How are supposed to live? On the other hand, it was a bit scary, as we weren’t sure where to start.

It was about minus twenty Celsius inside the church. We wore felt boots, sheepskin coats, and my hands would freeze to the Chalice

During our first-ever visit here we couldn’t even get inside the church, we just walked around it, knee-deep in snow. On March 11, I received an official assignment to serve as its rector. We took rags, brooms, buckets and came here to clean up. People from the surrounding villages found out that a priest was finally assigned to serve in Zarubinki and came to help. They were very happy. So, the following Sunday we already served a Liturgy, despite the freezing temperatures of minus twenty Celsius inside the church. We wore valenki and sheepskin coats and my hands froze to the Chalice…. But no one got sick. We served this way throughout Lenten season that year—in an unheated, cold nave. We brought boiling water with us in thermoses. We served the Paschal service there, too: we heated the small aisle, separated from the central nave by a wall, heating with a wood-burning stove, so that all the children we brought wouldn’t freeze… Then, on Holy Trinity Ancestral Saturday, something remarkable happened; It was simply impossible not to restore this church after this. Many people came to the cemetery to commemorate their reposed loved ones. I served a Panikhida. An old lady stepped inside the church and began to cry bitterly. She came to me and knelt down in front of me. She said: “We truly thank God that our church is finally functioning! We couldn’t’ even dream that it would receive another chance to live!” From that time we began major repair work, and it has not stopped until this day.

—You must have accomplished much over the years?

—Thank God, yes! We made repairs in the side chapel of the “Hodegetria” Icon of the Mother of God, and started to hold services there. Next, we replaced several parts of our roofing system that badly needed repairs. The roof had huge holes right above the sanctuary and the centuries-old dirt kept falling from above onto the altars. It was scary as it could fall into the Chalice during liturgy. The altars were also in a pitiful state. We replaced rotten ceiling beams, the roofs over the altars, and purchased the church utensils we needed most. The ruling archpastor donated the Chalice and the Diskos to us—that’s when we remembered that, at the time of church founding, the local bishop had also donated the Chalice and the Diskos! Historical parallels! We also had donations of vestments, the epitaphion, and books. It was very hard at first, especially in winter. We served practically without any parishioners present. In fact, we were able to do all the repair work by ourselves: Fr. Vladimir, now a priest but at the time our parishioner, and myself. We didn’t hire anyone, as we simply had no money. During this process, we learned how to install rafters and the roof. We got rid of several tons of garbage from the attics where the birds had built their nests. We used buckets to take down droppings, sticks, and feathers… Thank God!

At the Archangel Michael Church. With Fr. Theodosy, the church rector, standing in the middle —How did it happen that a monastic community began to form at this church?

—I never dreamed there would be a monastery in Zarubinki. But over time, I understood that we should somehow make sure for it to become a community busy with people and an active parish life. We could restore the church and people would come here from Smolensk or the nearby villages—only to stand empty later. It is very difficult for a priest and a family to reside here: the nearest school is fifteen kilometers away and the village has no grocery store… Not every matushka would agree to come to live here. That’s why I suggested to the bishop to found a skete here and he gave his blessing. I already had helpers who wanted to become nuns: one was selling candles and another washed floors in the church. So, we had five sisters from the start and three more are waiting to enter our community. Last spring, we had our first tonsures: nun Michaela and three nuns—Martha, Nina and Thekla. The sisters carry out obediences in the kitchen, at church, in the cowshed and our dairy shop. I assist them whenever I am able. Everyone in the community has her obedience, but our main obedience is church service. Our typikon says that all the sisters must be present at services. Labor does matter, but prayer is no less important. A monk has two wings or two oars: prayer and labor. If one of them doesn’t work, we will be carried aside, unable to swim forward. That’s why we have time for labor, prayer and rest.

—Does farming help you to survive in this wilderness?

—Not just to survive, but also to earn a little to cover church repairs. The sisters and I have eight cows, chicken, piglets, bee farm, and a garden. We dug out a pond and put carp in it. We make our own cheese, dumplings, cottage cheesecakes, canned meat, and have sausages for sale—everything is natural and the people really like it. I am busy taking care of the farm and our animals, and I also mastered cheese-making process.

—How many people attend services in your church?

—In winter, we often pray alone–just the sisters and me. On summer Sundays, we have between twenty to twenty-five worshippers. We have two patronal feasts. On the day of the “Hodegetria” Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God on August 10, we have a gathering of two to three hundred people. It is a very ancient tradition to pay honors to this particular icon in Zarubinki. People arrive from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belarus and, of course, Smolensk. On the day of Archangel Michael and on Pascha, we have around one hundred people.

Fr. Deacon (now a priest) Vladimir Chepurov —What is your daily church schedule?

—In winter we have three or four Liturgy services per week, but in summer we hold services daily. Every day we have the morning prayer rule, Midnight Office, the Hours, Vespers, the Matins, and the monastic prayer rule. On weekdays, when there are no visitors, we start services differently: We can begin at either seven or eight o’clock—as soon as we finish taking care of our farm animals. We try to live according to the monastery typikon. Besides me, we now have two priests and a deacon. Fr. Vladimir, in addition to his ministry, takes care of our construction, while Fr. Vitaly and Fr. Deacon Alexander have secular jobs on weekdays. Fr. Vitaly teaches math and computer science, and Fr. Deacon is a doctor. On weekends, they conduct services, with Fr. Deacon serving in Zarubinki and Fr. Vitaly—at our small metochion, the chapel of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, in Rudnya. Fr. Vladimir, our second priest, has a wonderful wife. They have decided that her salary will be enough to live on, so he can serve the Lord by restoring the church and performing his ministry here. Of course, when there is such an opportunity, I try to help the fathers as much as possible—at least to cover the cost of gas.

To be continued…

A new report shows most U.S. Catholics approve of Pope Francis — but his ratings have slipped in the past few years, marked by political divides.

The findings were released by the Pew Research Center April 12 from a study that surveyed close to 12,700 respondents, 2,019 of whom self-identified as Catholic. The data showed that 75% of U.S. Catholics regarded the pope favorably, compared to 83% in 2021 and 90% in early 2015.

By comparison, Pope Francis has generally earned higher marks among the nation’s Catholics than Pope Benedict XVI, although neither pope has enjoyed the popularity of St. John Paul II, who according to Pew enjoyed approval ratings ranging from 91% to 93% in polls conducted in 1987, 1990 and 1996.

At the same time, Pew research associate Patricia Tevington, one of three primary researchers for the report, noted that data’s methodology shifted within that period from random-dial telephone surveys (conducted January 2020 and prior) to online surveys from the center’s American Trends Panel.

Tevington also told OSV News that “the most striking thing” to her and her colleagues in the report were “the political divides in terms of favorability towards Francis.”

The report said that 89% of U.S. Catholics who are Democrat approve of the pope, while just 7% disapprove of him. In contrast, 63% of U.S. Catholics who are Republican give the pope a thumbs-up, while 35% view him unfavorably.

“The partisan gap in views of Pope Francis is now as large as it’s ever been in our surveys,” said the report.

“There was a point at which there wasn’t too much of a difference in terms of people’s opinions towards Pope Francis, regardless of … whether or not they were a Democrat or Democrat-leaning Catholics or Republican or Republican-leaning Catholics,” Teverington told OSV News. “And we still see kind of the overall majority of Catholics see him mostly or very favorably, but there is this kind of increasing divide where about a third of Republican or Republican-leaning Catholics view him mostly or very unfavorably, but only just 7% of Democrat or Democrat-leaning Catholics (do so).”

How Could We Give Up on Such Beauty?When we restore a church, we restore ourselves.

“>Part 1

    

—You mentioned that the Tsar-Martyr Nicholas and Righteous John of Kronstadt participated in the construction of the Archangel Michael Church. Please tell us about it.

—Our church was built in the early twentieth century in 1905-1913, so it will soon celebrate its one hundred-twentieth anniversary. Before that, there was no church in Zarubinki and the nearest one was in the village of In’kovo. It was an old, seventeenth-century wooden church. It became dilapidated and was dismantled. Zarubinki was a more developed settlement at that time, so a decision was made to build a new church here. The icons, utensils, and the shroud were moved from the old church. The church building was planned to be big–forty-two meters long and twenty-two wide. Its central dome is thirty-five meters high and there was also a five-tiered bell tower, also standing forty-two meters high.

The church rector traveled to see the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt to receive his blessing for the construction

For a blessing to start the church construction, the rector, Fr. John, went to see the A Unique Phenomenon: On Righteous John of KronstadtHow did he, having begun his life as pastors of the Church usually do, become such a spiritual giant, a colossus of the spiritual life, the likes of which have been few not only in Rus’, but in the entire universal Church in general?

“>Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt. The “Batiushka of All Russia” not only blessed it, but also gave money to lay the foundation and his donation became the first contribution to the construction. The Nicholas II: The Last Orthodox Tsar of Russia. A VideoEmperor Nicholas II reigned over the Russian Empire for twenty-two years. With his murder, the last Orthodox Christian monarch, along with the thousand-year history of thrones and crowns in Russia, ended, ushering in an era of lawlessness, apostasy, and confusion—one which would sweep Holy Orthodox Russia into an abyss that would last more than seventy years.”>Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich II also contributed much. There are historical records that he granted one thousand gold rubles, not just for the church, but also for building a brick factory in Zarubinki, considering that this area is known for really good clay deposits. A picturesque lake now stands in place of a former quarry. Our church was built using local bricks, in as was another church, of the Kazan Icon, in the village of Kasplia. Actually, Kasplia was known for its granite quarry, and huge foundation stones were taken out of it—our church’s foundation is also from that local granite. I haven’t seen another example of it anywhere else. That’s how our ancestors dealt with the construction: practically and thoroughly. The local residents also took the most active part collecting money: at their general meeting, they decided to donate a ruble from each household per year—a substantial amount collected over the time the church was being built. Of course, the more affluent peasants donated greater sums. Overall, the church was laid using 600,000 bricks.

The bricks to build the church were produced locally at a brickyard built especially for it —What happened with the church’s beautiful old decoration?

—When it was left standing without a priest, everything was plundered. Matushka, the wife of its last rector, said that in 1987 the church was robbed seven times. The thieves would run in, grab an icon and run away. An old and sick lady herself, she couldn’t do anything to stop it, while the rector lay bed-ridden, paralyzed after a stroke. He remained immobile for two years and passed away in 1989. They lived in a house near the church. Many local old-timers still remember them. When I arrived in 2018, the church was in a deplorable state: it was standing completely empty. No icons or church utensils, nothing but trash accumulated over many years.

—I see the walls of the church have smudges of cement—as if some dents had been patched. Why is that?

—These are traces from bullets and shells. This area saw fierce fighting during World War II. Since the Archangel Michael Church sits atop a hill or, in military terms—it occupies the heights, was at the center of the fighting. We found bullet cases here, and even German coins minted in 1941.

The church was in a deplorable state: there were no icons or utensils, nothing but trash accumulated over the years

The marks from shelling are quite large in some places and these “wounds” were patched up with cement. Incidentally, it’s quite possible that the church was saved by the fact that it lost its bell tower before war. Had it stayed, it would have certainly become a firing point, a convenient location to shell the neighborhood. And that would have resulted in the destruction of church building. This area was soaked with the blood of our soldiers in both 1941 and 1812. Not far from us there is a monument to the heroes of the war with the French. We plan to put a cross next to it.

—What would you say to those who doubt it is a worthwhile endeavor to restore churches in remote villages?

—Every church has its altar and the mystery of Holy Eucharist, the greatest Mystery on Earth, was performed there. According to tradition, the church’s guardian angel stands at the altar grieving if there is no Liturgy served there. Therefore, I wish that services were held at least once a year at destroyed and desecrated churches, so that their guardian angels could rejoice with us. The restoration of shrines is the same as the revival of our souls, our country, and our lives. Let there be as few as a couple of people praying in the church. The Lord said: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). Fortunately, we already hold regular services and there are more than a couple of people praying here.

The monastery prays for the whole world, night and day. Prayers here are lifted for our soldiers, for peace, for our benefactors, and for the deceased

Most importantly, the monastery keeps praying for the whole world, night and day. We raise our prayers for soldiers, for peace, for benefactors, and for those who departed before us… No one is dead with God and in Him everyone is alive. Through prayer, we are united with those generations of people who lived in those villages that stand empty today—maybe empty now, but not later? When we restore a church, we restore ourselves. The Divine Liturgy pieces the world together. As long as the liturgy is celebrated, the world will keep standing. But here, on the western frontier of Russia in our difficult time, we need prayers more than ever before.

—Have you seen any miracles?

—The first miracle was when we had to buy plaster and spackle for repairs in the Holy Hodegetria side chapel, but there was no money even to buy gas. I was sitting on this bench pondering what to do. I prayed: “Lord, I need this so much, what do I have to do?” And literally the next day a woman from Smolensk visited us and asked, “Father, how can I help you?” I asked her to get us plastering supplies. She went to the city herself and brought us what we needed. I was overjoyed. “Lord, You have heard me!” Then, there were the windows–thirty-two of them, three meters high each. I calculated that if we replace a window every six months, it will take us sixteen years to replace all of them. But we found people who made it happen in two years. Isn’t that a miracle? The last miracle was when, thanks to the Archangel Michael Foundation, we purchased the crosses for the domes. We didn’t know how to apply for help. The Foundation took up the task of helping us, shared information about us and the people from all over Russia sent their donations—so, half a year later, we collected the funds we needed. And right now we are slowly building new domes for the church and the Foundation collects donations to restore the roof above the quadrangle, the central part of the church. It is imperative to replace the roof there as it deteriorated quite badly. So, whenever we have strong winds, it picks it up and there is an impending danger it will blow it away… We’ve seen a lot of miracles, and the fact that we are living is already a miracle! I heartily thank everyone who helped our church, and who will help it in the future!

Nun Mikhaila: “I achieved everything I ever wanted as a woman, so now the Lord sent me to live in the monastery”

Nun Mikhaila We also talked to Nun Mikhaila, the senior sister of the community. An elderly lady smiles a quiet, kind smile. I asked her how she became a nun.

—Everything happened gradually. I never thought about becoming a nun, but when my husband died, I became a practicing Christian and I also went on a pilgrimage to Solovki. I simply walked around the island and had a feeling I never experienced before. Then I started to help at the candle corner in the church in the town of Rudnya where I lived. I felt the desire to enter a monastery, but I thought that at my age I’d hardly be accepted. I decided I would live in the world near the church that God has provided for me. But then the Lord sent me to the monastery! I led a happy life in the world: I worked all my life as a kindergarten teacher, and it was just what I wanted. I have a son and a granddaughter, and they often visit me here. I had everything a woman could ever wish to have, but now the Lord has brought me to the monastery.

—Did you have any connection with Zarubinki before you became a nun?

—My mother came from a village four kilometers away from Zarubinki. When I was six years old, I had my first communion in this church. We used to come to spend the summer in the village and my great-grandmother would take us to church, so we attended services here with her. I remember that as we walked to church, we had to cross the river. We carried our shoes and Sunday clothes with us, so we washed our feet in the river and got dressed, and only then entered the church. It had the icon of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. For some reason I chose to stand beside it all the time, and it seemingly drew me close. I remember the kneeling prayers on the feast of the Holy Trinity. As children, we used to get distracted and look around and at each other, but my great-grandmother forced us to bend to the ground left and right. This church used to hold country fairs on major feasts and they would attract a lot of people, both adults and children. On Pascha, we played with painted eggs and it was great fun. No one prohibited us from attending church in our collective farm and everyone openly attended services, including both of my grandparents. This was in the 1980s. The church was well maintained, its icons were covered with decorated sashes, and it was filled with people.

St. Julius became pope in 337, and led the Church until 352. During his papacy, the Eastern Arians were spreading their heresy widely, even though the Council of Nicea had condemned Arianism.

St. Athanasius had come up against the Arians, who had condemned him and contributed to him being deposed. Athanasius wrote to Julius to plead his case and to ask for help, and Julius ruled in favor of Athanasius. In 341, he convened a synod, although the Arians refused to attend, and over 50 bishops agreed that Athanasius had been condemned unfairly.

Pope Julius also helped spread Christianity during his pontificate, building two new basilicas and three cemetery churches. He died on April 12, 352, and was buried in the Cemetery of Calepodius.

Supraśl, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, April 10, 2024

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The feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos is the patronal feast of Supraśl Monastery, the foremost monastic center in the Polish Orthodox Church.

The feast was celebrated by several hierarchs of the Polish Church this year, joined by His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret of Lviv of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The All-Night Vigil for the feast was led by the monastery abbot His Grace Bishop Andrzej of Supraśl and the visiting Ukrainian hierarch, assisted by the fathers of the monastery and visiting clergy, the monastery reports.

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The next morning, the blessing of holy water and Divine Liturgy were celebrated by Bp. Andrzej, Met. Philaret, and the Polish hierarchs Archbishop Jakub of Białystok and Gdańsk, Archbishop Grzegorz of Bielsko.

Following the Gospel, Met. Philaret from Ukraine offered a homily, emphasizing the unique role of the Mother of God, who became the New Eve, through whose humility and complete devotion to God, salvation came into the world.

Following the Liturgy, Abp. Jakub spoke, recalling that exactly 40 years ago the foundation stone was laid for the reconstruction of the Church of the Annunciation, which was completely demolished in 1944.

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The next speaker was Abp. Grzegorz, who conveyed the greetings of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Poland, who was unable to attend the feast. He also stressed the spiritual importance of Supraśl Monastery.

Then the abbot, Bp. Andrzej, spoke about the importance of the Mother of God in the life of the holy habitation.

Finally, Met. Philaret spoke about the difficult situation the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church faces today, with its churches being physically seized. He thanked everyone for the common prayer and for the help the Polish Church has shown to Ukrainian refugees.

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Oakville, Ontario, Canada, April 10, 2024

Photo: Basilica News Agency     

A new Romanian Orthodox mission in Ontario, Canada, held its first service on Saturday, April 6.

His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian of Canada blessed the place of worship for the new mission in Oakville with holy water and then served a memorial service for the reposed. He had previously consecrated the antimens to be placed on the mission’s altar on April at the Cathedral in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada reports.

The community is named in honor of Sts. Constantine and Helen and Paisius (Velichkovsky) of Neamţ.

Several faithful attended the mission’s first service, and the bishop was joined by the rector Fr. Marian Costinel Iacobut and diocesan inspector Fr. Petre Busuioc.

The day then continued with an agape meal prepared by the women of the parish.

The next day, Bp. Ioan Casian celebrated the mission’s first Liturgy on the Sunday of the Cross. In his homily, he reflected on the connection between the Cross and the founding of a new mission:

It is important to think that this new mission is founded on the 3rd Sunday of Great Lent, called of the Holy Cross. The Cross for us is the symbol of our faith because by signing ourselves with it we confess what we believe—that is, the suffering, death and Resurrection of Christ, the Son of God for us and for our salvation. This Sunday being placed in the middle of Great Lent, it represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Paradise which shows us that the way to meeting God in His Resurrection celebrated on Pascha night can only be done through the Cross of Christ. Through the Cross we glimpse the Resurrection of Christ.

The Cross also represents the place where Christ was crucified. For us, marking with the sign of the holy Cross means uniting and participating by faith in the suffering of Christ who gave us healing and salvation. Man, as the words of today’s Gospel say, in order to follow Christ must renounce to himself, i.e. his passions and desires, he must take up his cross, i.e. let himself be permeated by virtues, cleansing himself from sin, and he must to follow Christ, that is, to follow the path of union with God and deification.

The Church is the place where man learns this work. It is the place where God gave him the means to do this—the Holy Liturgy, the Holy Sacraments and the other sanctifying and transfiguring blessings of the Church. If Christ fulfilled everything from this point of view, man remains free to decide to participate in this work or not.

The mission started today is a new place where people hears God’s word and can enter into God’s work of salvation.

Bp. Ioan Casian presented the new mission with an icon of the Theotokos, and an historical icon donated by a member of the mission was consecrated.

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Kiev, April 10, 2024

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The National History Museum of Ukraine is collecting funds to demolish Kiev’s Sts. Vladimir and Olga-Tithes Church, which belongs to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Ukrainian nationalists and authorities have been trying to dismantle the church since at least 2018, during the time of President Petro Poroshenko, arguing that it was illegally built on the territory of the National History Museum.

The church was built by Kiev residents in 2006 with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine on the site of the Church of the Tithes—the first cathedral of Kievan Rus’, which was blown up in 1936.

The new church was Ukrainian nationalists vandalize and set fire at Kiev monasteryRepresentatives of the nationalistic terrorist group C-14 attacked the Monastery “of the Tithes” in Kiev yesterday. In two incidents, they vandalized and set fire to monastery property and abused those who tried to stop them.

“>vandalized and set on fire on January 25, 2018. On February 3, about 200 radicals staged a protest near the monastery, calling for its dismantling. Thousands come out to defend Tithes Monastery from Ukrainian radicals (+ VIDEO)More than 3,000 faithful Orthodox Christians came out and stood for ten hours through the night, prayerfully protecting the monastery from those who hate the Church of God.”>More than 3,000 came out to defend the monastery on the same day. The former abbot of the Tithes Monastery, His Grace Bishop Gideon of Makarov, was temporarily Ukraine cancels citizenship, deports bishop as he returns from speaking to US Congress about persecution in UkraineThe bishop and abbot was escorted to a departing plane by men bearing automatic rifles.”>deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019-2020 after he spoke out about the persecution of the Church.

Ukraine: court orders destruction of Tithes Church, built on site of first Kievan cathedralThe new church was vandalized and set on fire on January 25, 2018. On February 3, about 200 radicals staged a protest near the monastery, calling for its dismantling.

“>In February 2023, the Economic Court of Kiev ruled to dismantle the church, which was later upheld by other court rulings.

In order to comply with the court rulings, the museum has announced a fundraiser, aiming to gather 772,000 hryvnia ($19,840) for “dismantling and garbage removal.”

According to the museum, it can’t rely on state funding during wartime.

And the museum hopes to demolish the church in time for Pascha.

“It would be very symbolic to complete this garbage collection by Pascha! Therefore, we ask all concerned citizens to support the collection. Let’s protect our history and culture together!” the museum staff urges.

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