Tag: Christianity

St. Saturninus was sent from Rome, under Pope Fabian, to preach the faith in Gaul around the year 245. He became the first bishop of Toulouse, and founded a small church there when he arrived, converting many through his preaching. 

The path to his church crossed in front of the capitol, where there was a pagan temple. The pagan priests believed that their oracles were silenced by his frequent presence, and one day, they seized him and tried to make him submit to their gods. Saturninus refused, saying, “I know but one God, and to Him I will offer the sacrifice of praise. How can I fear gods, who, as you say, are afraid of me?”

The pagan priests were preparing to sacrifice a bull, and when they heard Saturninus’ words, they fastened him to the bull and drove it down the capitol. The bill dragged him around town until Saturninus had died. Two devout women gathered the saint’s remains and buried them deep underground so the pagans could not profane his grave. 

Saturninus was succeeded in Toulouse by Sts. Hilary and Exuperius, who gave him a more honorable burial. They built a church where the bull had stopped, which still exists, and is called the Church of the Taur (Bull). Saturninus’ body was moved to the Church of St. Sernin (or Saturninus) in Southern France, where it remains today. 

Englewood, New Jersey, November 27, 2023

Photo:​ antiochian.org     

A group within the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is raising funds to support a new infant orphanage in Mexico.

Part of Project Mexico and the St. Innocent Orphanage that have been in operation for many years, this will be the only Orthodox infant orphanage in all of North America, writes Lauren Ferris, the Antiochian Women North American Board Humanitarian Coordinator.

St. Innocent’s currently houses boys and young men only, and is now expanding to care for up to 12 infants a year. Construction is underway.

Like the older boys, the babies “will be raised in the atmosphere of the Orthodox spiritual life. They will be provided with an education, basic necessities, activities, emotional and physical enrichment, and most of all the love of God.”

Antiochian Women aims to assist with start-up needs for the first year. Educational costs are approximately $100,000, plus $50,000 for a scholarship fund for at least two missionaries to help with the newborns the first year.

The organization would also like to provide a handmade blanket and Orthodox cross for each child.

Those interested in helping can do so through the direction donation link or by purchasing items on the Orphanage’s Amazon Wish List.

Learn more about the orphanage at the Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orphanage website.

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A cohort of Japanese and U.S. Catholic bishops have applauded this week’s meeting of nation states that have formally joined the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as “another historic step on the journey toward hope, toward the light, toward a world free of nuclear weapons.”

The second Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons began Nov. 27 at the UN headquarters in New York, where it will run through Dec. 1. The meeting is chaired by Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez, Permanent Representative of Mexico.

The focus of the meeting, according to a news release from the Mexican government, is to assess the status of the treaty’s implementation and discuss the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. In addition to representatives from nation-states that have joined the treaty, present at the meeting will be atomic bomb and nuclear test survivors, representatives of international organizations, and other representatives from civil society and the scientific community.

“It is the duty of our dioceses to support this Treaty while working toward universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament,” the bishops said in a Nov. 27 joint statement. “We lend our voices in strong support of the Second Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

The group of bishops, whose dioceses all have a connection to nuclear weapons and have all been longtime advocates of nuclear disarmament called the meeting historic despite its limitations, considering participants include only those nation-states who have signed the treaty.

“The international legal force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is limited to those states that have formally joined the Treaty, but its moral power does not recognize boundaries between nations nor lines on a map—the moral power of this Treaty is global and universal,” the bishops said.

The group of bishops consists of American Archbishops John Wester of Santa Fe and Paul Etienne of Seattle, both who lead an archdiocese with ties to the production and deployment of nuclear weapons. It also consists of Japanese Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki, Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima, and Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, who lead the Japanese dioceses the U.S. bombed on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.

The group came together during a “pilgrimage of peace” to Japan over the summer led by Wester and Etienne, who were accompanied by organizations and archdiocesan officials dedicated to nuclear disarmament advocacy. The trip coincided with the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

At the same time, the group announced a new initiative to promote the realization of a world without nuclear weapons. In essence, the initiative is a call for dioceses worldwide to advocate, dialogue, educate and pray for the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide.

Back in May 2023, the group also called on leaders of the Group of Seven country leaders to take concrete steps towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. In their Nov. 23 statement on this week’s meeting, the bishops acknowledged that “message fell upon deaf ears, and we received no response.”

None of the G7 countries have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which includes the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Of those countries, the U.S. has far and away the most nuclear warheads with 5,244 as of 2022, according to data published in March by the Federation of American Scientists. That is second only to Russia, which has an arsenal of 5,899 nuclear warheads, the data shows.

Third on the list is China with 410 nuclear warheads, followed by G7 countries France and the United Kingdom with 290 and 225 nuclear warheads, respectively. After that there’s Pakistan with 170, and India with 164. No other country has an arsenal of more than 90 nuclear warheads, the data shows.

The Vatican was the first state to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons when it opened for signatures in July 2017. It went into effect in January 2021. So far, 69 states have signed and ratified the treaty, and 24 others have signed but not yet ratified.

In 2019, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Pope Francis called the possessing of nuclear weapons “immoral.” The pontiff also said at the hypocenter of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki that “we must never grow weary of working to support the principal international legal instruments of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

In their Nov. 27 statement, the group of bishops called on world leaders to make marked progress towards nuclear disarmament by the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in August, 2025.

“We specifically call upon world leaders to demonstrate measurable progress toward nuclear disarmament by the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings,” the bishops said. “We know the serious negative consequences for humanity are ever-increasing. August 2025 will be an appropriate time to hold world leaders accountable for progress made on long-delayed, promised nuclear disarmament.”

Rodopoli, East Attica, Greece, November 27, 2023

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

Constantinople canonizes two 20th-century eldersThe Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople resolved to canonize two 20th-century elders today.

“>Earlier this month, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople canonized two 20th-century elders: St. Gervasios (Paraskevopoulos) and St. Athanasios the Younger (Hamakiotis).

Over the weekend, the canonization of St. Athanasios was celebrated for the first time, at the Holy Convent of Panagia Faneromeni in Rodopoli, which the newly glorified saint himself founded.

On the evening of Friday, November 24, a festive Hierarchical Vespers was celebrated by Metropolitan Kyrillos of Kifissia, Amaroussion, and Oropos. St. Anathasios’ holy relics were carried from the saint’s cell to the monastery’s chapel for the faithful to venerate, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

The next morning, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated, followed by a procession throughout the holy monastery.

Met. Kyrillos expressed the joy and spiritual rejoicing of the monastery and the people of the local metropolis.

The celebration continued that evening at the Metropolitan Chapel of Panagia Nerantziotissa in Amaroussion, where the holy skull of St. Athanasios was received from the monastery for veneration. Hierarchical Vespers was then celebrated.

On Sunday, Orthros and the festive Divine Liturgy were celebrated by Met. Kyrillos. After the Divine Liturgy, a procession with the holy skull was held around the metropolitan chapel.

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Legal action filed against a New York state diocese shows the Catholic Church in the U.S. has significant work to do in safeguarding adults from clerical abuse.

The Diocese of Rochester, New York, announced on its news website, the Catholic Courier, that it had been served Nov. 16 with a civil lawsuit involving an adult and Father Matthew Jones.

The action alleges that the 41-year-old Father Jones, then pastor of All Saints Parish in Corning, New York had sexually abused male parishioner in his 20s who had sought pastoral counseling. According to the filing, the priest had plied the young man with alcohol and dinners (paid for with a diocesan credit card) and engaged in “non-consensual sexual contact” with him on numerous occasions over a six-month period. In some instances, the young man was too intoxicated to resist the priest’s advances, according to the suit.

The diocese placed Father Jones on a leave of absence Sept. 19, 2022, saying in a statement posted on its news website, the Catholic Courier, that Father Jones has not functioned as a priest since then and has resigned his pastorate.

The case against Father Jones was brought under New York’s Adult Victims Act, which provided a one-year lookback window for claims by victims abused over the age of 18, regardless of when the abuse occurred. The act — which led to more than 3,000 claims against a variety of individuals and entities, from celebrities to state prisons — expired Nov. 24.

While the Catholic Church in the U.S. “has made significant strides in protecting children from sexual abuse … we have not yet made a similar commitment to protecting adults,” said Sara Larson, executive director of the independent nonprofit Awake Milwaukee, which works to raise awareness of and heal sexual abuse in both the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Catholic Church as a whole.

“As an organization, we would like to see an internal structure be built (that is) similar to that of the child protection services that so many dioceses have adopted,” Michael McDonnell, interim executive director of SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests), told OSV News.

In March, Pope Francis made permanent his motu proprio “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), expanding the categories of victims covered by the regulations to include vulnerable adults.

But experts told OSV News the term “vulnerable adult” is itself problematic for a number of reasons.

“The term ‘vulnerable adult’ presupposes the existence of invincible adults,” Lea Karen Kivi, author of “Abuse in the Church: Healing the Body of Christ,” told OSV News. “No matter who you are, you are at risk.”

Kivi also said that “some use the term ‘vulnerable adult’ as a form of victim blaming.”

Larson agreed, saying her work with adult survivors has shown “many (survivors) find this language extremely demeaning.”

McDonnell said he prefers the “more neutral” term “individuals who present challenge,” which could be “a challenge in their life, a challenge in their workplace,” and the like.

“It may be a grieving mother, it may be someone who’s going through a separation or a divorce,” he said. “I think that ‘vulnerability’ puts so much of a stigma on it.”

Larson echoed that approach, saying that “instead of trying to determine which adults fit this label, we should recognize the reality that all people can be vulnerable to abuse during challenging times in their life or in specific situations where there is a distinct power differential.”

Focusing on “vulnerable adults” also obscures the role of abusers, said Kivi.

“I think the use of the term ‘vulnerable adult’ wrongly focuses on characteristics of victims instead of the characteristics of offending clergy,” she said. “Instead, I think canon law should adopt the terms ‘consenting’ versus ‘non-consenting adults’ when it comes to any sexual contact between priests and adults.”

Kivi has also developed a template of a website statement that can be used by caregiving organizations to describe their safe environment policy for adults. The template lists a number of red flags indicating a member of the clergy or counselor has violated a care-seeker’s boundaries — for example, by confiding in the care-seeker, misusing Scripture or other aspects of religion to groom a victim, meeting outside of a normal counseling or clinical setting, and engaging in sexual touch or activity.

Lay people can play a pivotal role in developing more robust and specific protocols to protect adults from abuse in the Catholic Church, especially “coming off the heels of the Synod (on Synodality),” which called for greater lay involvement in the life of the church, said McDonnell.

He also recommended diocesan policies that pointed adults to licensed counselors for treatment that would be protected under privacy laws and regulated by professional medical and clinical boards.

During their fall 2023 plenary assembly, a number of U.S. bishops stressed the need for an increase in the number of Catholic mental health professionals qualified to address mental illness holistically, through psychiatric, psychological and spiritual treatment modalities.

“As pastors, we are not mental health professionals, but we can be mental health ministers,” said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia in his address to the assembly. Archbishop Gudziak, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, are leading the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign, launched by the U.S. bishops in October.

McDonnell suggested that adults seeking pastoral counseling “find a trusted figure that you would allow to sit in on any type of a session” to prevent abuse.

Despite the Catholic Church’s long road ahead in protecting adults from abuse, Larson said she remains hopeful.

“I do see awareness building in recent years, and there are certainly church leaders who are trying to face this reality and formulate a just and compassionate response,” she said. “As more and more cases of adult abuse come to light, I have hope that we are finally reaching the point when we will come together as the Body of Christ to protect all members of the body.”

  

Today we celebrate the memory of the Venerable St. Herman of Alaska

“>Herman of Alaska, the patron saint of North America. There is so much that is praiseworthy in the life of this man of God that one hardly knows where to begin. He was an ascetic who dwelt as an anchorite in the forests from the time of his early childhood. He was a zealous missionary who, like the righteous Abraham, left his home and his fatherland for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, not for himself only but for all of us who have received the precious gift of Orthodoxy on this continent. Though a hermit and a lover of solitude, he nevertheless joyfully took care of his orphans and fearlessly defended the native Aleuts from exploitation by his own people. He was a monk who, out of his deep humility, refused ordination to the priesthood, and so was sent an angel from heaven on the day of the Lord’s Theophany “>Theophany to bless holy water for him. He was a man who lived so wholly in the Kingdom of Heaven even during this earthly life that, when asked whether he ever grew lonely living by himself in his island hermitage, he could not even comprehend how such a thing could be possible, surrounded as he was by such a countless host of angels.

Alas, how far removed are our own lives from everything that has just been spoken concerning this saint! After standing in church and gazing at the holy icon and relic of this chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, when we then turn our gaze inward toward our own hearts, we see there all too clearly our vanity, our all-consuming self-love, our petty weakness, our sinful depravity, our spiritual emptiness. Here before us there shines radiantly a living example of what it means to truly be a Christian, and the light of that truth reveals all too clearly the darkness in which we instead so often choose to walk.

When we begin to understand, even a little, how far short we fall from what we are meant to be, from what the grace of Christ has given us the power to be, we are forced to ask ourselves why. What is it that prevents us from acquiring this grace, from truly changing our sinful lives? All of us standing here, simply by virtue of the fact that we are standing here, have tried at least a little to leave the things of this earth behind; all of us standing here have, to one extent or another, failed.

Perhaps this might cause us to doubt the power or the love of God, or perhaps we might simply resolve to force ourselves to try harder going forward. Yet St. Herman is living proof of the power of the grace and the love of God, and the experience of our own lives has without doubt already shown us the futility of our own striving, no matter how fervent or well-intentioned it may be. Why, then, do we still fail?

Let us not underestimate the importance of this question. Indeed, in facing this question a Christian is threatened by the greatest of all possible spiritual dangers, for behind it stand the twin threats of apostasy on the one hand, and despair on the other. And there are surely no more certain roads to perdition than these.

Yet just as the life of St. Herman confronts us with this question, so too does it reveal to us the answer. Simeon Yanovsky, one of the colonial administrators in Alaska who knew St. Herman, tells the following story about the saint. It is a famous story, and rightly so, for it contains a great truth:

Once the Elder was invited aboard a frigate which came from St. Petersburg. The Captain of the frigate was a highly educated man, who had been sent to America by order of the Emperor to make an inspection of all the colonies. There were more than twenty-five officers with the Captain, and they also were educated men. In the company of this group sat a monk of a hermitage, small in stature and wearing very old clothes…

Father Herman gave them all one general question: ‘Gentlemen, What do you love above all, and what will each of you wish for your happiness?’ Various answers were offered … Some desired wealth, others glory, some a beautiful wife, and still others a beautiful ship he would captain; and so forth in the same vein. ‘Is it not true,’ Father Herman said to them concerning this, ‘that all your various wishes can bring us to one conclusion – that each of you desires that which in his own understanding he considers the best, and which is most worthy of his love?’ They all answered, ‘Yes, that is so!’

And here St. Herman reveals to us the root of our obstinancy in sin. It is, as it turns out, almost painfully simple: we spend our lives seeking after whatever it is that we love. And as long as we love our own pleasure or power or praise, or anything else of ourselves or of this world, it will remain absolutely impossible for our lives to change. No matter how much we might try to force ourselves, it remains inevitable that – as our Lord said – “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil” (Luke 6:45). We cannot simply choose to stop sinning; instead, we must choose to stop loving all the many things that cause us to sin. We must renounce all the inner hungers, the deep and hidden desires, that draw us away from God.

How can this happen? How can the human heart learn turn away from earthly lusts and begin instead to truly love our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, there is one way which is really quite simple: by keeping Him always before the eyes of our heart. By walking always before the face of God. The divine beauty of Christ has the power to break even the hardest of hearts, and to break the spell of even the most seductive of earthly loves. As St. Isaac the Syrian says, we will never be able to overcome the love of this world and its pleasures unless we set before the eyes of our soul the beauty of the age to come. And this indeed is what repentance — metanoia — truly means: not a feeling of guilt or even godly sorrow, but the turning of our heart towards God.

So many of the spiritual tools and disciplines and practices which we have been given as Orthodox Christians are in fact designed precisely in order to allow us to catch even if but a glimpse of divine beauty. This is why we fast, this is why we pray, this is why come as often as possible into the temple of God or stand before the holy icons at home: so that we might create at least a few small opportunities in our lives for us to stop all of our endless consumption and care and distraction, and learn finally and at long last to simply pay attention to God. And if we only do this, then He Himself will take care of all the rest.

This is also why the Holy Scriptures and the holy monastic fathers tell us that the On the Remembrance of Death: the Sixth Step of the Ladder of Divine AscentThe sixth step of St. John Climacus’s The Ladder of Divine Ascent is dedicated to the spiritual discipline of the remembrance of death, which is to have in mind the hour of one’s repose and the following judgment before God, in order to deter oneself from sin. St. John tells us that the remembrance of death is the highest work for one who is spiritually minded (6:4), and that “He who has mounted [this sixth step] will never sin again” (6:24).

“>remembrance of death is enough to overcome every sin. More than anything else, the remembrance of our death reveals to us the treacherous deceit of the swiftly passing pleasures of this world on the one hand, and the eternal and unfading beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven on the other.

Of course, none of this is easy. Perhaps the most profound line “The Dostoyevsky line continues”We have the same genes and we pass down from generation to generation the memory of Feodor Mikhailovich as we inherited nothing else but the genes.

“>Dostoevsky ever wrote is: “The terrible thing is that beauty is not only fearful but also mysterious. Here the devil is struggling with God, and the battlefield is the human heart.” For most of us, this struggle will last a lifetime. Our hearts are hardened and slow to change. But nevertheless let each of us patiently remind ourselves again and again of these truths, and so over time learn with God’s help to see through the tired lies of our old sinful pleasures. Let us as often as possible, and with all the love that we can find within our hearts, set before ourselves the holy things of God: the divine Scriptures, the holy icons, the hymns of the Church, the writings of the Holy Fathers, the lives of the saints. Let us also not forget to set before ourselves our own brothers and sisters around us in whom Christ mystically dwells, and let us open our hearts to be moved and inspired by their living examples of love and self-sacrifice. And above all let us constantly, with reverent awe and humble gratitude, remember our Savior Himself, the love with which He has loved us, and the grace and mercy and providential care which He always and unfailingly bestows upon us despite our innumerable weaknesses and failings and falls into sin.

If we are faithful in these things, then without any doubt the grace which so brilliantly illumines St. Herman will also illumine our own hearts. And in the light of that grace we will see not only the depths of our sinfulness, but also the glorious and inexpressible heights of the beauty of Christ and the eternal riches that await those who love Him in the Kingdom of His Father. Therefore, in the words of St. Herman himself: “From this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all and fulfill His holy will.”

Through the prayers of our venerable and God-bearing father Herman the Wonderworker of Alaska, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

As Vatican workers continued to decorate the Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square and to erect a platform for the Nativity scene, the office of papal liturgical ceremonies published the list of holiday Masses and prayer services Pope Francis would celebrate.

The Vatican already had announced Pope Francis will make his traditional late afternoon visit to the Spanish Steps in the center of Rome Dec. 8 to pay tribute to the Immaculate Conception at a Marian statue.

For the Dec. 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he is scheduled to preside over an evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Christmas liturgies announced Nov. 28 include:

— Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m., the pope will celebrate the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica. While the Mass is commonly referred to as “midnight Mass,” the Vatican celebration has been earlier for more than a decade.

— Dec. 25 at noon, Pope Francis gives his message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

— Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope presides over evening prayer and the chanting of the “Te Deum” in thanksgiving to God for the year that is ending.

— Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. in the basilica, the pope celebrates Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day.

— Jan. 6 at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s, Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the feast of the Epiphany.

— Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the Sistine Chapel, the pope presides over a Mass for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptizes several infants.

Moscow, November 28, 2023

Photo: ic.pics.livejournal.com     

The construction of the Church of the Prophet Daniel in Kantemirovskaya, Mosocw, will be able to continue thanks to a significant allocation from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

The church, which will serve as a missionary center for working with people in sects, was conceived of by the martyred Fr. Daniel Sysoev. It is being built being the Church of the Apostle Thomas, where Fr. Daniel was fatally shot on the night of November 19, 2009 (he died early the next morning).

When the construction of the new church resumed after a break, it turned out that the cost had increased by 100 million rubles ($1.22 million). The parish thus appealed to the Patriarch, who “decided to allocate a subsidy of 150 million rubles ($1.68 million) for the construction and beautification of the church,” said the press service of State Duma Deputy Vladimir Resin, curator of the program for the construction of churches in Moscow, reports RIA-Novosti.

Currently, the parish is planning to open a mission center, a store, and a library, and its missionary training courses are to be transformed into an institute.

The complex is set to be finished by the second half of 2025.

“We are building this church in memory of its murdered rector. I think the best memory of him will be this church, which he dreamed of building,” Resin’s press service said.

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“And Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come’ ” (John 2:4).

Sometimes Jesus says something that seems very odd. This is one of those times.

Why would he talk to his mother that way?

Well, there are many possible reasons. But the main reason, I believe, is that he wanted to echo other biblical uses of the title “woman” — one from the past and one from the near future.

For in just a few years Jesus would again address Mary as “woman.” When he hung dying on the cross, he called her “woman” as he gave her as mother to his beloved disciple, John (John 19:26).

But his use of the word also echoes the first book of the Bible. There, “woman” is the name Adam gives to Eve (Genesis 2:23). Jesus, then, is addressing Mary as Eve to the New Adam — which heightens the significance of the wedding feast they’re attending, whose historical bride and groom are never named.

“Woman” redefines not only Mary’s relationship with Jesus, but also with all believers. When Jesus gave her over to his “beloved disciple,” in effect he gave her to all his beloved disciples of all time. Like Eve, whom Genesis (3:20) calls “mother of all living,” Mary is mother to all who have new life in baptism.

At Cana, then, the New Eve radically reversed the fatal decision of the first Eve. It was “woman” who led the old Adam to his first evil act in the garden. It was “woman” who led the New Adam to his first public miracle.

The figure of Eve reappears still later in the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation, which is also attributed to John. There, in chapter 12, we encounter “a woman clothed with the sun,” who confronts “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil.” These images hark back to Genesis, where Eve faced the demonic serpent in the Garden of Eden, and where God cursed the serpent, promising to “put enmity” between him and “the woman … and her seed” (Genesis 3:15). Yet the images of Revelation also evoke the New Eve — who gave birth to a “male child” (v. 5) who would “rule all the nations.” That child could only be Jesus; and so the “woman” in Revelation could only be Jesus’ mother.

In Revelation, however, the New Eve prevails over evil, unlike her long-ago “type” in the Garden of Eden.

Both the old Eve and the New were created without sin. But only Mary remained sinless and kept God’s commands.

The early Church Fathers spoke with one voice of Mary as the New Eve. The Church carried on its reflection on Mary’s sinlessness over almost two millennia before the dogma was promulgated.

The medieval poets summed up the matter neatly by pointing out that the Angel Gabriel’s “Ave” (the Latin greeting) reversed the name of Eva. So also did it reverse the rebellious inclination Eve left to her children — and replace it with the readiness to obey, which Mary wants to teach us when she says: “Do whatever he tells you.”

Kiev, November 28, 2023

Photo: spzh.news     

To date, 53 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada have signed an appeal to the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, demanding that Bill No. 8371, with which the authorities aim to ban the Orthodox Church, be sent to the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters.

The deputies ask that the European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, examine the bill to determine whether it complies with European standards and values in the field of law, reports the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Information-Education Department.

Recall that the bill was approved in its first reading Ukrainian Parliament votes for bill to ban UOC in first reading, second reading still to comeMany local administrations have declared bans on the Church, though at the same time, the Church’s activities have continued in those localities.

“>last month. It awaits a second reading before passing into law.

In their letter, the deputies note that the bill is a threat to the freedom of religion, which is supposed to be guaranteed by the Ukrainian constitution and legislation.

In particular, “the document is once again aimed solely at interfering in the internal activities of religious organizations and violating people’s right to freedom of religion, which is fundamental and guaranteed by the state.”

The appeal affirms that the state has no right to tell its citizens which church to attend or to interfere in the internal affairs of a religious organization. To do so violates the constitution and the norms of international law, the deputies write.

The appeal also provides an extensive analysis of all of the points of the bill that contradict Ukrainian and international legislation.

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