Tag: Christianity

The Knights of Columbus reached a major milestone this month when they donated their one millionth coat through their Coats for Kids program on Nov. 6.

During an event held at Annunciation Catholic School in Denver, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly took part in the distribution of nearly 1,000 new coats to underprivileged children in five Denver Catholic schools. The donation of coats was accompanied by a donation of $10,000 to each of the five schools involved.

Since 2009 the Knights have provided high-quality, new winter coats to children in need, with coats being distributed in 49 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces. Coats have also been distributed on U.S. military bases and Native American and First Nation reservations in the U.S. and Canada.

In an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” this week, Kelly said the program “provides the gift of warmth to children in the coldest months.”

“It really is in keeping with who the Knights are,” he added. “Since our very beginning with Father Michael McGivney, we were in service to the family, and so it’s very much in keeping with our founding vision of serving the family and our founding mission of charity.”

The @KofC are celebrating a milestone today, donating their 1 millionth coat through their Coats for Kids program. Supreme Knight for the Knights of Columbus, Patrick Kelly, tells us more about what’s happening today in Denver. pic.twitter.com/EqMMW9GbJy

— EWTN News Nightly (@EWTNNewsNightly) November 7, 2023

Kelly pointed out that the Knights are seeing an increased need for coats this year. In 2023, more than 1,500 Knights councils will distribute over 200,000 coats.

“Charity really is part and parcel of who Christ calls us to be,” Kelly said.

He shared that many of the teachers at the event told him about the “tremendous need” many of the low-income families have and how essential a coat is for their children.

The Coats for Kids program helps to “take the burden off the parents,” Kelly explained, by having the Knights provide coats for their children.

So who received the millionth coat?

“We gave it to this wonderful little girl and she was just a star and she was so happy to have the coat,” he shared. “The coat that we gave her was a golden coat and we said we gave it to her because she has a heart of gold.”

    

“Confession or revelation of everything to the spiritual father is
the most salutary action in the matter of our spiritual warfare.”

St. Nikodemos the Hagiroite

The Moscow Patriarchate’s Monastic Bulletin has written several times about how Optina Hermitage continues the tradition of book publishing that existed in the monastery before its closure in 1918. Many books are being republished in an updated format, previously published lives of the The Holy Elders of OptinaThrough God’s mercy, in spite of seventy years of Communist enslavement, ”prima vitae” of many of the Elders have been preserved. Written by their immediate disciples, these rare biographies contain a multitude of priceless details and anecdotes that shed light into the secret corners of lives totally dedicated to Jesus Christ.

“>Optina Elders are being expanded, and new works are coming to light. In March of this year, the Optina Hermitage publishing house published a book about confession, repentance, and the revelation of thoughts. In this interview, Daria Filatova speaks with the author-compiler of the new edition, Hieromonk Dmitry (Volkov), on these essential topics.

—Fr. Dmitry, how did the idea of compiling the new book, Confession and the Revelation of Thoughts in the Spiritual Heritage of the Optina Elders come about?

—The first book was about the On the Jesus Prayer in Our TimeHow can the strange question arise: “Can laymen pray the Jesus Prayer?” After all, this prayer is an attempt to constantly be with Christ, to behold Him and follow after Him.

“>Jesus Prayer. So, Confession and the revelation of thoughts are essentially supplements to the work of prayer. This wasn’t adequately conveyed in the first text. And the second reason is the importance of the topic itself: After all, not everyone prays the Jesus Prayer, but everyone without exception goes to Confession. At the same time, even monastics encounter their own difficulties. They often accumulate, and the person doesn’t even realize he has any problems with Confession. God Is HereRepentance destroys hell in the penitent’s soul and transfers him to Paradise.”>Confession.

    

—That is, the book is meant to teach Confession or the revelation of thoughts?

—Of course, the book is of an applied nature. In this edition, we tried to reflect everything the Elders said about Confession and the revelation of thoughts. Our aim is to bring the words of the Elders to the reader, and put them, as they say, on a candlestick (cf. Lk. 8:16).

—Has the tradition of daily revelation of thoughts that existed in Optina Hermitage resumed after the revival of the monastery?

—Of course. Our monastery has a confessor for the brothers, and he has assistants from among the older brethren. Each of them is assigned as the spiritual guide for a certain number of brothers. Therefore, the monks living here have all the necessary conditions for daily Confession and revelation of thoughts. Although, much depends on the personal disposition of the monks.

—Do the brothers confess often?

—Everything is very individualized. We consider that the more often you confess the better, but there’s no formal norm here—it’s different for each person. Some go to Confession once a week, some every day, or every other day. Those who confess more often, as a rule, talk about more minute sins and thoughts: They condemned someone, they murmured, they couldn’t endure reproach.

    

—In confessing more often, does a monastic become more attentive to the movements of his soul? What did the Optina Elders say about this?

—Confession and the revelation of thoughts are essential for spiritual prosperity. There is no progress without it. On the other hand, there’s a measure for everything. It’s not always useful to detect the subtle movements of the soul. Rather, it’s possible to catch them, but then what to do with them? Much here depends on personal disposition.

Thus, many laymen weren’t blessed by the Holy Fathers to do subtle introspection. After all, the main practice of battling with the thoughts is to cut them off without any kind of examination, and our goal isn’t to learn how to distinguish thoughts more subtly, but that we wouldn’t have them at all. The same applies to the frequency of Confession. We don’t have examples in the Elders where they counseled someone to go to Confession a specific number of times a week. It’s all a matter of free will. A man decides, according to his spiritual strength and the advice of his spiritual father, how often he should go to Confession, and what his confession should be like.

    

—It’s good to go to Confession with elders… But what should we do now, when, according to common opinion, there aren’t any such God-enlightened elders left?

—Well… much depends on faith. For some, there are such elders now. People go to their spiritual fathers and they receive admonition and instruction from them according to their faith. On the other hand, if you walk through the Optina necropolis, you can find the inscription, “father-confessor,” on several gravestones. That is, there were elders, and there were also officially appointed father-confessors, whom some of the brethren and laymen would go see. It’s the same now. Perhaps we don’t have any clairvoyant elders like in the nineteenth century, but spiritual guidance hasn’t stopped. Moreover, the goal of eldership has always been that the novice would learn to cut off his own will and live according to the will of God. And this can be achieved even with a “lack” of elders.

    

—Can you tell us, why in the lives of the Elders do they talk more about the revelation of thoughts than Confession?

—We have to understand that the Elders lived in a different time and the attitude towards Confession was different. In our day, the Sacrament of Confession is inextricably connected with the Sacrament of Communion. In this regard, people quite often ask in Confession: “I’m not going to receive Communion. Can I still confess?” What does this speak to? That in the consciousness of the people, the two Sacraments don’t exist in isolation from each other. Today, Confession has lost its independent character to some degree and has become a kind of “ticket” to Communion. But in the time of the Elders, they communed far less often. Accordingly, they confessed less often. Now, regular Confession is increasingly turning into revelation of thoughts. In old Optina, the brethren also practiced revelation of thoughts, but the elder could cover them with his stole and read the prayer of absolution if he considered it necessary. That is, one smoothly flows into the other, although an experienced monk who isn’t ordained can hear the revelation of thoughts, while only a priest can hear confessions.

—Is there any point in laymen practicing the revelation of thoughts?

—If we take a layman who rarely goes to church and rarely confesses, then, of course, he’s going to talk about his sinful deeds, not about his thoughts, simply because his actions, not his thoughts, will be at the forefront of his mind. With the purification of the soul and spiritual maturation, a man moves from confessing grievous sins to confessing his daily thoughts and minor transgressions. What does he confess, for example? Idle talk, he judged someone or got angry, but he didn’t show it—he restrained himself and kept quiet. He understands that this is a sin and he brings it to Confession. In cases like this, Confession essentially turns into the revelation of thoughts.

—You said the Holy Fathers sometimes forbade a detailed self-analysis and digging into our thoughts. That means laymen don’t need to do revelation of thoughts?

—It’s not that they forbade it, but we do find such thoughts in St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

“>St. Ignatius. The Optina Elders talk about it sometimes, but there’s no prohibition for the laity to practice revelation of thoughts. It’s just that a layman has many different events and experiences in his life: meetings, conversations, news—all this simmers inside, leaving its mark, and if you like, its aftertaste. It’s not always easy to make sense of this whirlwind of impressions, because they’re not only connected with the external side of life, but also affect a man’s plans, his goals, his desires. When examining the thoughts, it can happen that all the impressions that have settled inside will again start to disquiet and fill a man’s consciousness. Remembering some incident, he experiences it a second and third time and gets worked up. Often, he does come out of such self-analysis not purified, but on the contrary, confirmed in his sinful intentions, for example, in his desire for revenge. This is the danger.

The book has a separate chapter about “checking yourself.” This is when a man sits down, let’s say, in the evening and recalls everything that happened throughout the day. This practice is the most effective in a monastery. It was advised by Abba Dorotheos and other holy fathers, but it was advised to monastics. And why specifically to monks? The life of a monk is clearly structured: He gets up, Midnight Office, the service, after the service he goes to his obedience, then to lunch, then to rest, then continues his obedience, then the evening service. Such a routine is very useful for the spiritual life; everything is measured and has its own time. It’s much easier to watch yourself in such conditions than in the hustle and bustle of the world. Thus, we can say: What’s useful and necessary for monks isn’t always applicable to the life of laymen.

    

—Part of your book is dedicated to the battle with the thoughts. In short, how do we struggle against the thoughts?

—Battling with the thoughts isn’t easy—ideally, they shouldn’t even be accepted. However, the Optina Elders have a lot of advice about this. For example, in order to cut off lustful thoughts, St. Leo counseled to envision the torments of hell and eternal punishment for them, to remember death. One of the most effective weapons against them is the Jesus Prayer and the reading of Holy Scripture. But at the same time, we have to remember that many thoughts are a reflection of our inner aspirations and desires. That’s why they’re not so easy to overcome. To do so, we have to change, transfigure our entire lives. And that’s not a quick process.

    

—So how should we start the struggle with our thoughts?

—Again, with Confession and the revelation of thoughts. Frequent Confession makes them powerless. As the Holy Fathers say, the enemy doesn’t like it when his intrigues become known, and therefore Confession weakens the mental struggle.

—For monastics, Confession before tonsure is of particular importance. Is there a difference between everyday Confession and Confession before being tonsured?

—I think many have a similar question, because Confession before a tonsure seems to be something extraordinary. But in fact, Confession before a tonsure in no way differs from regular Confession. Before being tonsured, you should recall your sins from your former life, including from your time in the monastery, to conduct, so to speak, an audit of your sinful accumulations.

    

—But Confession before the tonsure has a sacred meaning for many. Why?

—Well, I don’t understand what the sacredness is here. Perhaps it’s from the prevailing opinion that the tonsure is like a second Baptism, after which all your sins are forgiven, and you’re reborn, as it were. But this opinion isn’t a dogma of the Church. During the tonsure, you take vows that naturally draw a certain line separating life before and after the tonsure. But still, this point shouldn’t be overestimated. The tonsure doesn’t transform you into a monk. That is, it transforms you from the outside, but to become a monk internally requires hard work. As St. Barsanuphius of Optina said, it takes twenty years to become a monk.

—In preparing for this interview, I read the words of St. Ephraim the Syrian, who said: “It’s not the tonsure or attire that makes a monk, but Heavenly desire and the Divine life, because in this is manifest the perfection of life.”

—Exactly. Although this sounds more like a rebuke to us. Previously, monks sat in their cells and they knew nothing besides their cells and church. And now we compile books and give interviews. St. Ephraim would be surprised…

—Thank God, and thank you for the interview!

The tradition of book publishing at Optina Hermitage dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. It began with St. Macarius of Optina (1788-1860)On September 7/20 we celebrate the memory of the great Optina elder, Macarius. The saint’s life is deeply edifying for contemporary people. What kinds of lessons can we learn from the elder’s life?

“>Elder Macarius and the outstanding Russian philosopher Ivan Kireyevsky, and it’s thanks to them that the educational work of Optina has caught the eye of the whole of educated Russia. Later, Elder Macarius was replaced by Elder Ambrose of Optina“>Elder Ambrose in the obedience of head of the publishing house. The Optina press existed for nearly seventy years, stopping only in 1918, after the monastery was closed. Together with the revival of the monastic life in the Russian Orthodox Church, the traditions of our monasteries, including book publishing, also began to revive.

Kremenets, Ternopil Province, Ukraine, November 8, 2023

Photo: eparhia.vn.ua     

More than 10 hierarchs, a host of clerics, and scores of monastics and faithful pilgrims of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church filled the Holy Theophany Convent in Kremenets on Monday for the feast of the monastery’s greatest sacred treasure.

On that day, the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon of the Mother of God was led by the local hierarch His Eminence Metropolitan Sergei of Ternopil, together with another ten UOC hierarchs, including His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir, abbot of the Holy Dormition-Pochaev Lavra, reports the Vinnitsa Diocese.

Photo: eparhia.vn.ua     

The Vigil service the night before was held entirely by candlelight, as the electricity was turned off by the Kremenets-Pochaev State Historical and Architectural Preserve that legally owns the monastery and which is trying to run the nuns out of their home of more than 30 years.

The nuns have been sounding the alarm about persecution against them at least Authorities now targeting nuns in Western Ukrainian conventVideo published by the UOC showed several dozen police officers and several police vehicles outside the monastery.

“>since September. The Museum also evicted the UOC from its cathedral in Kremenets Ukraine evicts Ukrainian Church from cathedral in western Ternopil ProvinceShould the Orthodox community refuse to leave the cathedral, the Preserve will apply to law enforcement bodies to enforce the court’s decision.”>last month.

Photo: eparhia.vn.ua     

Despite the state’s harassment of the monastery and its sisterhood, enough pilgrims came for the Liturgy to fill the cathedral church to overflowing.

Special prayers for peace, for the persecuted Church, and for all who are suffering were offered during the service.

Following the service, the monastery’s wonderworking Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon was carried in procession around the monastery.

Photo: eparhia.vn.ua     

***

The Holy Theophany Monastery in Kremenets was founded as a male monastery in the first half of the 17th century. In 1725, it was taken over by Uniate Greek Catholics and did not return to Orthodoxy until 1839. In 1953, the monastery was transformed into a convent, and by 1959, there were 67 sisters living there. On July 29-30, 1959, the monastery was closed and the church was used as a gym, while the monastic residential building housed a hospital.

The rebirth of the monastery began on August 26, 1990, when the Sorrowing Icon of the Mother of God, kept in the monastery before the revolution and moved to the Pochaev Lavra after its closing, was carried in procession back to its former place. Nuns returned to the monastery in 1991.

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St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, born Elizabeth Catez, grew up in Bourges, France, in the 1880s. Her father was a military captain, and died when she was young. Elizabeth and her sister Marguerite were raised by her mother.

Elizabeth was gifted at the piano, but was very stubborn and had a bad temper. Despite her character flaws, she loved God very much, and spent a great deal of time in prayer, visiting the sick, and teaching Catechism to children.

When she was 21, Elizabeth entered a Carmelite monastery, over her mother’s objections. Although she was deeply spiritual, she also had intense periods of doubt and darkness, which caused her spiritual director to question her calling. Elizabeth overcame these obstacles to take her final vows in 1903. She went on to be a spiritual director for many of the sisters.

Just three years later, Elizabeth died of Addison’s disease at the age of 26. She left behind many letters and guides, and she is the patron of people whose parents have died.

Elizabeth was beatified in 1984 by Pope John Paul II, and proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016.

Piraeus, Greece, November 8, 2023

Photo: vimaorthodoxias.gr     

A new statement from the Office of Heresies and Sects of the Greek Orthodox Church’s Metropolis of Piraeus warns of the influence of ecumenism and the Church and its effect on the canonization process.

“We observe that in recent decades, an increasingly dangerous foreign ecumenical spirit is infiltrating the Orthodox space, adopting different criteria for canonization,” the statement reads, reports Vima Orthodoxias.

The statement comes in the wake of the Gerontissa Gavrilia, “the ascetic of love,” canonized by ConstantinopleMother Gavrilia was a Greek Orthodox nun known for her care of the poor and sick.

“>recent canonization of Mother Gavrilia, “the ascetic of love,” by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which proved controversial among many Greek Orthodox faithful.

“This was natural and expected because, in our humble opinion, there is a plethora of evidence indicating that the blessed nun was a person influenced by ecumenical positions,” the Office states, noting that the only source on her life, written by a disciple who later apostatized according to the Piraeus Office, presents her as a proponent of ecumenism (the Metropolis had already voiced its concern about her in an article from 2018).

However, the Metropolis goes on to note that “reliable sources” have confirmed that the book, The Ascetic of Love, presents a very distorted picture of Mother Gavrilia. But this raises the question of what sources the Patriarchate relied on for her canonization then. The Metropolis has formally requested this information and is awaiting a response.

The Office of Heresies and Sects considers it necessary to emphasize, in our days dominated by the demonic spirit of ecumenism, that moralism is not a criterion for canonization. Rather, saints worthy of canonization are those who have been completely transformed by the grace of God.

Some Fathers, such as St. Maximus the Confessor, even go so far as to say that man becomes “uncreated” by grace. Thus, “sanctification transforms his nature, not simply ‘improving’ his character,” the Office writes.

Thus, the Office believes, it is a mistake to canonize those who simply had a degree of asceticism, a spiritual life, who were active in philanthropic work, and certainly those who were tainted by ecumenism.

Further, the spiritual condition of those who decide on someone’s sanctity and propose them for canonization is also important, the Metropolis writes. As Fr. George Metallinos wrote, “Only the saints know who is a saint.”

The statement then poses a rhetorical question:

At this point, we do not consider it unnecessary to pose the following burning questions, which can only be considered rhetorical since the answer is self-evident: Can individuals who not only lack basic spirituality but have also been corroded by ecumenical ideology ever decide on the sanctity of person A or person B? Is it possible for individuals whose minds have been clouded by heresy to be considered competent and suitable to make decisions about the canonization of the faithful?

And further:

We emphasize that the prevailing “atmosphere” of religious syncretism has infiltrated the Orthodox space, dangerously diluting the teaching of the Church on holiness and undermining the prerequisites for the canonization of new saints in the Holy Spirit. Our reservations intensify when we observe that contemporary well-known figures of holiness (with miracles as witnesses), such as St. Philotheos Zervakos with his fragrant relics, have been “forgotten” and are not proposed for canonization, presumably because they had fought against the pan-heresy of Ecumenism and the general decline of ecclesiastical institutions and individuals.

Conversely, “sympathetic” elders and eldresses who were silent in the face of ecumenism are being proposed for canonization, the Metropolis laments.

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Sophia Institute Press has just reissued the spiritual classic,“The Joy of Believing,” by Madeleine Delbrêl, who was declared a “Venerable” by Pope Francis in 2018. The following is adapted from Archbishop Gomez’s introduction to this work, which was first published in 1968.

The 20th century was one of history’s most violent and war-torn, marked by atheistic, anti-human revolutions and ideologies that continue today.

But in that century, God also raised up some of the Church’s greatest saints and blesseds, a beautiful array of fascinating characters like Mother Teresa, John Paul II, Padre Pio, Charles de Foucauld, Josemaría Escrivá, Maximilian Kolbe, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Miguel Pro, Gianna Molla, José Sánchez del Río, Irmã Dulce Pontes, Chiara Badano, and more.

These saints were witnesses to hope in dark times, shining the light of Christ and showing us the path to find holiness and love in times marked by evil and great suffering.

There were other heroic and holy figures, too, not canonized but no less important and inspiring.

Venerable Madeleine Delbrêl was born in southwest France in 1904. She was a creative, passionate soul; she played piano and wrote poetry, she loved to dance.

Early along, she lost her faith in God. “By the time I was fifteen,” she would later write, “I was a strict atheist, and the world grew for me more absurd by the day.” At 17 she wrote a manifesto that she titled, “God is dead … long live death.”

Talking to students many years later, in 1960, she recalled: “At the time, I would have given the whole world to know why I was in it.”

That was not the end of her story, God was not done with her. Some Christians befriended her and encouraged her to pray and read the Gospels.

“By reading and reflecting I found God,” she would later say. “But by praying I believed that God found me and that he is a living reality, and that we can love him in the same way that we can love a person.”

Seeking guidance she came to a priest, Father Jacques Lorenzo, then a local pastor in Paris.

For more than a year in spiritual direction, he opened the Scriptures to her. It changed her life: “He made the Gospel explode for me. … not only [as] the book of the living Lord, but also the Lord’s book to live by.”

With Father Lorenzo’s encouragement, she trained as a nurse and social worker. At age 29 in 1933, along with three other laywomen, Madeleine founded a contemplative community in Ivry, a communist-run city in the suburbs outside Paris. The women took vows of celibacy and lived a life of manual labor and prayer among the poor, offering hospitality and  works of mercy.

Madeleine lived in Ivry for more than 30 years, until her death in 1964. She said she went there because, “in Ivry, men were unbelieving and poor.”

For her this Marxist city became a modern mission territory, and she carried out her mission, not by preaching, but by her presence, love, and friendship. Sharing in the ordinary lives of her neighbors, living her faith with joy, fraternity, and deep concern for those around her, she allowed the joy and love of God to break into a darkened world. 

Madeleine believed that the Church’s mission depends on each one of us, no matter who we are or what our state in life.

“Mission means doing the very work of Christ wherever we happen to be,” she said. “We will not be the Church, and salvation will not reach the ends of the earth, unless we help save the people in the very situations in which we live.”

A mystic as well as a missionary, she had a profound sense that in the Gospels we truly encounter the Word made flesh: “The words of the Gospel are miraculous. If they don’t transform us, it’s because we don’t ask them to.”

Madeleine’s mysticism did not take her out of the world. Instead it plunged her deeper into the world’s pain, poverty, and injustice.

“Jesus wants to live it in me,” she once wrote. “He’s with me among the people I encounter today. … All of them will be people he’s come looking for — those he’s come to save. … Through the brothers and sisters who are close to us, whom he will make us to serve, love, and save, waves of his love will go out to the end of the world and the end of time.”

This is an important, timely, and beautiful book for modern apostles.

I pray that through her words and spirit, Delbrêl will help all of us in the Church to discover, as she did, that our ordinary daily lives are “our place of holiness.”

Holy Nun Martyr Matrona (Vlasova) Holy Confesser Matrona was born in 1889 in the village of Puzo, Nizhny Novgorod governate (now called Suvorovo), to a peasant family. She was orphaned at age six and was given for her upbringing to the Diveyevo Obediences: Photographs from the Early 20th CenturyOn June 14/27 Diveyevo Convent honors its own saints. The pre-revolutionary day-to-day life of the monastery and its sisters were preserved in photographs, and it we gladly present these unique pictures here.

“>St. Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery. It was discovered that the girl has a talent for drawing, and she was given an obedience in the iconography workshop. Ryassaphore Nun Matrona lived in the convent for thirty-two years, in obedience and prayer, until the convent was closed by the communists in 1927.

Matushka settled in the village of Kuzyatovo, Ardatov region, along with three other sisters from Diveyevo. The nuns served in the local church, and earned their living by handicrafts. In April of 1923, the sisters were arrested on the accusation of anti-soviet agitation. On May 21, Sister Matrona was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Dmitrov camp in the Moscow region, which was considered one of the hardest camps.

After serving her sentence she got a job at the church in the village of Verigin, Gorky oblast. She sang in the choir, served as the guard, and cleaned the church. On November 10, 1937, Matushka was arrested a second time, accused of belonging to a “counter-revolutionary church-fascist organization.” At questioning she refused to give evidence and did not plead guilty.

Ryassaphore Nun Matrona was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in Karlag [the prison camp in Karaganda, Kazakhstan], where she worked in the hospital as a cleaning lady. The camp administration noticed her conscientious work and modest behavior. After she was released, she settled in the village of Vyezd near Arzamas (today one of the Diveyevo sketes is located there). As before, her main occupation was serving in the church.

On October 19, 1949, Matushka was again arrested on the basis of her previous case (1937) and sent into exile in Kazakhstan. She was accused of conducting “enemy work.” her accusers tried to get her to give false witness against the priest of the church in the village of Verigin, but the interrogators’ efforts were in vain. Even in case documents there is a statement that “the interrogation records contain no statements of compromise against other persons by the arrested M. G. Vlasova.”

Holy Confessor Matrona of Diveyevo spent seventeen years altogether in prison camps. Her brother Andrei wrote a letter in 1954 interceding for his sister, that she be released. She lived the final years of her life with her brother’s family in her native village of Puzo.

Sister Matrona was very humble and quiet. She prayed the greater part of the day. The church was closed, and so the Diveyevo sisters read the cycle of services in their homes, despite the many bans and persecutions.

Matushka died peacefully on Novemer 7, 1963. She was buried to the left of the graves of Holy Martyrs Eudocia, Daria, Daria, and Maria of Puzo. On October 6, 2001, by resolution of the Holy Synod, Rysaphore Nun Matrona (Vlasova) was ranked among the saints. The holy confessor’s relics were uncovered on September 5, 2007. They now rest in the Kazan Cathedral in Diveyevo Monastery.

Ohio voters Nov. 7 approved Issue 1, a measure that will codify abortion access in the state’s constitution through fetal viability, typically understood to be 24 weeks gestation, according to an NBC News projection of the results. The loss marks another electoral defeat for anti-abortion ballot measures in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

The measure, advanced by the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, will legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability — the gestational maturity at which a baby may be capable of living outside the uterus — and beyond, if a physician decided an abortion was necessary for the sake of the mother’s life or health.

Although Ohio lawmakers enacted a six-week abortion ban that is not being enforced amid a legal challenge, the passage of Issue 1 will likely block its implementation.

Supporters of the measure argued it would return the state to the legal standard set prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Opponents argued the measure would go further than that through its definition of fetal viability, which states viability would be determined on “a case-by-case basis.”

Some proponents argued that failure to enact the measure could criminalize miscarriage care. In an Oct. 13 statement, the Ohio Catholic Conference pushed back on such claims, arguing that “over thirty Catholic hospitals, providing care to millions of patients in Ohio, affirm their commitment to delivering comprehensive healthcare for women and preborn children during pregnancy complications.”

In a Nov. 7 social media post, Ohio’s Republican Sen. J.D. Vance urged the state to “Vote NO on Issue 1!”

“There’s been a lot of lies out there from the Yes campaign,” Vance wrote. “People do in fact abort healthy late-term pregnancies. Issue 1 doesn’t make it illegal to have a miscarriage. Think for yourself and vote no!”

Meanwhile, Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown wrote, “I trust Ohio women to make their own health care decisions and that is a right I will always fight for in the Senate. Vote YES on Issue One.”

Ohio voters previously rejected in August another ballot initiative that would have raised the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to 60% of voters, leaving in place the state’s requirement of 50% plus one vote. That measure, which was seen as a proxy for the November election, would have made passing Issue 1 more difficult. But early returns on the evening of Nov. 7 indicated that even with a higher threshold the measure may still have passed.

The results are similar to recent polling of the contest. An Oct. 17 Baldwin Wallace University Ohio Pulse Poll found that 58% of likely Ohio voters for the Nov. 7 election support passage of Issue 1. Day-of exit polling showed similar results.

The election was contentious in the state. In October, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati released a statement saying that “numerous accounts of theft and vandalism have been reported to police at Catholic schools, churches and cemeteries across the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.”

“Dozens of Catholic properties have been displaying yard signs and large display signs opposing Issue 1 on the November ballot,” the statement said. “Many of these locations have reported instances of theft of the signs and, in some instances, vandalism of their property.”

More than a dozen other church properties, Catholic high schools and cemeteries have reported theft of Vote No yard signs, the statement added.

Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina, November 7, 2023

Photo: spc.rs     

His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church concluded his pastoral visit to Argentina over the weekend, the highlight being the consecration of a new church in the north of the country.

The Serbian primate arrived in the South American country on Thursday, Serbian Patriarch arrives in ArgentinaHis Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church began a pastoral visit to South America today.

“>November 2, accompanied by Bishops Arsenije of Niš, Nikodim of Dalmati, and Stefan of Remesija.

After being greeted at the airport by Bp. Kirilo of Buenos Aires and South and Central America, the Patriarch traveled to the St. Sava Monastery in Buenos Aires, where a doxology was served.

Photo: spc.rs     

In his greetings, Bp. Kirilo noted that the Buenos Aires Diocese was founded by His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro of blessed memory, and today the Serbian Church has a presence not only in Argentina, but also in Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Panama, and San Martin.

In his speech, the Patriarch called for prayers for peace in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, and Kosovo and Metohija.

Photo: spc.rs     

During his time in Buenos Aires, the Patriarch and his delegation visited the local Catholic hierarch and the Serbian embassy.

On Saturday, November 4, His Holiness was solemnly welcomed at St. Nicholas Monastery in Machagai, in the northern Chaco Province, where another doxology was served with the participation of local clergy and faithful.

The culmination of the Patriarch’s visit came on Sunday, when he consecrated Holy Trinity Church in Resistencia, Chaco Province. In addition to the aforementioned hierarchs, he was joined by His Grace Bishop Metodije of Budimlja and Nikšić, His Grace Bishop Stefan of Remesiana, and His Grace Bishop Leonid of Argentina and South America of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Photo: spc.rs     

The Patriarch preached:

In the church that we consecrated today, the Holy Liturgy will be served, during which we become participants of eternity, and all that is ours, especially our communion and love, in the house of God and in the community with God becomes eternal.

In the church, we are baptized; in the church, we are married and enter into matrimony; in the church, we confess and repent; in the church, we say our goodbyes to our loved ones who leave us for the embrace of God; and we do all this together with God, for Christ our Savior Himself is present in the church. He is present when we serve the Holy Liturgy, and by grace, we become Christ at the Holy Liturgy.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are joyful today because this city has received its Orthodox soul. Until now, there was only an Orthodox body here, but with the consecration of the church, the city has also received an Orthodox soul and people.

Although the seeds were sown by Serbs, the Church is open and welcomes every person regardless of where they were born and which nation they belong to. The Gospel calls us to be one people, the people of God, by striving to make the Gospel our life, to make the commandments of Christ our guidelines.

For all this, brothers and sisters, I embrace you all in Christ the Lord and rejoice that we are praying together today. We thank God that you exist and that you testify of Christ first and foremost, and then you who have come from, as we say, the Old Regions, you also testify to the culture and spirituality of the Serbian people, but no less are you members of this land, its people, and its culture. We are grateful to all who have contributed through prayer, effort, and donations to the building of this church.

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Moscow, November 7, 2023
Updated 11/7/23, 7:00 PM

Photo: patriarchia.ru     

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia made a major announcement on Saturday, November 4, the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in memory of Russia’s deliverance from the Poles in 1612.

On that day, the Patriarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Following the entrance prayers, he revealed that the Kazan Icon present in the church that day was the very icon before which prayed Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, who expelled the Polish forces, reports Patriarchia.ru.

As the Patriarch recalled, Prince Pozharsky prayed before the icon every time before he went into battle, and his prayers were heard. In gratitude, he built the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square to house the icon. In 1918, the icon disappeared. It was believed to have been stolen and possibly sold abroad, but it turns out that the icon remained in Russia, protected by pious people, the Patriarch said.

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The icon was recently discovered in the Patriarchal residence in Peredelkino, just outside of Moscow, in a room where icons to be gifted to churches and monasteries are stored. Having come across the icon, at first the Patriarch believed it was simply an excellent copy. However, intrigued, he sent it for expert examination, which concluded that it dates to the 16th century, when it’s known the wonderworking icon was painted. And given that the discovered icon presents the exact image of the icon before which Pozharsky and Minin prayed, it must be that very icon, the Patriarch said.

Photo: patriarchia.ru     

Pat. Kirill explained that once the identity of the icon was confirmed, he understood that he had to tell the Orthodox faithful about the discovery.

Calling upon the prayers of the Theotokos, the Patriarch exhorted: “The time has come to renew our Orthodoxy, to renew our faith. Not in the sense of an external renewal, as the failed reformers did, but in terms of making our faith relevant for each of us and for our entire nation.”

The icon was then placed in the center of the cathedral. At the end of the service, a special prayer was read before it.

Later that day, Pat. Kirill returned the Kazan Icon to the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square, built specifically to house the wonderworking image.

“It is of utmost importance that here, in this temple, the established tradition of serving the Akathist, special prayers before this most pure image, is carefully preserved. That the church be filled with devout pilgrims,” the Patriarch said.

“We believe and hope that under the Protection of the Most Pure Queen of Heaven, this historical church, once destroyed and then restored, will abide. And the image itself will continue to emanate grace and strength to everyone who turns to it with faith and prayer.”

​UPDATE: The Patriarchate issued a clarification today, that while the icon discovered by Pat. Kirill is revered Moscow Kazan Icon before which Pozharsky and Minin prayed, it is itself a copy of the original Kazan Icon, which was stolen in 1904 and remains lost.

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