Tag: Christianity

Balamand, Lebanon, October 20, 2023

Sts. Nicholas and Habib Khasha. Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch canonized two new saints—a father and son—and added two more feasts to its liturgical calendar in the first day of its fall session yesterday.

The Antiochian Archdiocese of North American reports:

After years of deliberation and research, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, along with the metropolitans of the Holy Synod, canonized two priests, Fr. Nicholas Khasha and Fr. Habib Khasha, who were martyred for the sake of the Orthodox Faith in 1917 and 1948, respectively.

Commenting a week ago on the Synod’s upcoming deliberation on the matter, Pat. John said:

Our Church of Antioch is this glorious, great Apostolic Church. It is this Church that has been bearing witness and has been martyred at the same time throughout history, from the early days, with all the great fathers and holy ones, the Apostle Peter who founded this church with the Apostle Paul.

This Church did not stop having saints among its people, whether monks or married, as evidenced by the Synod’s decision to canonize these fathers. Therefore, the holiness of the Church of Antioch has never been interrupted and the Khasha Fathers were married priests. They had a family, and the Church will declare their holiness.

The service of their glorification will be celebrated this coming Saturday. Then they will be commemorated annually on July 16.

Further, at the request of His Eminence Metropolitan Saba, head of the North American Archdiocese, St. Raphael of Brooklyn was added to the calendar of the Patriarchate of Antioch. He was canonized by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America in 2000, but had not been officially added to the Antiochian calendar.

Finally, the Synod announced the establishment of All Saints of Antioch Sunday, which will be celebrated on the Second Sunday after Pentecost, one week after All Saints Sunday.

***

Photo: antiochian.org Notes on Arab Orthodoxy Two New SaintsThe faithful have passed down the stories of these two priests and they remain alive in the memory of Antioch because ”their blood has attested that the Holy Spirit is in them and because though love they have transcended the barrier of the earthly body and become figures of light.”

“>earlier wrote about the hieromartyrs Fr. Nicholas and Fr. Habib:

As a layman, Fr. Nicholas was an activist for returning the Patriarchate of Antioch, which had been under Greek domination since the Melkite Catholic schism, to Arab control and was active in establishing and developing schools for the community. He was then ordained to the priesthood, where he served the Archdiocese of Damascus. Patriarch Meletios (al-Doumani) then delegated him as his vicar for the Diocese of Mersin, whose bishop, Alexander (Tahhan) had abandoned it because of its poverty and the disturbances it was experiencing. In Mersin, Fr. Nicholas succeeded in reuniting its dispersed flock and caring for and strengthening the faithful, who were subjected to various forms of persecution and ethnic cleansing. The Turkish authorities grew frustrated with Fr. Nicholas and arrested him on the basis of slander against him, then tortured him until he was martyred.

Habib, the eldest son of Fr. Nicholas, followed in his father’s footsteps. Despite his success in business, he decided to be ordained to the priesthood and served as a priest in Damascus and Cairo. His service was distinguished by a life of prayer, devotion to shepherding the faithful with love and self-sacrifice, and his closeness to the poor, who he cared for like he cared for his own family, feeding them with their food and the money that his brothers sent to help them because of his poverty. His life was crowned with a martyric death on Mount Hermon, where smugglers beat him to death because he was a Christian priest, fulfilling his desire to imitate his father.

The faithful have passed down the stories of these two priests and they remain alive in the memory of Antioch because “their blood has attested that the Holy Spirit is in them and because though love they have transcended the barrier of the earthly body and become figures of light.” Today, if the Holy Synod decides to declare their sainthood, it is “in obedience to the One of whom they have become worthy.”

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

St. Bertilla Boscardin was born Anna Francesca, on October 6, 1888, in Brendola, Italy. She had a tough childhood — her father was a violent alcoholic, and her family was very poor. As a girl, Anna worked as a house servant. Her family nicknamed her “the goose,” because they believed she lacked intelligence. 

In 1904, Anna entered the Sisters of St. Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Heart, taking the name Bertilla. She worked in the kitchen and did laundry for three years before training as a nurse. 

Bertilla worked in the children’s ward of the hospital in Treviso, and quickly became the favorite of many of her patients. She had a simple, gentle way of caring for them, and brought these qualities to wounded Italian soldiers throughout World War I as well, even staying with her patients while the area was being bombed. 

An envious supervisor reassigned Bertilla to the hospital laundry, but when her mother-general found out, Bertilla was made head of the children’s ward in 1919. Three years later, Bertilla died of cancer. 

In 1961, Pope John XXIII canonized St. Bertilla before a large crowd, including many of her former patients. 

    

Be ye merciful, as your Father in Heaven is merciful. This is what the Lord said on the mount of the Beatitudes. We spoke of mercy last Sunday. Today the Gospel reading talks about Christ’s immeasurable works of love and mercy, which surpass the mind.

Coming down from the mount of the Beatitudes, accompanied by a multitude of people who did not want to part with the wondrous Divine Teacher, Jesus Christ affirms by deeds His teaching on love and mercy. On the road to the city of Nain He heals by His word a leper, then many demonaics, and in Capernaum the centurion’s servant and the paralytic, but after these remarkable events came even more amazing works of mercy.

At the entrance to the city of Nain, He was met with a sorrowful sight: From the gates of the city, mourners were carrying out the body of a youth for burial. This youth was the “only son of his mother, and she was a widow.” The mother’s terrible pain found a response in the Savior’s infinitely loving heart. Taking pity on the unfortunate mother and saying to her, “Weep not,” he approached the coffin in which the dead youth lay, and not paying attention to the purely ritual order, he touched him. When all saw this they froze in expectation. Seized with perplexity at how against all prohibitions on this in the teachings of the elders He touches a corpse, the frightened pall bearers stopped. And then, amidst the grief-stricken mother and the people accompanying her, sounded the calm voice of Christ, saying, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” This voice penetrated into the mysterious realm of death and shook its very dominion. This was the voice of the Author of life, the Master over the dead and the living (cf. Rom. 14:9).

The dead youth arose and began to speak. And the Savior took him and “delivered him to his mother.” All were seized with fear at the sight, and all gave glory to God. We, hearing this Gospel story, exclaim from the depths of our hearts, Oh, the unfathomable depth of God’s love for man! To Thee, O Lord, do we weak ones also cry, “Do not abandon us with Thy mercy!”

On the other slope of the hill on which the city of Nain was located, there was a city in which Prophet Elisha once resurrected the son of a widow and mother who had showed him hospitality. And at the foot of this hill spread a lush valley, the former place of grandiose events in the life of the famous Prophet Elias, who also proved the veracity of his prophetic calling through the great miracle of returning the son of the widow of Zarephath to life. At the sight of Jesus Christ’s resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain, the people could not but recall these great servants of the true God. But from history they also knew that although these greatest of prophets also returned to widowed mothers their only sons, they did this with great effort, with intense prayer. But Christ did this work of mercy calmly, instantly, by His name, by His word alone.

Christ resurrected three from the dead before His Cross: the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of the head of the synagogue, and Lazarus the four-days-dead. On the Cross, He resurrected many: And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matt. 27:52-53). For our sakes the Lord wrought these wondrous things; He wrought them in order to bring us to faith, for through faith and by receiving His words we are brought into eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16).

Is. 45:1, 4–6 / Ps. 96:1, 3, 4–5, 7–8, 9–10 / 1 Thes. 1:1–5b / Mt. 22:15–21

The Lord is king over all the earth, as we sing in Sunday’s Psalm. Governments rise and fall by his permission, with no authority but that given from above (see John 19:11; Romans 13:1).

In effect, God says to every ruler what he tells King Cyrus in today’s First Reading: “I have called you . . . though you knew me not.”

The Lord raised up King Cyrus to restore the Israelites from exile, and to rebuild Jerusalem (see Ezra 1:1-4). Throughout salvation history, God has used foreign rulers for the sake of his chosen people. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened to reveal God’s power (see Romans 9:17). Invading armies were used to punish Israel’s sins (see 2 Maccabees 6:7–16).

The Roman occupation during Jesus’ time was, in a similar way, a judgment on Israel’s unfaithfulness. Jesus’ famous words in the Gospel this week, “repay to Caesar,” are a pointed reminder of this. And they call us, too, to keep our allegiances straight.

The Lord alone is our king. His kingdom is not of this world (see John 18:36) but it begins here in his Church, which tells of his glory among all peoples. Citizens of heaven (see Philippians 3:20), we are called to be a light to the world (see Matthew 5:14), working in faith, laboring in love, and enduring in hope, as today’s Epistle counsels.

We owe the government a concern for the common good, and obedience to laws, unless they conflict with God’s commandments as interpreted by the Church (see Acts 5:29).

But we owe God everything. The coin bears Caesar’s image. But we bear God’s own image (see Genesis 1:27). We owe him our very lives, all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, offered as a living sacrifice of love (see Romans 12:1–2).

We should pray for our leaders, that like King Cyrus they do God’s will (see 1 Timothy 2:1–2), until from the rising of the sun to its setting, all humanity knows that Jesus is Lord.

Moscow, October 18, 2023

    

On Monday, October 16, an exposition dedicated to the Royal Martyrs’ participation in charity and ministry to their neighbor opened in the center of monastery, outside of Sretensky Monastery.

The exhibition, which was prepared by the Sretensky brethren, mainly features and photos and material dedicated to the service of the Empress Alexandra and the Grand Duchesses as sisters of mercy in the infirmaries and hospitals during WWI, reports Pravoslavie.ru.

    

The outdoor exhibition will remain on Rozhdestvensky Boulevard alongside Sretensky until November 16.

***

    

Love and mercy—these two virtues are a golden thread running through the entire life of the Royal Martyrs.

The Tsar, his wife, and their children not only maintained a special love and touching care among themselves but also directed it towards acts of mercy. For example, the royal children were active participants in collecting aid for those sick with tuberculosis and organized various charitable events.

    

With the onset of World War I, the Empress and the elder Grand Duchesses completed specialized nursing courses and dedicated their wartime service to working in field hospitals. The Tsarskoye Selo hospital was repurposed to receive the wounded. Alexandra Feodorovna, along with her elder daughters Olga and Tatiana, assisted in surgeries, fulfilling all the duties of medical nurses. They did their best to alleviate the pain and distress of the wounded, not shying away from the most difficult and dirty tasks. The young Duchesses made no show of their high status, always being delicate and simple in their communication with the wounded.

    

Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia were too young to become nurses, but they helped the wounded: They sewed clothes for soldiers, prepared bandages, read aloud, and played games. Anastasia, who had a knack for acting and a sense of humor, staged comical performances. Maria loved to sit at the head of a patient’s bed and talk to him about his family, children, and write letters to their relatives. Later, while in exile, the girls recalled their duties with nostalgia and tenderness.

    

The young Tsarevich Alexei also visited the hospital, enjoying talking with the wounded heroes. Emperor Nicholas II himself tried to visit the wounded in hospitals as often as possible. He personally presented them with awards for bravery and inquired about their heroic deeds.

This beautiful page of Russian history is presented in the exhibition.

    

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

Gaza, October 18, 2023

Photo: royanews.tv     

His Eminence Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is determined to remain with his flock in Gaza, despite the obvious danger.

He hopes, by his presence, to bring them hope.

“As long as there is at least one Christian in the territory of Gaza, I will not go anywhere, because I can be a hope for them, so I will stay in the province that believes in me. If I die, I will have a dignified death as my destiny!” the Archbishop said, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.

Photo: orderofsaintgeorge.org     

“This is our homeland,” “We are suffering. We need all the help we can get, and there is no one to help us.”Archbishop Alexios has opened the doors of the church to anyone in need of shelter in Gaza. He will not turn anyone away, as, he says, “We are all Children of Lord, and the church is a refuge for anyone in need.”

“>His Eminence earlier said in comments to the charitable fund the Holy Order of St. George. “We will not abandon it. Our fate is with Christ, and we accept whatever outcome He allows, whether we live or die… It is Christ Who sustains us!”

With the tireless care of Abp. Alexios, the ancient Monastery of St. Porphyrios in Gaza, caught in the crossfire, has turned into a refuge for hundreds of local residents, regardless of their religion.

“We are here living the day, not sure if we can make it to the night. But what eases our pain is the humble and warm spirit of everyone around,” says Walaa Sobeh, a Palestinian Muslim whose house was destroyed. Sobeh talks about receiving “enormous support from the priests and other people in the church who volunteer tirelessly around the clock to help the displaced families.”

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

The church has remain largely unscathed so far, and Divine services have continued there, though a hospital just 600 feet from the monastery was bombed yesterday, killing at least 800 people.

Photo: diakonima.gr     

Refugees are welcome at the church through the end of the war, and Abp. Alexios is personally present, helping those who have lost everything.

To help those suffering in Gaza, please consider donating through the Holy Order of St. George’s Gaza fundraising campaign:

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

Athens, October 18, 2023

Photo: thenationalherald.com     

In 1917, hundreds of items were plundered from a monastery in northern Greece by Bulgarian combatants in WWI. Among those items were three 16th and 17th-century manuscripts.

The texts eventually made their way to America. They were later sold at auction in 2008, but the buyer later returned them, believing the manuscripts to have been stolen. At that point, the documents were misplaced, and only Lost Manuscripts Stolen from Greek Monastery Found in New YorkThree Greek 16th and 17th-Century manuscripts taken from a monastery by Bulgarian combatants in 1917 during World War I that wound up at a Manhattan gallery – then lost – were found there and will be returned to Greece.

“>found years later when the auction house’s Chief Financial Officer’s office was being renovated.

The manuscripts, stolen from the Patriarchal and Stavropegial Theotokos Eikosiphoinissa Monastery, often called Kosinitza, were first returned to the Patriarchate, in Istanbul, but now they have been returned to their rightful home in Greece.

    

Yesterday, October 17, at the Patriarchate’s representation office in Athens, Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea presented the stolen and recovered manuscripts to Metropolitan Dorotheos of Drama and the Abbess of Panagia Eikosiphoinissa Monastery, Mother Antonini, reports Romfea.

The manuscripts in question are:

1. Handwritten parchment measuring 21.5×15.9 cm, from the 16-17th century, listing names of benefactors, donors, and founders of the monastery

2. Handwritten parchment measuring 29.3×20 cm, from the 17th century, listing names of founders, donors, and benefactors of the monastery, with various notes for years from the creation of the world (7142, etc.)

3. Handwritten parchment measuring 31×21 cm, from the 17th century, listing names of founders, donors, and benefactors of the monastery, with various notes referring to the 17th century (in 1614, 1630, 1639, etc.)

Thus, after more than a century, the manuscripts have returned to the monastery that rightfully owns them.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

Jerusalem, October 19, 2023

Photo: jerusalem-patriarchate.b-cdn.net     

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem and the heads of other ecclesiastical bodies in the Holy Land mourn and denounce the attack on a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

At least 500 people were killed when an explosion rocked al-Ahli Arab Hospital, making it the deadliest strike since war broke out on October 7. The church is run by the local Anglican Episcopal diocese.

“We vehemently denounce this crime with our strongest condemnation,” Pat. Theophilos and the other leaders write. “We unequivocally declare this atrocity as an egregious crime, one demanding the severest censure and international accountability.”

The statement also emphasizes that the attack happened on a day that Christian communities in the Holy Land and around the world had specifically dedicated to Patriarch of Jerusalem calls for day of fasting and prayer on TuesdayThe ecclesiastical leaders issued a statement last week calling for an end to the violence that has recently flared up in the Holy Land and condemning any acts that target civilians.

“>prayer and fasting.

Read the full statement below:

en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/     

To help those suffering in Gaza, please consider donating through the Holy Order of St. George’s Gaza fundraising campaign:

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

The famous statue of Our Lady of Fatima that has traveled the world for more than 75 years will be coming to Los Angeles for four days as part of an international tour for peace.

St. Bernadette Church in Baldwin Hills will welcome the statue with a ceremony at 7 p.m. on Oct. 19, then will feature three more days filled with Masses, adoration, rosaries and more.

The statue was created in 1947 after the Virgin Mary who appeared to three children — Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto — in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. 

“The purpose of the visions (at Fatima) was not to predict a ‘fixed future,’ it was meant to mobilize forces of change in the right direction, which is critically important for us to do today,” said Deacon James Carper, St. Bernadette’s parish life director. “This visit provides the community of St. Bernadette an opportunity to rest for a bit and to heal, which was the focus of Our Lady of Fatima. We need to recover our faith, our hope for the future and gain a new willingness to change and thrive.”

St. Bernadette is the only parish that will host the statue in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, before it moves on to the Diocese of San Bernardino.

The parish also hosted the relics of its namesake, St. Bernadette Soubirous, during a four-month tour of the U.S. in 2022.

The full schedule of events:

Thursday, Oct. 19: 

7 p.m. — Welcome ceremony

Friday, Oct. 20: 

8 a.m. — Mass and adoration

10 a.m. — Rosary

Noon — Rosary, adoration, benediction

2 p.m. — Marian prayers

5 p.m. — Candlelight procession

6 p.m. – Mass

Saturday, Oct. 21: 

8 a.m. — Mass and adoration

10 a.m. — Rosary

Noon — Rosary, adoration, benediction

2 p.m. — Marian prayers

3 p.m. — Confession

4 p.m. — Mass

Sunday, Oct. 22: 

9 a.m. — First communion class visitation

10 a.m. — Mass

1 p.m. — Farewell

For more information, visit St. Bernadette’s website at stbernadettela.org

Semion, Ryazan Province, Russia, October 19, 2023

Photo: YouTube screenshot     

In the Ryazan Province (120 miles southeast of Moscow), a 12th-century bas-relief depicting Christ the Savior was discovered earlier this month.

The carving originally belonged to the pre-Mongol Church of the Great Martyr Paraskeva in the village of Tolpino, “which was ruthlessly dealt with by the atheistic authorities,” writes the Ryazan Diocese.

After the destruction of the church, parts of the walls, including those with carved images of the Lord, the Theotokos, and the saints, were used to construct a farm stable and garage in nearby Semion.

Work has been underway since 2007 to correct such grievous mistakes. The walls of the stable were dismantled and a chapel was built in Semion.

The bas-reliefs were known from descriptions of the church. In 2010, when the garage still existed, parts of the images of St. John the Baptist and two Archangels were found. The garage was then dismantled last year, opening the possibility of examining the foundation.

Thus, on October 1, volunteers from the Ryazan Diocese and other local groups took part in a search for more stone carvings, “and immediately at the beginning of the work they found a bas-relief depicting the Lord Jesus Christ,” the diocese reports.

It’s approximate dating is the 12th century. Fragments of white stone carvings were also found.

All the finds will be transferred to the diocesan museum.

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!