Tag: Christianity

Marking the 1,000th day after Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis said he was “well aware that no human words can protect their lives from daily bombings, console those mourning their dead, heal the wounded, bring children back home, free prisoners, mitigate the harsh effects of winter or restore justice and peace.”

He sent a Nov. 19 letter sent to Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine.

“May the Lord comfort our hearts and strengthen the hope that, while gathering every tear shed and holding all accountable, he remains close to us even when human efforts seem fruitless and actions inadequate,” Francis said.

“I have been doing since the beginning of the invasion of this country, a heartfelt invocation to God, the only source of life, hope and wisdom, that he may convert hearts and enable them to initiate paths of dialogue, reconciliation and harmony,” he added.

Over the weekend, Russia launched more than 200 missile and drones at Ukraine’s energy grid in the largest-scale attack in months.

The United States has recently decided to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel mines and to allow U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to be fired into Russia. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine.

Speaking to the Ukrainian Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin’s actions prove Russia has no interest in peace.

“At this stage of the war, it is being decided who will prevail. Whether us over the enemy, or the enemy over us Ukrainians … and Europeans. And everyone in the world who wants to live freely and not be subject to a dictator,” he said.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said the war has been “senseless and sacrilegious.”

“If we talk about emotions, on the one hand, there is a growing deep sense of pain. People are deeply wounded because, every day, we are forced to witness the terrible face of death and destruction,” he told Vatican News.

“On the other hand, looking at how we have lived through the past thousand days, the prevailing feeling is hope—or rather, the virtue and capacity to hold onto hope. Because without hope, it is impossible to live in Ukraine today,” he continued.

“When we see how Ukrainian energy infrastructure workers start over and over again after each missile strike and repair the damage within hours, or how our doctors, despite the dangers, rescue people from destroyed homes and save lives—then, alongside the pain, there is hope. Hope arises from people of different professions, social groups, and regions of Ukraine,” Shevchuk said.

The major archbishop said when the war began, Ukrainians experienced “a deep shock.”

“Many psychologists and social scientists, as well as us, from a spiritual perspective, agree that this shock was a kind new beginning: in an instant, all human relationships were shattered, and everything we had understood, known, and lived up to that point was destroyed,” he said.

“This new beginning led to renewal because we had to rebuild our relationships, first with ourselves—each person had to ask, ‘Who am I? What should I do?’ All masks and appearances fell away, revealing the profound essence of humanity in both its greatness and fragility. This upheaval also triggered another phenomenon: losing and rediscovering our relationship with God,” Shevchuk told Vatican News.

“When you experience bombardment, your house shaking, and the terrible roar of bombs, it feels like you are plunged into a spiritual darkness, crying out, ‘Lord, where are you? Why have you abandoned me?’ – like Jesus on the Cross. Yet, the God who seemed absent in that moment reveals Himself, and the Church witnesses a profound conversion — a conversion of priests, bishops, monks, and the faithful, as well as those distant from the Church,” he added.

“People rediscover God as the source of their lives amidst disaster and pain. This is the essence of spiritual and ecclesial life: To lose and find again, to pass through destruction and emerge in a different world, society, or country. That is why everyone says the Ukraine that existed before February 24, 2022, no longer exists. We must rediscover this people, this country, and the Church of Christ among them,” Shevchuk said.

Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, November 20, 2024

The relics of St. John. Photo: cerkiew.pl     

From November 9-12, 2024, at the invitation of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in the village of a portion of the relics of St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco, the Wonderworker, were hosted in Poland.

The relics of the saint, known as the “modern St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” for his selfless care for others, could be venerated in the Orthodox churches of Podlasie: in Bielsk Podlaski, Białystok, the monasteries in Supraśl and Zwierki, and in Hajnówka, reports cerkiew.pl.

Photo: cerkiew.pl     

After the services, there were also screenings of a film about St. John, entitled “The Aroma of Holiness,” by Archpriest Peter Perekrestov, a cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia’s cathedral in San Francisco that is home to St. John’s relics.

The film outlined the turbulent events of the first half of the 20th century that influenced the life of St. John, presented his figure, fragments of homilies, and showcased photographs and unique visual recordings of the saint from the 1950s and 1960s.

Fr. Peter Perekrestov. Photo: cerkiew.pl     

Fr. Peter, the film’s creator, was also the guardian of the holy relics during their pilgrimage through Podlasie. During meetings after the film screenings, he shared with viewers his personal knowledge of St. John, as well as about the life of the Orthodox Church in America, the essence of Orthodox spirituality, and the spiritual and social problems experienced by the modern world.

He also spoke about the circumstances of the Opening of the Relics, and Glorification of St. John Maximovitch”He is incorrupt! His relics are incorrupt!”

“>uncovering of the relics of St. John in 1993, which preceded his canonization in 1994, in which Fr. Peter directly participated. He mentioned miracles of healing from cancer, infertility, and help with various problems that occur at St. John’s reliquary in modern times.

A portion of St. John’s relics was gifted to the Holy Spirit Church in Białystok.

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Pope Francis announced that he will canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati next year and that the Vatican will host a world meeting on the rights of the child Feb. 3.

The pope will canonize Blessed Acutis April 27, during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome April 25-27 and Blessed Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome July 28-Aug. 3.

The pope made the announcement during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square Nov. 20, which is World Children’s Day.

The annual celebration marks the date when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and when the assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

“On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child and Adolescents that is celebrated today,” the pope said he wanted to announce holding a world meeting at the Vatican.

The World Leaders’ Summit on Children’s Rights will be dedicated to the theme of “Let’s love them and protect them,” and it will include experts and celebrities from different countries, the pope said.

“It will be an occasion to pinpoint new paths directed at better assisting and protecting children still without rights who live in precarious conditions. They are exploited and abused and suffer the dramatic consequences of wars,” he said.

A small group of children involved in preparing for the Feb. 3 meeting joined the pope for a photograph after the announcement along with Franciscan Father Enzo Fortunato, coordinator of the church’s first World Children’s Day, which was held in Rome May 25.

Pope Francis also established a new papal committee for World Children’s Day and named Father Fortunato its president.

The new committee, he said, will ensure that “World Children’s Day does not remain an isolated event” and that “the pastoral care for children increasingly becomes a more qualified priority in evangelical and pedagogical terms,” he said in the decree, also known as a chirograph, published by the Vatican Nov. 20.

The aim of the world day, he said, is to make a concrete contribution toward carrying out “the church’s commitment to children” by giving voice to children’s rights and making sure the church’s pastoral activities have the same kind of care and attention toward children Jesus had.

Other goals include helping the Christian community become more of “an educating community capable first of all of being evangelized by the voice of the little ones” and helping the church become more “like children” and let go of “signs of power” in order to become “a welcoming and livable home for all, starting with children,” the decree said.

Pope Francis said he wants the day to be celebrated at the universal, regional, national and local levels and, therefore, the committee will help promote and organize those celebrations with the universal event held “possibly every two years.”

“I entrust the preparation of World Children’s Day to the regional and national bishops’ conferences that will institute local organizing committees,” he said.

Both soon-to-be saints, Acutis and Frassati, are beloved by many Catholic young people for their enthusiastic pursuit of holiness. The two canonizations are expected to bring many young people to the Eternal City in 2025 for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Hope.

Carlo Acutis: the first millennial saint

Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Born in 1991, Acutis is the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church. Shortly after his first Communion at the age of 7, Acutis told his mother: “To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan.”

To accomplish this, Acutis sought to attend daily Mass as often as he could at the parish church across the street from his elementary school in Milan.

Acutis called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven,” and he did all in his power to make this presence known. His witness inspired his own parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized.

Acutis was a tech-savvy kid who loved computers, animals, and video games. His spiritual director has recalled that Acutis was convinced that the evidence of Eucharistic miracles could be persuasive in helping people to realize that Jesus is present at every Mass.

Over the course of two and a half years, Acutis worked with his family to put together an exhibition on Eucharistic miracles that premiered in 2005 during the Year of the Eucharist proclaimed by Pope John Paul II and has since gone on to be displayed at thousands of parishes on five continents.

Many of Acutis’ classmates, friends, and family members have testified how he brought them closer to God. Acutis was a very open person and was not shy about speaking with his classmates and anyone he met about the things he loved: the Mass, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and heaven.

He is remembered for saying: “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints.”

Acutis died at the age of 15 in 2006, shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia. Before he died, Acutis told his mother: “I offer all of my suffering to the Lord for the pope and for the Church in order not to go to purgatory but to go straight to heaven.”

Thousands of people visited Acutis’ tomb in Assisi following his beatification in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 10, 2020.

Since his beatification, Catholic schools from the Australian outback to England have been named after Acutis, as well as countless ministries and parish initiatives.

Pope Francis encouraged young people to imitate Acutis in prioritizing “the great gift of the Eucharist” in his message for the upcoming diocesan World Youth Days.

Pier Giorgio Frassati: ‘To the heights’ of holiness

Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.”

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase “Verso L’Alto,” which means “to the heights.” This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a “man of the eight beatitudes,” describing him as “entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.”

The Vatican has yet to announce the recognition of the second miracle attributed to Frassati, which made his canonization possible.

The confirmation of the miracle from the Vatican, along with the announcement of the specific date of Frassati’s canonization Mass, are expected in the future.

Carol Glatz from Catholic News Service and Courtney Mares from Catholic News Agency both contributed to this combined report.

Chicago, November 20, 2024

Photo: chicagodiocese.org     

His Eminence Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia reposed in the Lord on Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America (ROCOR) reposes in the LordAbp. Peter served the Church as a monastic and cleric for many years, including 21 years as a hierarch. He was the ruling hierarch of the Chicago Diocese for the past 8 years.

“>November 8.

And on November 16, the ROCOR First Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of New York and Eastern America, served his funeral in Chicago, reports the ROCOR press service.

Daily Liturgies for the repose of Abp. Peter’s soul will be served in parishes throughout the diocese until the 40th day of his repose on December 17.

The clergy and faithful of the Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in Chicago greeted the coffin with their archbishop’s body on Friday, November 15, after which the clergy served a memorial parastas. Then Met. Nicholas spoke to the congregation, emphasizing that Abp. Peter’s legacy included his personal experience of and devotion to St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco’s teachings, which he passed on to his flock. He encouraged everyone to remember Abp. Peter in their prayers with gratitude. The Metropolitan then served a memorial litiya at the coffin alongside His Grace Bishop John of Caracas and South America, His Grace Bishop James of Sonora, Fr. Gregory Joyce, and Archpriest Valery Vovkovsky.

Photo: chicagodiocese.org     

The wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, the protectress of the Russian diaspora, was also present in the church.

The next morning, Met. Nicholas celebrated the Divine Liturgy, with local and visiting clergy who knew Abp. Peter. His Eminence Archbishop Longin of New Gračanica and Chicago (Serbian Orthodox Church), His Eminence Archbishop Daniel of Chicago and the Midwest (Orthodox Church of America) and His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Kostajnica (Serbian Orthodox Church), and other representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches were present for the service.

Four chalices were needed to commune all the faithful.

Then all the gathered hierarchs and clergy served the funeral for the newly departed Abp. Peter.

Then a memorial luncheon was served, during which condolences from primates and representatives of the Local Churches were read. Everyone then returned to the church, where Met. Nicholas read the prayer of absolution over the Archbishop, after which a procession was held around the cathedral.

Then the coffin with the body of Abp. Peter was driven to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, where he is to be buried.

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There are no second-class Christians, Pope Francis said. The laity, including women, and the clergy all have special gifts to edify the church in unity and holiness.

“The laity are not in last place. No. The laity are not a kind of external collaborator or the clergy’s ‘auxiliary troops.’ No! They have their own charisms and gifts with which to contribute to the mission of the church,” the pope said Nov. 20 at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Continuing a series of talks on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, Pope Francis looked at how the Holy Spirit builds up the Body of Christ through the outpouring of charismatic gifts.

The Holy Spirit “distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts, He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the church,” he said, quoting from the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium.”

A charism is “the gift given for the common good, to be useful for everyone. It is not, in other words, destined principally and ordinarily for the sanctification of the person. No. It is intended, however, for the service of the community,” Pope Francis said.

“Secondly, the charism is the gift given to one or to some in particular, not to everyone in the same way, and this is what distinguishes it from sanctifying grace, from the theological virtues and from the sacraments, which instead are the same and common to all,” he said.

The definition of a charism is also part of what Pope Benedict XVI described in “the process of true renewal, which often took unexpected forms in living movements and made almost tangible the inexhaustible vitality of the holy church,” he added, quoting the late pope.

“We have to rediscover the charisms because this ensures that the promotion of the laity, and of women in particular, is understood not only as an institutional and sociological fact, but also in its biblical and spiritual dimension,” the pope said.

Charisms, he said, are sometimes misunderstood as being “spectacular or extraordinary gifts and capabilities.”

“Instead, they are ordinary gifts. Each one of us has his or her own charism that assumes extraordinary value if inspired by the Holy Spirit and embodied with love in situations of life,” he said.

“Such an interpretation of the charism is important, because many Christians, when they hear talk of charisms, experience sadness and disappointment, as they are convinced that they do not possess any, and feel they are excluded or second-class Christians,” he said.

“There are no second-class Christians. No. Each person has his or her own personal charism” that are gifts at the service of charity, in that they belong to all and are for the good of all, he said.

Shelton, Connecticut, November 20, 2024

Photo: mitropolia.us     

A new Romanian Orthodox church was consecrated in Connecticut earlier this month.

On November 9-10, 2024, the Holy Brancoveanu Martyrs Mission in Shelton, Connecticut, received His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas to bless the new place of worship.

In July 2024, the Holy Brancoveanu Martyrs Mission acquired the building of the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Shelton, Connecticut, which thus became the new place of worship for the mission, reports the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas.

The celebration began on November 9 with Saturday evening Vespers officiated by Met. Nicolae, together with a group of priests. The service followed by a fraternal meal.

The next morning, Met. Nicolae celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with a group of priests, which was preceded by the Lesser Blessing of Waters (Sanctification) service served for the new building.

Photo: mitropolia.us     

In his sermon, the Metropolitan interpreted the Gospel of Luke from the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, which tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, which the Holy Fathers interpret as the history of our salvation, with Christ as the Good Samaritan Who lifts fallen humanity from sin and death, just as the stranger helped the man among thieves.

While the priests and Levites of the Old Testament failed to help, God Himself came to show mercy, with the Samaritan’s wine and oil representing the Church’s Sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism through which Christ heals us. The Church thus serves as the inn for spiritual and physical healing—as St. John Chrysostom says, it is a hospital for healing, not a tribunal for judgment—teaching us both how to view our fellow humans and revealing the symbolic history of our salvation.

The parish priest Archpriest Mihai Faur expressed words of gratitude to the fathers and all the faithful who participated in large numbers at this hierarchical service, as well as to all those who sacrificed and labored with love for these festive days. The service was followed by a fraternal meal.

***

St. Constantin Brancoveanu was ruler of Wallachia from August 15, 1654 to August 15, 1714, when he was dethroned and captured by the Ottomans and transported to Istanbul together with his four sons where he was tortured and eventually executed by decapitation together with his sons and his treasurer Ianache Vacarescu. The holy Brancoveanu Martyrs were canonized by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1992.

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Heraklion, Crete, Greece, November 20, 2024

Photo: orthodoxia-ellhnismos.gr     

The Holy Eparchial Synod of the Church of Crete (Patriarchate of Constantinople) convened on Monday, November 18, 2024. During the session, the hierarchs held a lively discussion about the recent visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the Greek island.

On October 31, the German head of state went to the village of Kandanos, which was completely destroyed by German troops in June 1941, with the massacre of about 180 inhabitants. On the one hand, he said: “I ask forgiveness from you, the survivors and descendants, for the grave crimes that the Germans committed here,” while on the other hand he stated that Berlin considers the issue of reparations “closed under international law.”

However, for Greece, the issue of reparations is “still very much alive,” according to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In the aftermath of the President’s visit, the Crete Holy Synod extensively discussed the executions, horrific destructions, violence, and looting, including of places of Divine worship, by Nazi Germans throughout Crete.

The Holy Synod decided to:

1. Particularly congratulate His Eminence Metropolitan Amphilochios of Kissamos and Selino for what he courageously and politely said about the Nazi occupation in Crete to the German President during his visit to martyred Kandanos on October 31, 2024 [see below].

2. Contact specialist to create a Memorial Center for the complete recording and unified collection of names of those sacrificed, both clergy and laity, throughout Greece and especially in Crete, and to compile a “code of sacrifices” of the German occupation in the Great Island.

3. Create a catalog of sacrificed clergy and monks in Greece and especially in Crete during the German occupation, hold a Synodal memorial service for them, and construct a special plaque with the names of executed and killed clergy and monks of the Church of Crete from the Nazi German occupation, to be placed in a suitable location around the Holy Metropolitan Church of St. Minas in Heraklion-St. Catherine’s Square.

4. Hold Synodal memorial services in Crete at locations designated by the state as martyred settlements due to Nazi German atrocities.

5. Publish a special volume of the Holy Synod’s journal in memory of those sacrificed during the German occupation.

6. Request from competent authorities the existing data and progress of German reparations for the Nazi occupation in Greece.

7. Call upon Cretans to maintain a vigilant national consciousness, keep their identity and historical memory alive, and not forget the unsubdued fighters against the horrific German occupation, those who resisted, were bloodied, and suffered terribly for freedom and human dignity.

***

In response to the German President’s assertion that the issue of reparations is closed, Met. Amphilochios of Kissamos delivered a powerful seven-minute address.

He began by highlighting a poignant historical example of Cretan magnanimity: In 1974, then-Metropolitan Irenaeus Galanakis had provided temporary shelter for German soldiers’ remains at a historic monastery until a German cemetery could be established. The Metropolitan used this to contrast the Greek spirit of reconciliation with Germany’s current stance on war reparations.

He then directly challenged the President on two major issues: Germany’s unsupportive role during Greece’s financial crisis (particularly pushing Greece toward the IMF), and the unresolved matter of World War II reparations and the occupation loan [money that Nazi Germany forced Greece to “lend” it when it was occupying the country]. He firmly rejected the German position that these matters are “legally closed,” stating instead that they represent an ongoing “historical responsibility” and “national imperative.”

His speech, which received enthusiastic applause from those present, particularly emphasized that Germany’s acknowledgment of historical responsibility must be translated into concrete action regarding both the occupation loan and war reparations. This was notably the most direct confrontation President Steinmeier faced during his three-day visit to Greece, bringing him face-to-face with the lasting impact of Nazi atrocities in Crete.

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Photo: pravoslavie.ru   

A psalm is a city of refuge from the demons; a means of inducing help from the angels, a weapon in fears by night, a rest from the toils of the day, a safeguard for infants, an adornment for those at the height of their vigor, a consolation for the elders, a most fitting ornament for women (St. Basil the Great).

One time, when I was reading some Church literature, I came across the recollections of our Russian intelligentsia from the early twentieth century. Living as an émigré in Paris, many of them shared amazing stories related to Orthodoxy. And one of them struck me, which I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Some people in black came to one of the Orthodox churches in Paris and asked the parishioners to read the Psalter for a deceased Frenchman for a rather large sum. Two parishioners, a former White Guard officer and a Russian woman, were delighted and decided to help. Many of the Russian emigrants were in need of financial assistance at that time, and just work.

They got together in the evening and went to the address they were given, where they found a beautiful wealthy mansion. A servant in a livery let them in and led them to the chambers of the deceased, whose luxurious coffin was placed in the middle. Taking their position at the head of the deceased, they started reading. This was a routine matter for them. Especially since in France, many of the Russian refugees, who had absorbed Orthodoxy with their mother’s milk, had discovered their faith anew.

A little time passed, and suddenly the woman felt an intense anxiety, uneasiness, and fear. Her fear intensified so quickly that she couldn’t stand it. She exchanged glances with her companion and realized the same thing was happening to him, and it was very scary. Unable to endure it any longer, they both quit reading and left the luxurious mansion.

In the morning, all the Parisian newspapers announced the death of the leader of one of the most famous Masonic lodges in France. The day and place of the funeral were given, and our psalm readers saw a familiar address.

Remembering this story I’d read long ago, I unconsciously began observing my own state while reading the Psalter for the deceased. And I made some unusual conclusions. One time, while reading in church all night over an elderly Orthodox woman whom I didn’t know, I was surprised to note that the Psalter flowed like a song. The night flew by in an instant. And in the morning, as I was leaving the church, I felt an amazing lightness and joy.

At that time I already had experience The Word of God Is an Immeasurable TreasuryThe Book of Psalms, more than any other book of the Bible, is a concentration of praise, thanksgiving and petition to God.

“>reading the Psalter, and I admit, not always successfully as with this old woman. One time, I was reading over a former communist who came to faith in the last years of his life. Then it was time for another person to read and I sat down and fell asleep. Then I jumped up in horror from an attack by the demon who had tormented the deceased in his time. I knew this man, as well as his stories about temptations. Often, those who pray for the deceased feel the state of the one who has departed for the other world on an almost physical or emotional level.

When a deacon’s family that my friends from Novosibirsk knew died in a car accident, they told me about how Deacon Alexei loved to read the Psalter for the reposed. As soon as he learned about a need for prayer, he would immediately go to help. And he helped all kinds of people. He once told his wife, “Sometimes the reading is so difficult that my face gets covered in sweat.”

The first church in my life was the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, which had amazed the visiting architects in its time. They had never encountered such architecture before. In the 80s–90s, there were few functioning churches in Irkutsk, and many people began their acquaintance with Orthodoxy at this one, as it was the most well-known in the city. We were baptized there, we baptized our children and husbands there, we got married there, and only later did we finally find our way to our spiritual father at the other end of the city, receiving hope for the path to salvation.

But now I’m talking about something different. Unfortunately, different kinds of people come to work in the church. After all, the Church is, first and foremost, we ourselves. And our batiushka taught us at the time that those of us working at the candle desk are the first to greet people. How we deal with them may affect their further path to God. And if we alienate someone from God with our rudeness and coarseness, then we’ll have to answer for it at the Dread Judgment. Meanwhile, the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was simply famous for the gloominess and harshness of its workers. Both my friends and I “got it” in our time, but thank God, it didn’t push us away and we continued our search for faith. But many left for sects where they were always treated “kindly and tenderly.” After all, people often intuitively run to the Church seeking consolation in times of sorrow and illness.

And here’s a story I heard. One of the oldest workers at the church died, and her friends gathered together to read the Psalter over her. But they couldn’t. Everyone ran away. Of course, there are no saints among us. And the severity of the presence of the evil spirits that sometimes surround a dead man is far beyond our strength to bear. Yet, according to the Holy Fathers of the Church, the Psalter drives away evil spirits.

And once again I came to the conclusion that we can spend our whole life within the walls of the Church, partake in its Sacraments, but still not become true believers and be saved in Christ. Moreover, we can remain the “playthings of demons.”

A group of students from St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge traveled to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch their science experiment rocket into space on Nov. 4.

The students, part of Team E.coli, were selected as the winning squad in St. Francis’ Knight Skies Program, which challenged scholars to come up with an experiment that could be conducted at the International Space Station.

The students on the winning team were Christopher Baghassarian, Luca Bonnici, Vaughn Cross, Carlos Ferreira Gaxiola, Alec Heberger, Malik Husaini, Danial Jamshidi, Rod Khollesi, Robert Milton, and Andrew Tahmazyan.

The experiment aims to study the effects of microgravity on bacterial growth. As the bacteria grows in space over 30 days, the students will have a similar sample back on Earth and will compare the two when the experiment returns, said Mark Fredette, the school’s Religious Studies teacher who launched the program. Two scientists from Harvard Medical School will help with the post-flight analysis.

In addition to St. Francis High, students at Serra High School in Gardena have also sent two experiments into space — first attempting to get a seed to germinate and grow in space in 2023, and then studying the effect of 3D printing in microgravity in March 2024.

Fredette, a space enthusiast who’s also a commercial glider pilot, said watching his students’ experiment lift off into space was one of the highlights of his career.

“I’ve been here 40 years and to see those kids step into those roles, and to be there to watch them as they watched their experiment go up, it was so gratifying,” he said. “What a great blessing that was from heaven.”

Fredette decided to launch the Knight Skies Program and challenge after seeing his wife, Kathleen, the STEM Director for iLead Schools in California, go through a similar experience with one of her students.

More than 60 students competed in the competition.

Once the winning team was chosen, the students raised money to travel to Florida and watch the launch at Kennedy Space Center, where they watched their experiment take off from the fifth-floor NASA observation balcony.

“We were close enough to have the railing of that building vibrate and vibrate through our whole bodies,” Fredette said. “It was a very powerful experience for me, not just physically being there and emotionally, but also spiritually.”

As a religion teacher, Fredette hopes to emphasize to his students and others that God and science go hand in hand.

“I’d love the students to know that you can be a first-rate scientist without having to be a third-rate believer,” he said. “I want them to be comfortable in both worlds, that faith and scientific methodologies are not incompatible. That you can be strong in both.”

Today we will talk about a man who lived the life of the cross and proved it by his deeds. A man who led the life of the cross, as is sung in the troparion to the Life-Giving Cross of Christ, like all the saints and the righteous–St. Nikephoros.

​The Venerable Nikephoros (Tzanakakis) the Leper. Photo: Christianityart.gr     

The Venerable Nikephoros was a Cretan. As a student, I met many Cretans with leprosy at the infectious diseases hospital in Egaleo near Athens. My father-confessor was Confessor for the LeprousElder Eumenios (Saridakis ) was an amazing ascetic, a saint of our times who diligently took care to conceal his holiness.

“>Fr. Evmenios (Saridakis), who was a Cretan too and in the final years of St. Nikephoros’ life was his novice. You know, for me St. Nikephoros was not just a saint whose Life I read in a book, but in a sense he was my spiritual father.

The future saint was born in 1890 to pious parents in Sirikari, a mountain village in the nome of Chania in Greece. His secular name was Nicholas. His parents died prematurely. At the age of thirteen, Nicholas was already an orphan, and his grandfather took care of him. His father’s house in Sirikari is similar to old houses in Cyprus, which were actually cells of hermits who lived in the world. In those days true ascetics were outwardly no different from many people in the world.

His grandfather took Nicholas to Chania, the town closest to Sirikari, and there he studied to become a barber. Immediately after he had returned to his home after studying, spots began to appear on his body, which puzzled him.

Leprosy, this terrible disease, came to Crete from Crusaders and from Arabs in ancient times, when the island was under the Arab rule. There was no Arab rule in Cyprus, because the Akritai were stationed there.¹ In the Pentadaktylos Mountains, opposite the Morphou Bay, there is the Gulf of Attalia (now Antalya), where the Byzantine “naval base” was located, which in modern times is equivalent to the Sixth American Fleet. Cyprus experienced twenty-five Arab invasions with looting, seizures and destruction of towns and villages, but it has never been under Arab rule. On the contrary, a large group of Arabs from Spain, namely from Andalusia, captured Crete, which was under Arab control for 280 years and risked losing its Orthodox faith. Crete was liberated by the great commander, and later the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. The result of Arab rule was the spread of leprosy.

I was impressed that in 1980, when I was studying at the Department of Law in Athens, half of the lepers at the infectious diseases hospital in Egaleo were Cretans–I saw only two or three Cypriots there. True, there was a wonderful man in Cyprus, Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios,² who had a leper colony built in Nicosia during the years of Turkish rule.³ Kornesios was later killed by Turks. He gathered all the lepers of Cyprus, and the residents were saved from the terrible disease. There was nothing like that in Crete though. Once someone had contracted leprosy, the mayor, along with a policeman and a doctor, had to take him out of the community and put him in a cave or in an old uninhabited house. Not only was leprosy a painful disease, but it also meant social isolation. Young Nicholas, a fourteen-year-old orphan from Chania, was well aware that it meant a living death to him. It buried his dreams, health and communication with people.

In 1905, having learned that there was a real problem with leprosy there, Prince George visited Crete and decided to give the small island of Spinalonga north of Crete to those infected. Thus, all the lepers, who, in fact, were living dead, were settled in Spinalonga. A community of almost 500 lepers–that is, a small village—was created. But even there they did not stop suffering and they were isolated from the rest of society.

Nicholas was in a panic. He concealed his illness and waited for a chance to leave Crete, because he had heard about various bad things that were happening in Spinalonga. At the age of sixteen Nicholas went to Alexandria where there was a thriving Greek community, and in order to earn his living he took up the trade he had learned at home.

He worked as a barber and tried his best to hide the bare parts of his body–his arms and face. He was worried that the leprosy would show up and be visible to others. Going to Alexandria was even more dangerous than staying in Crete. If Arabs had arrested Nicholas, his situation would have worsened. The shadow of death hung over the young man.

In one of his photographs we see a guy who already had leprosy, but it did not manifest itself outwardly. Nicholas was very sociable, he was loved in the Greek community, he had a beautiful voice, and overall he was an agreeable person. In this photo Nicholas holds a prayer rope in his right hand. Someone suggested that he make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is difficult to imagine how significant that pilgrimage was for young Nicholas. He remained in Alexandria until 1914 (then he was twenty-four)–this photo was taken at that time.

Twenty-four-year-old Nicholas Tzanakakis. Agiosnikiforos.gr Nicholas traveled to the Holy Land. Recalling the tradition of popular piety in Crete associated with pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he venerated the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Cross. The only one who understood how important that pilgrimage was for him was Elder Evmenios, who at that time lived with Fr. Nikephoros. Elder Evmenios’ secular name was Sophronios, and later Archbishop Timotheos of Crete gave him the name Evmenios during his tonsure.

The following short funeral speech was written by a holy man, Elder Evmenios. Read it to understand how the Venerable Nikephoros was transformed internally, once he had bowed to the Holy Sepulcher and venerated the Holy Cross.

This is what Elder Evmenios said after St. Nikephoros’ death in 1964: “If pain, sorrows and trials were taken away from people’s lives, then holiness would belong to angels alone. This truth, which is an axiom of our Orthodox faith, was known to Father Nikephoros (born Nicholas Tzanakakis). He fell asleep in the Lord on January 4, 1964, and was born in Chania in 1887⁴ to pious parents. He suffered from leprosy, which he did not regard as a curse, but a special favor from Heaven and a personal calling from Christ, the Founder of ascetic feats. At the age of seventeen he left his homeland to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and especially to the Place of execution (Golgotha), where pain was sanctified, and Golgotha became a symbol of winners over sorrows and sad events in life. From there, from this inexhaustible ocean of boldness and patience, he drew boldness and patience to bear his cross high continuously for fifty-two years.

“In 1912, he was admitted to the leper colony on Chios and was tonsured by the Holy Father Anthimos (Vayianos). Who can enumerate his spiritual struggles in his new life! Although his body was decaying, and day after day the disease took away his body parts: eyes, arms, legs, and then he became paralyzed, but his inner man was being renewed by the spirit. This ever-memorable man cast aside all possible passions and vices, practicing blissful passionlessness and total obedience to the will of God and his spiritual father, and became to the highest degree a man of fervent prayer. He was not very eloquent, but his wide and kind smile preached better than the most skilled preacher can preach, so his cell became a font of spiritual Baptism. For all who visited him, and for us, Father Nikephoros was a spiritual oasis in the desert of this life. His repose caused us indescribable sorrow, but also joy, because we believe that we have a fervent intercessor before the Lord who will keep us from the machinations of the evil one. Eternal memory to you, for the righteous will live forever! The least of your spiritual children, Monk Sophronios of Agios Nikitas.”

Thus, Nicholas Tzanakakis, a young man from Crete, went to Jerusalem, already stricken with a horrible disease, to draw strength from the Cross. And, as another leper, now reposed, my great friend Aristides, rightly said, he went there in order to “church” his pain. How important it is to put our pain into the Church, no matter where the pain comes from: be It from illness, sorrows, slander, poverty or whatever we suffer from! And to establish a special relationship with the Life-Giving Cross, in which all the holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ is concentrated, and to pass it on to those who worship Him in repentance with humility and pain. Nicholas’ soul felt this, and he went to Golgotha, to the Holy Cross of our Lord, to acquire inspiration and enlightenment. And where did the pilgrimage lead him? To a very pious bishop, whose name is now being searched in the archives. All we know about him is that he hailed from the island of Samos. After confession he told Nicholas:

“My child, this disease is incurable and aggressive. You must go to a place where there are other people with this malady. You don’t want to go to Spinalonga in Crete. I know a holy man who lives on the island of Chios.”

Residents of Chios built a leper colony. To be more precise, crusaders built it out of necessity in 1380, and later locals renovated it and made it the best leper colony in all of Greece. It still exists, but, unfortunately, in ruins. There was a true man of God there, St. Anthimos (Vayianos) of Chios, who became a role model for lepers. He was a spiritual child of St. Pachomios of Chios. He had two saintly spiritual children: the Venerable Anthimos and the Holy Hierarch St. Nektarios of Aegina

“>Nectarios of Aegina. St. Nectarios was born on the island of Chios. When he was a teacher in his parents’ village, he visited St. Pachomios, who tonsured him. Then the Holy Hierarch Nectarios went to Alexandria, but he corresponded with St. Pachomios until the latter’s death: if I am not mistaken, he passed away in 1905.

The leper colony on the island of Chios (ruins). Photo: Agiosnikiforos.gr     

Another spiritual child of St. Pachomios was the Venerable Anthimos (Vayianos), also a native of Chios. He fell ill, and St. Pachomios blessed him to go from the monastery to the olive garden that belonged to his family. From time to time the Venerable Anthimos met with St. Pachomios, and he instructed him. And when Fr. Anthimos heard that lepers lived at the leper colony of Chios, he decided to become their abbot in order to guide, direct, and organize them. And, providentially, he never contracted leprosy.

Elder Evmenios remembered the Venerable Nikephoros saying:

“Before my very eyes Father Anthimos healed forty-three demoniacs.”

He had such degree of holiness!

Lepers were special people: they acquired grace very quickly, felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and their prayers had power. A person sentenced to death is resurrected if he bears his cross worthily. Thanks to such a mentor as the Venerable Anthimos, a great number of lepers in Chios were strengthened in prayer. The fame of the saint spread quickly throughout Greece. At that time, a Cypriot priest was possessed by an evil spirit and in order to be healed he went to the Venerable Anthimos (Vayianos) so that he would read the necessary prayers over him.

The good bishop of Alexandria, whom I mentioned above, sent young Nicholas with a letter to the Venerable Anthimos. He boarded a ship and reached Cesme, which is a little north of Smyrna (Izmir). There, on the coast of Asia Minor, the Venerable Anthimos was waiting for Nicholas. I was impressed by the Venerable Anthimos’ mercy: like the father from the parable of the prodigal son, he came out of Chios to meet the wounded sheep of Christ. He took Nicholas to Chios. The local government issued a law according to which only a resident of the island could be admitted to the leper colony. The Venerable Anthimos had raised money for the construction of a convent, but gave it to the leper colony for the young man from Crete to be admitted to, because the saint with his gift of clairvoyance foresaw Nicholas’ future. He took him to the leper colony, taught him how to pray properly and practice ascetic life, which helped him resist pain.

What is missing in the book that our brother in Christ, Father Simon,⁵ wrote is the pain caused by leprosy, which lepers at the infectious diseases hospital in Egaleo often told me about. There was no cure for leprosy back then. Elder Evmenios told me that the pain was like an iron pitchfork being driven into your back and your flesh was torn off. Not to mention the fact that all your limbs, fingers and toes, nose, ears and wherever there is soft tissue, begin to rot with unbearable pain and with such a terrible stench that others cannot approach you. And there is the constant fear that the disease is contagious. The remedy for leprosy did not appear until after the Second World War. Even today people suffer from leprosy, but it is easy to diagnose and cure successfully.

​The Venerable Nikephoros and Anthimos on the island of Chios. Photo: Agiosnikiforos.gr     

In 1914, Nicholas came to Chios. The Venerable Anthimos saw that he had good progress in spiritual labor. Nicholas asked to be tonsured as a monk.

One day I said to a man of God, whose name I will not disclose, because he is still alive:

“I am ill, my legs hurt, and it is hard for me to celebrate the Divine Liturgy.”

He replied:

“Turn the controls!”

“What do you mean?”

He answered me:

“What did the Venerable Nikephoros do when he was told that he had leprosy? At first he was despondent and panic-stricken, he felt pain, but then the Venerable Anthimos helped him, ‘turned the controls’ and said to Nicholas: ‘The Greater the Cross, the greater the Resurrection! As the body is sick, the soul is being renewed! It is enough to transform pain into prayer! Let me transform it into your crucifixion in Christ.’

“Afterwards, when Elder Evmenios was told that he had contracted leprosy, he fell out of bed with joy.

“I asked him:

‘God have mercy! With joy?’

‘Yes, with joy!’

‘Why?’

‘Because a great cross is a great visitation of God, a great resurrection! I said to Him, “My Christ, I am unworthy to bear such a cross! Thank You so much for giving me such an honor!”’

“Nicholas, later the Venerable Nikephoros, did not say such a thing. Why? He was not a monk. When he contracted this disease, he was a sixteen-year-old guy. Nicholas wanted to live, but there was no Anthimos next to him who would ‘turn the controls’ towards Christ. This is a great thing: no matter what kind of cross the Lord has allowed us, there must be someone near us who, like St. Anthimos, would ‘turn the controls’ towards Christ. Otherwise, grief, depression, and even despair will accompany us.”

After monastic tonsure, Nicholas received the name Nikephoros.

To be continued…