Tag: Christianity

Hope.

That’s the word that was on everyone’s lips — from the bishop’s homily to speeches outside the church — during a special Mass and dedication ceremony blessing the new healing garden introduced at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Long Beach on Nov. 17.

The Mass and garden were devoted to those who have suffered any kind of abuse, but especially ones that occurred within the Catholic Church.

Auxiliary Bishop Marc Trudeau said that while trauma occurs in the world — including sexual abuse — the goal of everyone’s journey is heaven, and God is there by our side every step of the way, no matter how painful.

“The remedy is hope,” Trudeau said in his homily.

“It’s my job to inspire some hope,” said Dr. Heather Banis, coordinator for the archdiocese’s Victims Assistance Ministry. “I think for a lot of people who were harmed, there’s a sense that they’re not worthy. Even though we know where we’re going, they don’t feel worthy and they fall away. They lose their way. 

“We have to remind them of where they’re going and the gardens are a tangible, physical way to help them.”

The garden at Our Lady of Refuge Church was the final of a series of healing gardens installed in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, five in total, one in each of the pastoral regions. The other four healing gardens are located at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Ventura (Santa Barbara region), St. Francis de Sales Church in Sherman Oaks (San Fernando region), St. Bernadette Church in Los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angels region), and St. Camillus Center for Spiritual Care in East LA (San Gabriel region).

The latest garden in the San Pedro region was dedicated the day before the United Nations’ World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence on Nov. 18.

The dedication of the final garden also comes weeks after the archdiocese announced plans for a $880 million settlement to resolve hundreds of decades-old claims of childhood sexual abuse.

Banis said she prays that the gardens can bring about something that the financial settlement might not: healing.

“There’s an element of justice that I think is important for those who were harmed,” Banis said. “And as a Church, we should be on the side of justice. My experience tells me that while the money can be helpful, the healing doesn’t come from the money.

“However the money gets used by those who were harmed, I hope it transforms something for them that enables them to continue to heal.”

For Joe Montanez, a victim-survivor of sexual abuse who was the catalyst for the creation of the healing gardens, it still comes back to the search for hope. He believes the gardens can be a small sliver of hope for victims of abuse like him.

“That’s been my journey, it’s been based on hope,” Montanez said to those gathered. “I want you to come and pray in this garden for all the people out there who are hurting. For those who killed themselves because of the abuse. For those that are addicted to drugs, to alcohol.

“There are a lot of us that are out there who are hurting. They need help.”

Montanez said a priest abused him while he was an altar boy at St. Raphael Church in Santa Barbara. He kept the abuse to himself, not wanting to destroy his parents’ faith. He grew up to be a teacher specializing in horticulture and landscape design.

When he finally did reach out to the archdiocese and Banis to finally open up and seek help, he turned his pain into a journey of helping others who were abused.

Using his landscape design expertise, he helped come up with the designs for all five healing gardens.

With the final healing garden completed, this chapter has ended, but Montanez’s book is far from over.

He said he’s working to complete a healing garden at his childhood parish where his abuse occurred, St. Raphael Church in Santa Barbara. Although not designated as one of the five official archdiocesan healing gardens, supporters of the project have banded together to raise money and construct it. Old Mission Santa Inés in Solvang did the same earlier this year.

What’s more, Montanez was contacted to serve on the committee for a national healing garden to be unveiled in Washington, D.C.

Banis said none of this was in the original plan and that these new projects are the result of Montanez’s perseverance and the momentum to right the wrongs of abuse.

“It’s such a statement that our Church is both acknowledging the harm that was done, but also the need in the Church for healing from abuse of all kinds,” she said.

Following the Mass at Our Lady of Refuge, parishioners walked out to the site of the new healing garden. Words of hope were offered. People prayed. Bishop Trudeau blessed the space with holy water.

As Montanez thanked people for coming, he reiterated that this was not the end of something for him, but a continuing quest.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Montanez said. “I will continue to fight for the survivors.”

The Angels’ Trumpet VoicesWe are under the protection of God’s attention and providence. We’re not abandoned, not left unattended. God takes care of those who love Him and call upon Him.

“>Part 19

    

A strange thing happened. You might expect that after all these terrible events, people would have to repent and turn to God. But St. John the Theologian

“>St. John the Theologian says that the people who were left didn’t repent, didn’t stop worshiping demons, golds, silver, copper, stone and wooden idols that neither see nor hear nor are able to walk. The people continued to serve idols and worship demons. Don’t think that serving idols only means worshiping statues of gods.

There are many idols today: our On the Struggle with the PassionsIn order to overcome all the passions without exception, it is necessary to learn abstinence.

“>passions are idols; avarice is idolatry, and Egotism Kills Us, But Humility Gives Us LifeFrom my humble spiritual experience I have learned that it is much easier to lead a spiritual life with humility, and that grace is given to the humble.”>egotism is idolatry. This refers not only to those idols that were known to the ancient Greeks. The people didn’t repent, they continued to worship powerless demons. They didn’t repent of murder, witchcraft, fornication, or theft. There was no repentance. Are we surprised that repentance hasn’t awakened in people? Of course this makes an impression on us.

But we know that a man needs to humble himself in order to repent. There must be humility in the soul. A proud man will never repent. We’ve spoken about this a thousand times. The proud man is always correct. He always has a justification for everything, and the grace of God finds no place in his soul. For a man to repent, his heart must be open to God. Repentance is a gift, a gift of God. If you don’t humble yourself, you can’t recognize the presence of God in your heart. Repentance is born of humility and brings the grace of God to the soul.

I remember how I became a confessor. I was twenty-four. Our brotherhood on the Holy Mountain had a need, and the Elder sent me to see a bishop who was serving at Dionysiou. I didn’t know anything, they didn’t ask me anything. The Elder said, “Go to Dionysiou, the bishop will be serving there. Tell him to read the prayer for you to become a confessor.”¹ There is a whole story about how I went there and how it all happened. I became a confessor. I went back, trembling and moaning: “What am I going to do now?” I was very embarrassed to go and listen to other people’s sins—I was even more embarrassed than they were. The Elder said, “Don’t worry, you won’t have to confess anyone. No one comes here [we were living in a skete in the desert then]. You’ll read the prayer of absolution for the brothers.” Okay. About a week later, a young man came wanting to confess. The Elder sent me to him, saying, “Well, it’s just a young fellow. Don’t worry.” And so it began. And to this day you suffer because of me.

I went to see “My First Meeting with Elder Paisios”He told me, “You are related to us.” I said to him, “Geronda, are you from Cyprus?” He replied, “You’re slow-witted.”

“>Elder Paisios and I told him: “Do you know what happened to us? I became a confessor. I’m twenty-four, I’m still young. I’m embarrassed—I don’t know what to say.” Some people came to confess, and I asked them to come in the evening. They asked me: “Why are you putting everything off until the evening?” I wanted to hear confessions in the evening so it would be dark, and we wouldn’t see each other. The churches on the Holy Mountain are dark. A man was sitting in the stasidia, and I sat down too, a little higher. I wasn’t as well-fed then as I am now; I was slimmer and I was hiding in the stasidia, trying not to look at anything. And I couldn’t be seen in the candlelight. The people would talk, then leave.

Elder Paisios said then, “You must help people repent, because through repentance comes the grace of God. This is what you should do in Confession—help people come to repentance so that the grace of God, the grace of repentance would draw nearer to them and God would help them.” And in order to repent, a man needs humility. You have to humble yourself and reveal your sins. Then grace comes and helps to repent and ascend the spiritual path. Repentance isn’t given to hard, egotistical, proud souls. Repentance comes to humble souls.

It makes a great impression on me when I see a very sinful man (you can say he turned into rags through his sins) on whom the grace of God rests, because he’s a very humble man who repents. And on the other hand, you see very good, respectable people who don’t do anything bad, who don’t know fornication or anything like that, but they’re so rigid, so unrepentant—you don’t dare touch them. And which of them do you think is more pleasing to God? This fine gentleman, who does everything perfectly, but whose soul is so rigid, and whose mind is so unhumble? This man has never humbled himself, never cried before God. Or this young fellow, who has committed many sins, but came to the Church and weeps about his situation?

Whom does the Lord receive? The Gospel answers this for us: the publican. He wept. Do you know how many examples we’ve seen of such people, how many useful lessons they’ve taught us? Very instructive. I often felt like dirt before such people in Confession. Such humility they had, such repentance, such sorrow, such tears! I was thinking that I’ve never wept like this, although I was a monk, and now a bishop. I’ve never wept and repented like that. And I’ve never felt like that. One man said: “Father, I have no right to be in the Church.” He came with the difficulties he was facing in life. He wept: “Where have I been all these years? It was only in difficult circumstances that I decided to come to Christ. I have no right, I shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t help me—neither you nor God. I should be kicked out of the church. I don’t understand how God hasn’t sent me away yet.” I thought: “God is within you, my poor man. A contrite heart and a contrite soul God will not despise.”

Photo: ​afanasiy.net     

I’ll tell you a story to distract you from the locusts, so you can go home with more pleasant images. I came to Cyprus after a whole marathon of back-and-forth arguments with the Elder: “You go—I won’t go!” I even decided to fight with him. We’dargue, shout, speak our minds, and I would do what I want—I’m not going to Cyprus, and in a few months I’ll ask forgiveness, saying I was wrong, and what else could he do? He’ll forgive me. And I’ll avoid this fate. I came one day to argue. But I realized that you shouldn’t joke with the Elder—he doesn’t accept such treatment, it wouldn’t be beneficial.

I came to Cyprus, but I decided I wasn’t going to stay: I’ll be here a few months, then go back. I didn’t gather my things. I left them on Mt. Athos (later, Fr. Arseny of blessed memory brought them to me); I came with a small suitcase. I went to Jerusalem, venerated the holy places, and also traveled around Cyprus. After the feast of the Dormition, I decided it was time to go back. I didn’t want to stay on Cyprus. The Elder sent me to serve here, but I didn’t take it seriously; I took it lightly. I got a ticket. I still remember: Monday, 5:00 AM, Olympic Airlines. On Thursday, I called the Holy Mountain and said, “Geronda, I’ve arrived in Cyprus, but there’s nothing going on here, there’s no future. It’s just a waste of time. I’m coming back. I already have my ticket for Monday at 5:00 AM.”

He yelled at me a little in response. I listened, and the ticket was in my pocket. I went to Kykkos Monastery to spend three days there, to pray to the Theotokos, and then on Sunday I was planning to go down to serve Liturgy somewhere, and on Monday I’d leave. I arrived at Kykkos Monastery. No one knew me there, and I knew no one. The brothers are very hospitable, most noble, very good people. They received me. In the evening I went to church and sat in a stasidia across from the icon of the Theotokos. I was very upset; I knew deep inside that what I was doing was wrong. I came at the Elder’s word, to do something, but I wasn’t doing anything and was just planning to go back. I wanted to act according to my own will, but that’s not pleasing to God. And on the other hand, I had the thoughts: “Why should I stay on Cyprus? To ruin my life here? After all, I left for the Holy Mountain—what am I supposed to do on Cyprus now? Let them find someone else for Cyprus.” Some of the brothers like it on Cyprus, but I didn’t like it at that time. I sat and prayed to the Theotokos. “Tell me what to do, Most Holy Theotokos! What is God’s will?” An elderly monk came and asked me:

“Father, are you from the Holy Mountain?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Are you a priest.”

“Yes.”

“Are you a confessor?”

“Yes.”

“Since you’re here, maybe you can go hear Confessions? Two or three young men have come. None of the confessors are here now, and they want to confess.”

I thought: “I’m the one who needs a confessor right now! Look who they’ve found to confess to. But since I’m sitting here, I might as well go do something useful—hear some confessions, pass the time.”

Immersed in my thoughts and torments, I went to the church where the fathers hear confessions. The young men came in. One came and started weeping and wailing: “Lord, have mercy!” I thought, “Where did a college student get such tears? How is he able to confess like this?” The second came, and it was the same. Then the third—this was the peak, the apotheosis. He fell at my feet and started weeping. He soaked my shoes with tears. I thought: “What a temptation! I’ve been on the Holy Mountain for so many years, and I never once saw such a confession. If even one person is saved by me staying on Cyprus, then it’s justified before God, if it be God’s will. Christ says that one soul is worth more than the whole world. I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll at least hear them out.”

Photo: mystagogyresourcecenter.com     

I understood then—I can’t say it was a revelation—but I understood that this was God’s will and I had to stay. So I stayed. Later, of course, I was tempted, I got drawn in. But that’s not the point. What I wanted to say is that young people today might be ill-mannered, inattentive, but they possess the power of repentance. While we—people of my age and older, 45-50-60 years old—we’re seemingly “proper.” We haven’t done foolish things, we’re judicious, prudent, we haven’t wandered astray, haven’t indulged in drink, but we lack repentance. We’re hard-hearted people, we have very coarse hearts.

Of course, we also go through trials and our heart breaks gradually (if it does). But the repentance of noble, humble souls is wonderful. Out of humility, a beautiful and strong relationship with God is born. Although they’ve acquired God within themselves, they believe they’re unworthy to enter the church. “Where have I been all this time? Only in the hour of need do I come and dare to lift my eyes to God, demanding that God accept me,” they say. Such a mindset testifies to a high spiritual state. But we approach God thinking, “Just let Him try not to hear us! Woe to Him! Woe to Him if He doesn’t do what we ask, if we fall ill, if something unpleasant happens to us, if things don’t go our way!” We become scandalized at God. How can it be that God doesn’t understand us, so kind and good as we are? Is He treating us fairly, allowing such evil? After all, we’re so good! This is how we justify ourselves, become callous, and don’t repent.

To be continued…

Washington, D.C., November 15, 2024

Photo: cnn.com     

President Trump announced on Wednesday that he is appointing Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who later joined the Republican Party, as his Director of National Intelligence.

Once President Trump is sworn in in January, Gabbard will be subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Gabbard has been an outspoken critic of U.S. support for Ukraine, which she says is not the bastion of democracy that the Western media champions it as.

In particular, she has criticized President Zelensky on several occasions for his persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

On November 9, 2023, she wrote on Instagram: “Zelensky now has absolute control of Ukrainian media, outlawed opposition political parties and Ukraine’s Orthodox Church, declared martial law, and uses absolute power under martial law to cancel presidential elections.”

Speaking with Tucker Carlson in December 2022, she stated: “[President Zelensky] has shut down the biggest Ukraine [sic] Church in the country.”

Ukraine’s Parliament passed the bill on banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Ukraine adopts bill 8371 on banning the Orthodox ChurchThe Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s Parliament, voted overwhelmingly today to adopt the infamous bill 8371 on the banning of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“>on August 20 and President Zelensky signed it into law Zelensky signs bill on banning the Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchPresident Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine signed Bill 8317 on banning the Orthodox Church nationwide into law on August 24, Ukrainian Independence Day.”>four days later. According to the document, court cases against individual churches and monasteries within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church can begin after 9 months from the point when it came into effect.

President Trump has also announced that he will not be inviting former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary Pompeo openly acknowledges U.S pressure on Churches to recognize Ukrainian schismaticsOrthoChristian has written of the U.S’s role in creating and propagandizing the OCU many times, and OCU hierarchs have even openly spoken about it at times. Pro-Constantinople and pro-schismatic hierarchs and media outlets have routinely dismissed such statements and reports as “Russian propaganda.”

“>who actively agitated in favor of the schismatic group in Ukraine and against the canonical Church, back to his administration.

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

Kwethluk, Alaska, November 15, 2024

    

The Diocese of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America is accepting names to be commemorated at the uncovering of the relics of St. Olga of Alaska tomorrow, November 16.

Matushka Olga was canonized by the OCA Holy Synod OCA Synod glorifies Matushka Olga of Alaska among the saintsMatushka Olga (†1979) has long been venerated in Alaska, throughout America, and abroad. She is remembered as a humble mother, midwife, and priest’s wife who was filled with love for everybody, and especially abused women.

“>in November 2023, and her relics are to be uncovered in preparation for her liturgical glorification Alaska Diocese updates on St. Olga: Glorification in June 2025, first draft of service already composedIn preparation for her upcoming glorification, the Canonization Commission of the OCA has issued an appeal for stories of the miraculous intercession of St. Olga.”>in June of next year. The 45th anniversary of her repose was celebrated OCA Alaska Diocese marks 45th anniversary of St. Olga’s reposeMatushka Olga was canonized by decision of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America in November 2023.”>last week.

His Grace Bishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska announces the upcoming uncovering of her relics, with the link to submit names for commemoration at this blessed event:

Dear Friends and Supporters of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska,

God willing, on November 15, His Grace, +Bishop Alexei will be traveling to the village of Kwethluk, to uncover the Holy Relics of Blessed Arrsamquq, Saint Olga, the Matushka of All Alaska and North America. In preparation for this glorious and solemn occasion, His Grace has blessed for a prayer list with names to be gathered from across the diocese and North America. On November 16th, we will celebrate a panikhida at her gravesite and then begin the uncovering, shovel by shovel, while one priest reads the gospel, and the other priests read the names of those who are seeking Saint Olga’s holy intercessions.

We are grateful for your prayers, care, and support for the Diocese of Alaska and her people. Allow for us to in this small way to offer on your behalf the names of those whom we ask Saint Olga to remember before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The link for the prayer list can be found here:

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

V.Polenov. Raising of Jairus’ daughter (1871),   

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Beloved brothers and sisters! A man named Jairus came up to our Lord Jesus Christ and strongly persuaded Him to come to his house and heal his little daughter who was near death. Our merciful Lord never refuses to do good. He immediately went to this man’s house. But on His way, the crowds pressed Him. A crowd of curious people wishing to see a miracle walked after Him. In this crowd there was a woman who had suffered twelve years with a particularly serious illness, an issue of blood, and she could not find relief no matter where she turned. But now, believing in the miraculous power of Christ the Savior, she thought that it would be enough for her to at least touch His garments and she would straightway receive healing. The woman came closer to Him and had just barely touched Him, and she immediately felt in her body that she was healed. The Lord also felt that someone had touched Him. He stopped and turned around in order to see who had done this. The woman wanted to hide, moreover her sickness had made her shy. But seeing that she could not hide, she approached Him and told Him everything. The Lord said to her, “Be comforted,¹ daughter, your faith has saved you, go in peace…” (cf. Mt. 9:22; Mk. 5:34).

Meanwhile, a messenger was sent from Jairus’s house, who said, “Your daughter has died, do not trouble the Teacher.” But the Lord comforted the father. Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole (Lk. 8:49, 50). Our Lord Jesus Christ came to the house, took only the parents and three beloved disciples, and entered the room where the girl lay dead. He came to her and said, Damsel, I say to thee, arise (Mk. 5:41). The girl immediately opened her eyes and sat up.

Beloved brothers and sisters! This Gospel story teaches us to seek heavenly aid in any need, any pains and sicknesses, both emotional and physical. Sometimes human help is powerless, especially in emotional illnesses, and no person can help. In fact, who of us never finds himself in difficult circumstances, in which the soul sees no joy in anything—not in the sun, not in God’s world; and life itself is a burden. And when all people have turned away from them, then faith takes over. I would say that happy are they who know how to find the solutions to all of life’s problems in their fervent faith in the living God. Our faith, our turning to God, will bring us help and peace. Only our pleas must be made with living faith, like that of the woman with the issue of blood, because even now the words of the Lord Jesus Christ ring out to us, Be comforted, make bold, daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Beloved brothers and sisters, today’s Gospel reading also teaches us to care not only for ourselves. Look at how Jairus asks not for himself, but for his daughter—his only beloved child, who is dying. The chief of the synagogue was not afraid to have recourse to our Lord Jesus Christ; he disdained the mockery of the crowd with its antagonistic attitude toward the Lord. He turned to the Savior with a request, and he was heard.

My beloved, for us, people of faith, there is nothing more important than the salvation of the soul. But Christian faith obligates us to do even more—to seek not just our own salvation, but also that of our neighbors. In our days, we especially often see divisions in families, when people close to us—parents, children, brothers, and sisters—leave the Holy Church, and they think they’ll find joy and happiness in this departure.

But there can be no true happiness outside of Christ and His Church. And for us, people of faith, salvation should be dear not only for ourselves, but also for our neighbors. We need to pray not only for those who are nice and dear to our hearts, but especially for those who upset or disappoint us, who do not understand us, even pester and offend us. Sometimes we see how a person prays not so much for herself as for the lost and perishing soul of someone close to her; for a son, a brother, or other family member who has completely fallen away from God. In this is the beauty, the loftiness our faith. In this lies the duty of our Christian love, our happiness, and our sacrifice. In this is the duty of those parents, those martyric mothers who for years have to endure, and pray for their children or husbands who are lost and perishing, at times ungrateful, rude, and disobedient. There are many examples in human history of such maternal love, maternal prayer, which has saved the perishing and desperate.

There is one such example from deep antiquity. One woman had a son. She had tried to inculcate everything good in him, to bring him up in the spirit of piety. The son was very talented, but he had fallen in with comrades of dubious behavior. So he began to leave his home, disappearing for days and nights on end, spending his time in wild parties and depravity. His mother tried to instruct him, to bring him to reason, saying, “My son, I do everything for you, I give my whole life to you, but you have taken such a faithless and destructive path.” But he didn’t listen to her at all and only threw himself all the more into his dissipated lifestyle. She herself prayed very much, she gave alms to the church for him, and asked others to pray. And then one day she went to the seaside. Watching the stormy waves, she wept as she remembered her son, who was perishing in the waves of the sea of life. An elder of pious appearance came up to her and asked her what she was crying about. The woman told him about her grief. “Don’t sorrow,” said the elder. “Your son will return. The child of such tears cannot possibly perish.”

She increased her prayers, and her prayers did not remain fruitless. One day, her son came home from his nocturnal haunts and found his mother in prayer. She had not gone to bed all night. And suddenly, it was as if someone opened his eyes, and he saw that his mother had completely become wasted with him, she had aged and gone gray. He grabbed the first book he saw and ran to the garden, all shaken. As he was walking there he heard the voice of a child, saying, “Open it, read it! Open it, read it!” He thought there were children playing somewhere nearby. He looked around but there was no one there. Then he opened the book he had in his hand, and the first words he saw were those of the Apostle Paul: The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light (Rom. 13:12). These words of Holy Scripture scorched his soul like fire. He sat down on the bench and wept long and hard, but he arose a new man, later becoming a saint. This is the story of Blessed Augustine.

Beloved brothers and sisters, I have cited an example for you. It is not the only one, but just one among many. And on this day, when the Holy Church recalls the events connected with the woman having an issue of blood and Jairus, let us especially turn to God in our need. Let us pray ardently for those who are near and dear to us, because eternal life will only be happy with our family and friends. And now the Lord’s gospel call rings out for us with special force: “Make bold, daughter, your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Amen.

A Christian faith that does not disturb the powers that be and cannot generate a serious commitment to charity becomes an innocuous devotion, Pope Francis said.

“Christian hope, fulfilled in Jesus and realized in his kingdom, needs us and our commitment, needs our faith expressed in works of charity, needs Christians who do not look the other way,” the pope said Nov. 17, celebrating Mass for the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“We are the ones that must make his grace shine forth through lives steeped in compassion and charity that become signs of the Lord’s presence, always close to the suffering of the poor in order to heal their wounds and transform their fate,” he said.

Making an appeal to the entire Catholic Church, all world governments and international organizations, the pope said, “Please, let us not forget the poor.”

“While one part of the world is condemned to live in the slums of history, while inequalities grow and the economy punishes the weakest, while society devotes itself to the idolatry of money and consumption, it so happens that the poor and marginalized have no choice but to continue to wait,” he said.

After praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis highlighted the church in Italy’s Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse Nov. 18. “Every abuse is a betrayal of trust and a betrayal of life. Prayer is indispensable for rebuilding trust.”

The pope then joined some 1,300 people invited to the Vatican audience hall to share lunch. The Italian Red Cross sponsored the meal, and its marching band provided entertainment. The Vincentian Fathers provided each of the pope’s guests with a backpack containing food and hygiene items to take home.

At the Mass, attended by men and women experiencing poverty and those assisting them, the pope focused his homily on “two realities always at war upon the battlefield of our hearts: anguish and hope.”

“Feelings of anguish are widespread in our age, given that social media amplifies problems and wounds, making the world more insecure and the future more uncertain,” he said.

But, he said, by looking at the very real problems of famine, the horrors of war and the deaths of the innocent, “we run the risk of falling into despondency and failing to recognize the presence of God within the drama of history” and condemning “ourselves to powerlessness.”

There is a risk of slipping “into the resigned way of thinking of those who, moved by convenience or laziness, think ‘that’s life’ and ‘there is nothing I can do about it.’ Thus, Christian faith itself is reduced to a harmless devotion that does not disturb the powers that be and is incapable of generating a serious commitment to charity,” the pope said.

Yet it is precisely amid darkness and despair “that Jesus kindles hope,” opening the horizon so that “we may learn to grasp the presence of God’s love, which comes close to us, does not abandon us, and acts for our salvation,” he said.

Christians “can and must enkindle lights of justice and solidarity even as the shadows of our closed world deepen,” he said.

“Our faith should lead us to open our eyes to the sufferings of the world and the misfortunes of the poor, and so exercise the very compassion of Jesus Christ,” he said, asking the faithful to reflect on whether their hearts are moved to look at, touch and concretely help those experiencing difficulty or if they prefer to look away.

“The Christian faith must generate in us a ‘mysticism with open eyes,’ not a spirituality that flees from the world,” he said.

The Catholic Church is not separate from the poor “as if the church existed as an independent reality that must then care for the poor,” Pope Francis said. “The reality is that we become the church of Jesus to the extent that we serve the poor.”

The pope encouraged the faithful also to pay attention to how they live each day, being attentive to their lifestyle and the environment, and to “a tenacious pursuit of justice, dedication to sharing our goods with those who are poorer and the social and political commitment to improving reality around us.”

Before the Mass, the pope blessed 13 bronze keys as a symbolic gesture of his support of the “13 Houses Jubilee Project,” which is aimed at alleviating homelessness around the world.

The Famvin Homeless Alliance, a network of religious orders and charitable organizations inspired by St. Vincent de Paul, said the 13 keys represent 13 countries where they will promote housing solutions during the Holy Year 2025.

The “13 Houses Campaign” has housed and helped over 10,000 people in 70 countries since 2018 and it hopes its jubilee campaign will encourage more communities to become involved.

As part of marking the World Day of the Poor, the Vatican extended the hours of its free medical clinic in St. Peter’s Square for the week, offering physical exams, vaccinations and blood tests to anyone in need with the help of volunteer doctors, nurses and lab technicians.

Kwethluk, Alaska, November 18, 2024

Carrying the relics of St. Olga. Photo: OCA Diocese of Sitka and Alaska     

The joyous events surrounding the canonization and liturgical glorification of St. Olga (Arrsamquq) of Alaska continued in Kwethluk, Alaska, on Saturday November 16.

His Grace Bishop Alexei arrived the day before in Kwethluk, where St. Olga was buried. The Diocese of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America celebrated the OCA Alaska Diocese marks 45th anniversary of St. Olga’s reposeMatushka Olga was canonized by decision of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America in November 2023.

“>45th anniversary of her repose earlier this month, on November 8.

And on Saturday, her relics were reverently uncovered for the veneration of the faithful, in preparation for her glorification in Alaska Diocese updates on St. Olga: Glorification in June 2025, first draft of service already composedIn preparation for her upcoming glorification, the Canonization Commission of the OCA has issued an appeal for stories of the miraculous intercession of St. Olga.

“>June 2025.

Bp. Alexei presided over the uncovering of St. Olga’s relics. Photo: OCA Diocese of Sitka and Alaska     

The Diocese of Alaska reports:

By the grace of God, His Grace, +Bishop ALEXEI alongside the clergy and faithful from across the diocese successfully uncovered the relics of Saint Olga and transferred them from her grave to Saint Nikolai Russian Orthodox Church. Hundreds of pilgrims were gathered around her holy grave during the uncovering. Breaking through ice and rock, the priests of the diocese labored for over 6 hours while the Holy Gospel was read. During the lifting of the casket and while she was being carried to the temple, over 2,000 names submitted to the diocese were prayed for before Saint Olga by the fathers of the diocese.

While this event is not the official glorification which is set for next summer, the uncovering of the relics is a major milestone toward Blessed Arrsamquq’s glorification by the Orthodox Church in America.

Today is a historic day for the Yup’ik nation, the Alaskan people and every Orthodox Christian throughout the world.

The diocese livestreamed the solemn event:

​

The diocese notes in a comment on Facebook that the livestream ended “because [they were] nearing the Holy Relics of Saint Olga, and out of reverence and respect with the fear of God, we have put away all cameras and live services.”

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

Reynaldo Ceron received an unexpected surprise on Nov. 6, the day after the U.S. election.

The migrant from El Salvador, who confessed experiencing preelection “anxiety,” nabbed an appointment through a smartphone app for entering the United States on Nov. 20 — exactly two months prior to the inauguration of the winner of the U.S. election, President-elect Donald Trump.

“It’s been hard, but thanks to God it happened,” Ceron, 45, told OSV News via WhatsApp from a shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, just south of McAllen, Texas. He plans to join his family residing in the Dallas area, but admits some trepidation despite having permission to enter the United States. “It’s natural to be concerned by Trump’s win,” he said.

Migrants in Mexico waiting for appointments via the CBP One smartphone app — operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection — face uncertain futures after the U.S. election. Trump has promised mass deportations, a reinforcement of border security and a reimplementation of the “Remain in Mexico” program, which kept migrants in Mexico as their asylum claims were heard in U.S. courts.

He also has nominated hard-liners for top border-security and immigration positions and could discontinue the CBP One app – which he derided as “phone app for smuggling” migrants.

The looming U.S. election and Trump’s possible return to power had already prompted a sense of urgency among migrants, who hoped to reach the United States prior to the inauguration.

“They want to enter prior to Trump taking office,” Dominican Brother Obed Cuellar told OSV News. He’s the director of the diocesan migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, opposite Eagle Pass, Texas.

Trump’s victory has triggered deep preoccupation among migrant populations in Mexico, who were left wondering what comes next.

“There were a lot of questions about what’s going to happen after Jan 20,” Jesuit Father Brian Strassburger told OSV News after a Nov. 12 visit to a pair of migrant shelters in Reynosa.

“I asked people how they were feeling with the elections: Sad, scared, afraid, worried,” Father Strassburger said. “People nodded to all those answers.”

Adding to the frustration is the CBP One app, which allots 1,450 daily appointments for entering the United States. The app’s coverage area was expanded in August to include requests from migrants reaching the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco.

By expanding the coverage area, “they keep increasing the pool of people who can apply for appointments without actually increasing the number of appointments that are available,” said Joanna Williams, executive director of the Kino Border Initiative, a binational Catholic project serving migrants in Nogales, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Sonora.

“The further south the people are,” Williams added, “the further they are away from the U.S., the public’s imagination and compassion.”

Mexico stepped up its own migration enforcement ahead of the U.S. election. The country has detained more than 700,000 migrants in 2024 — sending them to its southern border region rather than deporting them to their countries of origin.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, restricted access to asylum in June. The measures drove down the number of migrant encounters to just 53,858 in September, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the lowest monthly total in four years.

Some working with migrants take a longer perspective on attempts at enforcement and border restrictions, while pointing to the constant flow of migrants heading north through Mexico.

“We have been serving migrants for 40 years, with different modalities, different dynamics, at different times,” said Father Francisco Gallardo, director of migrant ministries for the Diocese of Matamoros, opposite the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. “But there has never been a stoppage of migrants coming to the border in those 40 years.”

Belgrade, November 18, 2024

Photo: spc.rs     

Friday, November 15, marked the 15th anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Patriarch of the Serbian Church, His Holiness Pavle, whom many consider a saint.

Pat. Pavle (Stojčević ) of Serbia (September 11, 1914-November 15, 2009) lived a long life full of Christian virtue. His simplicity, meekness, and humility, combined with his strict asceticism inspired the love that millions of believers had for him during his lifetime. Many already considered him a living saint, and after his repose, faith in the holiness of Pat. Pavle is growing ever more and strengthening in the hearts of the faithful.

On Friday, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije, a regular session of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church was held at the Patriarchal Palace in Belgrade. The session began with a memorial service for the repose of Pat. Pavle, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Pat. Porfirije said in his honor:

Today, at the beginning of the session, together with the members of the Holy Synod, I prayed for the blessed repose of my predecessor and teacher, the unforgettable Serbian Patriarch Pavle, who on this day fifteen years ago stepped onto the path that leads from death to life (1 Jn. 3:14). Fully conforming his life to the Lord’s word recorded in the Gospel, he fulfilled every word of Christs Apostles and embraced every ascetic feat of the ageless experience of the living tradition of Christ’s Church, thus leaving an indelible mark in the heart of every person who had the opportunity to meet him, hear his preaching, or read any of his thoughts. I am certain that Patriarch Pavle continues to pray for his people today, and because of his modesty and humility, because he did not say one thing and do another, because he was a witness to Christ’s love, I deeply believe that the Lord hears and accepts his prayer for his people.

Eternal memory and may he inherit the Kingdom of Heaven!

***

Patriarch Pavle was born on September 11, 1914, as Gojko Stojčević, in the Slavonian village of Kućanci near Donji Miholjac. He lost his parents early in life. His aunt took care of young Gojko from when he was three years old. He completed lower gymnasium in Tuzla and higher gymnasium in Belgrade.

After graduating from the Sarajevo Seminary in 1936, he enrolled in the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade, where he graduated in 1942. During World War II, he was a religious teacher at the Refugee Children’s Home in Banja Koviljača.

In August 1944, Gojko contracted tuberculosis. Doctors predicted he had three months to live. He was healed through prayer at Vujan Monastery. In gratitude to God for restoring his health, he carved a cross that is still preserved in the monastery.

After his novitiate, he was tonsured a monk in 1948 at the Blagoveštenje Monastery in Ovčar-Kablar, receiving the monastic name Pavle, after the Apostle of Love. From 1949 to 1955, he was a brother at Rača Monastery. He spent the 1950–1951 school year as a teacher at the Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Prizren.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1954. He pursued postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Theology in Athens from 1955 to 1957. He was elected Bishop of Raška-Prizren in May 1957. Serbian Patriarch Vikentije consecrated him in September of the same year at the Belgrade Cathedral. He was enthroned as Bishop of Raška-Prizren on October 13, 1957.

In the Diocese of Raška-Prizren, he restored old and destroyed churches and built new ones. He worked hard to cultivate new priestly and monastic vocations. He constantly traveled and served in all places of his diocese, and took special care of the seminary in Prizren, where he taught church singing and Church Slavonic. As a bishop and professor, he educated many generations of new workers in the Lord’s vineyard. As a hierarch in Kosovo and Metohija, during a very difficult time for Serbs and the Serbian Church, he spent more than 33 years. He regularly informed the Holy Synod and Assembly of Bishops, as well as state authorities, about Albanian attacks on Church property, monks, priests, and the Serbian people who were being forced to leave under pressure. He himself endured insults and physical attacks with Christian humility and patience. He testified before the United Nations and numerous statesmen about the suffering of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.

The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected him on December 1, 1990, as the forty-fourth Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church. On Sunday, December 2, 1990, he was enthroned in the Belgrade Cathedral as Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, and on May 22, 1994, in the ancient patriarchal throne in the Patriarchate of Peć.

During Patriarch Pavle’s time, several dioceses were restored and established. In 1992, the Seminary of St. Peter of Cetinje was restored in Cetinje. The following year, the Academy of the Serbian Orthodox Church for Arts and Conservation began its work. The Faculty of Theology of St. Basil of Ostrog in Foča was opened in 1994, and the Seminary of St. John Chrysostom in Kragujevac in 1997.

The Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church was established at the end of 1998. Religious education returned to public schools in the Republic of Serbia in 2001, and the Faculty of Theology returned to the University of Belgrade in 2004. Patriarch Pavle took special care in the construction of the Serbian people’s covenant church, the Memorial Church of St. Sava on Vračar, which was structurally completed during his time.

Patriarch Pavle made great contributions to Orthodox Church unity. He met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and All Russia, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece, Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria and All Africa, and other primates of Local Orthodox Churches.

On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 15, 1992, through a conciliar Divine Liturgy served by Serbian Patriarch Pavle and Metropolitan Irenej of New Gračanica, complete liturgical and canonical unity was established with the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora after several decades. He worked especially hard for healing the schism in what was then the FYR Macedonia. In meetings with religious leaders of Roman Catholics and Muslims, as well as through direct and written appeals to political leaders at home and abroad during the tragic wars in former Yugoslavia and NATO aggression against Serbia, Patriarch Pavle evangelically advocated for peaceful and just resolution of conflicts.

He was chairman of the Holy Synod’s Commission for the translation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, which was published in 1984, and chairman of the Holy Synod’s Commission for preparing the Service Book in Serbian. In Glasnik, the official gazette of the Serbian Patriarchate, he published articles in question-and-answer format from 1972, which became the three-volume work Let Some Questions of Our Faith Be Clearer to Us in 1998. In 1989, he published a monograph Devič, Monastery of St. Joanikije of Devič.

He prepared several liturgical books: Srbljak, Prayer Book, Supplementary Prayer Book, Great Prayer Book, and others. He was very instrumental in publishing the capital collection Endowments of Kosovo, arguably the best and most comprehensive work about our holy places and people in Kosovo and Metohija and their suffering. For his great contribution to theological science, the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade awarded him an honorary doctorate in theology in 1998.

Patriarch Pavle spent two years under medical care at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, where he fell asleep in the Lord on November 15, 2009. He was given funeral rites in front of St. Sava Temple on Vračar with the highest church and state honors, with the participation of primates or high representatives of all Orthodox Churches. He was buried on November 19, 2009, at Rakovica Monastery near Belgrade.

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

Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese is debuting his latest work on Fox Nation: A new docudrama exploring the lives of the saints.

“I’ve lived with the stories of the saints for most of my life, thinking about their words and actions, imagining the worlds they inhabited, the choices they faced, the examples they set,” Scorsese said of “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints” in a press release. “These are stories of eight very different men and women, each of them living through vastly different periods of history and struggling to follow the way of love revealed to them and to us by Jesus’ words in the gospels.”

Scorsese serves as the executive producer, host and narrator of the docuseries that premiered on Nov. 17, his 82nd birthday. The eight-episode show reaches across time and space to follow heroic men and women who dedicated their lives to God no matter the cost. Each hour-long episode focuses on a different saint, beginning with St. Joan of Arc. Other episodes will feature St. John the Baptist, St. Sebastian, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Moses the Black and St. Thomas Becket.

The docudrama will be released in two parts by Fox Nation, a subscription streaming service by Fox News Media. The first four episodes air weekly beginning on Nov. 17 and the last four episodes will become available in spring 2025.

Each episode invites viewers to travel back in time and watch the saints come to life, with Scorsese narrating between scenes. The first episode stars Liah O’Prey as St. Joan of Arc, a French saint who fought in the Hundred Years’ War against the English while guided by the voices and visions of saints. The young peasant woman, celebrated for liberating Orléans and leading Charles VII of France to the throne, died at the stake in 1431 after being convicted of heresy. She was 19 years old.

In the episode, Joan appears as a determined, confident woman even while she is dragged into court and put on trial. She’s a human who makes mistakes, but always strives for heaven. Flashbacks reveal her humble background and her journey to become a saint. Along the way, viewers will hear lines taken directly from St. Joan of Arc’s trial and examinations.

“I do nothing except by revelation,” St. Joan of Arc’s character, played by O’Prey, repeats the saint’s recorded words. At another point, when asked if she believes she is in a state of grace, she responds, “If I am not, may God put me there. And if I am, may God keep me there.”
Scorsese breaks from his narration to express his own admiration for St. Joan of Arc by the end of the episode: “At the heart of absolutely everything, is her faith, her absolute unshakable faith.”

This series is one that he has wanted to create for more than four decades.

In a 2017 interview with Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, former editor in chief of the journal La Civiltá Cattolica, Scorsese, who was raised Catholic and considered becoming a priest, said that while he is not a “regular churchgoer,” he is “most comfortable as a Catholic.”

“I believe in the tenets of Catholicism,” he said. “I’m not a doctor of the church. I’m not a theologian who could argue the Trinity. I’m certainly not interested in the politics of the institution. But the idea of the Resurrection, the idea of the Incarnation, the powerful message of compassion and love — that’s the key. The sacraments, if you are allowed to take them, to experience them, help you stay close to God.”

In that same interview, he revealed that, after directing the 1980 film “Raging Bull,” he wanted to next “explore a question that has always obsessed me: what is a saint?”

“My idea was to make a series of films about different saints,” he said. Later, he realized, “it didn’t seem possible to make these pictures, these studies, of the lives of the saints. But I never lost my interest in characters who tried to live their lives in imitation of Christ, and I knew that I would return to that one day.”

His fascination with the saints dates back to his childhood when he spent time in St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York City, which was a sanctuary for him, he told the AP while speaking about the new series. He became curious about the saints after seeing statues of them.
“If a saint is something that is designated as special, for many of us as children, we thought that therefore the saints must be superhuman,” he commented in a recent interview with The New York Times. “But no. The whole point is that it’s human.”