Tag: Christianity

Photo credit: elohov.ru   

With the How Do Christians Explain That Baptism Is Vital?Baptism is the first Church sacrament that a person who comes to believe in Christ encounters. A baptized person becomes a Church member and gets the opportunity to be in contact with God and receive His grace. But why is all of this possible only on condition of Baptism?

“>Sacrament of Baptism, we are cleansed from sins to be one with Christ and the Church. However, habits of our past, misconceptions, bad examples and advice from others, lack of religious knowledge and experience, unwillingness to work on ourselves, etc. lead to the reappearance of our sins. We can compare them to bricks laid in a wall that separates men from God. Sometimes these “bricks” are really tiny, and so we build this wall slowly and unobtrusively. Then we suddenly realize that, because of the wall there, the Divine light no longer penetrates the interior of our soul and it can no longer clothe it with the warmth of its grace. Or, instead of bricks, we erect that wall using blocks or even huge reinforced concrete panels. Zap—and the wall is done! But ConfessionNo one goes to a physician to boast about his health. He goes in order to reveal to him the place on his health that is rotten.”>Confession is the Mystery that smashes this wall of sins; where we retrieve a living connection with God and reunite with the Church, the mystical Body of Christ.

Confession is the Mystery that allows us to retrieve our living relationship with God and reunite with the Church

We can be baptized only once. Repeated “baptisms” made by mistake, oversight, deception, or superstition hold no power. But the Sacrament of Confession is performed many times, giving us the chance to absolve our sins again and again. This is where we face our first questions and perplexities. We all know well that when we repent at confession, we declare our firm intention not to sin anymore. At the same time, every sensible person understands that this confession is not his last. We will confess again and again, many more times, until we die. Does this mean that we stretch the truth well in advance when we come to have a confession? Do we pretend to repent and ostensibly promise to change when we know that it’s impossible? Such thoughts can disturb even the most attentive believers. Those who are unscrupulous and negligent can go entirely rogue—first committing sin and then repenting, then sinning again—soothing their conscience all the while with the promise of future confession, only in order to return to the vicious cycle of sinning, over and over again.

It is necessary for us to digress here and talk about the history of penitential discipline of the Orthodox Church

To resolve this contradiction, we must make a brief detour into the history of the penitential discipline of the Orthodox Church. The oldest form of repentance was the renunciation of paganism at the Sacrament of Baptism. In the early Church, the majority of the baptized were adults who consciously accepted Christianity in the face of severe persecutions, risking at best their reputation in society, and at worst their own lives, since Christianity was outlawed. These people who accepted baptism knew what they were doing, and having once repented of pagan superstitions, fornication, polygamy, witchcraft, and polytheism, they never returned to their former lifestyle. This is how from the first centuries of Christianity, we begin to see this narrative: Once you have repented, you will sin no more. It was more about turning away from paganism, and this, of course, all of the baptized could promise without falling into deceit.

The only serious penitential problem of those times was falling away from the Church out fear of torture. Some hid from persecution, others bought themselves out, while yet others couldn’t withstand torture and offered sacrifice to the gods, but remained Christian at heart. The fate of these people who didn’t become martyrs was actively discussed in antiquity. Who are they now? Are they to be baptized again or accepted on probation? Should they all be accepted, or only those who didn’t offer sacrifices to the gods? Should the ones who ran away and bought themselves out be forgiven? How will all these people stand together with the faithful and recieve Communion from the same Chalice? That is when Confession developed as a public penitence before the community and its primate, bishop or presbyter, as well as epitimia, or penance, exclusion from approaching the Chalice for a time.

But then, Emperor Constantine the Great became favorably disposed toward Christianity and soon made it a state religion. On the one hand, it was good, as the Christians could at last breath freely. But on the other hand, court lackeys, the yesterday’s pagans and today’s neophyte Christians, followed the Emperor to the Church. Many went to accept the new faith not out of religious conviction, but because “it was fashionable” and “it was necessary,” “like everyone else” and “we were told to do so…” Not all, of course. But still, religious life became shallow and the Church observed the ascent of the “classic” sinners we all know very well—modern Christians, or in other words, you and me. From now on, confession had to be done privately, since domestic sins affected not only the conscience of the penitent, but also the personal life and the reputation of other members of the community. It meant that the penitent confessed only before a presbyter as a representative of the congregation, while the latter was very strictly forbidden to drop even a hint of the confession he had heard.

Among the whole variety of sins, the “mortal,” or grave, sins were singled out as the ones that temporarily deny a person from partaking of the Communion and required a “probationary period”—a penance, which involved vigorous prayer, fasting, almsgiving and other spiritual practices. In this respect, repentance of a grave sin and the voluntary execution of a penance for many years testified to the sincerity of the penitent, and assurance that he wouldn’t fall into sin again.

Even in the absence of all worldly temptations, sin does not let go of a person

Perhaps in response to the fact that people’s faith generally grew cool, the number of monks increased manifold. They were the ones who longed to perform spiritual labors, but could no longer find them in the world. Impassable deserts, mountain ranges, and wild forests became alive with bloodless martyrs who voluntarily renounced the worldly pleasures and spenttheir lives in hard labor, fasting and prayer. The first monks led the life of seclusion, when even the so-called cenobitic monasteries were often nothing but lonely huts or caves scattered over a large area. And as it turns out, even in the absence of all worldly temptations. sin still holds man fast. There were no women, money, status clothes, beautiful palaces, or power struggles in the desert. You couldn’t even find someone to quarrel with out there, since you needed since it was a day’s journey to the neighboring cell. But in his thoughts, men continued to contemplate feminine beauty, accumulate wealth, accept the adoration of admirers, and argue with his neighbor. Free from physical sins, the monks concentrated on the struggle with evil thoughts and developed a whole doctrine on the subtleties of human passions and how to deal with them. The monks did happen to fall, if rarely, into grave sins, but most of the brethren had little to repent of during a typical confession, and so a new form of confession was formed—revealing evil thoughts.

Every evening the disciple would tell his elder about the thoughts troubling his soul. and his spiritual father would advise him as to which thoughts he should fight and how to fight them, or what thoughts could be ignored. In this format, confession was no longer about a promise not to sin again; it was quite obvious that the devil would never abandon his temptations. But something was different—there was a determination to fight to the end despite all setbacks. Oftentimes, a monastery confessor was not even ordained, but due to tremendous experience and the power of prayer, he could direct and make his spiritual children perfect not only in deeds and words, but also in thoughts. Without exaggeration, they became like angels as they for many years and practically without sleep or food sang praises to God and sought to behold Him. Hence we have the tradition of “living in obedience”; and this is, as we know, considered to be higher than fasting and prayer. This is not simply cutting off your will according to the principle, “you are the boss—I am the fool.” It means you hand over your life to your confessor, who directly reveals God’s will to you, because he himself has already achieved an angelic state. This kind of obedience is higher than fasting and prayer. So, having such elder was a must for every monastery in ancient times.

As the number of monasteries grew, they ended up closer to inhabited areas, and the pious faithful began to come to the monasteries on pilgrimage more frequently, expressing their desire to fast, have confession, receive spiritual guidance, and if possible, to learn the best practices for struggling with passions. It turned out all of a sudden that the methods developed by the monastics also worked well in the world, with some reservations, of course. Returning home, the pilgrims brought to their parish churches the experience of regular revelation of thoughts; because having a confession based on, “I didn’t steal, I didn’t kill, I didn’t cheat on my wife” was no longer sufficient for them and they wanted more depth.

Of course, we have painted this whole rather primitively here, using broad strokes, with a great deal of generalization and conventionality. But in general, it reflects the logic of the formation of the Sacrament of Confession as we know it today.

Now let us return to the point that confused us before. It is derived from the fact that different historical types of Confession became one. Confession as all-round What Is True Repentance?True repentance is impossible without the renewal of a constant petition, invocation, repentant falling, prayer, and supplication to the Heavenly Father. It’s also a sign of the forgiveness of sins—the constant turning of the mind and heart to God.

“>repentance and cardinal change of life, Confession as grieving about your fall into mortal sin, Confession of “everyday” sins, and revelation of thoughts amalgamated in people’s consciousness and became a a kind of confessional list. In this list, grave, mortal sins often stand side-by-side, meaning that they treated on a par with minor and absolvable violations of the Statutes. A modern man can repent in the same Confession of fornication, consuming fish on Friday, and mentally offending his neighbor, and feel no difference whatsoever. Yes, they are all sins, but they are absolutely incomparable in the damage they inflict on the soul, the methods of fighting them, and even that same promise not to sin again. Unable to find strength and quickly overcome, say, offence in thought, a man realizes that he no longer fulfills the main condition of Confession mentioned so often in spiritual works and sermons—the determination not to sin anymore. He realizes that not to sin—is impossible. Thus, he continues to fornicate, “sweeping under the rug” the confusion we described earlier, and treating Confession with increasing formality.

Therefore, as we go to Confession, we should clearly realize the gravity of sin and what it is: a betrayal of Christ, or a mild weakness? What do we formally receive as a penance for such a sin—excommunication from Communion for several years, or is it enough to recite a penitential psalm several times? Do we need determination to never sin like that again? Or we will fight with this temptation till our last breath?.. What is important here is not to get it all confused!

To be continued…

Passaic, New Jersey, November 18, 2024

Photo: liturgija.mk     

The primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric is currently on another pastoral visit to the Diocese of America and Canada.

He previously visited the U.S. Primate of Macedonian Orthodox Church visits America, consecrates church frescoesThe primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric recently paid a one-month pastoral visit to the MOC’s Diocese of America and Canada.

“>last August.

His Beatitude Archbishop Stefan of Ohrid and Macedonia arrived in America on November 14 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the Church of Sts. Kiril and Metodij in Passaic, New Jersey, reports liturgija.mk.

Photo: liturgija.mk     

The original church for the Sts. Kiril and Metodij parish was consecrated by Metropolitan Kiril of Polog and Kumanovo in 1974. The current church, which was consecrated by Abp. Stefan in 2004, is located in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.

The church is one of the largest and most beautiful Macedonian Orthodox churches in America, writes liturgija.mk.

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Derry, Northern Ireland, November 18, 2024

Adomnán Mac Con Midhe receiving Holy Baptism in the Irish Sea in October     

In a groundbreaking development for workplace religious accommodations in Northern Ireland, a contract worker has successfully negotiated dedicated prayer times with a dedicated prayer space in a civil service workplace, marking the first documented arrangement of its kind in the country’s history.

The worker, Eunan (Adomnán) McNamee, shared the story with OrthoChristian. He was also among those baptized in the Irish Sea in a mass Baptism that OrthoChristian reported on Belfast parish baptizes 10+ in Irish SeaThe Orthodox Church of St. John of Shanghai in Belfast festively celebrated its patronal feast of the Uncovering of St. John’s Relics over the weekend.

“>last month.

The story of his workplace agreement took place a few months earlier, between February and March of this year.

McNamee was employed by a recruitment agency, known as The Recruitment Company, where he contractually worked for the United Kingdom’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Over the course of three weeks, during his workplace training, McNamee negotiated his contract. He agreed to a series of policies, including the DWP’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy, which includes a section on Faith and Belief that provides for the use of “quiet/multi-faith/wellbeing” rooms.

He was then contracted to work in the Lisahally Service Centre in Derry, Northern Ireland, under the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities, which has no such Faith and Belief provision.

“However, because I had legally agreed to policies during my training, I had argued that I ought to be able to use the policies mentioned and agreed to,” McNamee explains. He spoke with all the management of the Lisahally Service Centre and took his request to his recruiter to put the arrangements in place.

“The result was a dedicated space, although makeshift, and certain times allocated for its use.” Ultimately, he was permitted to have two breaks a day as times for prayer.

“This is the first documented time that this has been done in Northern Irish history,” McNamee told OrthoChristian.

“What I had done, I had done in the name of Christ and for His glory,” McNamee said.

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Margaret Hernandez, a St. Joseph High School graduate in her 21st year of teaching at the Catholic all-girls school in Lakewood, remembers first seeing Father Greg Boyle speak in 2005 at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress.

She was spellbound.

By then, Boyle’s Homeboy Industries — the innovative Boyle Heights program that offers high-risk youth, former gang members, and the recently incarcerated a chance at a new life — was well known and the Catholic priest’s book, “Tattoos on the Heart,” would soon become a New York Times bestseller.

Inspired by Boyle, Hernandez started volunteering in the Educational Services department of Homeboy Industries in 2013.

“After two years I thought, ‘How can I bring this magic to St. Joseph High?’ ” said Hernandez, who teaches English, digital photography, and film studies at St. Joseph.

In 2015, Hernandez had her answer: the Jester Homegirls.

Named after the school’s mascot, the Jesters, the service club launched with a whopping 186 girls in its first year and remains, by far, St. Joseph High’s largest service club. Membership today hovers around 200 — a third of the school’s 600 students.

Hernandez is the monitor of the club, which is so large members need to meet in the school gym. The club’s mission is to serve those in need, whether it be fellow students, those in the community, or Homeboy Industries itself.

With the aim of redirecting the lives of formerly troubled youth and developing them into contributing members of the community, Homeboy Industries provides mental health counseling, legal services, tattoo removal, curriculum and education classes, work-readiness training, and employment services — all for free.

Members of the Jester Homegirls support Homeboy Industries in a variety of ways, including sending a team to its annual 5K Run/Walk in September (their team often is the largest one there) and donating hundreds of gifts at Christmas and thousands of dollars in gift cards, plus diapers, clothes, and a few laptops.

One of Hernandez’s favorite moments was taking members on a tour of Homeboy Industries and eating at its Homegirl Cafe a few years ago.

“It was raining that day, and we were a little late,” Hernandez said. “They were in the middle of morning announcements. Father Greg saw us, stopped in his tracks, and said, ‘Is this St. Joseph High School?’ He gave us a big shout-out. We felt so welcomed and he gave the students a warm fuzzy feeling.”

The Jester Homegirls also support their fellow students, some of whose families struggle to pay for textbooks, class rings, prom tickets, yearbooks, AP fees, athletic fees, senior fees, and other school items and services.

So far this year, the Jester Homegirls already have donated $7,000 to cover expenses for 100-150 St. Joseph High families, Hernandez said.

“I never got my senior portrait because my parents didn’t have the money,” said Hernandez, who along with her five siblings went to 12 years of Catholic school.

Some Jester Homegirls student leaders can relate.

“Coming from a family that needs some things and believes in giving back to people, I was automatically inclined to join the club,” said Sofia Rivera, vice president of Jester Homegirls.

Sofia, a senior, joined the club in her first year of high school.

“It makes you feel good at the end of the day knowing you can help people around you,” she said.

Marbella Marino, secretary of Jester Homegirls and a senior, said the club was hard to miss when she arrived at St. Joseph High, so she immediately signed up.

“Coming from a family that struggled with life situations, I understand the struggles of trying to afford things,” Marbella said. “Their mission just caught my eye. I’ve been so in love with this club since my freshman year.”

Sofia, Marbella, and two other club leaders, seniors Yazmin Barreto, president of Jester Homegirls, and club treasurer Mikayla Gaspar, have read all of Boyle’s books (his latest one was recently released).

Marbella said a quote in one of Boyle’s books stands out for her: “The work one does seeks to align our lives with God’s longing for us — that we be happy, joyful, and liberated from all that prevents us from seeing ourselves as God does.”

“This quote reminds me of all the homies working hard to improve themselves to be a better version of themselves,” Marbella said. “This gives me hope to know even though there will be many lows in life, I can get back up and keep on going on the right path to success. Anything is possible with hard work and God.”

Yazmin said the work of Homeboy Industries reminds her “that God will always forgive us, no matter what we have done. It reminds us to always be willing to help others and to serve our dear neighbor without distinction.”

All four members agree the club has brought them together and made them much closer.

Hernandez said another favorite memory of the Jester Homegirls came from last year’s Christmas party at Homeboy Industries headquarters.

Two of her club members posed for a photo with a young couple who, with their tattoos, looked like classic gang members.

She recalled one of Boyle’s sentiments: Nobody is “less than” anyone else.

“Wow,” Hernandez said. “Seeing these two worlds come together was just very special to me.”

How to Whiten the Robe of Your SoulAs soon as the contents of the censer were poured out on earth, seven angels with seven trumpets come, ready to blow. And then the Apostle begins to talk about what each of the angels trumpeted.

“>Part 18

The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up (Rev. 8:7). What can I say? The Apostle saw such a scene: An angel sounded his trumpet, and it immediately started to hail and fire broke out; they were mingled with blood and fell upon the earth. Obviously, this isn’t a pleasant and joyful picture, not a harbinger of favorable events. But all of this will precede the coming of Christ. Don’t think we’ll see this exact picture: an angel in the heavens, fire, thunder, and the rest. But surely, before the coming of Christ to earth, we’ll experience great trials. It’s reported that a third of the earth will burn—trees, grass, and the like. A dangerous thunderstorm is coming, with hail and fire mixed with blood. Later we’ll examine the rest of the trumpet voices, and we’ll get an approximate idea of what’s happening.

The Apocalypse Tapestry, France, 14th C.     

And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed (Rev. 8:8-9). Immediately after this, the Apostle saw a second angel who sounded his trumpet, after which another terrible scene opened before his eyes: a huge mountain burning with fire. It fell into the sea, and a third of the sea turned into blood. A third of the creatures living in the sea perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Let’s move on to the third angel. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Rev. 8:10–11). Now the third angel trumpets, and we see a massive star falling from the sky. This star was burning like a lampada. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of waters, and a third of the waters became bitter. This star was called Wormwood. You know this plant—we have it here in Cyprus. It’s a very bitter herb. It has its beneficial properties, but it’s very bitter. Many people who have drunk these waters have died from its bitterness. We see a third angel trumpeting and a large star falling from the sky to earth, burning like a lampada; it falls into the water—into the rivers, the springs—and the name of this star is Wormwood. Do you remember the Chernobyl tragedy? It was in 1986. I was on the Holy Mountain then. They say that the very word “Chernobyl” translates into Greek as “wormwood” (άψινθος).¹ Many people were talking and writing about it then. Everything was polluted—the earth, trees, grass, the sea, and the water we drink were destroyed.

And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise (Rev. 8:12). The fourth angel sounds his trumpet, and immediately a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars are struck. A third of them are darkened; they lose the ability to illuminate, and a third lose the light of the day and night. These are changes in natural phenomena. Let’s dwell on this point a bit and then we’ll move on.

This can be taken as a natural catastrophe: the earth, grass, trees, sea, water, sun, moon, the atmosphere, and everything around us is destroyed. I think we can imagine all this. You don’t have to do a lot of philosophizing to understand the ongoing ecological disaster, which is probably irreversible (we don’t know for sure). But it’s on a huge scale. Everything is polluted, the whole world is infected with diseases—both serious and minor. Both young and old, even children are sick with serious, incurable, deadly diseases. We all know that what we eat, what we breathe, what we drink, isn’t healthy anymore. Many are fighting for a healthy diet now. Okay, you’re going to eat healthy food. Will you breathe healthy air too? Will you walk under a “healthy” sun? It’s all dangerous and only getting worse; we’re not going back to purity. Okay, you’re not going to eat canned food filled with chemicals, genetically modified foods. And what kind of water are you going to drink? What kind of air are you going to breathe? What kind of sun will you go out to bask in?

This is a serious problem; it’s noticeable and tangible. Here it says that the coming of Christ will be preceded by an environmental catastrophe. This is what Christ says in the Gospel: The powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Mt. 24:29). I used to puzzle over these words, wondering what they could mean, that the powers of the heavens would be shaken. As can be seen from what’s happening, it’s likely that the natural laws that determine the balance and harmony in nature will be shaken. There will be natural disasters—earthquakes, fires, large-scale floods. Now they say the glaciers are melting; they say a lot of things. All these are phenomena preceding the coming of Christ.

Four angels have sounded their trumpets. Before the fifth could begin to blow, the Apostle John saw something else: And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Rev. 8:13). We see here an angel flying by and foreshadowing the grief that is coming to all those living on earth due to the remaining three trumpets. But this shows us the mercy of God. God has compassion upon us, as do the angels and the saints of God. We are under the protection of God’s attention and providence. We’re not abandoned, not left unattended. God sees, observes, knows what’s happening. God takes care of those who love Him and call upon Him. We’ll see this in the next part.

The Apocalypse, from St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Kiev. Artist: V.Vasnetsov     

“There came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth…”

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit (Rev. 9:1). A star fell from the heavens. It was given the key to the abyss. Imagine a well that reaches to the very abyss of the earth. It’s closed. A star falls, and someone gives it the key to open this well.

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit (Rev. 9:2). Imagine a well with as much smoke coming out of it as a chimney. This smoke darkens the sun; all of the air becomes smoke.

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power (Rev. 9:3). These locusts had as much power as a poisonous scorpion. Such locusts flew out of this well.

In the fourth verse the Apostle says: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads (Rev. 9:4). These locusts were instructed not to harm either the grass of the earth, or the greenery, or the trees, but only the people who don’t have the seal of God on their foreheads. These locusts won’t go to eat grass, as they usually do, but they’ll start to hurt people. What kind of people? Those who don’t have the seal of God on their foreheads. Of course, I repeat, it’s unlikely that it will be exactly like this—that locusts will come and kill people. This is about a scourge, a disaster, torment. We don’t know exactly what it will be like. However, these locusts won’t harm the people of God who have the mark on their foreheads; they won’t harm the trees and the greenery, but will torment people who don’t have the seal of God.

Remember the bomb that only kills people? The neutron bomb? It was a great invention, of course. A wonderful bomb: It will leave houses, it will leave trees, it will leave gardens—it will only destroy us. At least houses and buildings that people value and love to build won’t be destroyed. A locust of this type will appear—it will harm only people and leave the rest alone.

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man (Rev. 9:5). This shows that the test will not last long; it’s limited; it won’t be prolonged. People will suffer as if they were bitten by a scorpion. Such torment and troubles will befall people from these locusts. What these locusts are, we don’t know. We can’t know for sure. Most likely it won’t be the locusts that we know, but some other kind.

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them (Rev. 9:6). In those days, there will come such a difficult situation, such pain, such problems and sorrows, such torment for people that they’ll seek death, but they won’t be able to die. They’ll wish to die, but death will flee from them. Imagine the hopelessness, the despair. You’ll wish for a death that’s worse than anything a man can endure, but you won’t die. Because you still have to go through various things.

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men (Rev. 9:7). See, here it clearly says that they’re not locusts, but similar to them. As the Apostle John sees it, so he describes it. They looked like horses ready for war, with crowns like gold upon their heads. And their faces resembled human faces.

Apocalypse of Saint-Sever, France, 11th C.     

And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle (Rev. 9:8-9). A terrible vision: locusts like horses, golden crowns on their heads, human-like faces, hair like women, teeth like lions, adorned in iron armor, with the noise of their wings resembling the sound of chariots.

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months (Rev. 9:10). You know how scorpions have stingers in their tails? They were given the power to torment people for five months. We again see a period of five months, a short period of time.

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon (Rev. 9:11). These locusts, which came out of the well, had the angel of the abyss (the abyss out of which they came) as their king. The name of this king is Abaddon (in Hebrew), or Apollyon (in Greek), which means the destroyer—the one who destroys everything, leaving nothing.

One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter (Rev. 9:12). One woe has passed (which we have just seen), followed by two more.

Will you be able to sleep tonight? Or will you see locusts? I hope nothing happens to you today because of me.

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God (Rev. 9:13). The sixth angel sounded, and the Apostle heard one voice from the four horns of the golden altar standing before God. There’s a golden altar before God, an angel is trumpeting, and a voice is heard coming from the four corners of the altar. The voice that spoke to the sixth angel which had the trumpet says: Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men (Rev. 9:14-15). You see, there’s accuracy in the description here. It doesn’t say it will happen sometime. God knows the day, the month, the year and the hour. Everything is under God’s control; nothing happens by itself, by accident. All of this will happen to kill a third of the people. How? It’s not difficult today—you could kill everyone all at once.

And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone (Rev. 9:16-17). A terrible vision, horrifying. All of this is to destroy everything all around. Fire, smoke, and brimstone will leave nothing behind.

By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt (Rev. 9:18-19). Their tails were made out of snakes with heads, and through these heads they brought death to men.

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts (Rev. 9:20-21).

To be continued…

ROME — Many boxing fans, especially those familiar with the history of the “Sweet Science,” recall to this day the classic 1952 heavyweight title fight between Jersey Joe Walcott, the reigning world champion, and upstart challenger Rocky Marciano.

Walcott knocked Marciano down in the first round, and for most of the rest of the fight seemed almost to be toying with him, using his superior reach to keep Marciano at bay and dancing around the ring while the challenger flailed away.

Prior to the fight, Walcott brimmed with confidence: “Write this down,” he boasted to reporters. “He can’t fight. If I don’t lick him, take my name out of the record books.” For 12 punishing rounds, he seemed absolutely right.

Yet in the 13th, the reeling Marciano suddenly put Walcott on the ropes and unleashed a mammoth right hook, a perfectly timed swing that caught the champ flush on the jaw, and that was that. The fight was suddenly, and shockingly, over.

Moral of the story: It’s not how you start that matters, it’s how you finish.

It’s a point worth bearing in mind as we ponder the prospects for U.S./Vatican relations during a second Trump term. At the outset, the odds of the White House and the Vatican finding common cause on anything for the next four years seem about as remote as Marciano beating Walcott after the 12th round.

After all, during President Donald Trump’s first term, the relationship with Pope Francis’ Vatican seemed to range from formal politeness to open contempt. The two sides disagreed on almost everything, from immigration and climate change to economic policy and the desirability of multilateralism in global affairs.

Memories are still fresh, to take a celebrated example, of the tiff that began when then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo published an essay in First Things in which he called on the Vatican to disavow its accord with China on the appointment of bishops, warning that otherwise Rome risked losing its “moral authority.”

He repeated the point during a conference on religious liberty sponsored by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, prompting the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, to reveal in public that Francis would not be receiving Pompeo while he was in town.

Nor have things softened since then. Recently Gallagher’s boss, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, declared that the Vatican will not change its line on China “regardless of reactions that may come from America,” which seemed a clear shot across the bow.

It also probably doesn’t warm hearts in the Vatican that one of Trump’s most vocal Catholic supporters is the excommunicated Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the bête noire of the Francis papacy. (Viganò recently rejoiced that in the new Trump era, the Jesuits and “their pope” will suffer the same cancellation he claims they’ve inflicted on others.)

And, yet.

Yet, is there a chance for that one punch that could change everything, in this case turning confident forecasts of disaster into a surprising success story? If so, the greatest likelihood might turn out to be the war in Ukraine, where Francis and Trump improbably appear to see almost eye-to-eye.

To begin with, both Francis and Trump have never joined the broad Western chorus of vilification of Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s bromance with the Russian leader is well known, while Francis has steadfastly refused to condemn Putin by name, instead actually praising him as a “cultured person” who speaks German and English in addition to Russian, and with whom he’s had talks about literature.

In fact, the pontiff’s simpatico with Putin goes back to the beginning of his papacy in 2013, when the two leaders made common cause in heading off plans for a Western military incursion in Syria aimed at dislodging the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Both Trump and Francis therefore enjoy entrée to the Russian leader and might be in a position to leverage his approach, especially if they act in concert.

Moreover, both Trump and Francis have suggested that Russia isn’t entirely to blame for starting the conflict.

In an October podcast, Trump suggested Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also responsible, calling him a great “salesman” who’s used the war to convince the West, and especially the U.S., to send billions in aid to Ukraine. Francis, meanwhile, famously has asserted that NATO “barking at Russia’s doors” through its expansion plans may “facilitated” Russian anger.

Both Trump and Francis also have called for a negotiated settlement to the war, potentially one in which Ukraine may need to cede territory in order to stop the bloodshed and secure peace.

Trump famously vowed to end the war “within a day” on the campaign trail, and although he’s never spelled out how he plans to do so, he’s also never ruled out asking Ukraine to make territorial concessions. Recently a Trump adviser said that a “serious” peace deal, for example, could not include Ukraine holding onto Crimea. While a Trump spokesman said the adviser, Bryan Lanza, did not speak for the president-elect, he didn’t exactly disavow the sentiment.

Francis, meanwhile, has suggested it may be time for Ukraine to exhibit the “courage of the white flag,” seeking a truce through negotiations.

“Do not be ashamed of negotiating, before things get worse,” the pontiff said.

Given all that, it’s at least possible to envision a scenario in which Trump applies American economic and military “hard power,” while Francis contributes the “soft power” of moral leadership, joining forces to create the conditions for a negotiated end to the bloodiest and most bitter European conflict since World War II.

If the stars align just right, Francis and Trump thus could go down as one of history’s all-time “Odd Couples.” Is that likely? Perhaps not, but it’s at least got what boxing aficionados call a “puncher’s chance” — and, every so often, those punches actually land.

Just as Jersey Joe Walcott.

The Church is Built on the Blood of MartyrsWhen the time of persecution, sorrows, and illness comes, a person mobilizes and realizes that earthly life is a special space, that it is not a health resort or a sanatorium. There is little point in seeking pleasures and pleasant sensations—that is the greatest illusion.

“>Part 1: The Church is Built on the Blood of Martyrs

Dionysius. The “Descent into Hell” Icon, 1502 —One man decided to have a health check-up (this is a real first-hand story from his wife). As a result, it was concluded that he was perfectly healthy. However, once the man had left the last doctor’s room, he had a heart attack on the threshold and died right there.

—Actually, there are plenty of such stories. God alone gives guarantees. No matter what sins a person has committed, if he repents sincerely, they will be forgiven. How long will he live after that? How happy, comfortable, and rich will he be? How many healthy and joyful children will he have? Will there be a war? No one guarantees such things. The Lord gives one guarantee, which relates to eternity and our personal salvation. The Lord did not promise social, political, and economic reorganization. We see this even in the New Testament. But if you want to be transformed, to belong to Christ, to enter into a relationship with God and inherit the Heavenly Kingdom, then prepare your soul for The Greatest Temptation for Orthodox ChristiansI would say, probably, the main temptation faced by the Orthodox Christians in the West in modernity in general is double-mindedness.

“>temptations. Then everything will be fine.

—It seems to me that the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

“>New Martyrs of Russia are holy beacons in the thickening darkness of our times. What can we learn from them?

—I think—and this is my personal opinion about the host of the New Martyrs of the twentieth century—that, first and foremost, we can learn from them the spirit of victory and nonconformism. Conformism is becoming the cornerstone of our lives. And the art of negotiating, compromising your inner positions and beliefs, turning spiritual and cultural heritage into a marketable commodity has become commonplace. This is really a huge problem.

But a saint is a nonconformist who does not agree to any concessions; on the contrary, he is ready to shrink his living spaces, he is ready to enter into the storm of an ascetic situation, and he is even ready to see himself as something that needs to be overcome only in order to get closer to Christ and the grace of God. That is, to find the place of perfection in which the grace of the Lord will find him, because the grace of God is not what a person finds, but what finds a person. Christ says: Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you (Jn. 15:16). But for this you must have a specific order of the mind and of heart—to be in a place and a time where it is more convenient for the grace of God to find you. Not only to be found, but also to agree with the fact that you have been found, and to realize that there are no personal merits of yours here. It is not easy to accept another’s love, or even Divine love. Pride, restraint, and self-will are serious obstacles. As a rule, it is easier when you yourself love someone; it is according to your will and your patterns. To “show great favor” to another by your primitive appearance, to impose your version of love on someone else against his will is easier, perhaps because you are its author.

And if your feeling is not reciprocated, you experience micro-dramas, which you use to justify yourself and sometimes admire yourself.

And the ability to accept someone else’s love, to be loved, means to come to terms with reality—not only human, but also Divine. This makes us humans, who are finally able to accept Divine gifts.

    

—Children are another matter. They don’t always accept stories about martyrs. When my godson’s mother read him the Lives of the Saints before going to bed, he asked her, “Don’t read to me about martyrs—it scares me.” This is understandable: a child’s soul is like an angel’s, and it expects grace and harmony from life; it is difficult for it to accept the evil of this world. How can we tell children about bearing the cross and martyrdom? Or should this theme be avoided altogether until a certain age?

—A child’s angelic soul accepts the victory over the evil of this world, not the evil of this world itself. If we look at the New Testament, we will see suffering, humiliations, flagellation of the Savior Himself, and His death on the Cross. Isn’t that even more scary? Based on this logic, should we not read the Gospel to children? But we know that we are talking about something else: the victory over evil, death and hell. If we don’t see it, we can hardly show it to our children. But we, Orthodox Christians, must necessarily talk about martyrs, the real witnesses and co-partakers of the God-Man Christ.

If we don’t tell children anything about martyrs, then, accordingly, we shouldn’t tell them anything about heroes. All fairy tales have a hero. He defeats Koshchei the Immortal,¹ Baba Yaga,² and these are very uncomfortable things. He kills a dragon and saves a princess, or a queen, or a beautiful young lady. But why bother? Are there no other girls in the world? Why get into such a conflict with a dragon? After all, you can be killed. And why dirty your hands with dragon’s blood? Of course, a dragon does not look like a noble hero: scaly and evil, with smoke and fire coming out of its mouth. But if you look at it from the perspective of the Greens, a dragon is a living creature with its own rights and offspring, who need to be fed on the flesh of innocent maidens. Here is an educational subject to talk about with children: Why are we on the side of the hero, and not the dragon? Why, for example, do we love Great-Martyr George, and not the serpent?

I believe that we can talk with children about everything, including the suffering, pain and great tragedies of this life. But if you tell children about everything in the light of the Gospel truth and Patristic Tradition, with love and faith, they will perceive the reality of this world correctly. They should understand that everything will end in victory. And if you take victory out of the context of the lives of martyrs—victory in spirit, by grace, for Christ’s sake, in Christ, the victory of Christ Himself over hell—then what remains? Only meaningless suffering. Strictly speaking, Christian martyrs enter into the victory of Christ. Christ has already overcome the world, and He will not come to overcome it a second time. He has already conquered hell and death, and we just need to enter into His victory—that is, combine our faith, hope and efforts with the victory of Christ. This is an absolutely different story. Here something great and Divine appears in the child’s soul. The vulgar and philistine will go, and everything selfish dissolves.

    

I think that we can talk with children about On the Struggle with the PassionsIn order to overcome all the passions without exception, it is necessary to learn abstinence.

“>passions and their destructive power. A girl or a boy grows up, sees alcoholism, drug addiction, lechery, and much more. It is clear that the child will learn about all this sooner or later. But children must learn it from their loving parents or father-confessors, not from nasty and toxic people. It seems to me that we must explain to children: Here are drugs and their fleeting pleasure, followed by unbearable suffering and terrible irreversibility. It is very important to show them how everything looks, and cultivate other priorities for our children: All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient (1 Cor. 6:12). Take lechery, for example. A young girl goes fishing for a husband in a football team from the first to the last. She gets acquainted with all of them, but her “research” is bound up with a loss of mental integrity and chastity. She acquires knowledge of sin and passions, but at the same time loses life itself: not only the earthly, but also the eternal. So, the number of sins known is proportional to the loss of life. It can hardly be called a gain.…

Refusal always returns with rewards. Even a very quiet “no” in this world has a sacred and very valuable meaning when we say “no” to sin, lies, lust, and substitution. And we know that the demons of lies and substitution are now at work and very successful. When we say “no”, we feel the boundary: Here is me, and there is something external and different—outer darkness, forces filled with evil, untruth, deceit, and the like. We learn to fight for our souls, for our inner space, for our Orthodox Christian faith. And if a child’s parents don’t teach him this, who will?

And the experience of a martyr says that if an external evil is coming, evil thoughts are beginning to attack from inside, your neighbors appear to be very “distant”, and you are betrayed and sold, you understand that there is something that you cannot betray—and a hero appears in literature—but most importantly, a Christian, a martyr appears.

“I won’t take a single step back. Amen. I’m a Christian, I belong to Christ, and I have been born twice: the first time by flesh and blood, and the second time by water and the Spirit. But I put on Christ and became a little Christ when the priest sang: ‘As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ...’³ I will not take off these robes of Christ and will not cease to belong to Christ. Even if I have to lose my freedom, shed blood, and even die.” And this is joy. Why? Because if you see nothing but defeat in your defeat, then there is nothing but defeat in it. And if you see victory in your defeat, then, of course, there is victory. Remember that eternal life has shone forth from the Tomb: from a place of decay where absolutely everyone died. However, the Life-giving Tomb of Christ is before our eyes. And Christ trampled down death by death. If we see victory over what is mortal, terrible and bad in us, there is victory there. If you manage to explain and show it to your child, you have already given birth to him to live a full-fledged Christian life in this world. It is not enough just to give birth to a baby; a Christian must be born in this child so that his mind, his heart and soul can be ripe for understanding these fundamental Christian truths. And everything stable, authentic and harmonious in his soul depends on it. Your child will understand that he is in a great tradition and continuity, and that the merciful Lord and Lover of mankind is above him, as He is above all people.

The ability to tell a child about the truths of faith is sometimes a very difficult catechism exam for parents. If parents cannot string two words together, this is their big problem. In the words of the Apostle Peter, Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with (1 Pet. 3:15)—not the least to your children.

    

—There is also the concept of “bloodless martyrdom”. What does it tell us?

—That every Christian who wants to live in Christ will have sorrows in this world. But Christ says, Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33). If you want to live with a Christian conscience, you come into conflict with many prejudices, superstitions, pseudo-political, social and cultural phantoms, and follies. And these collisions can be very sharp and painful. Once you declare who you are, the enemy says: “If you are such, you won’t be here now.” He begins to test your strength, and real life begins. No one will bother you as long as you don’t exist.

—“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 the Hagiorite struck me with his words, written in the second volume of his works, that the sacrifice in war of people who did not believe in eternal life “has greater value than the one made by those who believe… The non-believers did not know that the sacrifice they resolved to make was not in vain, that they would be rewarded for it in the afterlife.” And those who sacrifice their lives to defend their neighbor imitate Christ. “Because they despise death out of love and thus acquire immortality, finding the key to eternity under their tombstone and easily entering eternal blessedness.” Does this mean that soldiers who die on the battlefield are martyrs?

—There are these words of Christ: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (Jn. 15:13). The ability to pay the highest price possible—your life, out of love for another—has always been highly valued in the Orthodox Church. As St. Paisios the Hagiorite notes, if someone consciously believes in God, this makes his sacrificial path easier. Still, it is better to be conscious, to see, and understand. If you don’t see, don’t understand and don’t feel, but do it, anyway then it’s much harder. If we take the Second World War, we saw a huge number of people who performed an obviously Christian feat. They laid down their lives for their fathers’ graves, for their wives and children, and for their way of life. And it was nothing other than a sacrifice. The degree of their awareness varied, but there is no doubt that their sacrifice had a sacred content. Those people did not go out to kill, but rather to die for what they held sacred, without which anything that comes afterwards has no meaning or justification.

A local Italian group launched an online petition urging Pope Francis, the Vatican and others to stop the “fir tree-icide” of cutting down a 200-year-old red pine to decorate St. Peter’s Square for Christmas.

“Sign up to say ‘no’ to the exclusively consumerist practice of using live trees for short-lived use, for mere advertising purposes and a few ridiculous selfies,” said the petition on change.org.

The Bears and Others Association, a land and wildlife conservancy group located in the northern Italian province of Trento, launched the petition, titled “Let’s save the centuries-old trees from Christmas cutting for the Holy See,” Oct. 13. It had gathered more than 49,800 signatories by midday Nov. 15.

Citing the pope’s teachings on caring for creation, the group said, “It is necessary to give clear and concise signals” to change people’s attitudes toward respecting nature, especially given the rapidly evolving climate change.

The Christmas tree “is a pagan tradition and has nothing to do with the birth of Christ,” the petition said, and it suggested the 60,000 euros the town of Ledro has earmarked for cutting and transporting the tree to Rome instead should be spent on something for the “common good,” like offering shelter to someone living on the street.

In a statement released Sept. 24, the Vatican City State governing office announced that the small mountain town of Ledro, located in the province of Trento, was donating this year’s Christmas tree, a 95-foot red pine, to adorn St. Peter’s Square — a tradition that began with St. John Paul II in 1982.

Renato Girardi, mayor of Ledro, told the Italian state television network, RAI, that the donated tree comes from a certified sustainable working forest that follows strict forest management practices, which include thinning out towering, older trees to open up the canopy and facilitate the growth of multiple younger trees below.

“The trees that get cut here in Trentino are all this same dimension” and age, he said Nov. 12, standing next to the red pine destined for Rome. “If this (tree) here doesn’t go to St. Peter’s, it will end up as boards or to make wooden pallets.”

The town had offered to donate the tree back in 2015, he said, and just this year a gardener from the Vatican visited to look at about 10 trees that were destined for cutting.

The tree in question was chosen, he said, because it did not have a big canopy and so its branches were thinner, making its transportation easier.

While the change.org petition implied the 39 other trees the town was donating to decorate different parts of the Vatican were also old trees being cut from the forest, Girardi said those trees are smaller, younger trees grown on a tree farm elsewhere because the Vatican wanted a different kind of evergreen that did not shed its needles.

The mayor told reporters Nov. 11 that the town follows the same strict timber harvesting laws in effect for the entire province of Trento. “Our program calls for 3 cubic tons of new growth each year and we cut 2 cubic tons a year, which is part of our local economy. Trees have always been cut; it’s part of harvesting a forest.”

The tree was expected to arrive in Rome Nov. 19 to be decorated and then lit Dec. 7. It was to remain in the square until Jan. 12, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

After the festivities, the tree was to be shipped back to Ledro where the town will hold a wood-sculpting contest, Girardi said. Professional sculptors will carve the tree based on the winning design, and it will be permanently displayed in the town.

Grado, an Italian island, was to donate this year’s larger-than-life Nativity scene, the Vatican City State governing office said Sept. 24. The scene will replicate the traditional fishing boats and thatched rooftops characteristic of the town, located on a lagoon on the Adriatic Sea in the northeast near Slovenia.

Photo credit: nvgazeta.ru   

I think it happened for a reason, for it surely couldn’t be for nothing! Because precisely on the birthday of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth (November 1), in my files I stumbled upon a draft article I had compiled almost ten years ago. I had totally forgotten about it and didn’t save the photos or contacts—nothing but the text. But such stories don’t have limitation of time and they don’t require exact dates, as they never lose their value!

This is a story about a true example of mercy and charity from a German woman, our contemporary—not with toward her compatriots, but to children from Belarus. I’ll tell you why. Our editorial office where I was working at the time had received the following letter:

“My name is Irina Fyodorovna Averina. I am originally from Pinsk. For more than fifteen years, our public organization called “Our Children” have been working with children whose parents are alcoholics and drug addicts. With God’s help, we were able to achieve very much; the children in our care receive Communion and make efforts to lead a Christian life. But I am writing to you about a completely different matter.

“We know a lady from northern Germany who helps us provide food and clothing to our children here. We met over twenty years ago, and she told us an amazing story about her father who was taken prisoner near Stalingrad in 1943. He was dying from hunger in the prison camp, when one Russian woman came to his aid. The captured German soldier survived and returned home. Years later, he told this story to his daughter Frauke Niessen.

“Many years have passed and when we met with her, Frauke expressed her feelings to me. She was anxious to help us. She was able to achieve a great deal during those twenty years that she helped deaf children and the children under our care.

“I am well advanced in years now and my only wish is that this story would edify our children in the future. An unknown Russian woman sowed the seeds of kindness, the seeds of Christian love. Many decades later, those seeds sprouted up in the German land. But they bore fruit in the lands of Belarus as help to the children from Pinsk.”

When Irina Averina answered my questions, this story suddenly gained a different meaning: a warm memory about our saint, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, came to the fore as a person, also a German by birth, who performed works of love and mercy on the Russian land.

* * *

—Irina Fyodorovna, tell me the story in greater detail.

—A Russian woman with uncommonly long hair came to the barbed wire fence and somehow managed to signal the captives that she had potatoes hidden under her hair behind her back, and they could take them. He ate the potatoes—and survived. However, Frauke didn’t know why it was her father whom she chose to help… I also don’t know how long this went on, but when the soldier returned to his home country, he shared his story with his daughter.

—But how did you get to know Frauke Niessen?

—I have an adopted son. When he traveled to Germany with a group of children, he stayed with the family of a local journalist. Later, Tilla Lorenzen came here and said to me: “Listen, Irina, you have quite an unconventional family! How can I help you?” I was working with deaf children at the time, and we had a girl named Verochka, an orphan. So I said: “I don’t need help, but do help this girl Verochka! She has absolutely no one in this world.” She says: “Okay, let’s try. I will write an article once I return home.

—Why did your guest call your family unconventional?

—We were unconventional for her, but for me it was totally normal, in a Russian way. My family adopted a child, who was my nephew twice removed. We took custody of him when he was thirteen. My cousin died and we took him to live with us.

—And how about Verochka? Did you take her in as well?

—Yes. So, when this journalist published that article, the Niessen family wrote a response. Frauke’s husband is an acoustician who works with hearing aids. She invited us to come to Germany, so Verochka and I went there. That’s how Frauke and I met.

—So, journalism is facilitating good deeds!

—That’s true—it helped. Sadly, my beloved Tilla has died. She was wonderful! And then Frauke and her husband began to help Verochka. She didn’t completely lose her hearing. The girl had been examined thoroughly and had received her hearing aids. But still, it didn’t mean she became like everyone else. Generally speaking, there is no such thing as a totally deaf person—it happens rarely in nature. But in order to fit a child with a hearing aid, there must first be an extensive examination.

Frauke told me: “I am going to tell you about my father… Let’s help other children too!” Six months later, I was back there with another eight deaf children.

Frauke told me: “You know, Irina, my heart as if turns upside down at such a story. I am going to tell you about my father… And how about helping other children?” Six months later, I was there with the eight deaf children…

—Could it be that only the memory of her father’s rescue and gratitude motivated her to help the children, who weren’t German but Belarusian? Is she religious?

—I think she learned about the faith from our children. Not the deaf ones, but our charges at our social organizatioin. The children always prayed before meals, no matter where they were and under any circumstances. Our German guests would simply sit quietly at first. Then, they would stand up, one-by-one. With time, they’d say to each another: “Shhh, be quiet!” And so, over time, this group came to the faith. Maybe not deeply, but still seriously believing.

You know, Frauke and I couldn’t trust one another for a long time. A wealthy Westerner, she looked askance at me, and I also looked askance at her, but for different reasons. I just couldn’t understand what motivated her. And she was unable to explain it: “It is right here, you see, here,” and she’d point to her heart. But her husband would say, “God is telling us to do this.” Frauke thinks that it’s all up to God. She and her husband really put their trust in the Lord…

—Are they Catholics or Lutherans by faith?

—Formerly Protestants. But overall, Frauke is really beautiful, just gorgeous! I never met anyone more beautiful than her in my life.

—Do you mean in appearance?

—She has such harmony, both inwardly and outwardly. She also senses people intuitively and even though she knows practically no Russian, she will always know, either by our gestures or expressions, what we are talking about. This is how it often is with people who are spiritually mature.

—I also remember another German who amazingly struck a balance between inner and outer beauty—Life Principles of Grand Duchess ElizabethThe letters of Grand Duchess Elizabeth reveal the principles which laid the foundation of her life and relationships with people around her. These letters help us understand the reasons why the high-society beauty became a saint in her lifetime.

“>Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

—When we had just started helping disadvantaged children, we began our ministry with the book by Liubov Miller entitled, Grand Duchess Elizabeth. I’ve been to Darmstadt and read a lot about the holy martyr. At I saw her reflection in Frauke… I met Frauke’s father, a tall and stately man who wore glasses. He had very nice, restrained manners. Despite that, Frauke would always say: “I come from a peasant family.” She was so unbelievably good inside. Just like Holy Martyr Elizabeth, she could simply walk in the room, quickly place a candle on some napkin, arrange a bouquet or a single flower somewhere—and the room would be transformed. Everything turned into beauty because of her. She truly embodied harmony in every way.

Meanwhile, she would go and hug the children of alcoholic parents, wipe away their runny noses, and give them a kiss. I have never seen so much love as this woman possessed. Every time she got ready to leave, the children would gather around her and give her hugs… She’d say: “I won’t wash my shirt for a long time, because it is covered with their tears. These children have no place to return; where do they go?” People typically shy away from such children because they are unable to understand that it is their parents who are sick. But Frauke somehow was able to understand it. She also managed to persuade her husband, a businessman, to see the world in a different light. As he would say, “she implanted her perception in his being…” At the same time, she often hadn’t the strength to go on, because the Germans didn’t understand her ministry. They assume that Germany has its own problems.

—Why is Frauke like that? The story of her father’s rescue is sufficient to inspire her descendants to do charitable work, but by far not everybody would have the resolve to carry it out.

—All of our responsibilities come from on high. Frauke and I often say that our feelings, the bridge we’ve built between the East and the West, the more than twenty years of our common effort, is already quite a lot. But we have also run into many obstacles. She would respond by saying, “God assigned it to us.” And that’s all. I agree with her. God is not in might, but in truth. This is what makes a person indefatigable and strong.

With new reports by human rights organizations in Europe, it is clear that anti-Christian discrimination is a hot-button issue on the old continent, and on the rise.

The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe revealed widespread intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe in its Nov. 15 report, published in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

OIDAC Europe identified 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes documented by police and civil society in 35 European countries in 2023, including 232 personal attacks on Christians, such as harassment, threats and physical violence.

These figures include data requested from governments, which found 1,230 anti-Christian hate crimes recorded by 10 European governments in 2023, up from 1,029 recorded by governments in 2022.

While only 10 European governments submitted data on anti-Christian hate crimes in 2023, civil society reported incidents from 26 European countries.

The report was published ahead of the Nov. 16 observance of International Day for Tolerance, which was established in 1996 by the United Nations General Assembly.

“Tragically and unsurprisingly,” the report said, “acts of violence against Jewish and Muslim believers were particularly high,” with 8,951 antisemitic and 5,987 anti-Muslim hate crimes recorded by governments in 2023.

According to OIDAC Europe, countries of particular concern were France, with nearly 1,000 anti-Christian hate crimes in 2023; the United Kingdom, where incidents rose to more than 700; and Germany, which saw a 105% increase in anti-Christian hate crimes, rising from 135 in 2022 to 277 in 2023.

In terms of church vandalism, German police recorded more than 2,000 cases of property damage to Christian places of worship in 2023.

Commenting on the new findings, Regina Polak, who is OSCE’s representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, said: “Christians are the target of hate crimes across the OSCE region. The nature of these crimes ranges from (painting) graffiti to vandalism and physical assaults against Christians distributing religious materials.”

Vandalism against churches is indeed the most common form of violence, with 62% of attacks against Christians of that kind, followed by cases of desecration, at 24%, beheading of religious statues, arson attacks and threats.

While physical violence remains relatively rare — with 7% of cases of that kind reported — “there have been some tragic cases in 2023, including the murder of a Catholic altar server by a jihadist terrorist in Algeciras (Spain), a car-ramming attack on a procession in Poland, and the attempted murder of a convert to Christianity from a Muslim background in the UK, who was considered by the perpetrator to be an ‘apostate who deserved to die,’” the report said.

Meanwhile, 2024 already brought tragic cases of intolerance in Europe, as Father Juan Antonio Llorente, a Franciscan friar from the Gilet monastery in Spain’s Valencia region, died Nov. 11 in a hospital, following the injuries he suffered Nov. 9 when a man entered the monastery and attacked the community. Seven other friars were wounded.

A week earlier, on Nov. 3, an elderly priest was attacked in Poland. Father Lech Lachowicz, 72, was attacked with an ax in his Szczytno parish rectory in northeastern Poland. A 27-year-old suspect has been taken into custody. Father Lachowicz died Nov. 9 following extensive brain injuries.

“Anti-Christian hate crimes send a message of exclusion to the victims and their communities, and to society as a whole,” Polak said.

In addition to violent attacks, OIDAC’s report also found discrimination against Christians in the workplace and in public life in some European countries.

“In particular, Christians who adhere to traditional religious beliefs face increasing discrimination and hostility, ranging from bullying at work to the loss of employment”, explained Anja Hoffmann, executive director of OIDAC Europe.

“It is very worrying that the peaceful expression of personal religious beliefs, for example on matters relating to marriage and family, has become the potential end of a political career or employment, or even the beginning of a court case,” she added.

“OIDAC Europe sees these trends as one of the reasons for increasing self-censorship among Christians in Europe,” the report said.

According to a 2024 survey from the U.K., only 36% of Christians under the age of 35 said they felt free to express their Christian views on social issues at work.

The past year has also seen a number of restrictions on religious freedom by European governments, OIDAC Europe said, ranging from bans on religious processions to the targeting of Christians for the peaceful expression of their religious beliefs.

“Particularly shocking was the case of a man who was prosecuted in the UK for praying silently in his own mind in a public street in a so-called ‘buffer zone’ near an abortion clinic,” the report said, referring to the case of Adam Smith-Connor, a British army veteran whom a court has convicted of violating a “buffer zone” around an abortion clinic after he prayed silently within the boundary.

Smith-Connor was given a conditional discharge Oct. 16 — in which a fine or prison sentence will be imposed if he repeats his offense in the next two years — and ordered to pay prosecution costs of 9,000 British pounds (US $11,700).

“This and similar cases have raised international concern, including from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom,” OIDAC Europe stressed.

“These trends should alert us all to step up efforts to protect freedom of religion or belief, including the freedom to openly and respectfully discuss different philosophical and religious viewpoints on sensitive issues, without fear of reprisal and censorship,” Hoffmann concluded.

In light of “prevalent high numbers of anti-Christian hate crimes in Europe,” Hoffmann furthermore stressed the necessity of coordinated efforts, including through the creation of the position of an EU coordinator combating anti-Christian hatred, similar to the existing mandates on combating antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.

Polak underlined that the increase of discrimination and hate crimes against Christians in Europe must “be taken more seriously by governments and civil society and needs profound research to understand its specific nature and causes.”