Wednesday, December 13, 2023

142nd birth anniversary - St. Seraphim (Sobolev), Sofia wonder-worker 'Песен за Владикин ден'

Песен за
ВЛАДИКИН ден
43':22'' - 44':54'' below
(т.е. 01/14 декември - рожденият ден на дядо Владика, който е и написал песента!)

Радост моя, радост моя, радост моя -
Ах, Спасител мой! Ах, Спасител мой!
Радост моя, радост моя, радост моя -
Ах, Спасител мой! Ах, Спасител мой!


... 5 думи - 5 хляба ...




On December 14-th (December 1-st O.S.) 2011, at the “Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos” cathedral Church in Sofia solemnly celebrated was the 130-th birth anniversary of Svt. Seraphim, Archbishop of Boguchar, Sofia wonderworker.

43':22'' - 44':54'' below

/a chant written by Svetitel Seraphim, Sofia wonderworker, whose birthday – 01/14 December has been referred to [as a supplication] as ‘Vladykin Day’ (or Day of the Vladyka)/



A Chant for VLADYKIN day
 
(i.e. December 01/14 - the birthday of 'Dyado Vladyka', who also wrote this chant!)

      Joy of mine, Joy of mine, Joy of mine!
      Oh, my Saviour! Oh, my Saviour!
      Joy of mine, Joy of mine, Joy of mine!
      Oh, my Saviour! Oh, my Saviour!


... 5* words - 5 loaves (of bread) ... [* – 5 in Cyrillic]


Saturday, December 2, 2023

Akathist to St. Spyridon of Trimythous

 

Translated from Ch.-Sl.


Akathist to St. Spyridon of Trimythous

 




Kontakion 1

Glorified by the Lord amidst the saints and miracle workers, Oh Spyridon! Now we celebrate your all-honorable memory, as one who is able to help us much in Christ, who has glorified you, we cry out to you tenderly: deliver us from all troubles and evils, and with thanksgiving we call to you: Rejoice, Oh Spyridon, most wonderful miracle worker!

 

Ikos 1

Adorned from youth with all the virtues, and emulating your Angel with your life, you, Saint Spyridon, truly appeared to be a friend of Christ; and we, seeing you, the heavenly man and earthly angel, with reverence and tenderness we cry out to you: Rejoice, you, contemplating the mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity; Rejoice, having been enriched by the Spirit with the most radiant illumination. Rejoice, you lamp of multi-light; Rejoice, your mind having been enlightened by dispassion. Rejoice, you lover of true simplicity and silence from childhood; Rejoice, you ornament of chastity. Rejoice, you inexhaustible stream of love; Rejoice, for you imitated Abraham's love of strangers. Rejoice, for you lovingly opened the entrances of your house to everyone; Rejoice, you champion of beggars. Rejoice, as one whom people revere; Rejoice as you are an abode of the Holy Spirit. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker!

 

Kontakion 2

Having seen the island of Cyprus and all Christian countries your incorruptible relics, O Saint, from which abundant healing flows, have rejoiced; and we, honoring you as a most abundant source of grace, sent down to us from On-High, cry out to the Supreme Giver of Heavenly and earthly blessings: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 2

Having Divine Reason, and being a shepherd of speechless sheep, by the will of the Chief Shepherd Christ you have been chosen to be the shepherd of the verbal sheep. The faithful, seeing you to be a good shepherd, vigilantly caring for his flock, chanted glory: Rejoice, you bishop of God Most High, who at your ordination [hyrotonia] abundantly received Divine grace; Rejoice, you lamp of multi-bright lights, burn and illumine. Rejoice, you faithful worker in Christ’s Vertograd [Vineyard of fruits]; Rejoice, you shepherd, educating your flock in the pasture of faith and piety; Rejoice, enlightening the world with the radiance of your virtues; Rejoice, Bringing the Divine Sacrifice to the Throne of Christ. Rejoice, you hierarch, decorated with the understanding of Orthodoxy; Rejoice, you full of the apostolic teachings, watering the faithful flow with the streams of salvific teaching. Rejoice, for you have illuminated the wise, too; Rejoice, for you have renewed the simple hearts, too. Rejoice, you glory of the Orthodox and unshakable affirmation of the Church; Rejoice, you adornment of the Fathers, glory and praise of the reverent priests. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 3

By the power of the God Most High, which has lit you up, Saint Spyridon, you appeared to be wise of God and, squeezing the clay in your hand, the Triune Persons you have easily made clear to everyone: even so, the falsely wise philosophers, gathered at the Council, horrified, the faithful incomprehensibly glorified God, Who made you wise unto salvation, crying out to Him: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 3

All the fathers of the Council - having you in their thoughts as simple, unskilled in teaching by the book, they praying you, Father Spyridon, not to bicker in words with the rhetors, who thought themselves to be wise. You, O saint, inflamed with zeal for God, believing that the preaching of Christ is not in debates of wisdom with human words, but in the manifestation of the spirit and power, exposing the most wise in this, you brought the to reason and set them on the true path. Every one who saw this miracle cried out: Rejoice, you light of Orthodox wisdom; Rejoice, for they who spoke to be wise fellow questioners you put to shame. Rejoice, you abundant source of grace; Rejoice, you unshakable pillar, firmly holding up those who be in faith. Rejoice, you who darkens the all-pernicious heresy; Rejoice, you through whom madness has been trampled underfoot. Rejoice, for the dust of earth preached in your hands the Holy Trinity; Rejoice, for you brought out fire and water of clay in confirmation of the Holy Trinity dogma. Rejoice, for Thou hast enlightened people to glorify the Word, Who truly is consubstantial with the Eternal Father; Rejoice, for you have defeated the serpent’s head of the destructive Arian heresy. Rejoice for evil was sacrificed because of you; Rejoice, you co-questioner of the unfaithful sage, having turned him to the true faith. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 4

Spending life in squalor and poverty, to beggars and the poor you were a nourisher and helper, and, for the sake of love for the poor, you turned the serpent into gold and you gave it to those who required your help. Marveling at this miracle, we cry out to God in gratitude: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 4

Everyone has heard, and everywhere, that Saint Spyridon truly is the dwelling place of the Holy Trinity: [for] God the Father, God the Word and God the Holy Spirit dwells in him. For this reason with words and deeds you preached to every Christian the true God incarnate, crying out: Rejoice, you secret-keeper of the word of God; Rejoice, you who have clarified the economy of God for the salvation of the world. Rejoice, for you have taught that to not experience this is superior to human reason and wisdom; Rejoice, you who have revealed the incomprehensible power of God acting in you. Rejoice, for with your lips God Himself has spoken; Rejoice, for all listened to you in sweetness. Rejoice, you who have dispelled the fog of idolatry; Rejoice, for you have brought many to the true faith. Rejoice, for having slain the heads of the invisible serpents; rejoice because of you the Christian faith is glorified. Rejoice, for you illumine brightly all those who please [and glorify] you; Rejoice, you champion of the Christian faith and Orthodoxy. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 5

You were filled with the Divine Spirit, Saint Spyridon, for the sake of your virtuous life; you were always meek, merciful, pure in heart, long-suffering, not spiteful, with love for strangers: for this reason the Creator has shown you to also be most glorious in miracles. And we, glorifying God, Who has glorified you, cry out to Him: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 5

We see Spyridon, the great miracle worker, [as] equal-to-the-angels. The country once suffered from lack of rain and great drought: there was famine and plague, and many people died, but through the prayers of the saint from heaven there came down rain onto the ground; and the people, having been delivered from the disaster, cried out in gratitude: Rejoice, you have become like the great prophet Elijah; Rejoice, for you brought down the rain that takes away famine and illness in good time. Rejoice, again through your prayers you locked the sky; Rejoice, for you punished the unmerciful merchant with deprivation of his property. Rejoice, for you have abundantly given food to those who need it; Rejoice, for you champion God’s charity [kind disposition to welfare] for people. Rejoice, you who take away the infirmities of the weak; Rejoice, you God-gracious helper to man. Rejoice, you who give health to the sick; Rejoice, for demons tremble [in fear] before you. Rejoice, you source of countless miracles. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 6

The veil of the Old Testament tabernacle closed in the Holy of the Holy the ark, the manna and the tablets. And your temple, Oh Saint Spyridon, has a shrine of yours, like an ark, your holy relics – like manna, your heart – like tablets of Divine grace, on them we see a chant inscribed: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 6

The Lord once punished the people of Cyprus for the increase of lawlessness with barrenness of the earth, and when a well-known farmer came to Saint Spyridon, asking for help, the Saint gave him gold; and once the disaster passed, that farmer returned the gold again, and – what a miracle – the gold became a serpent. Glorifying God, Who is wondrous in His saints, we cry out: Rejoice, as you imitated Moses, who miraculously transformed the staff into a serpent; Rejoice, you Shepherd lover of humanity, do deliver the verbal sheep of your flock from troubles. Rejoice, abundantly do all enrich with all blessings; Rejoice, nourishing the poor like Elijah. Rejoice, turning the unmerciful to mercy; Rejoice, you venerable example of love for people living in the world. Rejoice, you consolation for both faithful and unfaithful in troubles; Rejoice, you hay-leaved tree, overshadowing both the city and the country. Rejoice, you glory and praise to the Kerkyrians; Rejoice, you who by the grace of God has dominion over moisture and drought, over heat and cold. Rejoice, you who changes statutes of the earth with prayer; Rejoice, you who has foreseen both what is to come, and the present. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 7

You have appeared an intercessor before the Lord for everyone, Saint Spyridon. For this reason we, too, come running under your roof, seeking salvation, to have you help us all in all needs, during famines, deadly plagues and in all times of troubles and temptations. For this reason, with gratitude we cry out to God: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 7

We see a new miracle and it is Divine [magnificent]; when you, father, marched to deliver an innocent man sentenced to death, a stormy stream blocked your way; and you, by the name of the Almighty God, commanded it to stand still and crossed the river with your companions as if [walking] on dry land. The glory of this miracle spread everywhere, and all having glorified God, crying out to you: Rejoice, you who like Joshua crossed the Jordan once, walked the river as on dry land; Rejoice, you who with your voice tamed the river onrush. Rejoice, for you have undertaken a difficult path, driven by mercy; Rejoice, for you destroyed slander and delivered the innocent from the bonds of prison and vain death. Rejoice, you quick helper of life according to God; Rejoice, you defender of the innocently oppressed. Rejoice, you changer of the statutes [essence] of water’s nature; Rejoice, for you didst admonish the judge and saved [one] from [being] murder [-ed]. Rejoice, you [being] true correction of souls; Rejoice, you wondrous power with-holding the streams. Rejoice, you who delightest the hearts of people who come to you; Rejoice, you imitator of Abraham's love for mankind. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 8

You were a wanderer and new-comer on earth, just as you other people were. However, the Omniscient showed you from the womb of the mother to be great saint and wonderworker, Oh Saint Spyridon: for you cast out demons, you heal every disease and ulcer, you see the thoughts of people, and by these you also appeared marvelous among the saints. We, sending up a prayer to God, the Benefactor of all, cry out to Him: Alleluia. 

 

Ikos 8

The whole world will shudder greatly with horror when it hears, for death, at your voice, brings back its dead from their graves, and will cry out: Rejoice, you who called back to life your deceased daughter, so she may reveal the treasure entrusted to her; Rejoice, you who comforted the sorrowful widow, who gave gold for safekeeping. Rejoice, you who raised the deceased offspring from the dead; Rejoice, for his mother who suddenly dies from joy, you brought [back] to life. Rejoice for you emulated Elijah, who through prayers restored to life the son of Sarept’s woman; Rejoice, for you also emulated Elisha, who aroused the youth from death. Rejoice, you shepherd who sincerely loves people; Rejoice, you who by the name of God forgave the sins of the harlot wife that washed your feet with her tears. Rejoice, you who [cherished and] acquired the holy zeal of the Supreme Apostle; Rejoice, for the unrepentant woman sinner, according to your words, died in grave illnesses. Rejoice, having obtained fruitfulness through your prayers for the earth; Rejoice, you immutable assurance of the resurrection of men. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 9

You were illuminated by the Divine Spirit, Saint Spyridon, for you had the spirit wisdom, as with wise words you have brought reason to [overwhelmed] the fools, and [also] among the fathers, you established the faith through the spirit of reason, for you have illuminated the darkened minds; by the spirit of the fear of God, for you have purified the soul by taking out the guilt for doing things pleasing to God. By doing so, having presented yourself to the Throne of the Most High, you chant with a host of Angels to Him: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 9

Having received staff of a shepherd of verbal sheep from the Chief Shepherd the Lord Jesus, Oh Saint Spyridon, you altered not your living: unworldly [‘not-for-profit’], meek, enduring everything for the sake of love, you were not ashamed to take care for the flock of dumb sheep. All this excites us to glorify God and cry out to you: Rejoice, you who despises the vain glory of this world; Rejoice, you who have gained great requital in Heaven. Rejoice, you who have imputed to the mind the beauty of this world: Rejoice, you vessel of heavenly blessings. Rejoice, you most holy pasture of the Cypriots; Rejoice, because for your sake God tied with unseen bonds the predators of your sheep. Rejoice, you who taught fatherly admonition to ravishers; Rejoice, you who gave them a ram, by your mercy, for the night spent without sleep. Rejoice, you who by the goat’s disobedience, as if it had rteason, exposed the merchant who hid its price; Rejoice, you who brought to repentance the one who kept hidden your silver coins. Rejoice, you who with your admonition healed him from the passions of greed. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 10

By saving the souls of the flock entrusted to you by God, you, Saint Spyridon, by the will of God, were called to reveal your glory, especially so the glory of the true God, also unto other countries, so that everywhere they would glorify the name of God, crying out: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 10

A quick helper and intercessor in all needs and sorrows, Saint Spyridon, at the command of the Tsar, like the other shepherds, you came to the city of Antioch, where King Constantine was overcome by the illness; the Saint touched his head and made it healthy. Marveling at this miracle, we cry out to you: Rejoice, you who in a dream vision, an Angel revealed as a healer to the king; Rejoice, you who for the sake of Divine love accepted the difficult travel in old age. Rejoice, you who according to the commandment of the Savior presented the other cheek to the king's servant, who struck you in the cheek; Rejoice, you pillar of humility. Rejoice, you who through your prayers in tears granted health to the tsar; Rejoice, as through your humiliation brought reason to your servant and changed his unmerciful disposition. Rejoice, for you taught the king piety and mercy; Rejoice, for hating earthly treasure, you rejected the king’s gold. Rejoice, for you turned away your disciple Triphyllia from addiction to earthly goods and made him into a vessel of God’s grace; Rejoice, for the idols that came to you in Alexandria fell. Rejoice, for even demons obey you; Rejoice, for you have turned many away from idolatry. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 11

There was angelic singing when in the temple you, Saint Spyridon, offered your evening prayers, and there was not for those who served with you. The residents of the city, having heard the wondrous chanting, entered the temple and, seeing no one, they chanted along with the powers from on-high: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 11

You radiant sun of the world, interlocutor of the Angels you were on earth, Saint Spyridon; having given up your spirit unto the hand of God, you relocated to an On-high dwelling, praying for peace before the Throne of the Lord. And we, who live on the earth, cry out to you: Rejoice, for Angels served together with you when [you were] still living; Rejoice, you have been hearing the psalmody of the Archangels. Rejoice, you visible image our transformation; Rejoice, for God for your sake filled up with excess the lamp of those who lacked oil in the temple. Rejoice, you lamp of Divine radiance; Rejoice, you vessel of God's grace that abundantly, like oil [myrrh], fills up your soul. Rejoice, you inexhaustible source, forever flowing currents of grace to everyone; Rejoice, you, with him the Angels are amazed. Rejoice, you who admonish the deacon's disobedience in the temple; Rejoice, you who deprived the one vainglorious in his voice of both his voice and tongue. Rejoice, for in time heat, suddenly dew descended from above and cooled your sacred head; Rejoice, in that sign you foretold the nearness of your own repose. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker.

 

Kontakion 12

Being a shroud and refuge for all faithful who come to you even in your life-time, you, saint, have not left us orphaned even after your repose; God, conqueror of the order of nature, preserved your holy relics incorruptible for the strengthening of Orthodox faith and piety, as a sign of immortality, and glorifying Him, we cry out: Alleluia.

 

Ikos 12

We sing praises to you, Oh holy hierarch of God, for you have amazed the world with the miracles flowing out of your holy relics. All who come with faith and who kiss them receive all the good things they ask for. And we, glorify the God Who gave you the fortress, Who crowned you with the crown of incorruption and Who acted through, we cry out to you: Rejoice, you appeared to the shipwright during a famine and commanded to delivered food; Rejoice, you who gifted sight to the blind, who with faith [hurried to] venerated your holy relics. Rejoice, you who healed the youth from the incurable illness; Rejoice, you who cast away the demon from the woman and made her healthy. Rejoice, you elected voivode [leader] of Kerkyra; Rejoice, for you drove out the hordes of wicked Hagarians and drowned their ships into the deep sea. Rejoice, you whom they saw surrounded by a host of Angels, holding a sword in his right hand and bringing the enemies into awe [thrill]; Rejoice, you who build yourself a temple in which the governor forbade liturgy to be celebrated on unleavened bread. Rejoice, you who struck the Latin governor with cruel death; Rejoice, you who burned down his image with a lightning at his house in Venice. Rejoice, you who have put to shame the apostasy and false wisdom of the West; Rejoice, you who asserted only the Orthodox faith to be true and salvific for people. Rejoice, Spyridon, you most wonderful miracle worker!

 

Kontakion 13

O most wonderful saint of Christ, Father Spyridon! Receive this current prayer of ours, deliver us from all troubles and misfortunes, strengthen us against the enemies of our country, grant us forgiveness of our sins and save from eternal death everyone crying out unto you to God: Alleluia!

 

(This kontakion is read 3 times, followed then by Ikos 1 and Kontakion 1)


Wednesday, November 15, 2023

"Chapters on Knowledge" by St. Isaac the Syrian of Nineveh

 


1 .88 O Christ, who died for us by Thy love, make me dead to sin and take this old man off me, so that in a newness of mind I stand before You for all time, as if in the New Age. God , whose heaven and heavens of heaven cannot contain 16 , who has chosen from us a reasonable temple for dwelling in it, honor me to become a receptacle for your love, from the sensation of which the saints have forgotten themselves and have become insane for your sake 17 and at all times have mingled with you in intoxicated attraction to You, and never turned back again. When they were rewarded with this sweet spring, thirsting for Your love, You intoxicated them with amazement at Your mysteries.

MORAL-AND-ASCETIC WORKS
(Divine Mysteries and Spiritual Life)

– St. Isaac the Syrian of Nineveh

Commemorating the Dead

 

The Mysterious Meaning of Commemorating the Dead

 

An Athos monk was once allowed to see the way the commemoration of the dead went: it was All-Soul's Saturday, Liturgy had ended. Some of the present were already leaving the church, while others stayed on and began to approach the general kanun (standing, as usual, in the middle of the church).


I stood in the choir. The priest and deacon came out of the altar. The priest exclaimed: "Blessed is our God, always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen". The Deacon lit up the candles, began distributing them to those present.

 

And at this time I saw how many people there WERE – entering the door of the temple from the street, and then PENETRATING through walls and windows. The temple was getting filled up with a crowd of – transparent SHADOWS.

 

In this mass I saw – women, men, youth and children. I discerned from their appearance priests, emperors, bishops, and in between them a simple laborer, decrepit soldier villager, a poor woman and poor in general.

 

After the exclamation of the priest they noiseless but extremely quickly FILLED UP – [with themselves] the entire church, standing closely with each other. All of them seemed to strive towards the kanun, but for some reason they could not approach it. I could not take my eyes off this amazing picture.

 

Finally they had accumulated so many [of them] that the real praying [people] seemed to me but figures, brightly painted against the background of these amazing shadows. They (the shadows), nearing in silence, stood still by the altar. Some of them were as if kneeling, others bent over their heads, precisely as if waiting the pronouncing of a sentence. The children stretched out their hands to the candles that burned on the kanun, as well as to the hands of the living praying people.

 

But there, the deacon took out the notes and began reading out the names written on them. My surprise had no end when I noticed that with an the impetuous, joyful movement one figure stood out then another. They came up to those who commemorated them, stood next to them, looked them with eyes full of love, of joyful peace. I even thought that in the hands of the shadows there was some spiritual burning candle and they themselves – while praying together with those praying for them – were blazing with unusually joyful rays. With the reading out of names more and more joyful figures stood out of the crowd of shadows. They noiseless walked and mingled with the alive praying people. Finally, when the notes had been read out there remained many unnamed – sad, as though having come to some common holiday, but FORGOTTEN – by those who might have invited them to this great celebration for them. Some of the souls were anxiously glancing at the door, precisely as if expecting that, perhaps, a kin would come and would in turn call their name.

 

But no, no new faces turned up, and those unnamed could only enjoy the joy of those who were called by name by those who had come to be together with them.

 

I watched the general group of praying [people], who were as it getting mixed with the trembling in the bright rays ghosts from the other world, and I saw an even more wonderful picture.

 

At the time of exclamation of the words "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes" or the words "Thyself, O Lord, repose the souls of Thy departed servants," I could see how the faces of the living [persons] lit up with the light together with the faces [persons] of the departed, how tears not of despondency but of joy ran down from the eyes of those who wore the corporeal shell, and at the same time some passionate love, boundless devotion burned in the eyes of those being commemorated.

 

With the cloud of smoke from the censers, with the jets of smoke from the burning candles there sounded a wondrous prayerful appeal: "[Together] With the saints give rest ..." and I saw that the whole church as if a single man knelt on ones' knees and the spirits whose names were commemorated, prayed both for those present and for themselves, while those who had been FORGOTTEN, prayed only for himself.

 

When the prayerful chant ended, they damped out the candles and the priest read the last exclamation, and the deacon finished with a common commemoration of the departed, the shadows standing in front of me began to disappear and there remained only people who had wished to further serve a private commemoration service for their deceased. Then, I saw in the faces such peace, such satisfaction, such renovation that is beyond me to convey.

 

Great, holy and gratifying for the departed is the ritual of commemoration of the Orthodox Church!

 

And how sad it is to those who gets RENDERED to oblivion, denying them not only the joy to see themselves not forgotten, but thus also slowing down their spiritual renovation and receiving of FORGIVENESS of their TRANSGRESSIONS from the Lord – both during the funeral service, and especially so during the Liturgy. For each time the priest takes out particles for the souls, these souls RECEIVE – mercy, getting closer to the Kingdom of God.

 

Each and every one of us experiences this thirst of the departed – to be commemorated [remembered]. Therefore quite often they REMIND of themselves in our dreams on the eve of their birthdays or days of departure, on the eve of the All-Souls' Saturdays.

 

Every word of ours, every thought, memory of the deceased instantly responds to them, and remembering them with GOOD is encouraging, while the remembrance with evil is PAINFUL, for it causes them remorseS. You can imagine how AWFUL the afterlife PAINS are for people who are hard to be remember with good.

 

This is why laws of popular charity require SPEAK NOTHING bad of the departed, so as not to embitter their spiritual wounds. All these things must serve us as a warning: to act in our lifetime so that after our death we would NOT DESERVE feelings of contempt for us, of reproach and hatred – or, even worse, of curse, and in that way BE DEPRIVED of the prayers of our loved ones.


Persecution of Christians around the world

 

Persecution of Christians around the world edit ]

The Open Doors Global Christian Persecution Index is a tool gathering data intended to be representative of the persecution of Christians. Compiled by the “research department” of Portes Ouvertes International from field data, it tracks the changes experienced by Christians in 150 countries, then ranks among them the 50 countries where it is, according to the criteria defined by the Index , the most difficult and dangerous way to practice the Christian faith. The classification does not simply reflect the violent acts of persecution (hammer persecution) but also the “environmental conditions” underlying the persecution (vice-like persecution).

In 2023, the report analyzes the persecution over the last thirty years. The number of countries affected by persecution has increased from 40 in 1993 to 76 today, according to the NGO 6 . The average score of the 50 worst countries for Christians has increased by 25% in thirty years. Thus, the persecution would spread and intensify 7 .

The 2023 ranking shows a significant increase in persecution, which has been increasing steadily for 10 years 8 . Over the period studied to develop the Global Christian Persecution Index 2023, 5,621 Christians were killed because of their belief, almost 90% of them in Nigeria :  this represents 15 Christians killed per day in the world because of their faith 9 . 4,542 Christians were detained, including 1,750 in India. Of the 5,256 Christians kidnapped in one year, 4,726 were in Nigeria .

The NGO Portes Ouvertes estimates that more than 360 million Christians (1 in 7 Christians) are heavily persecuted in the world 10 . Among them, it is those who left their old religion to embrace Christianity who are the most persecuted 11 .

North Korea has regained the top spot. It records the highest score ever measured since the creation of the Index in 1993, which is 98 persecution points (the maximum being 100 points) 12 .

The association also reports a worsening of violence in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 30 years. Islamist extremism, represented by several armed groups, is gaining ground. Kidnappings, raids on churches and even murders are becoming more and more frequent, particularly in Nigeria 13 .


Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Canon in honor of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki /Dimitar Solunski/


 


Canon in honor of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki /Dimitar Solunski/

Oh, wise Demetrius, as thou standest brightly in glory before the throne of God, do not forget us, pray for us, the wretched, who – strangers in this land – contemplate thy great deeds today and glorify thee, hoping strongly for thy intercession!

 

Hear now, Oh glorious Demetrius, thy poor servants, and have mercy on them: we have strayed far from thy bright temple, but our hearts burn, and we deeply long to worship one day in thy church, with thy prayers.

 

Why, Oh wise Demetrius, should only we, your poor servants, be deprived of thy beauty and of love for the creator; wander through foreign countries and cities; and suffer from the cruel soldiers of the pagans and heretics...

Methodius



Fight against Anger - Archim. Thaddeus Vitovnitsky (Strbulovich) ('Thank the Lord')

 


Fight against Anger

How should you fight against anger? Father Thaddeus raised this question himself, as if knowing that I was going to ask him. He gave me the example of two monks of the Holy Mountain who fought against the temptation of anger for 14 years. Once the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to one of them and said that anger is conquered by giving up one's own desires and will.

If we do not put ourselves in the place of the judge and be exalted before others, there will be no anger. It's the same with non-peace; our non-peaceful thoughts cause anxiety in the people with whom we communicate. It is necessary to learn to control your thoughts, to bring order to them, then the thoughts of other people will not harm us. One must learn Christ's simplicity. It often happens that when we are going to visit someone, we already think in advance that perhaps we will interfere with him, and then our visit does not work out as it should, because we come in embarrassment and make on the one to whom we came, negative action.

There is no humility until the heart calms down and begins to dispassionately perceive external influences. Such a state is not easy to achieve, and it does not mean insensitivity to the pain and suffering of others, but indifference to our own demands, which often cause our suffering.

Sunday, October 8, 2023

the time for repentance has already expired - Metr. Agafangel

 

Metropolitan Agafangel: The Religion of the Antichrist for Slavic Nations

Author: Metropolitan Agafangel. Date of publication: October 07, 2023. Category: Author's column.



The religion of the Antichrist for former Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians becomes (or has, rather, long become) a mixture of “Orthodox-likeness” (which is in total professed by all the “official churches” in the post-Soviet space) with a communist (atheistic) Soviet essence [inherent]. It is precisely this “explosive” combination that makes modern post-Soviet men completely ready, guided by abstract considerations, to “reasonably” [truly] and ideologically kill their own brothers, and the nation as a whole – [to be] completely ready to accept the Antichrist, at that, with joy, “not for fear, but for conscience.” ".

Orthodoxy cannot be mixed with any other “projects”, otherwise it ceases to be Orthodoxy and turns into false faith and ideology. The Orthodox [faithful] understood this very well as early as in the 4th century, when the Byzantine Empire became Christian, then true believers left large cities and became hermit monks. But, nevertheless, like the Byzantine Empire the Russian Empire also protected monks and simply the faithful, and so it was quite possible for them to live on its territory.

* * * *

Thursday, September 7, 2023

exiled. emigrated, killed / tortured, banned, imprisoned / fired and expelled RUSSIA

 

Translated from russian

Text from the web :

Pushkin was exiled.
Lermontov was exiled.
Dostoevsky was sentenced to death, but they took pity on him and exiled him.
Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church.
Bunin left the country.
Nizhinsky left the country.
Taffy emigrated.
Sasha Cherny emigrated.
Merezhkovsky emigrated.
Gippius emigrated.
Nabokov emigrated.
Kandinsky emigrated.
Chaliapin emigrated.
Rachmaninoff emigrated.
Stravinsky emigrated.
Repin emigrated.
Mikhail Chekhov emigrated.
Marc Chagall emigrated.
Nikolai Berdyaev emigrated.
Why Berdyaev - the whole Philosophical ship was expelled from the country, the smart ones were not needed.
Mayakovsky committed suicide.
Yesenin committed suicide.
Gumilyov was shot.
Akhmatova was not published.
Mandelstam was exiled and killed.
Meyerhold was beaten in the cellars and shot.
Zinaida Reich was killed in her own apartment.
Mikhoels had an accident set up against him.
Art critic Likhachev was arrested, exiled and fired from everywhere.
Vavilov was tortured for a year, and his book "The History of the Development of Agriculture", and everything that Vavilov wrote in prison, was des-troyed as being "of no value", he died of starvation.
Babel was tortured and shot.
Zabolotsky was sent to the camp.
Vvedensky died on the way to the camp.
Pregnant Olga Berggolts was beaten in the basement so that she gave birth to a dead child there.
Tsvetaeva was exiled and driven to suicide.
The Latvian theater "Skatuve" were shot in full numbers.
Kharms was starved to death in a mental hospital.
The entire anti-fascist committee was shot.
The Tairov Theater was closed.
Bulgakov was hounded and not published.
Schwartz's plays were banned immediately after they were written.
Pasternak was persecuted and not published
Brodsky was persecuted, exiled and driven out of the country.
Solzhenitsyn was persecuted, exiled and driven out of the country.
Dovlatov was persecuted and driven out of the country.
Galich was persecuted and emigrated.
Paradjanov was imprisoned.
Baryshnikov did not return.
Nureyev did not return.
Tarkovsky was driven out of the country.
Yuri Lyubimov was deprived of citizenship, expelled from the country.

 

And next the MODERNITY:
The Sakharov Center was closed.
"Memorial" liquidated
Ozerkov retired from the Hermitage.
Muratov's face was covered with paint.
Reichelgauz was fired, the theater is being destroyed.
Ryzhakov was fired.
Glukhovsky left.
Zvyagintsev left.
Tregulov was fired from the Tretyakov Gallery
Sokurov's films were banned.
Serebrennikov left the country.
The Gogol Center was closed.
Vyrypaev was banned.
Durnenkov was removed from [promotion] posters.
Akunin left the country.
Grebenshchikov left the country.
Voloshin left
Eidelman left the country
Beliy left the country.
Khamatova left the country.
Tuminas left the country.
Krymov left, performances were closed.
Makarevich left the country.
Pugacheva left the country.
Zemfira left the country
Filippenko left the country.
Akhedzhakov was expelled from the theater.
Nazarov was fired for verses
Shevchuk’s concerts were canceled.
Dodin's theater was sealed.
Zhenya Berkovich was imprisoned for a performance.
Svetlana Petriychuk was imprisoned for a play.

 


IDLE IDEAS in 1905, J. K. Jerome - BG ТРЯБВА ЛИ ДА КАЗВАМЕ КАКВОТО МИСЛИМ, ИЛИ ДА МИСЛИМ КАКВОТО КАЗВАМЕ

 

Превод от английски


ТРЯБВА ЛИ ДА КАЗВАМЕ КАКВОТО МИСЛИМ, ИЛИ ДА МИСЛИМ КАКВОТО КАЗВАМЕ?

Един мой налудничав приятел смята, че Преструвката е характеристика на епохата. Той твърди, че всяко социално общуване се основава на преструвка. Влиза слуга и казва, че господин и госпожа Скука са в гостната.

"По дяволите!", казва мъжът.

"Тихо!", казва жената. — Затвори вратата, Сюзън. Колко често трябва да ти казвам никога да не оставяш вратата отворена?

Мъжът се промъква по стълбата на пръсти и се затваря в кабинета си. Жената прави своите неща пред огледалото, изчаква, докато почувства, че е достатъчно господарка на себе си, та да не покаже чувствата си, и след това влиза в гостната с протегнати ръце и с вида на човек, който приветства посещението на ангел. Тя казва колко е щастлива да види Скуките – и колко е хубаво от тяхна страна да дойдат. Защо не донесоха повече Скуки със себе си? Къде е палавият Скука младши? Защо вече никога не идва да я види? Ще трябва истински да му се ядоса. А сладката малка Пухкава Скука? Твърде млада да се отбие! Глупости. Не си струва да се прекара ден "у дома", когато не всички Скуки са там.

Saturday, July 29, 2023

+ nun Magdalena (Nacheva)

 

In Memory of


Nun Magdalena (Nacheva)

nun Magdalena writes:

"When, after many years, many trials of our family, many sins and falls, the Lord wanted to enlighten me and draw me to himself, it happened like this. I was about 16 years old. My father was in prison, and I and my mother went to church on Good Friday evening in the temple of "St. Nedelya - Kiriakia". This time I went without protests and stood calmly; it was good for me in the temple. The next day, late in the evening, we went again to hear "Christ is risen!" It was the first Easter we would celebrate alone, without my father, and we were sad. In addition, we were also worried about our future - my mother did not have a job. We waited a long time for the service to begin. We were seated on the steps of the royal throne. St. A cross still stood in the middle of the church with three large candles on it, lit according to Bulgarian custom. He kept catching my eye. The service began and shortly before they took St. Cross (before they came out for "Christ is Risen"), I looked at it and thought: "They say that Christ died for the sins of us all, is that really so?" And suddenly something unusual happened to me: it was as if some veil fell from my heart's eyes and some power passed through my whole being! Everything changed in me - another person was discovered in me, with other thoughts and feelings. I was filled with extraordinary joy and melted in God's presence. God revealed himself to me and I saw Him with the eyes of my heart, I believed in Him and no one and nothing in the world could tell me that there is no God!... My mother asked me if I was not sorry that I was so pale , but at that moment the clergy went out, so did we, and she ceased to deal with me. I was beside myself, my heart was burning, I could not see anything, nor did I hear. When we then returned to the church and the bishop began to read in Bulgarian the word of St. John Chrysostom, I listened, stretched like a string, and every word hit my heart and inflamed it even more. My mother fearfully suggested that we stay for the Liturgy as well, I nodded affirmatively, but I wanted to stay in the temple forever, not to leave it, to be with the Lord.

Friday, May 19, 2023

On the End of the World - St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)

 



Table of Contents

·      About the End of the World.

o   1. About the Reason for man’s Apostasy from God

o   2. About the Kingdom of God

o   3. About the second coming of Christ

o   4. Networks of the peacekeeper

o   5. Reflections at Sunset

o   6. Conclusion from the "Otechnik" [on Fatherland] compiled by Bp. Ignatius

 

 

About the end of the world.
 

 1. About the reason for man’s apostasy from God

He that believeth on the Son (of God) hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

 

So defines the unfalse Word of God. This determination of the Word of God takes place, in particular, over people, and takes place over entire nations. It happened with particular obviousness over the people of Israel, who were originally chosen by God's people, and subsequently became a predominantly outcast people. In the womb of the Israelite people, the God-man became human and accomplished the salvation of mankind; to no other people did he address his divine sermon; all His blessings He poured out exclusively on the chosen people; the chosen people rejected the God-man. In vain for fifteen centuries the divinely inspired legislator of Israel proclaimed terrible executions to him if he disobeyed God. In vain, for a whole millennium, the royal prophet of Israel delivered an exhortation to Israel about accepting the Redeemer granted by God to mankind: accept the punishment (kiss the Son — according to the translation from the Hebrew), lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath be kindled but a little” (Ps.2:12). In vain was Moses recited every Saturday, in vain were the psalms of David sung at every divine service, in vain were the threats of the holy legislator and the exhortation of the holy king repeated: the Jews rejected the Savior, stretched out their god-killing hands on the incarnate God. They reckoned the All-Perfect God to the category of criminals and gave him a reproachful execution as a criminal, as a criminal among criminals.

4U2C

4U2C

A Prayer Before Communion
by St Dimitry of Rostov


Open, O doors and bolts of my heart
that Christ the King of Glory may enter!
Enter, O my Light and enlighten my darkness;
enter, O my Life, and resurrect my deadness;
enter, O my Physician and heal my wounds;
enter, O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins;
ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of Thy love;
enter, O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin;
sit on the throne of my heart and [You] alone reign in me,
O Thou, my King and Lord.



To DOWNLOAD – a PHP /pdf/ Book on 10 Miracle-Working Icons of Theotokos



А има ли друг баир оттатък смъртта?
- Стойко Попович (в писмо до сина си [Георги] Сава Раковски)



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