The Nativity - C.S. Lewis Рождеството

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Mystical Nativity (Тайнственото Рождество)
е картина от около 1500 г. –1501 г.
от италианския ренесансов майстор
Сандро Ботичели (Sandro Botticelli),
в Националната галерия в Лондон

Превод от английски

Рождеството (Христово)

Сред воловете (аз – бавен като вол)
виждам как в обора славата расте,
което, с волска тъпота най-сетне
ми дава силата на вол.

Сред магаретата (като тях съм инатлив и аз)
виждам Спасителя си там, де сеното търсех аз.
Дано безумието ми звероподобно ми даде поне
търпение на зверове.

Сред овците (като овца се отклоних – от трън на глог)
гледам яслата, където е положен моят Бог.
О, нека блеещата ми природа ми спечели там
МАЛКО ВЪЛНЕСТА НЕВИННОСТ! (а не срам!)

Клайв Стейпълс Луис

(К.С. Луис  – авторът на "Хрониките на Нарния",
с право би могъл да нарече този бисер и
‘Да се учим от животните’.
Молитва, която зове към сила, търпение и невинност. )

Второто Пришествие на Христа

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„вече се носи
глас от Дан,
и гибелна вест –
от Ефремова планина”
[Пр.Иер. 4:15]

Хомилия за второто Пришествие на Христа,

приписвана от мнозина на св. Никодим Светогорец

Превежда се от английски
(от превод от гръцки
[на английски] от Джордж Ралис)

Отче, благослови!

Излезте напред, синове на Светлината, чуйте от блажения и възхваляван глас на Спасителя, който ни казва: „

дойдете вие, благословените на Отца Ми, наследете царството

” (небесно) [Мат. 25:34]. Внимавайте, братя мои, та никой да не бъде лишен от блаженото наследство, тъй като вече се приближи. Като Светлина от Светлина, Христос слезе при нас; Той ни доведе до Светлината. Той слезе при нас и се уподоби нам, за да ни уподоби Нему. Безсмъртният слезе при смъртните, и когато Той ги направи безсмъртни, Той се възнесе отново при Отца Си. Той идва със славата на благословения Си Отец, за да съди живите и мъртвите. Пътят ни е пълен със светлина и слава, та ние да можем да вървим в светлината към Отца.

Хайде, възлюбени, нека вървим по пътя, който Господ ни показа, та с радост да достигнем Неговото Царство. Нека вземем елей в съдините си, братя, нека запалим кандилата си и да не заспиваме, защото очакваме да посрещнем Господ от Небесата. Затова нека не ни се доспива, та кандилата ни да не загаснат. Ето, Той пристигна, нощта премина и денят се приближи, синове на светлината, вие достигнахте Светлината; излезте с радост да посрещнете нашия Господ! Покажете Му добродетелите си, предложете Му приношение и чиста вяра.

И тъй, братя, не се отпускайте, нито заспивайте, но нека окото на душата ви да е фиксирано върху тази небесна красота, та да станете наследници на Отца и сънаследници на единородния Син Божий. Хайде, нека захвърлим всяка грижа и тревога на днешния век, и нека работим за Господа. Защото, ето, онзи вик прозвънтя силно и ясно, в който се казва: „

ето, Младоженецът иде, излизайте да Го посрещнете

” [Мат 25:6]. Всички вие, които Го обичахте, бъдете готови да Го видите в Неговата слава – защото Той ще ощастливи всички, копнели за Него, в онази неизказана младоженческа стая, – нека сме готови, братя, защото не знаем, кога ще дойде Господ. Този ден идва като крадец в нощта, и също както светкавицата е пребърза, такова ще е и идването на Господ, защото тръбата ще зове, и земята ще се разтресе до основи, а небесата със силите си ще се поклатят и всички мъртви ще възкръснат. Горко ми! Горко ми! Неописуем страх и трепет ще обземе хората в оня час. Всичко що диша ще потрепера в оня час. Слънцето ще потъмнее, луната ще се замъгли и всички стихии ще се променят. Реки ще пресъхнат и градушка ще падне с голям тътен; смъртоносни и отровни червеи ще избликнат и ще искат да ядат плътта на грешници; най-тъмни бездни ще се разкрият и ще приемат осъдените, и кой би могъл да разкаже, възлюбени, всичките скръбни неща, които навсякъде ще се случват на окаяните грешници? А праведните ги очаква цялото радостно щастие. Горко! Горко! тогава на поробения, защото – като стои със скръбно лице и обезсърчен – той ще бъде презрян и обиждан от ангелските сили и дори не ще може да повдигне очите си, заради своето безумие. А оттам – влачен, вързан и бит, той ще бъде предаден на страховити ангели, които да заведат него и демоните, които са го измамили, за нескончаемо наказание, за унищожаване на тялото, вършило лошотии, и за изгарянето на душата, предала се на злини. И той ще бъде поставен в безконечно наказание.

Hierarchy Observed in Living the Spiritual Attainment

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link to post in Russian:
(source)

Соблюдаемая иерархия в опыте духовного постижения.

(a true voice)

[CELESTIAL GATES]                                                 От Velikden 2008

 Translation from Russian

The Hierarchy Observed in Living the Spiritual Attainment.

There are several stages of ascent in spiritual life relating to the contemplative (as opposed to the praxis) path. Further one could call these levels: they are as it were in various degrees of remoteness from the source of Light, but still the same they do have Him (the Light) in themselves – and the Light is invariably felt, present in each one of them. These stages, or levels, are the following:

1) prayer

2) the Gospel

3) spiritual-and-moral literature (and)

4) reflection and discursive experiences of the previous three. {See Note 1}

Most probably, a strict division of these into four components would be too “quick”(,) a thing that seems odd, however, without man neither prayer, nor even reflections about it is possible; and the Gospel and the spiritual-and-moral literature would lie (remain) a useless burden unless there be understanding (a meaning is given to them) and empathy for what is written there. It is no coincidence, therefore the righteous Fathers (used to) say that prayer (the permanent one) is a constant remembrance of God. Which is also reflected in the reflection about Him.

However, prayer as such still is a specific way of thinking, rather a forced one – and not a free one bound with an apparent necessity; and not by accident, and the arbitrariness of intuition. Actually, prayer is not even thinking (reflecting), but it is action – thinking does presuppose it. Prayer one may call pro-active meditation, and not one that presupposes activeness. Not a theory of practice but the very practice albeit mixed (up) with theory. And trough it this practice has been vouchsafed to become (evolve into) – often stemming out of fruitless, painful, agonizing, seemingly endlessly long, but so much necessary for the creatures acts of attainment of the Truth – “theoretical” states. This is why part 4 is also a necessary and central content part of the perfection in Christ; it, too, is illuminated by His light as long it leads to a right prayerful state.

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no, there's not enough love to go 'round...

                               sympathy...

Now when you climb into your bed tonight
And when you lock and bolt the door
Just think of those out in the cold and dark
'cause there's not enough love to go 'round.

And sympathy is what we need my friend
and sympathy is what we need.
And sympathy is what we need my friend,
'cause there's not enough love to go 'round,
no there's not enough love to go 'round.

Now half the world hates the other half.
And half the world has all the food.
And half the world lies down and quietly starves,
'cause there's not enough love to go 'round.

And sympathy is what we need my friend
and sympathy is what we need.
And sympathy is what we need my friend,
'cause there's not enough love to go 'round,
no there's not enough love to go 'round.

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ИЗБРАНИКЪТ НА БОЖИЯТА МАЙКА.

ДУХОВНИЯТ ЛИК НА БРАТ ЙОСИФ МУНЬОС

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St. Martyr Dorothea of Caesarea in Cappadocia

Мученица Дорофея
и с нею Христина, Каллиста и Феофила

Saint Dorothea /Dorothy/, February 6/19

St. Martyr Dorothea lived in Caesarea in Cappadocia, and suffered under the Emperor Diocletian in 288 or 300, along with women martyrs Christina and Callista and martyr Theophilus.

Saint Dorothea was a pious girl, a Christian, distinguished with great meekness, humility, chastity, and wisdom given by God, which astonished many. Caught at an order by governor Sapricius, she firmly confessed her faith in Christ and was subjected to tortures. Failing to break down the will of the saint, the governor gave her to two women – the sisters Christine and Callisto, who were previously Christians, but – fearing the tortures, renounced Christ and began to lead impious life. He ordered them to persuade saint Dorothea to bring sacrifice to the pagan gods. However, the opposite happened: the women – convinced by Saint Dorothea that through God’s mercy salvation is granted to all repentant – did repent and turned to Christ again. For this they were tied back to back and burned in a tar barrel. The saint sisters Christina and Callista died as martyrs, bringing a penitential prayer to the Lord and [He] redeemed their sin of apostasy.

Saint Dorothea was again subjected to tortures, which she suffered with great joy and also happily welcomed the death sentence. When the saint was led to her execution, a certain learned man, (scholastic) Theophilus, told her with a sneer: “You bride of Christ, send me rose flowers and apples from thy Bridegroom’s garden”. The martyr nodded to him in response.

Before her death, the saint asked to be given time to pray [a while]. When she finished the prayer, an angel appeared before her in the form of a handsome youth and handed her – in a clean canvas – three apples and three rose flowers. The saint asked that all this be given to Theophilus, after which she was beheaded by sword.

Having received the [blissful] gifts of grace, the persecutor of Christians until recently was astounded, he believed in the Saviour and confessed himself a Christian. Subjected for this to cruel tortures, St. Theophilus was martyred by beheading by sword.

Santa Dorotea, Rome, Trastevere

The relics of St. Dorothea are [kept] in Rome, in the church of her name; her head is also in Rome, in the Church of the Theotokos in Trastevere.

Santa Maria, Rome, Trastevere

The ancient church of San Silvestro boasts a stone titrated to Sts. Sylvester and Dorothy [Rector Julian De Datis took care of the translation, composing a memorial stone over the remains of Roman times – that stone is still preserved in the Church’s Sacristy and was also titrated to Sts. Sylvester and Dorothy by the second half of XVI c].

Hieromonk Grigorios (a.k.a. priest Ligorko) Поп Лигорко

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Translation from Bulgarian

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Stoyu N. Shishkov
Hieromonk Grigorios
(a.k.a. priest Ligorko) Born around 1800, died around 1880

       In that dark and terrible historical era when the native Bulgarian population was compelled by the force of swords to leave their father’s Christian faith and replace it with the Muslim [one], only few were those who managed to avoid murder and Turkicisation and preserve their faith...

       What was life like for that true to Christianity minority left in the mountains in the first years after going after the Turkish faith, how come it has survived to this day – we can only learn this from the preserved private [or family] legends. From these legends and some physical evidence preserved here and there we can see that the remains of Bulgarian Christians – until recently – lived a really difficult, full of deprivations and suffering, life in the mountains, accompanied by constant care for self-defense. In order to avoid death, they have struggled in every way to hide their being Christians, they hid in inaccessible forested areas, etc. (1) No churches, no priests, no signs of Christian life were admissible not so much because of the Mohammedanized neighbors and relatives but because of the numerous raids of janissaries, Tartars, kardjali-s [brigands], delibashi-s etc. which walked all parts of the Rhodope Mountains, and whose only purpose in life was plunder. So even the outer [for the mountains] world for a long time could not know for sure that there is in the broad mountain recesses here and there Christian population to have survived.(2).

       No doubt that under such conditions the religious sentiment must have been dropped by far in the other non-Turkicised forest dwellers. At one time, approximately in the first half of XVIII century, monks from the Mount Athos monasteries began visiting the Rhodopes dressed often in Arnaut or Turkish costumes. This comes to show – as will be seen below – that Athos has at first undertaken a missionary mission to revitalize and preserve Christianity among the residual non-Turkicised Rhodope population.

       From among these monks from Mount Athos, many of whom reached a martyr’s wreath, the deepest memories in the local population is preserved and the most deserving for both the religious-and-moral awakening and also for the national-and-public awakening in the middle Rhodope Mountains [region] was Hieromonk Grigorios called and remembered even today also as [a.k.a.] (by the name of) ‘pop Ligorko’ or pop [priest] Gligorko.

       When circumstances changed somewhat, some of the Mount Athos monasteries succeeded to open in certain villages their own convents [cells, nunneries], which were occasionally visited by monks – (i) to invite pilgrims to Mt. Athos, (ii) to preach and collect votive offerings to the monasteries. In the Ahu-chelebi kaaza [district – Turkish etim.] a chief Athos convent was in the village of Ustovo, which years on end never remained empty, without a monk. That convent was of the “John the Forerunner” Dionysian Monastery. Around the year 1837-38 Hieromonk Grigorios, who was then some 40 years old, came to the said convent. A pure Greek by nationality, born in the village Skutou, somewhere near Mount Athos, monk Grigorios did not know a word in Bulgarian, because of which the residents of Ustovo did not want him. So then monk Grigorios went to the village of Gorno [upper] Dere-kyoy, which had no priest. In the meantime he learned the local Bulgarian speech [dialect] and – along with his priestly duties – he got to also teach the village children at school. Of exemplary living, being an excellent preacher in the church and a good teacher at school, Hieromonk Grigorios soon earned a good reputation in the kaaza [village district]. The following year, the Ustovo residents already invited him to their village, where he stayed until 1849. During that period he already learned the tongue well, wandered about all the villages for confessions and became so popular that people thought him [to be] a saint. In 1849 the “St. J. Forerunner” monastery ordered him to leave Ahu-chelebi and go to Wallachia. However, after three years, in 1832, Hieromonk Grigorios returned back to Ustovo and stayed [there] until 1872, when in his declining years he departed to Mt. Athos, where the days of his life ended.

       Hieromonk Grigorios was of medium height, with blond and sharp beard, dry face and fiery eyes. He was a widely educated theologian and possessed rare Christian virtues. He had a glib tongue and a powerful preaching tone. He lived modestly; he never ate meat food; he never lusted for money; he dressed poorly; he attended on himself; he was easy-accessible to everyone and anyone, and he preached anywhere. He boldly lashed wicked people; he hated the Turks; he hated and kept apart from everything secular; in a word, he led a purely Christian-and-ascetic life, which – coupled with his powerful preaching – revived the population’s spirit, uprooted many prejudices and largely raised the religiousness and morality in that region, which even today stands out in this respect as compared to many other suburbs.