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 .

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.

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.

* * * *

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.

+ 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.

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.

[AMI] Reflections on the Human Condition, Faith, and the Search for Truth ~Blaise Pascal's Thoughts (Pensées)

 

Blaise Pascal’s Thoughts on "The Man Who Found God" is a philosophical abstract that explores the search for God and the limitations of human understanding. The author criticizes philosophers who attempt to prove the existence of God through rational arguments based on nature. They argue that such proofs are ineffective for those lacking faith and grace, and that only through Jesus Christ can one truly partake in God. The abstract discusses the dissatisfaction and unhappiness of atheists, emphasizing their inability to comprehend the truth or even doubt it. It delves into the human desire for happiness and the futile attempts to find it without faith in God. The author argues that true happiness can only be found in something infinite and unchanging, which is the Lord God. The abstract also touches on various philosophical sects and their perspectives on the highest good. It criticizes philosophers who believe in God but fail to recognize Jesus Christ, highlighting their desire for universal love and reverence without genuinely loving and honoring God. The abstract further examines Pyrrhonism and its role in questioning and curing vainglory. It also ponders on the nature of humanity and the vast difference between humans, God, and animals, suggesting that humans have strayed from their original place and are in a restless state of searching. Overall, the abstract explores the limitations of human understanding and the necessity of faith in the search for God and true happiness.

Rev. Antony Pechersky [of the Caves] (983—1073) [Englished] died 950 years ago on May 7/20 [23JUL, 15SEP, 11OCT]

 

Rev. Antony Pechersky [of the Caves] (983—1073) died 946 years ago today { May 7/20 } [23JUL, 15SEP, 11OCT]

October 11 - Cathedral of the Reverend Fathers of the Kyiv Caves, in the Near Caves (St. Antony) resting.

Antony of the Caves (983-1073) - the founder of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, occupies a special place in the assembly of ancient Russian saints and is revered by the Russian Church as "the head of all Russian monks", since the Pechersk monastery founded by him on the Kyiv mountains for many centuries served as the center and school of ancient Russian monasticism and enlightenment for all Rus'. The Near (Antony's) caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra are named after Antony.

Click to unlock

Pay to unlock / donate if you like...

Between "clarification" and "covering": the situation of the image in the poetry of Ephraim the Syrian - Prof. Sergey S. Averintsev

Professor Sergey Sergeevich Averintsev

[Poets]

 

 Poets

 

Content

annotation

A little personal

Two thousand years with Virgil

Between "clarification" and "covering": the situation of the image in the poetry of Ephraim the Syrian

The luxury of pattern and the depth of the heart: the poetry of Grigor Narekatsi

Derzhavin's poetry

Reflections on Zhukovsky's translations

Consistency of symbols in the poetry of Vyacheslav Ivanov

The fate and message of Osip Mandelstam

The poetry of Clemens Brentano

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, or The Surprise of Sanity

Hermann Hesse

Literature

 

Between "clarification" and "covering":

the situation of the image in the poetry of

Ephraim the Syrian 8

Alas, our contemporary does not seem to remember very clearly the very existence of classical Syriac literature, which survived its golden age in the 4th-5th centuries. “The Syrians – did they write in Arabic?” - sometimes you have to hear from people who are not at all ignorant. Neither textbooks nor reference books are in a hurry to help grief 9 .

And this is a pity, because literature in Syriac, the offspring of the Aramaic language tree, created over a strictly measured historical period, when the onslaught of Hellenism lost strength, and the onslaught of Islam had not yet gained strength, is not just the subject of one of the disciplines of Semitology, not a local phenomenon that can only be praised for its originality, but a historical and literary fact of a worldwide scale. The lines connecting in time biblical antiquity with the Christian, and even Muslim, Middle Ages, and in space - Iran and everything that lies to the east of Iran, with Byzantium and Western Europe, pass through the Syrian-speaking zone, intersect in it, form their own lines in it. vital knots. In the first millennium of our chronology, the Syrian influence was felt from Ireland 10 to China 11. This is not the place to talk about this in any detail. Let us just recall two circumstances: firstly, it was the Syrians who were the first to create durable forms of the Christian hymn for Byzantium, and therefore for all countries that Byzantium influenced 12 ; secondly, it was from the Syrians that the Moslem East received the tradition of Aristotelianism, which in a roundabout way, through the Arabs, returned to the West and fertilized high scholasticism 13 . The importance of both cannot be overestimated. And one more brief reminder, concerning not world, but domestic culture. What do ancient Russian literature, together with Russian folklore, owe to Syrian authors (and especially to Ephraim the Sirin ) 14, in a few words you can’t say; but even in our literature of the last century, which seemed to have departed so far from these sources, it is impossible not to recall Pushkin, who transcribed into verse the prayer of the same Ephrem the Syrian 15 , and Dostoevsky, a reader of another Syrian author, Isaac of Nineveh 16 .

Click to unlock

Pay to unlock / donate if you like...

St. Theophan the Myrrh-streaming, Bishop of Soleas, ArchBp. of Cyprus

 

St. Theophan the Myrrh-streaming

Saint Theophan the Myrrh-streaming
Bishop of Soleas, Archbishop of Cyprus

Feast Date:	17/05/2023
Holiday type:	Fixed. It is celebrated on May 17 every year.
Saints who celebrate:	Saint Theophan the Myrrh-streaming Bishop of Soleas, Archbishop of Cyprus (? - 1550)
Last update:	06/05/2010 14:53

Apolytikion
Redemption from the self-sacrificing, Father, almighty, while humiliating the world, you immediately died and rushed to the Mesa Potamos Monastery, where in the pains of others you found a source of sanctification; for, Theophan Father, think of us your servants and infuse with divine myrrh.

Kontakion
Oh Myrrh-streamer, the scents of the divine Spirit, and as the creator of miracles all scents, you provide abundantly to the honored ones; but for those who are alone, there is no one who is excellent, a guide of our generation to perfection, that we may cry: Hail Father Theophan.

The House
Abandoned with awe in your memory, Father, gathered to me, in hymns we grow old with longing for the warmth of your life all the septs and grace for grace we receive from you;

Hail, bright treasury of virtue,

Hail, container of God's understanding.

Hail, unfathomable depth,

Hail, unsurpassed height of perfection.

Hail, the myrrh of divine grace, who emanates marvelously,

Hail, type of resurrection, your tabernacle is glorious.

Hail, you who walk the path of immortality,

Hail, you who show the sign of incorruption.

Hail, the boast of Prodromos Monastery,

Hail, the one-way cry of life.

Hail, warm protector of the island of Cyprus,

Hail, our mediator to the Creator;

Hail Father Theophan.

Seat
Immerse yourself as a treasure in your sorrows, enriching with joy, erasing the poverty of passions and awarding the hope of life, in joy we warmly cry out to you: O Father, beseech Christ God to keep our lives in peace.

Sunday Hat - in the (Englished) KROTOV Library

Sunday Hat

https://docs.google.com/document/d/161RFkLs1Onkty8nfXIUwX0PaIegnPOo-cF9_6iWkB0Y /

being a small part of

KROTOV Library – Englished Books from Russian
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uZnRVGFgUhKpeQ3eSCYQ9Ca3uNpzwZAT

 

Earthquake prayer

 

Earthquake prayer

O Lord, great and terrible, and wonderful, the only true One, Who makest and recreatest everything, Thou lookest at the earth and makest it tremble, Thou touchest the mountains and they smoke, Thou shakest the earth thoroughly, but its pillars are not shaken, Thou shakest the foundations of the earth , but it is established by Thy will; everything fears Thee and trembles before Thy power, for no one can withstand Thy wrath, which threatens us, sinners, but the mercy Thou promiseth us is immeasurable and inexplorable, therefore, Thou Lord, do remember Thy condescension and bestow us Thy mercy, which are both eternal; do strengthen the creation, do establish the earth, do stop its swaying, do calm down the shaken universe and destroy us not with our sins, nor condemn us with our iniquities in the earthly netherworld. For Thou art our Lord, the God of mercy and salvation, and to Thee we sing glory – to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen!