ORTHODOX MISCELLANY- History, Ecclesiology, Spirituality, and the Struggle Against Ecumenism

  ON HARMFUL DISCUSSIONS...   Last evening, Greek guests (zealots) visited, and although there was no significant conversation with them, they did not leave time to complete the evening rule. Their simple curiosity (if not something worse) in what they claimed was a casual visit to see me, their noticeable lack of interaction with us, though hypocritically masked by outward worldly decorum—handshakes, pleasant expressions, and tones—and after a brief conversation of a few words, already discordant, left a sense of emptiness. Then, a somewhat sensitive issue touched upon in the evening (about the calendar) provoked a whole stream of judgments, long forgotten but now revived, which not only disrupted the noetic prayer but also prevented sleep. How harmful attachment to theological discussions is for the practice of noetic prayer, and especially conversations with those who are not of the same mind, which do not occur without disputes. They cause an agitation of thoughts, fro...

The Word of Elder Theodosios of Karoulia on the Calendar Reform and on Standing Firm in the True Faith Hieroschemamonk Theodosios of Karoulia (†1937)   "One must not close their eyes to the truth of the strictness of the rules, for they are the expression of the holy will of God."   "Whoever defends the rules and decrees of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils defends a dogma. If anyone must suffer for the truth, this will be counted to them as martyrdom by the Lord God. Let us strictly preserve the commandments of the Holy Fathers, helping one another to safeguard our Orthodox faith and, with God's help, repel the godless innovations of the Living Church adherents and other schismatic apostates. "Let no one lead us away from the paths of the Lord! Leave those who have separated from the Church, daring to violate the decree of the Holy Great Council held in Nicaea regarding the Holy Feast of Pascha and the calendar. 'Such persons,...

  Bishop Chrysostomos of Etna THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND HISTORICAL ACCURACY The holy fathers of the Church constantly refer to the lives of the saints and regularly urge Christians to read them as a source of courage and an example of proper Christian living. Reading the lives of the saints (from the synaxaria ) plays an important role in the Christian home. In the services, in monasteries, and in parishes, we hear about the struggles of the friends of God, the saints. No serious Christian can claim to know the Church and its spiritual life if they have never felt the significance of the lives of the saints. Although we, Orthodox Christians, read the lives of the saints, we nonetheless live in a world where the saints are subjected to attacks and sometimes ridicule. That is, we are faced not only with occasional doubts and temptations that the deceitful demon—who despises the saints of the Church—plants in our minds, but increasingly with university scholars—sadly, even theologia...

" Not Flogged for Christ": Representation of Anti-Iconoclastic Resistance in the Lives of St. Ioannikios the Great and St. Peter of Atroa Tatyana A. Senina (Nun Kassia) Abstract. Introduction . The article examines the representation of anti-iconoclastic resistance in the Lives of St. Ioannikios the Great and St. Peter of Atroa and its relation to the debate between the Bithynian monks and the Studites on the issue of Christian life and opposition to heresy. Methods . The methods employed in this article are source research, information analysis, comparative historical research. The sources on the subject include two Lives of St. Ioannikios, two versions of the Life of St. Peter of Atroa, the Live and Works of St. Theodore the Studite, and the Life of St. Eustratios of Agauron. Analysis . During the second iconoclastic period divergent views on Christian life emerged among the Orthodox opposition, namely the Bithynian monks and the Studites. Iconophiles such as Theodore the S...