Josiah Trenham's Blog, page 2
August 5, 2015
St. Paisios the Athonite on the Chief Inheritance for Parents to Bequeath Their Children
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Thursday, August 6th, 2015
Holy Transfiguration of the Lord
Dear Ones
Blessings.
St. Paisios the Athonite on the Chief Inheritance for Parents to Bequeath Their Children
The best inheritance parents can bestow upon their children is their own spiritual devotion.
St. Paisios the New of Mt. Athos
The Dormition Fast and the Transfiguration of Christ
Began on August 1st, continues through the forefeast on Friday, August 14th. The Paraklesis to the Most Holy Theotokos is prescribed to be chanted nightly during the fast (except on Saturdays and on August 5th and 14th). The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and olive oil) is observed on all days except Saturdays and Sundays when there is katalysis for wine and olive oil, and on the feast of the Transfiguration, August 6th, when there is katalysis for fish, wine and olive oil. August 6th is the great feast of THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST, for which there is katalysis for fish wine and olive oil. Following the festal Divine Liturgy, the Blessing of Grapes is appointed.
YouTube Video of the Recent Protest in LA Organized by our Parishioner, Emily Wilkinson, West Coast Director of Students for Life
The rally in LA was attended by many and went well, but was interrupted at the end by Stop Patriarchy protesters. Thanks to the chaos, Fox News national used a ton of footage from the rally for their story and also interviewed one of Emily’s coworkers in Seattle.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LIwkzT6rVhU
What Important Conclusions Can Be Made from the 5th Planned Parenthood Expose Video?
PP abortionists alter abortion methods in order to deliver “intact” babies to make more money off selling their parts
Contrary to CEO Cecil Richards affirmations to the media that PP makes no money off this business, it is clear it makes millions
The PP abortion mills caught extensively on camera in this video had formally denied even doing fetal tissue collection
Sometimes the doctors doing the abortions, collecting the “specimens” and “doing the research” are the same person – talk about conflict of interest
Despite C Richards saying that less than 5 PP’s across the country do this- it is clear that PP is encouraging affiliates throughout the country to do this in order to make much more money.
Rock and Sand: An Appraisal of the Protestant Reformers and Their Teachings – How to Access Book and Interviews
For those who have asked about how to access the book and the video and audio interviews here is a list of where they are accessible
The complete 2 part (1 hr. 15 min each part) video interview between Kevin Allen and myself regarding an Orthodox appraisal of the Protestant Reformation is now available on YouTube (video) and Ancient Faith Radio (audio only). Links to both are provided below. The interview touches on topics covered in my new book, Rock and Sand, published by Newrome Press and available at Amazon.com and via the publisher (links provided below as well).
YouTube Links:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVdrtgo7Xw
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs0ExgnRMqc
Ancient Faith audio-only links:
Part 1: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/aftoday/rock_and_sand_orthodoxy_and_reformed_theology
Part 2: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/aftoday/rock_and_sand_orthodoxy_and_reformed_theology_part_2
Book links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Sand-Archpriest-Josiah-Trenham/dp/1939028361
Newrome: http://newromepress.com/book-store/rock-and-sand
Forgive me.
Fr Josiah
July 30, 2015
St. Paisios the Athonite on What Happens When a State Legalizes Abortion
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Thursday July 30th, 2015
Holy Apostles Silas and Silvanus
Dear Ones
Blessings.
St. Paisios the Athonite on What Happens When a State Legalizes Abortion
Both the State and the Church have to act on this matter of abortions so the public is better informed on all the serious consequences, including the drop in birth rate. The priests must explain to the people that the law on abortions violates the commandments of the Gospel. The medical community must also inform the people from their perspective about the dangers involved in having an abortion. You see, the Europeans had a certain nobility which they bequeathed to their children. We had the fear of God, but we lost it and did not bequeath it to the next generation, and this is why now we have legalized abortion, civil marriages, and so forth. When a person disobeys a commandment of God, only that person is responsible to Him. But when something happens which goes against the commandments of the Gospel is made into law by the State, then the wrath of God comes upon the whole nation in order to be pedagogically taught a spiritual lesson.
St. Paisios the New of Mt. Athos
St. Andrew Parishioners at “Defund Planned Parenthood” Rally Tuesday in Riverside
More than 60 rallies took place across the country
Scientific Conference in Russia Affirms Life Begins at Conception and Calls on Russian Government to Ban Abortion as Infanticide
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/top-scientists-meet-in-moscow-tell-russian-government-fetus-is-human.-ban-a
University of California System Now Designates 6 Gender Options for Students to Identify With
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/27/university-of-california-students-now-have-six-different-genders-they-can-choose-from/?utm_source=TheBlaze.com&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=story&utm_content=university-of-california-students-now-have-six-different-genders-they-can-choose-from
Mother of 11 Who Converted Last Year to Christianity Killed by His Muslim Sister in Law
JihadWatch is a very valuabe site that documents – daily ! – the never ending murderous exploits of Muslim extremists. It is hard to imagine that someone could make this material up if they tried, but these are documentable facts- even if they are studiously ignored by many in America.
Classes Continue on Wednesday Nights at 7pm
Lecture #10 Rev. 21 – 22 The Final Reality – The New Heavens and the New Earth – 8/5 following the Divine Liturgy
Forgive me.
Fr Josiah
June 23, 2015
On the Great Profit and Benefit of Reading Scripture
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Tuesday June 23rd, 2015
Holy Virgin Martyr Agrippina
Dear Ones
On the Great Profit and Benefit of Reading Scripture
Great is the profit to be derived from the sacred Scriptures and their assistance is sufficient for every need. Paul was pointing this out when he said, ‘Whatever things have been written have been written for our instruction, upon whom the final age of the world has come, that through the patience and the consolation afforded by the Scriptures we may have hope.’ (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11) The divine words, indeed, are a treasury containing every sort of remedy, so that, whether one needs to put down senseless pride, or to quench the fire of concupiscence or to trample on the love of riches, or to despise pain, or to cultivate cheerfulness and acquire patience – in them one may find in abundance the means to do so.
St John Chrysostom, Homily 37 On the Gospel of John
Ancient Faith Radio Launches New Ancient Faith Today Program with Interview
Priests for Life Win an Important Stay from 11th Circuit Court – Hope to Overturn the HHS Mandate
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300,000 rally for Natural Family and Against Gender Ideology in Rome
In one of the largest demonstrations of its kind, an estimated 300,000 to 1 million people gathered at San Giovanni Square in Rome on Sunday, June 20 to protest a move by Italy’s leftwing government to legalize homosexual “marriage” by the end of July. The demonstrators, including many young families with children, also oppose gender-indoctrination in the schools. Massimo Gandolfini, spokesman for Defend Our Children, the rally organizer, explained: “We are asking for family-based education to be respected, and stressing the central role parents play. We forcefully reject the attempt to sneak into the curriculum projects which aim to destroy children’s sexual identities.” Sexual radicals across Europe have been energized by Ireland’s vote for marriage deconstruction. Still, observers say that opposition forces are stronger here than in the Emerald Isle. They include the Euro-skeptic Northern League Party. In February, Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin called Italy “a dying country.” In 2014, fewer babies were born than in any previous year since the modern Italian state was established in 1861. With Italy’s demographic future hanging in the balance, it seems a strange time to promote non-reproductive “marriage.”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/06/21/over-300000-rally-in-rome-against-gay-marriage
Classes Continue on Wednesday Nights at 7pm
Lecture #7 Rev. 15-16 The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath – 6/24
Lecture #8 Rev. 17-18 The Seven Messages of Judgment on Babylon – 7/8
Lecture #9 Rev. 19- 20 Satan’s Doom – 7/29
Lecture #10 Rev. 21 – 22 The Final Reality – Heaven is a City – 8/5
Forgive me.
Fr Josiah
June 11, 2015
On Vainglory and a Proper Attitude Toward Honor
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Thursday, June 11th, 2015
Ss. Bartholomew and Barnabas
Dear Ones
Blessings.
On Vainglory and a Proper Attitude Toward Honor
“To love honor is dishonor…true honor consists in neglecting honor, in making no account of it, but in saying and doing everything according to what seems good to God…when the granting either of riches or honor is no longer attended with danger to us, then God gives them freely.”
St. John Chrysostom
Newly-Glorified Saints
Newly-Glorified Saints were canonized by the Holy Assembly of Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church during its regular session held Belgrade on May 29th. Two of the newly-glorified Saints are Archimandrite Sebastian (Dabovic) and Bishop Mardarije (Uskokovic), both of whom served Holy Orthodoxy in the United States. St Sebastian (1863-1940), a contemporary of St Raphael of Brooklyn, was the first man born in the United States of America to be ordained to the holy priesthood, and St Mardarije (born 1889) served as a bishop in the U.S. from his consecration in 1926 until his repose in 1935. In the icon below, St Mardarije is depicted holding the church at St Sava Monastery in Libertyville, IL, and St Sebastian is depicted holding the first Serbian church temple erected in the U.S., St Sava Church in Jackson, CA. The feast day of our Holy Father Mardarije of Libertyville is November 29th and that of the Righteous Priest Sebastian of Jackson is November 17th.
The Apostles Fast began Monday, June 8th – and continues through Sunday, June 28th. The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and olive oil) is observed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with katalysis for fish, wine and olive oil on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The Death Rattle of Christianity in the UK – Not Many Years Left
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9555222/2067-the-end-of-british-christianity/
US Department of Defense Dedicates June to Celebrating Homosexuality!
http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2015/0615_pride/
Our military has been the plaything of sexual anarchists and the chosen milieu for immoral social experimentation
Classes Continue on Wednesday Nights at 7pm
Lecture #6 Rev. 12-14 The Seven Symbolic Histories – 6/17
Lecture #7 Rev. 15-16 The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath – 6/24
Lecture #8 Rev. 17-18 The Seven Messages of Judgment on Babylon – 7/8
Lecture #9 Rev. 19- 20 Satan’s Doom – 7/29
Lecture #10 Rev. 21 – 22 The Final Reality – Heaven is a City – 8/5
Forgive me.
Fr Josiah
June 4, 2015
C. S. Lewis on Why Extemporaneous Prayer is Inappropriate in Christian Worship
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Thursday, June 4th, 2015
St. Metrophanes
Dear Ones
Blessings.
C. S. Lewis on Why Extemporaneous Prayer is Inappropriate in Christian Worship
“The advantage of a fixed form of service is that we know what is coming. Ex tempore public prayer has this difficulty: we don’t know whether we can mentally join in it until we’ve heard it – it might be phoney or heretical. We are therefore called upon to carry on a critical and a devotional activity at the same moment: two things hardly compatible. In a fixed form we ought to have ‘gone through the motions’ before in our private prayers: the rigid form really sets our devotions free. I also find the more rigid it is, the easier it is to keep one’s thoughts from straying. Also it prevents any service getting too completely eaten up by whatever happens to be the preoccupation of the moment (a war, an election, or what not). The permanent shape of Christianity shows through. I don’t see how the ex tempore method can help becoming provincial and I think it has a great tendency to direct attention to the minister rather than to God.”
C. S. Lewis to Mrs. Van Deusen, April 1st, 1952
THE APOSTLES FAST
The Apostles Fast begins Monday, June 8, and continues through Sunday, June 28. The liturgical color is red. The Akathist to the Holy Apostles (various apostles on various days) will be served throughout the fast. The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and olive oil) is observed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with katalysis for fish, wine and olive oil on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Great Article on Manliness
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/dad-s-life_946586.html?page=3
Hilary Clinton and Many Progressive are Demanding that We Orthodox Christians and Other Religious People of America change our Faith and Ethics Or Else
From Steve Soukup of the Culture of Life Foundation
http://www.cultureoflife.org
Several weeks ago, in the wake of the Indiana/religious freedom meltdown, Frank Bruni, a columnist for the New York Times, used his platform in the nation’s “newspaper of record,” to declare traditional religion incompatible with contemporary morality and contemporary social trends. Citing various contemporary moral philosophers and LGBT activists, Bruni made the case that religion must “bend” to this new moral and cultural reality. Specifically, he wrote:
And homosexuality and Christianity don’t have to be in conflict in any church anywhere.
That many Christians regard them as incompatible is understandable, an example not so much of hatred’s pull as of tradition’s sway. Beliefs ossified over centuries aren’t easily shaken.
But in the end, the continued view of gays, lesbians and bisexuals as sinners is a decision. It’s a choice. It prioritizes scattered passages of ancient texts over all that has been learned since — as if time had stood still, as if the advances of science and knowledge meant nothing.
It disregards the degree to which all writings reflect the biases and blind spots of their authors, cultures and eras. . . .
So our debate about religious freedom should include a conversation about freeing religions and religious people from prejudices that they needn’t cling to and can indeed jettison, much as they’ve jettisoned other aspects of their faith’s history, rightly bowing to the enlightenments of modernity.
“Human understanding of what is sinful has changed over time,” said David Gushee, an evangelical Christian who teaches Christian ethics at Mercer University. He openly challenges his faith’s censure of same-sex relationships, to which he no longer subscribes. . . .
“Conservative Christian religion is the last bulwark against full acceptance of L.G.B.T. people,” Gushee said. . . .
Creech and Mitchell Gold, a prominent furniture maker and gay philanthropist, founded an advocacy group, Faith in America, which aims to mitigate the damage done to L.G.B.T. people by what it calls “religion-based bigotry.”
Gold told me that church leaders must be made “to take homosexuality off the sin list.”
His commandment is worthy — and warranted.
This is powerful stuff, fascinating stuff, dangerous, scary stuff. Unfortunately, this “stuff” isn’t only the province of famous but largely unimportant New York Times columnists. Last month, Hillary Clinton, the presumed frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, told the 2015 Women in the World Summit that “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will … And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”
Mrs. Clinton was referring specifically to abortion in this case, but one can easily see how her views can be applied to other aspects of religion, indeed, how she intended for those words to apply more broadly across the cultural spectrum.
Also last month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the same-sex marriage caseObergefell v. Hodges. Same-sex marriage supporters have focused on the statement by the plaintiffs’ attorney Mary Bonauto that “priests and churches will not be forced to marry anyone,” insisting that this means that religious freedom will unquestionably be protected, even in an age of legal same-sex marriage. The truth of the matter, however, is that churches, religious schools, and other religious institutions will, indeed, be threatened by the new regimes, whether or not they are literally “forced” to do anything. Religious beliefs will be “bent,” one way or another, harnessing the power of the state.
For our money, the more important exchange in the oral arguments took place not between Bonauto and Justice John Roberts, but between Justice Samuel Alito and Solicitor General of the United States Donald Verrilli. It went as follows:
JUSTICE ALITO: Well, in the Bob Jones case, the Court held that a college was not entitled to tax exempt status if it opposed interracial marriage or interracial dating. So would the same apply to a university or a college if it opposed same-sex marriage?
GENERAL VERRILLI: You know, I… I don’t think I can answer that question without knowing more specifics, but it’s certainly going to be an issue. I… I don’t deny that. I don’t deny that, Justice Alito. It is it is going to be an issue.
“It is going to be an issue.” What the Solicitor General is saying here is that “force” or not, it is only a matter of time before tax-exempt organizations – universities, schools, and, eventually, churches – are challenged for their opposition to same-sex marriage. Moreover, it is only a matter of time before some, if not all of those organizations lose that status because of their desire to maintain their historical faith and their concomitant unwillingness to conform to contemporary (and perhaps fleeting) societal “norms.” Bonauto may be correct, in that literal state force may never be applied to priests or churches, but it’s pretty clear that state coercion of those priests and churches will nevertheless be a factor in the post-same-sex-marriage regime. Take away the institutions’ tax-exempt status, and you will destroy them as surely as you would if you applied the actual physical power of the state. And that, we suppose, is sort of the point.
The political Left as we know it today has its origins in the French Enlightenment and specifically in the prelude to the French Revolution. Beginning largely with Voltaire, the French intellectuals railed incessantly and mercilessly against the institutions of their age and especially against the Church, Christianity, and the established order more broadly, all of which, they believed, prevented the realization of human ability and perverted the relations of society. As Voltaire famously put it in a letter to Frederick the Great:
[Christianity] is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world. Your Majesty will do the human race an eternal service by extirpating this infamous superstition, I do not say among the rabble, who are not worthy of being enlightened and who are apt for every yoke; I say among honest people, among men who think, among those who wish to think. My one regret in dying is that I cannot aid you in this noble enterprise, the finest and most respectable which the human mind can point out.
Voltaire led to Rousseau. Rousseau led, in turn, to the Revolution and to Robespierre. Robespierre led to Wilhelm Weitling. Weitling led to Marx and Engels, then to Lenin, to Hitler, to Mao and all the rest. The lone constant in all of this – and in the post-Enlightenment philosophies of the French and Germans – is hatred of and opposition to Christianity as the mother and perpetuator of all evils. Voltaire’s “war against Christianity,” became Robespierre’s Reign of Terror, which became Marx’s “the opium of the people.” For at least 500 years, the Catholic Church has been the object of derision and rebellion. And for nearly 300 years, Christianity itself has been attacked as the hated facilitator of a status quo that prevents man from achieving his true greatness. Voltaire cried “Ecrasez l’infame,” i.e. “crush the infamous thing.” Rousseau lamented that “Everything is good in leaving the hands of the Creator of Things; everything degenerates in the hands of man,” which is to say that the institutions of man, especially the Church, corrupt man’s soul.
Is it any wonder then that today the wan successors to the philosophes insist that “Conservative Christian religion is the last bulwark against full acceptance of L.G.B.T. people” and that “church leaders must be made” to bend? Christianity has been the perpetual enemy of the Left since the Left’s genesis in the fever swamps of pre-Revolutionary France. There is no reason whatsoever to expect that to change today. If only the Christians can be crushed, once and for all, the new morality, the true morality can be realized and man can live happily ever after.
Individual gay men, women and couples are as diverse in their political, economic, religious, and social beliefs as anyone else in the country. In the context of the broader political struggle, however, these men, women, and couples represent a fantastic and powerful contrivance for the Left, the means by which to challenge the dominant moral structure and hopefully to break it once and for all.
We have long believed that the traditional moral order’s likeliest hope for survival in the new cultural milieu is the good will of the triumphant new cultural order, the belief, on the part of the culture wars’ victors, that winning is enough and that punishing their opponents is therefore unnecessary. If the decision on this matter were left to the individuals most affected by this battle in the broader war – i.e. the gay men, women and couples who seek legal protection for their unions – we have little doubt that such an accommodation could and would be reached. We suspect that most gay men, women and couples want simply to be left alone to enjoy their lives, just like anyone else.
But the decision will not come the average folks, we fear. It will, rather, be made by the hard-core political activists, the cultural leftists who are the heirs to the political belief that has long sought to destroy the existing order, notably the Catholic Church and Christianity more broadly.
Mary Bonauto expects that no one will be forced to do anything he or she doesn’t wish. And she may believe that. But the political reality is more complicated. Tax-exempt status will be the next battlefield, and the war will continue, no matter the results.
Bulletproof Cross Rises in Karachi, Pakistan!
ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS APPLAUDS GOVERNOR CUOMO’S INITIATIVE
FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION
NEW YORK – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America endorses and applauds the efforts of Governor Andrew Cuomo in introducing the Parental Choice in Education Act. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America comments, “on behalf of the Greek Orthodox citizens of New York who are deeply committed to their own parochial schools, I thank and congratulate Governor Cuomo for his leadership in this important family-oriented initiative. This is a step in the right direction for the State of New York, and for society as a whole.” The Orthodox Christians have always stood up for equality, and the Parental Choice in Education Act has the potential to offer equal opportunity in education to those who currently do not have the possibility of choice.
To learn more about the Parental Choice in Education Act, read the governor’s official press release at the following link: http://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-introduces-parental-choice-education-act
Forgive me.
Father Josiah
May 13, 2015
The Terror of the Dread Second Coming and Universal Judgment
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Wednesday, May 13th, 2015
Leave-Taking of Mid-Pentecost
Dear Ones
Blessings.
The Terror of the Dread Second Coming and Universal Judgment
An ascetic Elder said: ‘If it were possible, after the General Resurrection of the dead during the Second Coming, for the soul to depart once more from the body, assuredly all men would die from fear and from horrible and terrifying astonishment. For how is it possible for one not to be scared to death at seeing the heavens open up and God appear in wrath and anger, at seeing the innumerable ranks of the Heavenly Powers descending with Him and all men gathered together in the same place? So, let us think always about such things and live with the thought that to such a Judge and before such a terrifying Tribunal we will be called to stand to and account for our deeds.
Evergetinos
Apocalypse Soon: An Exposition of the Revelation
Schedule of Classes
Lecture #1 Rev. 1 The Vision of the Glorified Christ – 4/22
Lecture #2 Rev. 2-3 The Messages to the Seven Churches – 4/29
Lecture #3 Rev. 4-5 Almighty God’s Throne and Book – 5/13
Lecture #4 Rev. 6-7 The Seven Seals – 5/27
Lecture #5 Rev. 8-11 The Seven Trumpets – 6/10
Lecture #6 Rev. 12-14 The Seven Symbolic Histories – 6/17
Lecture #7 Rev. 15-16 The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath – 6/24
Lecture #8 Rev. 17-18 The Seven Messages of Judgment on Babylon – 7/8
Lecture #9 Rev. 19- 20 Satan’s Doom – 7/29
Lecture #10 Rev. 21 – 22 The Final Reality – Heaven is a City – 8/5
Ambulance Drones
https://WWW.youtube.Com/embed/y-rEI4bezWc
Pray for Juliana George, Assyrian Christian Teen (16) Abducted in Bagdad, Iraq
Can you imagine living like this as Christians in the Middle East? Always wondering if your girls will be stolen?
A 16 year-old Assyrian girl, Juliana George, was abducted from her home in Baghdad 7 days ago. A person knocked on the door of her home and when she answered she was abducted by 4 men and placed into a taxi which sped away. Her grandfather Joseph, who is a priest, chased the taxi on foot and grabbed on to the door, but as the taxi sped away he could not hold on and fell to the side. A man riding a bicycle witnessed the incident and followed the taxi. He recorded the license plate of the car and returned and gave it to Fr. Joseph.
The police were able to find the taxi and its owner, who is in custody but has refused to talk.
In a telephone conversation with AINA, Juliana’s father said she called him once and asked for ice cream, but he had not heard from her or the kidnappers again. “I used to tuck her into bed and cover her every night,” he said, weeping. “Who is doing that now, who is feeding her? It has been 7 days now and no one seems to care, no one is doing anything.”
There is no information on the whereabouts of Juliana and the 3 kidnappers.
Beautiful Video of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery
If you read EVERYDAY SAINTS (and I hope you did!) you can see in this video many of the beautiful elders mentioned in the book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySj8Mw1BkqU
Professor Clay Christenson of Harvard on How Democracy Only Works with the Support of Religion
https://www.youtube.com/embed/YjntXYDPw44
News on the Immoral Vaccination Bill Being Pushed in Ca’s Legislature
http://www.cogforlife.org/2015/05/11/pressvaxca/
Orthodox Participation at March for Marriage on the National Mall
http://www.crownthem.org/blog/
See pictures of participants, hear Fr Hans Jacobse’s talk (featured by proponents of same-sex marriage on rightwingwatch.com – a true compliment to Fr Hans!)
Great Summary of Oral Arguments in the Supreme Court about Same-Sex Marriage
Sign the CitizenGo Petition Asking the Supremes Not to Force Same-Sex Marriage on the Nation
http://citizengo.org/en/21900-dont-impose-same-sex-marriage-usa?m=5&tcid=12289897
Rod Dreher Post : Orthodox Christianity vs. LGBT War
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/lgbt-christianity-war/
Memory Eternal! Father Roman (Braga)
Deeply respected Elder and spiritual father, Roman (Braga) fell asleep in Christ on April 28th at the age of 93 at the Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Rives Junction, MI. See http://www.fatherromanbraga.com for more info and please pray for the repose of his soul. May God grant him Paradise. Christ is risen!
Fellowships Sponsored by the GOA for the UN
https://goarch.formstack.com/forms/un_fellowship
Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Fellowship at the United Nations
Application
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2015
Requirements & Basic Instructions
Applicants must be an Orthodox Christian already enrolled in a graduate or post-graduate program by the start of the fellowship.
Recent graduates (up to five years) from graduate and post-graduate programs may also apply.
Applicant must complete all required fields of this application.
Applicants will be contacted to schedule a Skype interview for the week of June 22 – 26.
Service Schedule
Wednesday 6pm Paraklesis to St. Nektarios for the Healing of the Sick, 7pm Lecture #3 The Throne that Governs All – in the Series Apocalypse Soon: An Exposition of the Revelation of St. John
Thursday 5pm Vespers
Saturday 530pm Great Vespers
Forgive me.
Fr Josiah
April 15, 2015
How the Resurrection of Christ has altered our Attitude towards Death
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Wednesday April 15th, 2015
Bright Wednesday
Dear Ones
Blessings.
How the Resurrection of Christ has altered our Attitude towards Death
(commenting on Joseph’s long mourning of his father Chrysostom says): “Consider the time when it happened and absolve Joseph of all blame. I mean, the gates of the underworld were still not broken nor the bonds of death loosed, nor was death yet called sleep. Hence, because they feared death, they acted this way; today, on the contrary, thanks to the grace of God, since death has been turned into slumber and life’s end into repose, and since there is great certitude of resurrection, we rejoice and exult at it like people moving from one life to another.”
Commentary on Genesis
Pray for our Priest Father Ibrahim Farah Who Was Kidnapped in Idlib, Syria by US Backed “Moderate” Rebels
http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2015/04/christian-priest-abducted-by-u-s-sponsored-rebels-in-syria/
2015 Marks the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/remembering-the-armenian-genocide/
Hitler Reacts to Being Denied His Gay Wedding Cake!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1_gqbQcI60&feature=youtu.be
34,000 Black Churches Cut Ties with the Presbyterians Over Their Endorsement of Gay Marriage
Great Marriage Advice for Our Husbands – It’s Not about the Nail!
NY Times Columnist Says Churches Must Be Forced to Change Their Teaching on Homosexuality
Service Schedule
Wednesday 5pm Paschal Vespers
Thursday 8am Paschal Orthros
Friday 8am Paschal Orthros, 830am Paschal Liturgy
Saturday 730am Orthros, 8am Liturgy followed by Young Adult Retreat
Forgive me.
Fr Josiah
March 27, 2015
A Question about Musical Instruments in Worship
http://www.patristicnectar.org
This 4 lecture series explaining St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is now available at http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Friday of the 5th Week of Great Lent
Dear Ones
Blessings.
A Question about Instruments in Worship
“Hello Father,
My brother-in-law was inquiring about Holy Orthodoxy…We talked about…instruments. They are currently attending a non-denominational church. He has a protestant background and texted Psalms 149 to me today and stated, “It’s ok for us to worship God with instruments and our voices.” I’m not sure how to respond…”
My Response: “In his commentary on Ps. 149 St. John Chrysostom says this:
“The new testament is a new song…in ancient times they were led by these instruments owing to the dullness of their thinking and their recent conversion from idols.”
The use of instruments in worship was essential in the OT, as was the slaughter of animals, a single central-altar in Jerusalem, and priests of Levi by bloodline.
Much has changed in the New Covenant, obviously.
We don’t look at instruments as bad, anymore than we do at any of the OT ways of worship. They are not bad, just outmoded.
Church History shows that in East and West in the first 5 centuries of worship all was without instruments, and the reason was because theology has become much more deep and rich. Look at the Creed of Israel – Dt. 6:4 The Lord our God is one.That’s it.
Now we have the highest intricacies to articulate- the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Cross, the Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, etc. These are deep mysteries.
When you use musical instruments you replace words with inarticulate musical tones and so your content is much thinner theologically. Take any Prot. Hymn that take 3-4 minutes to sing and compare its content with Orthodox hymnology over the same 3-4 minutes- there is absolutely no comparison.
The Fathers also say that musical instruments deeply effect the emotive state, and that is also something unique about New Covenant worship. Our worship is less sensuous and more noetic because of our non-use of instruments. The human voice is now our supreme instrument.
Saying all that- I would not try to talk about this much. It can be answered by him simply visiting one Orthodox Liturgy. The Divine Service will speak for itself.”
His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, Issues Letter Urging Bishops, Priests and Laypeople to Attend National March for Marriage
For complete text of Met. Joseph’s letter go to http://www.crownthem.org or http://www.antiochian.org
Bravo Sayidna!
This will be the Third Annual March for Marriage.
At the first March for Marriage 2013 with Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church in San Diego
At the first March for Marriage with our Fr. Daniel Meyer and his close seminary brother, Father Thaddaeus
Complete Akathist Tonight at 7pm
Icon of the Mother of God of the Akathist
with miniatures depicting each verse of the Akathist Hymn.
California Senate Health Committee Just Passes Assisted Suicide Bill SB 128
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1wQuWuqq34
Can you imagine? We celebrate the Annunciation and the beginning of new life while our state politicians promote death!
World Congress of Families Releases Its Agenda for WCF IX in the USA
WHAT IS THE WORLD CONGRESS OF FAMILIES?
The largest gathering of pro-family advocates in the world—and for the first time in history, the global gathering will come to the United States this fall.
Australia Maintains Integrity of Marriage
Australia’s Liberal Party (liberal in the 19th. century sense of the word), the nation’s ruling party, is maintaining its solid support of natural marriage (one man and one woman). Despite rumors that the government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott would weaken its opposition to the deconstruction of marriage at a meeting of Liberal MPs on March 24, such a measure was never discussed.
Lyle Shelton of the Australian Christian Lobby reports that Liberal members of parliament received over 20,000 e-mails, which ran 5 to 1 against a redefinition of marriage. Australia is one of the few Western nations to hold the line for natural marriage.. For more information on the battle in Australia, contact the Australian Christian Lobby mailto:natoffice@acl.org.au
Service Schedule
Friday 7pm Full Akathist to the Theotokos
Saturday 730am Orthros, 8am Liturgy for the Akathist, 4pm Catechism, 530pm Great Vespers
Forgive me.
Father Josiah
March 18, 2015
On Reaching the Middle of the Fast
http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Wednesday, March 18th, 2015
Wednesday of the 4th Week of Great Lent
Dear Ones
Blessings.
The Middle Point of the Great Fast
Having come to the middle point on the path of the Fast that leads us to Thy precious Cross, grant that we may see Thy day that Abraham saw and rejoiced, when on the mountain he received Isaac back alive as from the tombe. Delivered from the enemy by faith, may we share in Thy mystical supper, calling upon Thee in peace: Our light and our Savior, glroy to Thee.
Aposticha in Orthros, Wednesday of the 4th Week
On Reading Icons and Scripture
If some passages of Scripture are like clear springs bubbling up their meaning directly to the surface, others are like dark wells concealing unknown depths, where greater effort is required to draw out meaning. The same is true of images.
Fr. Maximos Constas, The Art of Seeing
The Adoration of the Precious Cross
This past Sunday, March 15th, was the Third Sunday of the Great Fast on which we keep the Veneration of the Precious Cross. All this week the Cross is kept in the center of the church and is venerated at the end of every divine service until Friday evening when it is returned to the holy place.
This Sunday a Special Memorial for the 1 year Anniversary of the Repose of Metropolitan Philip
His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip, reposed in the Lord on March 19th, 2014. Church across the country will remember him in a special memorial this Sunday at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy.
Lenten Fasting Continues and Feast of the Annunciation
During the Great Fast the traditional fasting discipline of no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and olive oil is observed on weekdays, with permission for wine and olive oil on weekends. Wednesday, March 25th, is the Great Feast of the Annunciation. The typikon-appointed Vespersal Divine Liturgy will be served at 630pm, followed by our annual catechumen dinner in the parish fellowship hall. Fish is allowed in honor of the Great Feast. The Annunciation and Palm Sunday are the two days during Lent that we are permitted fish.
The Fifth Week of Lent, the Great Canon and the Reading of the Life of St. Mary of Egypt
Because the Annunciation falls on Wednesday of the 5th Week, the usual order of services is re-arranged. The Great Canon of Repentance by St. Andrew of Crete with the reading of the complete Life of our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt, will take place during Little Compline this coming Monday evening, March 23rd.
Helen Machankova – a Neo-Martyr- March 15, 2013
from Mystagogy blog
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2015/03/helen-machankova-neomartyr-march-15-2013.html#more
“This was my offering to Allah” said her husband after he murdered Helen with a knife
Summer Program for Future or Current Students of Theology
This summer from July 1-13 there will be a special summer retreat and pilgrimage in Petrokerasa, Greece for present, past or future students of theology ages 19-30. 15 spots are available for this two-week intensive program. In addition to hospitality and divine services in the mountain-top village outside of Thessaloniki, a tour of ancient churches in Thessaloniki and visits to one or two monasteries in northern Greece, the program will include:
A. a five day program of services, lectures and discussions in Petrokerasa, including talks and presentations by professors of theology from the University of Thessaloniki (July 1-5).
B. A vigil for the feast of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (July 4) and the all-night vigil at the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Souroti, celebrating for the first time the Feast of the newly-glorified St. Paisios the Athonite, which promises to be an historic event (July 12).
C. A five day pilgrimage to Mt. Athos, where we’ll be hosted at several monasteries and kellia and meet with contemporary abbots and elders (July 6-10).
The cost of the program is just $300 per person, not including travel expenses which are the responsibility of each participant.
For more information be in contact with Father Peter Heers frpeterheers@gmail.com, Holy Church of the Prophet Elias, Petrokerasa, Greece
March for Marriage in DC April 25th!
Nice Orthodox promotion of the annual March for Marriage with resources – at http://www.crownthem.org
Joy: An Exposition of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians
continues on Wed. nights at 8pm following Presanctified Liturgy
Services
Wednesday 630pm Presanctified, 8pm Lecture #4 on Philippians
Thursday 5pm Lenten Vespers and Great Compline
Friday 7pm Akathist to the Theotokos
Saturday 4pm Catechism, 530pm Great Vespers
Forgive me.
Father Josiah
March 11, 2015
On Iconic Vision
http://www.patristicnectar.org
Drive: How to Save Your Soul in Traffic Series now available at http://www.patristicnectar.org
“The present life is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue” – St John Chrysostom
Wednesday, March 11th, 2015
Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Great Lent
Dear Ones
Blessings.
On Iconic Vision
In using images to overthrow the power of images, the icon seeks to disrupt habituated ways of seeing, to subvert the hegemony of naturalistic representation, and so summon the eye to a new mode of vision, by opening it up to infinite depth. God is not a finite object that ewe can hold within vision, but an infinite mhstery, an inexhaustible personal plenitude that always has something more to reveal to us in an endless transformation from glory to glory.
Monk Maximos (Constas) The Art of Seeing: Paradox and Perception in Orthodox Iconography
This Sunday is the Third Sunday of the Great Fast on which day we keep the Adoration of the Precious Cross
The Serra Cross on Mt. Rubidoux in Downtown Riverside
Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco under Vicious Attack
https://www.lifesitenews.com/petitions/i-stand-with-archbishop-cordileone/452436
Please sing this petition in support of Ab Cordileone.
Gay activists and SF politicans are leading the slanderous campaign against Ab Cordileone, and his opponents have actually hired a notorious (infamous, in fact) PR firm in SF to destroy his reputation and foster outright mutiny.
Where is the separation of church and state folks?
Number of Abortions Down 5-Fold in Russia Since the Fall of Communism
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=24218
March for Marriage in DC April 25th!
Nice Orthodox promotion of the annual March for Marriage with resources – at http://www.crownthem.org
Joy: An Exposition of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians
continues on Wed. nights at 8pm following Presanctified Liturgy
Services
Wednesday 630pm Presanctified, 8pm Lecture #3 on Philippians
Thursday 5pm Lenten Vespers
Friday 7pm Akathist to the Theotokos
Saturday 730am Orthros 8am Liturgy for Souls, 4pm Catechism, 530pm Great Vespers
Forgive me.
Father Josiah
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