Forwarded from Fr. Seraphim Rose - A Tribute
Forwarded from Orthodoxy in Georgia (Sakartvelo)
The Glory of Iberia and the Life-Creating Pillar
Eleazar, rabbi of the Mtskheta community of Jews, had resettled to Georgia from Jerusalem already by the year 70 A.D. Having received news from the Jerusalem high-priest Annas about the impending execution of Christ, he hastened to Jerusalem in the company of Longinus Carsnitus. They became eye-witnesses to the Passion of the Lord and the casting of lots for His garment. At the moment when the All-Pure Body of the Lord was nailed to the Cross, the mother of Eleazar, situated in Mtskheta, sensed the blows of the hammer in her heart and shuddered out of great fright. Having related to her daughter Sidonia about the crucifixion sufferings of the Saviour, guiltlessly given over unto death, the mother of Eleazar then died. Eleazar then acquired Christ’s tunic (the chiton) from the soldier who by lots had won it, and he took it with him to Mtskheta. Sidonia, meeting her brother Eleazar in tears, told him about the death of their mother and her words just before her death. Eleazar confirmed the words of their mother and he showed his sister the Chiton (Tunic) of the Lord. Taking hold the Chiton, Righteous Sidonia kissed it all over, pressed it to her bosom and herewith fell down lifeless. No one, not even the emperor Aderk (2 B.C.-55 A.D.) was able to open the grasp of Sidonia nor take from her the Chiton. Righteous Sidonia (Comm. 1 October) was secretly consigned to earth by her brother Eleazar in the imperial garden at Mtskheta.
The holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina told about this to the Kartalin Hebrew highpriest Aviathar – a descendent of rabbi Eleazar. He came to believe in Christ, having listened to the explanation by Saint Nina of the ancient prophecies concerning the Messiah, and how these prophecies were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Georgian emperor Mirian (265-342) was also converted by holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Saint Nina, and he decided to build a Christian church on the spot whereupon the Chiton of the Lord was situated. A massive cedar tree had grown on the grave of Sidonia, which they sawed, and wanted to use its trunk as a foundation pillar for supporting the main cupola of the church, but they were not able to raise it upright. Saint Nina prayed all night for Divine help, and visions were manifest to her, in which were revealed the historical courses of destiny of Georgia.
At dawn an Angel of the Lord approached the pillar and raised it in the air. The pillar, shining with a wondrous light, was elevated and then lowered in the air, until it was set over its base. From the stump of the cedar issued a fragrant myrh. Thus the Angel of the Lord indicated the place, where the Chiton (Tunic) of the Lord was concealed in the ground. This event, witnessed to by many of the inhabitants of Mtskheta, is depicted on the icon, "Glorification of the Georgian Church".
Afterwards at the place of the wooden church was erected the majestic stone cathedral of Sveti-Tskhoveli. The Life-Creating Pillar, from which occurred many healings, has at present a stone four-cornered covering and is crowned by a light-loft, not touching the arch of the cathedral. The Pillar is positioned in the Sveti-Tskhoveli cathedral with a model alongside of the Church of the Sepulchre of the Lord at Jerusalem. The Georgian Church established the feastday on 1 October (October 14) in honour of the Chiton (Tunic) of the Lord and the Life-Creating Pillar.
Eleazar, rabbi of the Mtskheta community of Jews, had resettled to Georgia from Jerusalem already by the year 70 A.D. Having received news from the Jerusalem high-priest Annas about the impending execution of Christ, he hastened to Jerusalem in the company of Longinus Carsnitus. They became eye-witnesses to the Passion of the Lord and the casting of lots for His garment. At the moment when the All-Pure Body of the Lord was nailed to the Cross, the mother of Eleazar, situated in Mtskheta, sensed the blows of the hammer in her heart and shuddered out of great fright. Having related to her daughter Sidonia about the crucifixion sufferings of the Saviour, guiltlessly given over unto death, the mother of Eleazar then died. Eleazar then acquired Christ’s tunic (the chiton) from the soldier who by lots had won it, and he took it with him to Mtskheta. Sidonia, meeting her brother Eleazar in tears, told him about the death of their mother and her words just before her death. Eleazar confirmed the words of their mother and he showed his sister the Chiton (Tunic) of the Lord. Taking hold the Chiton, Righteous Sidonia kissed it all over, pressed it to her bosom and herewith fell down lifeless. No one, not even the emperor Aderk (2 B.C.-55 A.D.) was able to open the grasp of Sidonia nor take from her the Chiton. Righteous Sidonia (Comm. 1 October) was secretly consigned to earth by her brother Eleazar in the imperial garden at Mtskheta.
The holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina told about this to the Kartalin Hebrew highpriest Aviathar – a descendent of rabbi Eleazar. He came to believe in Christ, having listened to the explanation by Saint Nina of the ancient prophecies concerning the Messiah, and how these prophecies were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Georgian emperor Mirian (265-342) was also converted by holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Saint Nina, and he decided to build a Christian church on the spot whereupon the Chiton of the Lord was situated. A massive cedar tree had grown on the grave of Sidonia, which they sawed, and wanted to use its trunk as a foundation pillar for supporting the main cupola of the church, but they were not able to raise it upright. Saint Nina prayed all night for Divine help, and visions were manifest to her, in which were revealed the historical courses of destiny of Georgia.
At dawn an Angel of the Lord approached the pillar and raised it in the air. The pillar, shining with a wondrous light, was elevated and then lowered in the air, until it was set over its base. From the stump of the cedar issued a fragrant myrh. Thus the Angel of the Lord indicated the place, where the Chiton (Tunic) of the Lord was concealed in the ground. This event, witnessed to by many of the inhabitants of Mtskheta, is depicted on the icon, "Glorification of the Georgian Church".
Afterwards at the place of the wooden church was erected the majestic stone cathedral of Sveti-Tskhoveli. The Life-Creating Pillar, from which occurred many healings, has at present a stone four-cornered covering and is crowned by a light-loft, not touching the arch of the cathedral. The Pillar is positioned in the Sveti-Tskhoveli cathedral with a model alongside of the Church of the Sepulchre of the Lord at Jerusalem. The Georgian Church established the feastday on 1 October (October 14) in honour of the Chiton (Tunic) of the Lord and the Life-Creating Pillar.
“The Virgin today doth stand forth within the Church, and with the choirs of the Saints invisibly for us doth pray to God: angels with hierarchs make reverence, and apostles with prophets sing forth: for us the Birthgiver of God prayeth the Praeternal God” — this miraculous appearance of the Mother of God occurred in the mid-X Century at Constantinople, in the Blakhernae church where there was preserved the Robe of the Mother of God, Her Head-Veil (mathoria) and part of the Belt-Sash, transferred from Palestine in the V Century. On Sunday, 1 October, during the time of the all-night vigil, when the church was overflowing with those at prayer, the Fool-for-Christ Saint Andrew (Comm. 2 October) at the fourth hour of the night lifted up his eyes towards the heavens, and beheld coming through the air our MostHoly Lady Mother of God resplendent with an Heavenly light and surrounded by an assembly of the Saints. The holy Baptist of the Lord John and the holy Apostle John the Theologian accompanied the Queen of Heaven. On bended knee the MostHoly Virgin began with tears to pray for Christians and for a long time was at prayer. Then, coming nigh the Prestol’-Throne, She continued Her prayer, which having completed She then took from Her head the veil and spread it over the people praying in church, protecting them from enemies both visible and invisible. The MostHoly Lady Mother of God was resplendent with Heavenly glory, and the protecting veil in Her hands gleamed “more than the rays of the sun”. Saint Andrew gazed atrembling at the miraculous vision and he asked of his disciple Blessed Epiphanios standing alongside him: “Dost thou see, brother, the Queen and Lady, praying for all the world?” Epiphanios answered: “I do see, holy father, and I be in awe”. The Ever-Blessed Mother of God implored of the Lord Jesus Christ to accept the prayers of all the people, calling on His MostHoly Name and hastening in recourse to Her intercession. “O Heavenly King, — sayeth in prayer the Immaculate Queen standing aethereally amidst the Angels, — accept every person, that prayeth unto Thee and calleth on My Name for help, let them not go empty away unheard from before My Visage”. Saints Andrew and Epiphanios, granted to behold the Mother of God at prayer, “for a long time did gaze at the protecting veil spread over the people and the lightning like flashes in glory to the Lord; as long as the MostHoly Mother of God was there, so likewise was the protecting veil visible; but with Her departure it likewise became invisible, and though having taken it with Her, She left behind the grace of having been there”. At the Blakhernae church was preserved the memory of the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God. In the XIV Century, the Russian pilgrim and clerk Aleksandr saw within the church an icon of the MostHoly Mother of God praying for the world, and written such, as depicting Saint Andrew in contemplation of Her. But the Greek Church does not know this feast. [trans. note: i.e. does not historically celebrate this feast. Our Russian source is here reticent concerning the historical circumstances occasioning the necessary protective intercession of the Mother of God, and it reflects a great irony, that for the Russians rather than for the Greeks this should be an important feast, since it celebrates the Divine destruction by a storm of a large pagan-Russian fleet under Askold and Dir which threatened Constantinople itself, sometime in the years 864-867, or per the Russian historian Vasiliev on 18 June 860.
Forwarded from ROCOR Europe | РПЦЗ в Европе
‘Their Legacy is Our Legacy’: Sermon by Bishop Irenei on the Spiritual Culture of the Church Abroad. | «Их наследие — наше наследие»: Проповедь епископа Иринея о духовной культуре Зарубежной Церкви.
‘It can be easy to lose sight of the traditions which are uniquely ours…’ | «Легко потерять из виду традиции, которые уникально принадлежат нам…»
Полный отчет | Full report | Rapport complet: https://orthodox-europe.org/content/sermon-traditions-of-rocor/
‘It can be easy to lose sight of the traditions which are uniquely ours…’ | «Легко потерять из виду традиции, которые уникально принадлежат нам…»
Полный отчет | Full report | Rapport complet: https://orthodox-europe.org/content/sermon-traditions-of-rocor/
Forwarded from Fr. Seraphim Rose - A Tribute
OW 1-105 Searchable.pdf
1.1 GB
The Orthodox Word, issues 1-105 in a single searchable PDF
These are all the issues Fr. Seraphim published, including the last few published after his repose which include material he helped translate and produce.
These are all the issues Fr. Seraphim published, including the last few published after his repose which include material he helped translate and produce.