When we turn to God asking for mercy…

…when we turn to God asking for mercy, we are also asking that our sins, iniquities, and uncleanness be forgiven. But in the words “have mercy” there is also an appeal that He bestow His mercy upon us…by His love to grant us His mercy, grace, and power.

- Patriarch Kirill, 21st Century Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2013 Lenten Homily

Please pray for Russia!

Today, more than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia…

Please pray for our brothers and sisters that were injured and for all those that were shocked from the explosion…

Do you know any Orthodox church in need of donations?

Do you know -anywhere in the world- any specific Orthodox church or monastery that desperately needs donations? Any churches that have been vandalized and need help, or any parishes that are poor and don’t even have the basics for the worship (not in America specifically, but elsewere, like Ecuador or Taipei for example)? You can also post about a specific Mission that is in great need of donations.

I would like to promote some of the Orthodox monasteries/churches that need help, so more people will help. Thank you all in advance.

About the Romanov Family

Since I reblogged this Romanov related post, my inbox has been filled with many questions, both kind and well minded and some not so kind.

For the kind ones: Because of lack of time (sorry for this, I am too busy lately!) and lack of deep knowledge on contemporary history of Russia, I can’t reply to your questions.You can ask someone more knowledgeable than me, like Andrei.

For the not so kind messages: Please, respect the fact that the Orthodox Church of Russia (Moscow Patriarchate) has canonized the Romanov Family as “Passion Bearers” (Note: Unlike martyrs, passion-bearers are not explicitly killed for their Orthodox faith, though they hold to that faith with piety and true love of God). So, all of Orthodox globally recognize them as Passion Bearers. Even if you personally disagree, at least respect them as we respect dead people and stop slander them. And before start judging, read firstly this. I am really tired to hear again and again claims such as “they are not Saints” (truly, they are not Saints but “Passion Bearers”, there is a difference!), “they were canonized because of politics” (here I disagree) or “Rasputin is also canonized” (Rasputin was NEVER canonized by the Holy Orthodox Church, how could he be?).

As an Orthodox Christian, I venerate the Holy Romanov family as Passion Bearers, I believe the miracles performed by them (not only in Russia but everywhere in the world) and I humbly ask for their intercessions to our Lord.

History, Blasphemy, and Russia

A great article by Frederica Mathewes-Green on the “Pussy Riot” protesters. I usually don’t post this type of articles in my blog, but this one is worth reading. 

When the “Pussy Riot” protesters were sentenced last week for their performance in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, a friend asked me why Orthodox Christians were so upset about what they’d done. For him, this was clearly a political protest. It was aimed at a too-close entwining of church and state, so it took place in a church. What’s the big deal?

But, in practice, there’s a difference. If you protest at a government building, you impact people in that government. If you protest at a business, you impact people in that business. But when you protest at a church, you don’t hit only those in power. You hit all the ordinary people, too, the ones who don’t have any influence or power. They come to church on a weekday afternoon just to pray, because they’re worried or sad about something. When someone mocks their faith it wounds them. It wounds their fellow-believers all over the world, who have no connection at all to the target of the protest.

What caused this pain was that the women sang a song that contained obscenities and a parody of a prayer. Those on the outside might not get why it was so hurtful. Well, for one thing, the altar in an Orthodox church is felt to be especially holy; it’s not like the stage of a church auditorium. Because Christianity grew out of Judaism, the altar is like the Holy of Holies in the ancient Temple.

But the form of the protest, a mocking and obscene prayer, also hit on particular, and painful, memories. My spiritual father, Fr. George Calciu, spent 21 years in communist prison. (He died in 2006). He was subjected to the brainwashing process, and they used both physical and emotional torture. They mocked everything and everyone he loved—his wife, his child, his faith. A centerpiece of the brainwashing program was to subject prisoners to parody church services, with obscene and mocking prayers.

All Christian prisoners endured this abuse. Millions of clergy, monastics, and lay people died for their beliefs. Fr. George survived, and, thanks to the efforts of Romanian expatriates like Eugene Ionescu and Mircea Eliade, he was freed in 1984.

It’s not that long ago.

The problem was the mockery of our prayers, not the protest against Putin and the official church. There are many Christians who share these women’s concerns, and our faith has a long history of prayer for deliverance from unjust rulers. A sincere prayer might have had an entirely different effect; it might have attracted allies everywhere. Sincerity is always better than mockery.

Also, the church where this happened has a sensitive history. The original Christ the Savior Cathedral was built in the 19^th century, modeled on the finest Byzantine architecture and filled with treasures of art and iconography. In 1931, the Soviets destroyed it—they blew it up. You can see the footage online. Artworks were thrown in a pile and burned—destroyed specifically because of their religious content, like the Buddha statues dynamited in Afghanistan.

But in the 1990’s there grew up a popular movement to rebuild the Cathedral. A million citizens of Moscow donated to the fund. The new cathedral is identical to the one that was destroyed. So this church has a significant story: it was destroyed by the powerful, and rebuilt by the people.

The new cathedral was consecrated in 2000. It’s not that long ago.

What’s the right punishment in such a case? We could try picturing analogous incidents, imagining protesters invading a mosque or a synagogue and chanting obscene parodies of the worshippers’ prayers. But I don’t know that there’s a need for punishment. Community service would be better. These women could use their talents to gather and tell the stories of those who lived through the bad times, and the stories of those who did not make it through. That would be something we could all agree on—a project that could bring healing and understanding, and strengthen memory against future abuse.

When you’re young and strong, like these women are, it can be hard to imagine that anyone was ever weak, or suffering, or persecuted, or afraid. You might think, “It can’t happen here.” But it did happen—right there. And not that long ago. We know this from history: if you forget the times when the faithful were mocked with abusive and obscene words, it won’t be long before we’re hearing those words again.

Please pray for the Russian Orthodox pilgrims

Please keep in your prayers the 14 victims of the bus crash in Ukraine. The victims were Orthodox Christian pilgrims that were traveling to Pochaevskaya Lavra Monastery…

May God rest their souls where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor suffering, but life everlasting! Memory Eternal! ☦

Greece is in the Euro 2012 quarter finals!

Greece is in the quarter finals!!!

We are all so happy here in Greece! Russia was absolutely great too, so congratulations to both teams, no matter the result :)

Ζήτω η Ελλάδα!!

Today we commemorate Saint Matrona the Blind, the Grandma of Russia!!

I have a special love for Saint Matrona. She has helped me a lot in my life. She is a Wonderworker and a Prophet.

Blind from birth, she bore her infirmity with humility and patience, and God made her a vessel of grace. At the moment of her baptism, the priest saw a cloud above the child, which shed forth a sweet fragrance as a sign of divine favor.

St. Matrona led an ascetic life on her bed of pain. She fasted constantly, slept little, her head resting on her chest, and her forehead was dented by the innumerable signs of the Cross that she made.

An account is preserved whereby St. John of Kronstadt, upon discerning the 14-year old Matrona among a crowd of pilgrims that had come to see him, asked everyone to step aside and let the girl come through and approach him. As she walked towards him he exclaimed: “Here is my successor, the eighth pillar of Russia.”

Before her repose the Blessed Matrona said: Everyone, everyone who will come to me: tell me, as if I were alive, of your sorrows, and I will see you, and hear you, and help you.