We Magnify THEE - Serbian Chant (Valaam St. Petersburg Metochion Choir, Slavonic)

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The St. Petersburg Valaam Metochion Choir sings "We Magnify Thee, O Lifegiver Christ..." (Serbian Chant) at St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral (ROCOR) in Washington, DC, 2002

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Translation:

"We magnify Thee, O Christ the Giver of life, Who for our sake now art baptized in the flesh by John, in the waters of the Jordan."

St. Dionysius of Alexandria: Persevere in Admonishing Even Those Who Choose Evil

From The Holy Gospel According To St. John 13: 10, 11 (NIV):

JESUS answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For HE knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

How great is the example YOU showed of enduring evil! How great, too, is YOUR model of humility! How is it that the LORD gave us this example to show us that we shouldn't give up counseling our neighbors even if they aren't affected by our words? For incurable wounds are wounds that can't be healed by harsh medications or by more pleasant ones. Similarly, the soul, when it has been taken captive, gives itself up to wickedness, refuses to consider what is profitable for it, and won't accept goodness despite great counsel. As if it is deaf, it won't benefit from any advice. Not that it can't, but it won't. This happened in Judas' case. Nevertheless, CHRIST, although HE knew this beforehand, didn't ever stop doing everything to counsel him. Since we know that JESUS practiced this, we also should never stop striving to set the careless right even if it seems no good comes from our counsel. --St. Dionysius of Alexandria

Elder Paisios the Athonite: GOD Has A Way of Providing

GOD has a way of providing. He sees our needs, our desires; and, when something is for our good, HE gives it to us. When someone needs help in something, CHRIST and the Panaghia help. The Elder Philaretos was often asked, "Geronda, what would you like for us to provide for you?" And he would answer, "Whatever I want, Panaghia will send it." And that is what would happen. --Elder Paisios the Athonite

St. Justin (Popovich) of Chelje

Time and Signs of the Second Coming of Christ - St. Justin Popovich:



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St. Justin Popovich of Cheliye
Time and Signs of the Second Coming of Christ

Music: Sergei Rachmaninov
Vespers - Hexapsalmos; Hail, Gladdening Light
USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir, conductor Valery Polyansky

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Archimandrite Justin (Popovic) ,pt 1/3 - "He always preached...":



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"He always preached,regardless of number of people in church..."
"He spoke harshly,he said what he meant,he didn't mince his words..."
"He was preaching so fervently,that it seemed to me once he did not touch the ground.It was St.Elias.As if he saw St.Elias Himself."

As an ecclesiastical person and clergyman Father Justin spent 31 years in the Ćelije Monastery under the continuous surveillance of the Communist Party police. Considered ineligible by the Communist party, together with a few fellow professors, he was ousted from the Faculty in 1945. The Communists limited his public appearances within monastic confines.
A devoted monk and philosopher of the Eastern Orthodox theology, elder Justin Popović was a great critic of ecumenism, providing it was inclined towards relativization of the God's Truth. (Fr. John Meyendorff, professor of the Academy of St. Vladimir now in Crestwood, New York (associated with Columbia University) - and every bit as much a critic of the "Catholic novelties" and the Pope's anti-Christianity. Until the end of his life Father Justin was a dedicated creator, and it is no wonder that his work is considered as a great contribution to the Orthodox theology and he himself as the secret conscience of the Serbian Church and the entire martyr's Orthodox religion (according to John N. Karmiris, the Greek academician).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Popovi%C4%87

He was cannonized as a saint 29.4.2010

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Archimandrite Justin (Popovich),pt 2/3 - "A holy man who helped sick people....":



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Archimandrite Justin (Popovich) (1894-1979) ,a famous monk from Serbia,has been well known through whole Orthodox world.

"He was simple and calm man radiating holiness while talking to someone"
"Father Justin was a saint in his lifetime"
"A holy man who helped sick people.He healed many of them,those who were helpless cases for medicine..."
"There were many miracles... He was a miracle itself"

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Archimandrite Justin Popovich,pt 3/3 "If you visit Serbia...":



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Archimandrite Justin (Popovich) (1894-1979), a famous monk from Serbia,has been well known through whole Orthodox world.

"The late Fr.Makarije Popovich,the prior of Decani said "If you visit Serbia and don't visit Fr.Justin, it would be as if you went to Rome and didn't see the Pope"

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St. Isaac the Syrian: The Gift of Repentance

Repentance has been given to mankind as a grace beyond grace. Repentance is a second birth from GOD. This second birth we receive in earnest in Baptism.

Repentance is the gateway to mercy which is open for all who seek it. By way of this gate we enter divine mercy, and apart from this entrance one cannot find mercy.

For "all have sinned", according to divine Scripture, "and are jusified freely by grace" (Rm. 3:23,24). Repentance is the second grace and is born in the heart as a result of faith and fear.

Fear is the paternal rod which guides us as far as the spiritual Eden; but once we have reached there, it leaves us and turns back.

Eden consists in divine love, wherein is the paradise of all blessedness. This is where St. Paul received supernatural sustenance.

After having tasted of the tree of life, he explained, saying, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the human heart, what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM" (I Co. 2:9). --St, Isaac the Syrian

Cherubimic Hymn - Georgian Chant

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Georgian Lyrics:

Romelni Qeurubimta saidumlod vemsgavsenit da ckhovelmskopelsa samebasa samtsmida arsobisa galobasa shevstsiravt, kovelive msoplio dauteot zrunva.

St. Cyprian of Carthage: Take Heart in the End Times

From the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew 24: 7, 8 (NLT):

The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.

Those who fight for GOD, having been placed in the heavenly army, should hope for the things prophesied. Since the LORD told us these things would come, we won't tremble at the storms and whirlwinds of the world and will have no cause for alarm. The encouragement of HIS foreseeing WORD instructs, teaches, prepares, and strengthens the people of HIS Church to endure the things to come. HE predicted that wars, famines, earthquakes, and plagues would arise everywhere. For fear that an unexpected and new evil should shake us, HE previously warned us that suffering would increase more and more in the last times. The Kingdom of GOD, beloved, is almost at hand. The reward of life, the rejoicing of eternal salvation, and the eternal joy and obtaining of Paradise are coming now with the passing away of the world. Already, heavenly things are taking the place of earthly, great things and small, and eternal things of things that fade away. What room is there here for anxiety and concern? Who, in the midst of these things, is trembling and sad except those without hope and faith? For it is those who aren't willing to go to CHRIST who fear death. It is those who don't believe that they are about to reign with CHRIST who aren't willing to go to CHRIST. --St. Cyprian of Carthage

The Shepherd of Hermas: The Twelth Mandate

(I)

...Rid yourself of all evil desire, and clothe yourself with the desire that is good and holy, for when you have clothed yourself with this desire, you will hate the evil desire and control it as you wish. For the evil desire is savage and only tamed with difficulty, for it is terrible and utterly destroys men by its savageness; in particular, if a servant of GOD gets entangled in it and lacks understanding, he will be terribly destroyed by it. It destroys such as do not have the garment of the good desire but are mixed up with this world. These it hands over to death. ...Hear...the kind of works by which the evil desire puts to death GOD's servants. ...

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(II)

...Above all is the desire for someone else's wife or husband, and for the extravagances of wealth, and for many needless things to eat and drink, and many other foolish luxuries. For every luxury is foolish and futile for GOD's servants. These desires, then, are evil and bring death to GOD's servants. For these evil desires are the daughters of the devil. You must keep away, therefore, from evil desires, in order that by keeping away from them you may live to GOD. But those who are mastered by them and do not resist them will utterly perish, for these desires are deadly. But put on the desire of righteousness and, having armed yourself with the fear of the LORD, resist them. For the fear of the LORD lives in the good desire. If the evil desire sees you armed with the fear of GOD and resisting it, it will flee far from you and will no longer be seen by you, because if fears your weapons. So you, when you have triumphed over it, come to the desire of righteousness and deliver to it the victory you have won, and serve it just as it desires. If you serve the good desire and submit to it, you will be able to master the evil desire and control it as you wish. ...

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(III)

...Practice righteousness and virtue, truth and the fear of the LORD, faith and gentleness, and whatever good things are like these. By practicing these you will be an acceptable servant of GOD and will live to HIM; indeed, all who serve the good desire will live to GOD.

...You have the commandments [mandates]; walk in them and encourage your listeners, in order that their repentance may be pure the rest of the days of their lives. Carefully execute this ministry which I am giving you and you will accomplish much. For you will find favor with those who are going to repent, and they will obey your words, for I will be with you...

...If you propose to yourself that they can be kept, you will keep them easily and they will not be hard. But if the idea that they cannot be kept by man has already entered your heart, you will not keep them. But now I say to you: if you do not keep them, but neglect them, you will not have salvation, nor will your children nor your family, since you have already decided for yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by man. ...



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(IV)

...Foolish man, lacking understanding and double-minded, don't you understand how great and mighty and marvelous GOD's Glory is, because HE created the world for the sake of man, and subjected all HIS creation to man, and gave him all authority to rule over everything under heaven? If then...man is lord of all GOD's creatures and rules over everything, can't he also master these commandments? The man who has the LORD in his heart...can master everything, including all these commandments. But to those who have the LORD on their lips but whose heart is hardened and who are far from the LORD these commandments are hard and difficult. You, therefore, who are empty and fickle in the faith, put the LORD in your heart, and you will realize that nothing is easier or sweeter or more gentle than these commandments.

You who walk in the commandments of the devil, which are difficult and bitter and savage and licentious, be converted and do not fear the devil, for he has no power against you. For I, the Messenger of Repentance, WHO has mastery over him, will be with you. The devil can only cause fear, but his fear has no force. Do not fear him, and he will flee from you. ...

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(V)

...He cannot...oppress GOD's servants who hope in HIM with all their heart. The devil can wrestle with them, but he cannot throw and pin them. So, if you resist him, he will be defeated and flee from you in disgrace.

But those...who are empty fear the devil, as if he has power. When a man fills a large number of jars with good wine, and among those jars a few are partially empty, he does not bother to examine the full jars when he comes to the jars, for he knows that they are full. But he does examine the partially empty ones because he fears they may have turned sour. For partially empty jars quickly turn sour, and the taste of the wine is ruined. So also the devil comes to all GOD's servants to empty them. All those who are full in the Faith resist him mightily, and he leaves them alone, because he finds no place where he can gain entrance. So then he comes to those who are partially empty, and finding a place he enters them, and then he does what he wants with them, and they become enslaved to him. ...



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(VI)

...But I, the Messenger of Repentance, say to you: do not fear the devil. For I was sent...to be with you who repent with all your heart, and to strength you in the Faith. So believe in GOD, you who because of your sins have despaired of your life, and are adding to your sins are making your life hard, because if you turn to the LORD with all your heart, and practice righteousness the rest of the days of your life, and serve HIM rightly according to HIS Will, HE will heal your previous sins, and you will have power to conquer the devil's works. But do not fear the devil's threats at all, for he is as powerless as a dead man's sinews.

Listen to me, therefore, and fear HIM WHO is able to do everything, to save and destroy, and keep these commandments, and you will live to GOD. ...

...You will keep them...if your heart is pure to the LORD; indeed, all who cleanse their hearts of vain desires of this world will keep them, and will live to GOD... --The Shepherd of Hermas - Mandate 12 (mid second century AD)

Father A James Bernstein: WHO GAVE US THE NEW TESTAMENT?

"The history of early Christianity clearly reveals that God used His Church, composed of flesh-and-blood Christians, as active participants in the process of selecting and establishing the New Testament canon, just as He used real people —with feelings, emotions, unique backgrounds and perspectives—to write the twenty-seven separate books."

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Sometimes it is easy to overlook the obvious. Take, for instance, the New Testament. Even though every Christian really knows better, it is easy to forget that the New Testament was not written as one continuous book. Rather, it is a collection of twenty-seven shorter writings which were penned by a variety of authors at differing times and geographical locations and compiled much later. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find a list of what books belong in the New Testament. The “canon” of Scripture is, of course, not “scriptural.”

This brings up anther important question which may not be so obvious. Who, then, decided which books should be included in the New Testament canon and which ones left out?

As a Jewish convert to Christianity via evangelical Protestantism, I once refused to acknowledge that the Church had anything to do with compiling the New Testament. I wanted to believe God chose and collected these books without human involvement. The books, I assumed, somehow validated themselves beyond all reasonable doubt, and early Christians merely recognized their obvious scriptural status.

Though there is some degree of truth in this position, it is by itself naive and unbalanced. The history of early Christianity clearly reveals that God used His Church, composed of flesh-and-blood Christians, as active participants in the process of selecting and establishing the New Testament canon, just as He used real people—with feelings, emotions, unique backgrounds and perspectives—to write the twenty-seven separate books.

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What Bible Did the Apostles Use?

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (II Timothy 3:16). I had always assumed that the “Scripture” spoken of in this passage included both the Old and New Testament. In reality, there was no official “New” Testament when this statement was made. Even the Old Testament was still in the process of formulation, for the Jews did not decide upon a definitive list or canon of Old Testament books until after the rise of Christianity.

As I studied further I discovered that early Christians used a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. * This translation, which was begun in Alexandria, Egypt, in the third century B.C., contained an expanded canon which included a number of the so-called “deutero-canonical” books. Although there was some initial debate over these books, they were eventually received by Christians into the Old Testament canon.

In reaction to the rise of Christianity the Jews narrowed their canons and eventually excluded the deutero-canonical books—although they still regarded them as sacred. The modern Jewish canon was not rigidly fixed until the third century A.D. Interestingly, it is this later version of the Jewish canon of the Old Testament, rather than the canon of early Christianity, which is followed by most of the Protestant Church today.

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History in the Making

The history of the New Testament canon and its development is a fascinating subject — and crucial to the understanding of both the Bible and the Church. For over two hundred years a number of books we now take for granted as being part of the New Testament were disputed by the Church before being included. Many other books were considered for inclusion, but eventually excluded. I was shocked when I first discovered that the earliest complete listing of all twenty-seven books of the New Testament was not given until A.D. 367, by Athanasius, a bishop in Egypt.

This means that the first complete listing of New Testament books as we have them today didn’t appear until over 300 years after the death and Resurrection of Christ. Imagine it! If the New Testament were begun at the same time as the U.S. Constitution, we wouldn’t see a final product until the year 2087!

During the first four centuries there was substantial disagreement over which books should be included in the canon of Scripture. The first person we know of who tried to establish a New Testament canon was the second-century heretic, Marcion. He wanted the Church to reject its Jewish heritage, and in so doing dispense with the Old Testament entirely. Marcion’s canon included only one Gospel, which he himself edited, and ten of Paul’s epistles. That’s it!

Many believe that it was partly in reaction to this distorted canon of Marcion that the early Church determined to have a clearly defined canon of its own. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the breakup of the Jewish-Christian community of Jerusalem, and the threatened loss of continuity in the oral tradition probably also contributed to the sense of urgency to standardize the list of books Christians could rely on.

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The Gospel according to Whom?

The four Gospels were written from thirty to seventy years after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. In the interim, the Church relied on oral tradition—the accounts of eye-witnesses—as well as scattered documents and written tradition. I was very surprised to discover as I first studied the early Church that many “Gospels” besides those of the New Testament canon were circulating in the first and second centuries.

These include the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel according to the Egyptians, and the Gospel according to Peter, just to name a few.

The New Testament itself speaks of the existence of such accounts. Saint Luke’s Gospel begins by saying, “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us ... it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account ...“ In time, all but four Gospels were excluded from the New Testament canon.

In the early years of Christianity there was even a controversy over which of the four Gospels to use. The Christians of Asia Minor used the Gospel of John rather than the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Based upon the Passion account contained in John, Christians in Asia Minor celebrated Easter on a different day than those in Rome, which resisted the Gospel of John and instead used the other Gospels. The Western Church for a time hesitated to use the Gospel of John because the Gnostic heretics also made use of it in addition to their own “secret Gospels.”

Another controversy arose over the issue of whether there should be separate Gospels or one single composite Gospel account. In the second century, Tatian, who was Justin Martyr’s student, published a single composite “harmonized” Gospel called the Diatessaron. The Syrian Church used this composite Gospel in the second, third, and fourth centuries. This is the very Church to which “the Nazares” (Jewish Christians of Jerusalem) eventually migrated after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in A.D. 70. The Syrian Church did not accept all four Gospels until the fifth century. They also ignored for a time the three epistles of John, and Second Peter.

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Other Controversial Books

My favorite New Testament book, the Epistle to the Hebrews, was clearly excluded in the Western Church in a number of listings of the second, third, and fourth centuries. Prominent among reasons for excluding this book were concerns over its authorship. Primarily due to Augustine and his influence upon certain North African councils, the Epistle to the Hebrews was finally accepted in the West by the end of the fourth century.

On the other hand, the book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse, written by the Apostle John, was not accepted in the Eastern Church for several centuries. Once again, questions concerning authorship of the book were at the source of the controversy. Among Eastern authorities who rejected this book were Dionysius of Alexandria (third century), Eusebius (third century), Cyril of Jerusalem (fourth century), the Council of Laodicea (fourth century), John Chrysostom (fourth century), Theodore of Mopsuesta (fourth century), and Theodoret (fifth century). In addition, the original Syriac and Armenian versions of the New Testament omitted this book. Many Greek New Testament manuscripts written before the ninth century do not contain the Apocalypse, and it is not used in the liturgical cycle of the Eastern Church to this day.

Athanasius supported the inclusion of the Apocalypse, and it is due primarily to his influence that it was eventually received into the New Testament canon in the East. The early Church actually seems to have made an internal compromise on the Apocalypse and Hebrews. The East would have excluded the Apocalypse from the canon, while the West would have done without Hebrews. Simply put, each side agreed to accept the disputed books of the other.

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Who Decided?

With the passage of time the Church discerned which writings were truly Apostolic and which were not. It was a prolonged struggle taking place over several centuries in which the Church decided what books were her own. As part of the process of discerning, the Church met together in council. These various Church councils met to deal with many varied issues, among which was the canon of Scripture.

These councils met to discern and formally confirm what was already generally accepted within the Church at large. They did not legislate Scripture as much as they set forth what had become self-evident truth and practice within the Churches of God. The councils sought to proclaim the common mind of the Church and reflect the unanimity of faith, practice, and tradition of the local Churches represented.

The Church Councils provide us with specific records in which the Church spoke clearly and in unison as to what constitutes Scripture. Among the many councils that met during the first four centuries, two particularly stand out:


1.The Council of Laodicea, which met in Asia Minor, around A.D. 363. This council stated that only canonical books of the Old and New Testaments should be used in the Church. It forbade reading other books in Church. It enumerated the canonical books of our present Old and New Testaments, with the exception of the Apocalypse of Saint John. This is the first council which clearly listed the canonical books. Its decisions were widely accepted in the Eastern Church.

2.The Third Council of Carthage, which met in North Africa, around A.D. 397.This Council, attended by Augustine, provided a full list of the canonical books of both Old and New Testaments. The 27 books of the present day New Testament were accepted as canonical. It also held that these books should be read in the Church as Divine Scripture to the exclusion of all others. This Council was widely accepted as authoritative in the West.

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A Question of Authority

As I said at the beginning of this article, the history of the New Testament canon and its development is crucial to a proper understanding of both the Bible and the Church. The implications are indeed profound, and they call for some serious heart-searching on the part of all Christians. I would like to conclude on a personal note by showing you exactly how profound these implications can be. For they brought about some radical changes in my life—not only in how I came to approach Scripture and its interpretation, but in how I now relate to Christ’s holy Church in its historical expression.

Soon after my own conversion to Christianity I found myself getting swept up in the tide of Christian sectarianism which is so pervasive in the Protestant world. In fact, I eventually became so sectarian that I came to believe that all Churches were non-biblical. To become a member of any Church was to compromise the Faith. A close friend of mine even wrote a book called The Bible Versus the Churches, in which he argued that the Bible was true, and in conflict with Churches, all of which were false.

For me, Church became “the Bible, God, and me.” My attitude towards others was, “Tell me what you believe and I’ll tell you where you’re wrong!” Even my Christian friends became suspect. And my friend who wrote The Bible Versus the Churches came to believe that the Bible was in conflict with me as well! We parted ways.

This hostility towards Churches fit in well with my being a Jew. I naturally distrusted Churches because I felt they had betrayed the teachings of Christ in having persecuted or passively ignored the persecution of the Jews throughout history. As I became increasingly sectarian, indeed even obnoxious and anti-social, I slowly began to realize that something was seriously wrong with my approach to Christianity. I also realized that many of my Jewish-Christian brethren had also fallen into an elitist and sectarian “super-Christian” mold, believing that they were on a mission to clean up “Gentile Christianity.”

This realization led me to a sincere study of the history of the early Church, where I discovered four centuries of discussion and debate over which books should be included and excluded from the New Testament canon. It soon became clear to me that I was dealing with a larger issue— the issue of Church authority.

Biblical scholarship had given me four criteria to determine if a book was to be included as canonical:


1.It must be written by Apostles or disciples of the Apostles.
2.It must be considered inspired of God.
3.It must be accepted by the Church.
4.It must conform to the oral tradition and rule of faith taught by the Church.



I had no difficulty accepting the first two criteria. I wrestled mightily, however, with the thought that the Church had been given the authority to judge what books composed Scripture. Ultimately, it came down to a single issue. I already believed that God spoke authoritatively through His written Word. Could I now accept the fact that He spoke authoritatively through His Church as well—the very Church which had protected, preserved, and actively produced the Scriptures I held so dear?

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The Church of the New Testament

For the earliest Christians, God spoke His Word not only to but through His Body, the Church, and it was within His Body, the Church, that the Word was confirmed and established. Without question the Scriptures were looked upon by early Christians as God’s active revelation of Himself to the world. At the same time, the Church was looked upon as the household of God, “having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21).

There was no organic separation between Bible and Church as we find so often today. The Body without the Word is without message, but the Word without the Body is without foundation. As Paul says in I Timothy 3:15, “The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” The Church is the living body of the incarnate Lord. She is an integral part of the Gospel message and it is within the context of the Church that the New Testament was conceived and preserved.

This study was instrumental in my eventual conversion to the Orthodox Faith. If the Church was not just a tangent or a sidelight to the Scripture, but rather an active participant in its development and preservation, then it was time to reconcile my differences and abandon my prejudices. Rather than try to judge the Church by my modern understanding of what the Bible was saying, I needed to come into union with the Church that produced the New Testament, and let her guide me into a proper understanding.

To make a long story short, I am now an Orthodox priest serving in Seattle, Washington, and am striving to witness to the power of God’s Holy Church. To those who, like I once did, stand dogmatically on “Sola Scriptura,” in the process rejecting the Church of God which not only produced the New Testament, but also selected through the guidance of the Holy Spirit those books which compose the New Testament, I would say only this:

Study the history of the early Church and the development of the New Testament canon. Use source documents where possible. (It is amazing how some of the most “conservative” Bible scholars of the evangelical community turn into cynical and rationalistic liberals when discussing Church history.) Examine for yourself what happened to God’s people after the 28th chapter of the book of Acts.

If you examine the data and look with objectivity at what occurred in those early days, I think you will discover what I discovered. The history of God’s Church didn’t stop with the first century. If it had, we would not possess the New Testament books which are so dear to every Christian believer. The phenomena of separating Church and Bible which we see so prevalent in much of today’s Christian world is a modern phenomena. Early Christians made no such artificial distinctions.

Once you have examined this data, I would encourage you to find out more about the historic Church which produced the New Testament, preserved it, and selected those books which would be part of its canon. Every Christian owes it to himself or herself to find out more about this Church and to understand its vital role in proclaiming God’s Word to our own generation.

Fr. A. James Bernstein is the pastor of Saint Paul Orthodox Church in Lynnwood, Washington.

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* The Psalter according to the Seventy

The Use of the Septuagint by the Early Church

What Old Testament text did early Christians use when they prayed the Psalms? Many are surprised to learn that the official text was not the Hebrew or Masoretic text which forms the basis of most modern English translations today. In order to understand why, it is necessary to know something of the background of the text of the Old Testament.

At the time of Christ, the Apostles, and the early Church, Hebrew had long since ceased to be the commonly spoken language, even among the Jews. Although Jesus understood Hebrew, He would have spoken Aramaic – the common language of Palestine – with His disciples. ; Jesus and His disciples were probably familiar, at least to a certain extent, with Greek, the common language of the Roman Empire.

Because Greek was the most widely spoken and read language of the empire at large, a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek had been accomplished, according to tradition, by seventy translators, in the city of Alexandria, during the third century before Christ. The name Septuagint means “according to the seventy.” The Septuagint, or LXX, was without question the most common text of the Scriptures at the time of Jesus and the Apostles. It was the Old Testament of the early Church.

The other text used at that period was the Hebrew text that had been preserved by the rabbis and scribes of Israel. Those who read today about scriptural manuscripts will have undoubtedly run across references made to the “masoretic” texts, which means the texts of the scribes (who were known as “masoretes”).

In the first century, after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and the end of the Jewish priesthood, the authority of the rabbis in Israel became absolute. Before that time the rabbis occupied a position secondary to the priests. The rabbis and scribes distrusted anything that was not written in the traditional Hebrew language, and consequently they rejected the Septuagint text. But for the early Church the Septuagint was always used. When the New Testament quotes the Old, which it frequently does, and when it quotes the Psalms, which it very frequently does, it quotes the Septuagint text exclusively. That is one of the reasons why the Orthodox Church today still continues to use the Septuagint text.

From what Hebrew text was the Septuagint translated? The actual Hebrew manuscripts which formed the basis of this translation, centuries before Christ, have been lost. The Orthodox Church believes that the Hebrew text upon which the Septuagint is based is actually older and more venerable than the Hebrew text of the scribes.

Though both texts, the Masoretic text and the Septuagint, are quite similar in many ways, there are significant differences. These differences can primarily be summed up by saying that the messianic prophecies found throughout the Psalms and the prophetic writings are far more explicit in the Septuagint text than in the Masoretic text.

A careful study of the Psalms reveals how crucially different the Septuagint text is in these messianic portions. Orthodoxy regards the intensification of messianic prophecy that occurred in the Septuagint text to be the inspiration of the Holy Spirit preparing Israel for the coming of the Savior. As the time of the Messiah drew nearer and nearer, the prophecies of His coming became more and more explicit.

For the most part, translators during and after the Reformation, in an attempt to get back to what they thought were the roots of the Old Testament text, chose to use the Hebrew texts of the scribes and rejected the traditional use of the Septuagint. Therefore the Bibles most commonly available in English, whether they be NKJV or RSV or another English translation, are translations of the Hebrew text of the scribes, not translations of the Septuagint. The traditional text of the Orthodox Church, however, whether it be in her singing of the Psalms in worship, or her study of the Old Testament, is still the text of the early Church: the Septuagint.

Father A James Bernstein

From Again Magazine
Publication of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Volume 15, No. 3, September 1992
pp. 7-10

The Orthodox World in Chant

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Orthodox chants from around the world and combined them with Orthodox visuals to create a slide show:

Chant 1 - English - 'Cherubic Hymn: After The Entrance' - chanted by Cappella Romana

Chant 2 - Slavonic - 'Dostojno' - chanted by Divna Ljubojevic

Chant 3 - Greek - Christos Anesti - chanted by Petros Gaitanos

Chant 4 - Japanese - Christ Is Risen - chanted by Stavropoleos Choir

Chant 5 - Greek - Defte Lai - chanted by Divna Ljubojevic

The Source of Human Morality Debate - Orthodox Christianity In America Begins To Answer "New Atheism"

Part I:



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Part II:



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Part III:



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Part IV:



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Part V:



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Part VI:



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Part VII:



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Part VIII:



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Part IX:



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On the Implications of Atheism:



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On Old Testament Violence and Orthodox Interpretation of Scripture:



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On the Intrinsic Value of a Human Being:



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On the Roman Catholic Church's Inquisition and the Crusades:



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On Science, Galileo and Church Persecution:



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Abba Anthony the Great: It is Not for Man to Question GOD

Abba Antonios, pondering the ways of God, once asked: "Lord, how does it happen that many live very few years and yet others reach a ripe old age? And how is it that some live in poverty while others are rich? And how is it that the unjust continue to grow richer and the just are poor?" Then he heard a voice say to him: "Antonios, watch yourself, for those things which you ask about belong to the inscrutable ways of God's wisdom and it is not to your benefit to learn of them."

On Glorification of the Saints: Archpriest Georges Mitrofanov Details the Process

Glorification of saints is a very difficult issue. History of the Church is, first of all, the history of sainthood, and the twentieth century in this regard is one of the saddest periods of our church history. The Russian Church, having given the world an enormous number of saints, had no opportunity to complete the glorification . From 1917 to 1988 only two ascetics were canonized, and that only because it was important for the international politics of the USSR (for example, the canonization of Nicholas of Japan emphasized the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, of Russia, and therefore, of the Soviet Union in Japan).

Glorification of saints became possible only in the 1980s when under the circumstances of perestroika, the government started to change the politics with respect to the Church. On the eve of the festivities for the 1000 year anniversary of the baptism of Russia, the government agreed to perform several canonizations. In 1987 a Synodal committee on the canonization of saints was formed.



For the 18 years of the committee's work, over 1500 saints have been glorified. These glorifications have demanded from us some very serious and, I will not be afraid of the word, innovative decisions. The Church lives by tradition, but the tradition does not always develop in an uninterrupted and peaceful way. Let us review what are the grounds for canonization. First of all, miracles connected with the life of a Christian and the miracles occurring after his death in connection with his commemoration. Secondly, the veneration of a Christian by the church people and, finally, his righteous life. Everything is clear, it would seem. Yet, here is the problem that we encountered almost immediately. Veneration by the people of many pious Christians is absent in our country. If you were to ask me: "Which of the saints canonized by your committee fully corresponds to the main criteria?" -- I would give you only several names.

Among these names, first of all, I would mention the names of holy righteous John of Kronstadt and blessed Kseniya of Saint-Petersburg. Namely these saints were venerated especially deeply during the Soviet period, even though that was very difficult, as the government was very much against their veneration. It is examplary that the Soviet censorship had forbidden to mention the names of blessed Kseniya and Fr. John of Kronstadt, as well as the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov even in the "Journal of Moscow Patriarchate." So great was the intention of the government to erase from the memory of the Church those saints who have been profoundly venerated. What then could be said about the neo-martyrs in this regard! So much less could have been said about them.



In this way, the veneration of many saints must have been simply absent in our country. What concerns miracles, they do occur namely where and when the veneration of the reposed holy people takes place. But if there is no veneration, how would the miracles happen, and how could they be fixed in such circumstances? In addition, another difficult question arose before us. Veneration by what people do we need to take in consideration? Sometimes we are suggested to glorify a person, pointing to the fact that he is venerated by all kinds of people: by the believers and atheists, Muslims and Buddists. In this case, however, we must raise the question of canonization of various extrasensory individuals that the Soviet people were so fond of. This is absurd. Thus, we must rely on the veneration namely by church going people.

Here, too, we encounter certain difficulties. What is the church people? How can we define its borders? It is often said that in Russia there are 80% of the Orthodox. In reality, 80% are people of the Russian Federation of the Slavic descent, that is, the descendants of the Orthodox. In our country, there are barely over half the people baptized, but it still does not mean that they have been churched. A churched person is someone who goes to confession and communion at least once a year. There are no more than 3-4% of such people in our country, but even among them there are a great many religously ignorant people. These people have suggested that we canonized, e.g., John the Terrible, Rasputin, and even Stalin. Such ideas wander in the minds of our church people. So, whose opinion can we rely on in our work?



We understood fairly early that we would have to reveal for the Church those saints whom people have forgotten, whom people could not have left unforgotten in the earlier period. In the majority of cases we would not rely on the veneration by people and would not have the various witnesses of miracles. With this we understood that we would have to be very careful and thorough in our work so as not to allow for the glorification of those who are not worthy of this. At one point in an interview with one of the moscow newspapers I used the following phrase: "It is better to under-canonize than to over-canonize." Ultimately, all the worthy are glorified by God, and the church canonization takes place, foremost, for those of us living on earth. Thus, a canonization must be completed only when there is no doubt.

So, coming from the aforementioned principles, we began our work. Its result is known to you: the glorification of 1500 saints. I would like to draw your attention to the following issue. Among the 1500 saints of the XX century about 1400 of them are neo-martyrs. These numbers make one think. What does such a large quantity of martyrs tell us? Does it speak about the glory of our Russian Orthodox Church? Or about Her affliction? It has becomes obvious to me in the past years that this is the great sorrow of our Church. We have lost a great number of saints who have not had time to finish everything in their service to the church. The horror from this is intensified by the realization that they would often be murdered by their own flock, by the baptized folk, by people who took communion since their infancy, but who have fallen away from the Church. And they would murder them with the participation or the indifference of the majority of the Russian Orthodox Christians.



I must say that at the meeting with the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad at the All-Abroad hierarchal gathering in 2003, I was able to see how the saints we glorified, the saints who with their blood have strengthened the Church -- how this unites us with people who living abroad during all these years remained Russian Orthodox Christians.

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Translated by www.sestry.ry

http://www.pravmir.com/article_149.html

Dum Pater Familias - Codex Calixtinus ("Mozarabic" Chant)

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Mozarabic Chant - Dum Pater Familias.
Canción en loor de Santiago de Compostela

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Latin:

Dum pater familias
Rex universorum
Donaret provincias
Ius apostolorum
Jacobus Yspanias
Lux illustrat morum.


Primus ex apostolis
Martir Jerosolimis
Jacobus egregio
Sacer est martyrio


Jacobi Gallecia
Opem rogat piam
Plebe cuius gloria
Dat insignem viam
Ut precum frequentia
Cantet melodiam:


"Herru Sanctiagu
Grot Sanctiagu
E ultreya e suseya
Deus aia nos"


Primus ex apostolis . . .


Jacobo dat parium
Omnis mundus gratis
Ob cuius remedium
Miles pietatis
Cunctorum presidium
Est ad vota satis.


Primus ex apostolis . . .


Jacobum miraculis
Que fiunt per illum
Arctis in periculis
Acclamet ad illum
Quiquis solvi vinculis
Sperat propter illum.


Primus ex apostolis . . .


O beate Jacobe
Virtus nostra vere
Nobis hostes remove
Tuos ac tuere
Ac devotos adibe
Nos tibi placere.


Primus ex apostolis . . .


Jacobe propicio
Veniam speremus
Et quas ex obsequio
Merito debemus
Patri tam eximio
Dignas laudes demus.


Primus ex apolstolis . . .

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English Translation (Google):

While the family king of the Universe would give the provinces The right of the Apostles James Yspanias The light illuminates character. The first of the apostles March in Jerusalem James, the distinguished It is sacred martyrdom James Gallecia Asks for help on any People whose glory Gives a way As the frequency of requests Sing a melody; "Herre Sanctiagu being Sanctiagu E ultreya of suseya God we Ajah " The first of the apostles. . . James gives equal All the world for free Out of the remedy Miles of protection of all Is enough for the prayers. The first of the apostles. . . James wonders Done by him Bears in danger To acclaim him Who break He hopes for him. The first of the apostles. . . O Blessed James Our strength is We remove the And protect your I'll up and devoted to We please. The first of the apostles. . . s help, James I hope And the submission of With good reason we should Father most notable Let us give due praise. The first of the apostles. . .

Psalm CIII - Optina (Slavonic)

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St. Petersburg Optina Pustyn Male Choir, 2003
Orthodox Chants From Russia

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Psalm 103

Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.


He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

St. Isaac the Syrian: Spiritual Vision

Faith is the gateway to the mysteries. What the eyes of the body are to sensory objects the same is faith to the eyes of the mind as they gaze on hidden treasures.

We have two eyes of the soul, just as we have the body's two eyes, as the Fathers say.

But these do not both have the same function of sight: with one we see the hidden Glory of GOD which is concealed within nature, togther with HIS Might, HIS Wisdom, and HIS eternal thought for us, all of which can be perceived through HIS special providence for us.

With the same eye we also behold the spiritual orders, our fellow-beings.

But with the other eye we behold the Glory of GOD's Holy Nature.

When our LORD wishes to admit us to spiritual mysteries, HE opens wide the sea of faith in our minds. --St. Isaac the Syrian

O Heavenly King (Slavonic)

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Performance by the choir of the Odessa Theotokos of Iveron monastery in the museum of literature, at a concert dedicated to the day of the founding of the monastery.

Kyrie Eleison - Old Roman Chant (Ensemble Organum)

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Medieval Old Roman Chant (6th century AD).
Title: "Kyrie eleison".
Service: Nativity Mass.
Performers: Ensemble Organum, Director: Marcel Peres
Album: "Chant de l'Eglise de Rome (VIe - XIIIe Siècles)"

Abba Anthony the Great: Visions From Demons

Several brothers went to Abba Antonios to relate to him certain visions which they beheld and to ascertain from him whether the visions were true or of demonic origin. They had along with them a small donkey which died on the way. Just as they reached Abba Antonios, he, expecting them, said: "How did the little donkey die on the road?"

"How did you know this, Abba?" they said to him.

"The demons revealed it to me."

And they answered him: "It is for this reason that we came to see you, for fear of being deceived, since we see visions and many times they come true."

Thus, with the foregoing example of the donkey, the elder made it known to them that their visions came forth from the demons.

Blessed Elder Joseph The Hesychast: Letter To A Youth Inquiring About "The Prayer"

My beloved brother in CHRIST,

I pray that you are well. Today I received your letter and shall answer all your questions. The information you seek does not require time and effort for me to think and respond. For noetic prayer is to me as any other man's trade to him, because I have been working at it now for more than thirty-six years.

When I came to the Holy Mountain, I immediately sought out the hermits who practiced the prayer. Back then, forty years ago, there were many who had life in them -- men of virtue, elders of the past. We chose one of them as our elder and received guidance from several of them.



Now then, to start mastering noetic prayer you must constantly force yourself to say the prayer without ceasing. In the beginning quickly: the nous (intellect, mind) must not have time to form any distracting thoughts. Pay attention only to the words: "LORD JESUS CHRIST, have mercy on me." When the prayer is said orally for a long period of time, the nous becomes accustomed to it and eventually takes up saying it. Then it becomes sweet to you as if you had honey in your mouth, and you want to keep saying it all the time. If you stop it, you feel greatly distressed.

When the nous gets used to it and has taken its fill - when it has learned it well. Then it sends it to the heart. Since the nous supplies food for the soul, the task of the nous is to send whatever food or evil it sees or hears down to the heart, which is the center of man's spiritual and physical powers, the throne of the nous. So, when someone saying the prayer keeps his nous from imagining anything, and pays attention only to the words of the prayer, then breathing gently with a certain compulsion and volition of his own, he brings his nous down to his heart; he holds it within as if in confinement, rhythmically saying the prayer:



"LORD JESUS CHRIST, have mercy on me!"

In the beginning he says the prayer a few times and takes a breath. Later, when the nous has become accustomed to remaining in the heart, he says one prayer with each breath: "LORD JESUS CHRIST" breathing in, "have mercy on me" breathing out. This happens until grace overshadows the soul and begins to act within it. Beyond this is theoria.

So, the prayer is said everywhere: seated, in bed, walking and standing. "Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks," says the Apostle. However, it is not enough to pray only when you go to bed. It takes a struggle: standing and sitting. When you get tired, sit. Then stand up again so that you are not overcome with sleep.

This is called "praxis." You show your good intention to GOD, but everything depends on HIM, on whether or not HE gives to you. GOD is the beginning and the end. HIS grace is the driving force that activates all things.



As for how love is activated, you will realize how when you keep the commandments. When you get up at night and pray; when you see someone ill and sympathize with him; when you see a widow, orphan, or the elderly and you are charitable to them. Then GOD loves you. And you also love HIM. HE loves first and pours out HIS grace, and we return to HIM what is HIS: "THINE OWN of THINE OWN."

Well, if you seek to find HIM only through the prayer, do not let a single breath pass without it. Just be careful not to accept any fantasies. For the DIVINE is formless, unimaginable, and colorless. HE is supremely perfect, not subject to syllogisms. HE acts like a subtle breeze in our minds.

Compunction comes when you consider how much you have grieved GOD WHO is so good, so sweet, so merciful, so kind, and entirely full of love. WHO was crucified and suffered everything for us. When you meditate on these and other things the LORD has suffered, they bring compunction.

So, if you are able to say the prayer out loud without ceasing, in two or three months you can get used to it. Then grace overshadows you and refreshes you. Only say it out loud, without a break. When the nous takes it up, you stop saying it orally; and then when the nous loses grip of the prayer, let the tongue resume saying it out loud. All the forcefulness is needed with the tongue until you get used to it in the beginning. Afterwards, all the years of your life, your nous will say it without exertion.

When you come to the Holy Mountain, as you mentioned, come and see us. But then we shall talk about other things. You will not have time for the prayer. You will find the prayer wherever your mind is at rest. Here you will be visiting the monasteries and your mind will be distracted by the things you hear and see.

I am certain that you shall find "the prayer." Have no doubts. Only straightaway knock at the door of divine mercy. And surely CHRIST shall open unto you. It is impossible for HIM not to. The more you love HIM, the more you will receive. The size of HIS gift, be it great or small, depends on your love, whether it is great or small. --Blessed Elder Joseph the Hesychast

+Archbishop DMITRI of Dallas and the South: RECONCILIATION, EDUCATION, EVANGELIZATION

At a local pastoral conference for Florida clergy of the Diocese of the South, held at Miami’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, on May 30th, 1979, His Eminence Archbishop Dmitri (then, His Grace Bishop Dmitri) revealed his vision for an ever expanding witness to Orthodox in the (then) infant diocese. The main thrust of his message, reprinted here as reported in the June 1979 issue of The Dawn, is just as pertinent to us now as it was 20 years ago.

"At the above mention gathering the bishop placed great emphasis on the active seeking of converts to the Faith. During the day-long … meeting he evolved and presented to the assembled priests a three-pronged program that would seek to present Orthodoxy to the Southern States in a "language that all can understand." With the goal of unashamed evangelization of the dominantly Protestant South, the bishop warned that both reconciliation and education are necessary within the existing establishment if true evangelization is to be undertaken.

Reconciliation:

In speaking of the priesthood, His Grace recognized the "diversity of gifts" that exists within any body of priests, and the natural fact of personal idiosyncrasies. "But," he said, "we must be always aware of the company to which we belong," avoiding a "routine" concept of the priesthood. "In this way," he stated, "the priest can escape a sort of spiritual paranoia, recognizing that his attitude toward other priests must be one of unity in love." Underlining that the way priests think of each other can undermine their effectiveness with those to whom they have been appointed pastors, the chief hierarch presented the concept of the priesthood as "the awesome, enormous responsibility to guide men’s lives in the way of salvation." Acknowledging that such a task produces "tremendous strain and fatigue," he said that "we must be on our guard at all times or rivalry and competition can develop. We have a priesthood," he continued, "that is not our own, but Christ’s; it is He who gave it to us as the High Priest of God."

Repeating again and again the theme of reconciliation among the priests, the bishop declared: "the faithful must be aware that we are all of one company, centered on the Altar, expressing the solidarity of the priesthood under the bishop."



Education:

Turning to the second theme of his program, Bishop Dmitri pointed out the necessity for "two-phase" education: that of the Orthodox Christian already in the Church, and that of the unchurched and those of other faiths to whom the True Faith must be presented.

Touching on the education of those who are already Orthodox and members of parishes or missions in the Southern Diocese, His Grace spoke of the danger of parochialism, of reducing the Church to the limits of the local parish, with a consequent lack of understanding of the complete message of Christ, and the unity of His Body. There can be no exclusivity in the Church, he said; no one should think in terms of "my" church, or "my" parish, to the exclusion of others. He also spoke of the tendency in some places to "mummify" the Church, resulting in the presentation of a "role," a national heritage that is too often confused with true faith, an ethnic consciousness that takes the place of Orthodoxy, and pushes away people who would otherwise embrace the Church.

Without detracting from the richness of any national heritage, Bishop Dmitri underscored the necessity for the proclamation of Christ and His Church, and questioned the validity of a "caretaker" view. He branded blind ethnicism as heresy in that it denies the Symbol of Faith, the Creed of the Orthodox Church, which proclaims ONE Church.

Evangelization:



Considering the matter of the proselytization of Christian groups that are not Orthodox, the bishop declared that the winning of non-Orthodox people to the Church is the duty of every Orthodox Christian, not, as some have been taught, an unchristian invasion of private belief. He reminded those present at the conference that the Orthodox Church had always been a proselytizing (missionary) Church, until the time of the Turkish invasion of Constantinople. The present tendency to regard the Church as a "passive" witness to Christ, he stated, is the result of centuries of Arab-Turkish rule, and the subsequent condition of the Church as a captive socio-religious group within a non-Christian nation. Such an attitude in a free country, the bishop maintained, denies the command of Christ to "preach the gospel" which He gave His Church. Calling upon all Orthodox Christians to "tell the people what the Church is," the hierarch stressed the responsibility of each one to proclaim the "full doctrine of Christ," and to see each individual as a soul in need of the whole Truth that is the heritage of Orthodoxy. "We are responsible," he said, "for all with whom we come in contact – on the street, in the community, and in the family."

In discussing practical suggestions for evangelization, the following points were made:

1.That there must be a committed and vigorous program for the evangelization of the Orthodox themselves, through a bold proclamation of the necessity of true Orthodox witness. The bishop emphasized that the parish priests must dominate situations that tend to stand in the way of the proclaiming of the Faith, rather than allow a situation to dominate them. All must be aware that nationalism and ethnicism must not be permitted to stand in the way of the proclamation of the Gospel, both to those who are already Orthodox and to all others who are not yet a part of the Church.



2.That Orthodox people must be aware that there is something seriously wrong with any parish of the Church that shuts itself away from the outside community. When a non-Orthodox person asks, "may I come to your church?," then the priest and people of that parish must strive to find the areas in which they have failed to proclaim the Orthodox Faith in their area...where they have neglected to state that the Church, the fullness of the doctrine of Christ, is for all people.

3.That Orthodox people must be open to the missionary possibilities in their parish areas (minority groups, recent immigrants, for example, etc.). No parish can exclude anyone, whether by language, calendar, or any other means.

4.The Church must become more and more visible in the communities in which it finds itself. It must speak out publicly through schools, colleges and community activities. It should solicit and encourage such things as field trips from local schools, visits by community organizations or other organized Christian groups. It must make itself known to local government, chambers of commerce and community service organizations. All people must be told what the Church is.



In summing up, the bishop strongly emphasized that "the only, and total, mission of the Orthodox Church is to see – and direct – the individual soul to salvation. It is not to preserve a culture, but to proclaim salvation to all mankind!"

From The Dawn
Publication of the Diocese of the South
Orthodox Church in America
December 1998