Velikoretsky Procession, 2012

June 2-7, 2012 - Russia: Around 35,000 pilgrims participated in the Velikoretsky Procession, held annually in the Kirov Oblast. The procession is associated with the Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker “Not-Made-by-Hands.” According to tradition, a local peasant named Semyon Agalakov found this icon in 1383 on the shores of the Velikaya River. After one of the villagers, who had not been able to walk, was healed by the icon, it was recognized as miraculous and became the object of pilgrimage.

Sunday of All Saints

(Commemorated on the first Sunday after the Feast of Holy Pentecost)

The first Sunday after the Feast of Holy Pentecost is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of All Saints. This day has been designated as a commemoration of all of the Saints, all the Righteous, the Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Shepherds, Teachers, and Holy Monastics, both men and women alike, known and unknown, who have been added to the choirs of the Saints and shall be added, from the time of Adam until the end of the world, who have been perfected in piety and have glorified God by their holy lives.

Background

On the Parable of the Prodigal Son

St. Cyril of Alexandria ca. 376-444

I hear one of the holy prophets trying to win unto repentance those who are far from God, and saying, “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God: for you have become weak in your iniquity. Take with you words, and return to the Lord our God.” What sort of words then did he, under the influence of the Spirit, command them to take with them? Or were they not such as become those who wish to repent; such namely, as would appease God, Who is gentle, and loves mercy. For He even said by one of the holy prophets, “Return you returning children, and I will heal your breaches.” And yet again by the voice of Ezekiel, “Return you altogether from your wickednesses, O house of Israel. Cast away from you all your iniquities which you have committed, that they be not to you for a punishment of iniquity. For I have no pleasure in the death of the sinner, as that he should turn from his evil way and live.” And the same truth Christ here also teaches us, by this most beautifully composed parable, which I will now to the best of my ability endeavour to discuss, briefly gathering up its broad statements, and explaining and defending the ideas which it contains.

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Holy Hieromartyr Philoumenos of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre

[caption id="attachment_2879" align="aligncenter" width="373" caption="New Martyr Archimandrite Philoumenos (+1979), keeper of the Greek Orthodox monastery of Jacob's Well in Samaria (Nablus, West Bank - Palestine)"][/caption]

New martyr Archimandrite Philoumenos (Hasapis)

Of Father Philoumenos' surname, his spiritual son Monk Yeghia Yenovkian writes that he was "Born to the pious Cypriot family of Hasapis". In a Greek source, published in August 2004 which deals with modern saints of the Orthodox Church, Fr. Philoumenos is referred to in a brief biographical entry as "Orountiotis" however; this latter term in the Greek refers to his place his origin (i.e. "of the village of Orounta") and not to his surname.

(Greek: Π. Φιλουμενος ο Κυπριος , also Π. Φιλουμενος Ορουντιωτης ), October 15, 1913 - November 16, 1979, was the Igumen of the Greek Orthodox monastery of Jacob's Well near the city of Samaria, now called Nablus (Neapolis), in the West Bank.

In a Synodal decision the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem classified him in its Hagiologion at its 50th Session on September 11, 2009. He was officially glorified by the the Patriarchate of Jerusalem on November 29, 2009 (Old Style), and is commemorated by the Church on November 16/29.

Father Philoumenos' was martyred at the hands of the Jews in Palestine on his Name day, November 29th (Old Style), which is also the feast of the 3rd century martyrs Paramon and Philoumen (ca. AD 270).

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III presided at the Divine Liturgy, along with the bishops of the Patriarchal see of Jerusalem and a number of bishops from the Church of Cyprus, in addition to a delegation from the Russian Church.

The life of Father Philoumenos is an example that martyrdom for Christ is not of the past from the Roman Empire or Communist times, but is a reality even in our own day...

His life...

The Unity of the Church & the World Conference of Christian Communities

By Saint Hilarion (Troitsky)

This is the first audio book offered by the Orthodox Christian Information Center. Please see the Introduction, below, for more on this book.

The entire book is contained in two MP3 files of almost equal length...

Who Decides? Unraveling the Mystery of the Old Testament Canon

by Daniel Lieuwen

When the Church began, there were no New Testament books. Old Testament texts alone were used as Scripture. The Old Testament used in the early Church throughout the Roman world was not the Hebrew Old Testament, but a translation of the Old Testament into Greek called the Septuagint (LXX). The LXX was translated in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the middle of the third century B.C., and was the standard Old Testament in the synagogues throughout the Hellenistic world (including Palestine) at the time of Christ.

In addition to the books included in a Protestant Old Testament, the LXX contained a number of other books now commonly referred to as Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical. Some of these books are Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, and a longer version of Daniel.

The LXX is based on a very different text of the Old Testament from the Masoretic text, on which modern English translations are based. For instance, in many places the wording is quite different, and the content of the books also differs—generally the LXX text is longer, but there are also interesting additions to the Masoretic text that are not found in the LXX. The text on which the LXX is based is as ancient as the Masoretic text, as testified by the Dead Sea scrolls and many other ancient witnesses.

A 'Standardized' Judaic Text

Judaism was quite fluid (fragmented; lost) at the time of Christ. There were seven distinct sects of the Jews in the early first century, according to Eusebius. The different sects accepted the authority of different collections of books (e.g., the Sadducees and Samaritans accepted only the five books of the Prophet Moses, the Torah), and there were often significant differences in the composition of the books they accepted in common. Sometimes the same sect might even make use of multiple text bases, or as scholars call them, text traditions. For example, the Dead Sea scrolls, (likely) containing the sacred texts of the Essene sect of Judaism, show evidence of the Masoretic, Samaritan, and LXX text bases.

However, with the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, an intense standardization process began. Only the Pharisaic and the Samaritan sects of Judaism survived this process. The collection of Old Testament books into what eventually became the Masoretic text was begun by the Pharisees at the Council of Jamnia, somewhere between AD 80 and 100

The Orthodox Christian Church Is...

The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Christian Church is:




(a) The Body of Christ

(b) The community of believers and followers of Jesus Christ since Pentecost — that point in time at which that community has been guided by The Holy Spirit, as had been promised by Our Lord prior to His Crucifixion and Resurrection:

[John 16:13: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Matthew 16:18: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”]

(c) The same yesterday, today and forever, just as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever [Hebrews 13:8]

(d) One, as Jesus Christ Himself is One and Indivisible

(e) Holy; sacramental; liturgical - as opposed to being merely some sort of club for social networking, or activism, or community organizing, or debating, or …. whatever is the trend of the week

(f) Catholic; universal; The Church for all of humanity in all places at all times, and also with each “Church” — each place of Orthodox worship, and each Autocephalous Church — complete in itself as the nexus between time and eternity, between Heaven and Earth.

(g) Apostolic; in continuity — both temporally and in terms of teachings and tradition — with the Apostles, who themselves were guided by Our Lord and Saviour, and who were in continuity with the teachings and traditions of the Israelite people prior to the temporal ministry of Jesus, the Messiah

(h) Orthodox; of correct teachings, correct worship, correct glorification.  Lex orandi, lex credendi.

The Orthodox Christian Church Is...

The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Christian Church is:

(a) The Body of Christ

(b) The community of believers and followers of Jesus Christ since Pentecost — that point in time at which that community has been guided by The Holy Spirit, as had been promised by Our Lord prior to His Crucifixion and Resurrection:

[John 16:13: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Matthew 16:18: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”]

(c) The same yesterday, today and forever, just as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever [Hebrews 13:8]

(d) One, as Jesus Christ Himself is One and Indivisible

(e) Holy; sacramental; liturgical - as opposed to being merely some sort of club for social networking, or activism, or community organizing, or debating, or …. whatever is the trend of the week

(f) Catholic; universal; The Church for all of humanity in all places at all times, and also with each “Church” — each place of Orthodox worship, and each Autocephalous Church — complete in itself as the nexus between time and eternity, between Heaven and Earth.

(g) Apostolic; in continuity — both temporally and in terms of teachings and tradition — with the Apostles, who themselves were guided by Our Lord and Saviour, and who were in continuity with the teachings and traditions of the Israelite people prior to the temporal ministry of Jesus, the Messiah

(h) Orthodox; of correct teachings, correct worship, correct glorification.  Lex orandi, lex credendi.