Long-suffering, humility, and reverence to God – these three will lead you to eternal life. Envy, presumption, vaunt – these three will pull you down to the depth of eternal fire.
Saint Takla Haymanot
Monthly Archives: May 2013
True Story.
Do you think you will want to become a Priest after your MA?
No chance.
I am in no way spiritually mature enough for such a role and would never accept the role for the sake of the souls of those in my care (unless God Himself asks me).I strongly believe that anyone who makes plans to become a priest or sees it as a Career goal would not be a Good Orthodox Priest as God should choose these things and a career based minself would be a negative on those around him.
As for my place in the Church, I am happy within the Diaconate at the moment and feel a great blessing to serve alongside the Priests in the Diocese.
My Theological intention in my study is purely academic too, which differs from Pastoral Theology as it is more analytical and critical than practical for ministry. After my Mth I would like to pursue a PhD (possibly at a Seminary) and just focus on Theological Study rather than ministry.
In Short, I would be an Awful priest both in my Theological views and lack of Pastoral manner so would never risk it for the sake of those who would need a good Priest.
On 24 May 2013, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia presented His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine with the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles. The ceremony took place at the Throne Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
Members of the delegation, accompanying His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos, were also presented with high awards of the Russian Orthodox Church: Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth; Archbishop Aristarchos of Konstantina, secretary general of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem; and Archbishop Theophylactos of Jordan, Patriarchal Commissioner to Bethlehem – with the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles (2nd class); Archimandrite Stephanos (Dispirakis), representative of the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; Archimandrite Galaktionos, hegumen of the monastery in Ramallah; and hierodeacon Athanasios (Themistokleos) – with the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles (3rd class).
“We have recently carried out a reform in the system of Orders of the Russian Orthodox Church and you are the first to receive the orders designed in compliance with traditions of pre-revolutionary Russia,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said. “They are exact copies of the Orders of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, which were used in the Russian Empire, made of the same metals and having the same design. This award is an expression of our profound love to you, Your Beatitude, and of our recognition for your ministry and for the work of those accompanying you.”
His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem thanked the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and said, in particular, “Your Holiness, we will keep the Orders, you have presented us with, as a symbol of our relations.”
On May 28, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, who is on an official visit to the Russian Orthodox Church, arrived at the Valamo Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration.
His Beatitude’s delegation, who flew in by helicopter from Kronstadt, were welcomed by the abbot of the Valamo Monastery, Bishop Pankraty of Troitsk, and the director of the Light of Valamo Orthodox cultural and educational center, Hegumen Mefody.
His Beatitude greeted Bishop Pankraty with the Paschal exclamation and told him about his participation in the consecration of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt, noting that ‘it was a double feast for Kronstadt and for the whole Orthodox world’.
Later that day, Patriarch Theophilos and his delegation visited the Hermitage of Our Lady of Smolensk. Talking to the brethren, His Beatitude said, ‘Today we should not only seek to increase the number of the faithful but also need examples of living asceticism because it is a way and path that brings one who recognizes the mystery of resurrection closer to God’.
At the reverence cross, Patriarch Theophilos and his delegation said a prayer for all the dead soldiers.
Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem arrives in Valamo – News | Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE
Meeting over.
Amazingly productive meeting with Dcn Dr Andreopoulos today. He loved my title and plan and was supportive of the reading I have done in preparation. Some good ideas were bounced around as to bringing EO comparisons as well as expanding it for publication after I graduate.
He even asked about PhD plans and suggested where together funding if continuing with Coptic Canon Law study, which was unexpected. All in all, it was a great Lessing and the confidence booster I have needed in the last few weeks.
Thanks for your prayers.
In Xto,
Daniel
We Orthodox Christians may value the many traditions we have inherited from our forefathers, but our ultimate point of reference must be the apostolic Tradition, the faith handed down from the apostles.
Professor John Erickson
The United States has a history of often picking sides in Middle East conflicts to its own detriment.
In the 1980s, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with Saddam Hussein to establish a relationship that helped the dictator gain access to American arms during Iraq’s war with Iran. In the 1990s, the U.S. would drive former ally Hussein from Kuwait and impose a decade of sanctions that were devastating for Iraqis, but had little effect on the dictator. In 2003, we went to Iraq, overthrew Hussein, and became part of nation-building effort from which we only recently saw most of our soldiers return home.
Arguably one of the greatest beneficiaries of the Iraq war was Iran, which now enjoys more power and influence with the elimination of its historic enemy. President George H.W. Bush did not pursue Hussein directly during Operation Desert Storm precisely because he feared the destabilizing effects it might have on the region, or as his Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney explained in 1994, “Once you got to Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein’s government, then what are you going to put in its place?” Today, Iraq is unstable and its future uncertain.
Moammar Gadhafi eventually accepted responsibility in the 1988 bombing of an airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed hundreds of people, including American schoolchildren.
President Reagan called Gadhafi the “mad dog of the Middle East.”
Fast forward to 2008, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to Libya to meet with Gadhafi to offer American support.
In 2009, members of the U.S. Senate — Republicans Lindsey Graham and John McCain and an independent, Joe Lieberman — would travel to Libya to meet with Gadhafi to offer further aid. Sen. McCain said: “We discussed the possibility of moving ahead with the provision of nonlethal defense equipment to the government of Libya.” President Obama would eventually meet with Gadhafi to reconfirm the same relationship established during the Bush administration.
By 2011, President Obama was arming Libyan rebels and ordering airstrikes to overthrow Gadhafi. Some of the president’s most vocal supporters were the same Republicans who traveled to Libya two years before to help Libya’s strongman acquire military equipment. Sen. McCain said of the Libyan rebels: “I have met with these brave fighters, and they are not al Qaeda. … To the contrary: They are Libyan patriots who want to liberate their nation. We should help them do it.”
We did help them, something I opposed on the Senate floor as an unconstitutional overreach by the executive branch. We now have reason to believe that the Libyan rebels did contain elements of al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists.
Visit strengthens McCain’s resolve for U.S. intervention in Syria
Now we see the same enthusiasm for another U.S. intervention, this time in Syria. The Syria Transition Support Act approved last week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which I am a member, has the potential to create more problems for the United States than it would solve. It is unclear what national security interests we have in the civil war in Syria. It is very clear that any attempt to aid the Syrian rebels would be complicated and dangerous, precisely because we don’t know who these people are.
The situation in Syria is certainly dire. At least 70,000 people have died, and al Qaeda is making confirmed inroads into the country. No one wants to see Syria become a bastion of extremism. But like other American interventions in the past, U.S. involvement could actually help the extremists.
There is also the quandary of nearly 2 million Christians who are uncertain of what to do. The Christian community in Syria has traditionally sided with, and been protected by, Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It is troubling to think that American arms may be given to Islamic fighters who may in turn be firing them at Christians.
This month, it was reported that the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Syria executed 11 men who were part of al-Assad’s forces. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is no friend to the U.S. — but neither is al Qaeda. To aid members of al Qaeda in any way, directly or indirectly, is an insult to our brave men and women who’ve been fighting these terrorists since 9/11.
Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this “transition support act” is that it would commit the United States to a leadership position in the restoration of Syria, and is very vague about what that looks like.
The language of “capacity building” contained in this act is an open-ended term that if logically followed, could eventually mean U.S. troops on the ground in Syria.
We “capacity built” in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Those who insist this language could never mean U.S. boots on the ground in Syria belong to the same Washington clique eager to support Hussein, Ghadafi and later, the Libyan rebels. Washington is not exempt from the law of unintended consequences.
Empowering Islamic extremists to achieve questionable short-term goals does not serve America’s long-term security or interests. Nor does it serve the interests of nearly 2 million Christians in Syria who fear they could suffer the same fate as Iraqi Christians who were abused and expelled from that country as radical Islamic forces gained influence and power.
These Christians are natural allies of the United States, and if we’re going to seriously discuss any American interests in Syria, the welfare of these Christians is more important than arming Islamic extremists.
History’s primary lesson is that we must learn from the past. Although there are some well-intentioned reasons for wanting to intervene in Syria, there are far more well-documented reasons not to.
Hi All,
I have my Independent Study (Thesis) registration meeting tomorrow, where I present my plan to my Course Director.
The Title I have decided on is “Electing a Pope: A study of the variety of traditions involved in the election of the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria with regards to Canonical literature and modern practice.” though this may be changed tomorrow.
I have a full Bibliography written and a 300 word proposal to read.
Please keep me in your prayers as I hate making presentations.
Hi all.
I won’t be posting much over the next few days as I am visiting my parents on the south coast.
Please keep me in your prayers,
Daniel
Musings of an Orthodox Brit 