Afterfeast of the Dormition. Translation of the Image Not-made-by-hands of Our Lord Jesus Christ from Edessa to Constantinople. Martyr Diomedes the Physician of Tarsus in Cilicia; St. Cherimon (Chaeremon) of Egypt; St. Joachim, monk of Osogov; St. Gerasimos the New Ascetic of Cephalonia (Mt. Athos); Neomartyr Nicodemus of Meteora; Neomartyr Stamatios of Thessaly; Neomartyrs Priest Vladimir and his brother Boris (1931); St. Raphael of Banat (Serbia); 33 martyrs of Palestine; Martyr Alcibiades; St. Nilus, brother of Emperor Theodore Laskaris, who rebuilt the Monastery of the Mother of God at Eiperus; Seraphim, Dorotheus, James, Demetrius, Basil and Sarantis of Magaris; St. Timothy of Euripus, founder of the Monastery of Pentele; St. Theodore (“Feodorvskaya”) Icon; Repose of Blessed Matrona Popova, disciple of St. Tikhon of
IN THIS ISSUE
1. ENCYCLICAL
ON MONASTIC GROWTH.
2. ON THE
FOUNDING
OF CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES.
3. DONATIONS.
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BISHOP EPHRAIM’S ENCLYCLICAL ON MONASTIC EXPANSION
The Royal Martyrs of Russia
July 4/17, 1999
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thanks be to God, in these recent months our Church in North America has been blessed with both the establishment and expansion of three monastic communities.
The Hermitage of St.
Mary Magdalene, which is served by Fr. Michael Lightfoot, has purchased
a valuable new property in a beautiful and verdant area of Virginia
near
Warrenton, which, in turn, is a little over an hour’s drive from the
nation’s
capitol.
The Holy Ascension Skete has been
established
in Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania by the Very Reverend Abbot Adrian,
who
was newly received into our Church from the Russian Church Abroad on
the
feast of the Holy Apostles this year. The Skete is situated high on a
thickly
forested hillside, from which the beautiful new church temple of the
Pillars
of Orthodoxy parish can be seen some two miles distant.
Also, the Convent of the Meeting of our Lord—a metochion of Holy Nativity Convent in Brookline, Massachusetts—has recently taken possession of a ten acre property in Stanwood, Washington, some fifty minutes north of Seattle by car. The new Convent is located in a quiet rural area, surrounded by pasture land and a large tract of old growth forest, with giant fir and cedar trees. The Convent will be served by Frs. Neketas Palassis and Ihnat Ponomarchuk of the parish of St. Nectarios in Seattle.
The parishioners of St. Nectarios Church in Seattle are especially to be commended for their generous contributions of time, monies, effort and enthusiasm. In fact, two members of the parish—who wish to remain anonymous—donated the entire sum for the purchase of the convent’s new property. The mothers of the new convent in Stanwood and I are profoundly grateful for this outpouring of love on the part of our faithful there. On the 30th anniversary of our St. Nectarios parish, I presented three challenges to our people: 1) to have one of their own ordained to the diaconate; 2) to implement antiphonal chanting in the church services; and 3) to assist in the establishment of a monastery or convent in their area. To their eternal credit, they have responded in a more than praiseworthy manner to the last two challenges. As for the ordination of a deacon, this—in my opinion—remains a viable possibility in the foreseeable future.
These developments
are
a very great blessing for our Church. As Vladyka Andrei of
Novo-Diveyevo
pointed out repeatedly in his sermons, our Orthodox Christian life is
marked
by three elements: 1) a correct confession of the Christian Faith; 2) a
renunciation of all that is irrelevant to our salvation; and 3) our
taking
up of the Cross of Christ—whatever form that Cross may take in our
lives.
These three elements are exemplified especially in the monastic life,
and
this too is why our monasteries, convents, sketes and hermitages are
the
spinal cord of the Orthodox Christian Church.
As we know from the tradition of the
Church,
our monastic establishments should be self-supporting; in addition,
they
are not meant to be social centers, or picnic or camping grounds, but
rather
centers of prayer, spiritual reflection and repentance. They are also
sites
of spiritual pilgrimage, as well, where spiritual pilgrims may find
solace
and guidance during their temporal sojourn in this world.
This is what Saint Isaac of Syria says about monastics:
Monastics ought to be in their appearance and all their actions exemplars of profit to those who see them, so that by reason of their many virtues which shine forth like sun-beams, the enemies of truth, when they look upon them, will involuntarily confess that the hope of salvation which Christians have is firm and unshakeable, and from every side will run to them as a refuge. And so the horn of the Church will be exalted over Her enemies, and many will be moved to emulation of their virtue, and will come forth from out of the world; and they will be venerable among all because of the beauty of their life, so that on their account the mouth of the children of the Church will be opened and their head will be exalted above all religions. For the boast of the Church of Christ is the monastic way of life.Because of this, the monastics of the Church deserve our love, our esteem, and our moral support, for they support us and our parishes by their love and prayers to God. Our monastic establishments have assisted our parishes in every way that they are able and have asked for nothing in return. If anyone is able or willing, however, to assist our monastic institutions establish themselves—so that they in turn may be able to continue to support the Church’s work of evangelization and spiritual edification in the midst of an unbelieving society—these individuals will most certainly find their reward a hundredfold from our Saviour.
(cf. Homily Eleven)
This work of
spiritual
edification will last as long as this world exists, because every
new-born
generation must be educated in the faith and life in Christ, just as
our
generation was nurtured and taught by those that went before us.
My beloved Orthodox Christians, let us
thank God for this increase in the monastic vocations which our Church
has experienced. Let us do this by encouraging those who have a calling
to the monastic life, by lending moral support to our monastic
establishments,
by helping them in any way we can, and, above all, by remembering them
in our prayers.
May God strengthen all our monastics and,
indeed, all our faithful, in striving and progressing in the spiritual
life, and may He count us all worthy of a good defense before His dread
judgement seat and of a place at His right hand in His Heavenly
Kingdom.
Amen.
Your suppliant before our Saviour,
+
Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston
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The founding recently of the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord in Seattle, Washington, through the generous contribution of two families anonymously, and the response of the entire parish of Saint Nectarios, gives rise to certain reflections concerning the founding of churches and monasteries.
The present instance is a continuation of a sacred tradition from olden times. Our forefathers in the Faith, emperors and illustrious families of Byzantium, as also of the Slavic lands and the Russian Empire, vied with one another in building churches and founding monasteries and convents. The Christians of old understood well the spiritual significance of such undertakings and the great privilege and blessing that one is deemed worthy of. They loved our Saviour and the Saints and as an expression of their love and gratitude for the gift of salvation and the many benefactions showered upon us by our Creator, they were earnest to found churches and monastic houses. This was a way of saying “Thank you” as also an everlasting memorial for them and their descendents. They were very conscious of the many prayers offered daily in the divine services “for the founders of this holy Temple,” “the founders of this holy monastery,” “the founders of the holy churches of God,” to mention just a few of the many petitions in the liturgical prayers.
Whatever was more
precious,
they dedicated to God—gold and silver vessels, precious Crosses,
mosaics,
icons, vestments, lamps, censers, etc., etc. They brought to mind the
prayer
behind the ambo at the end of every holy liturgy which says:
O Lord, Who blessest them that bless Thee,
and sanctifiest them that put their trust in Thee: save Thy people, and
bless Thine inheritance. Preserve the fulness of Thy Church, sanctify
them
that love the beauty of Thy house. Do Thou in turn glorify them by Thy
divine power, and forsake us not that hope in Thee. . .
Even the poor among the people endeavored to make offerings when new churches and monasteries were founded so that they would be commemorated with the founders and those that “love the beauty” of the house of God.
Many families built chapels in their homes or on the grounds of their estates, others because of vows in thanksgiving for healings or some other benefactions. This continued even after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 when the people were enslaved and greatly impoverished. Wherefore the countless modest country chapels and shrines that dot the mountains and countryside of the Orthodox homelands. This is a testimony to their piety and living faith.
Some years ago, a book was printed in Greek containing a collection of wills by prominent people of the Greek community of Venice of the 18th and 19th century. These wills were deposited in the archives of the “Church of the Greeks” as the Church of Saint George is known in Venice. With the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century, many prominent Byzantine families fled to Europe and set up communities in different countries. A point of interest is that invariably in all the wills monies and properties were left to the “Church of the Greeks” or for the repair of churches in their enslaved homeland as a perpetual memorial for the deceased. In one will a goodly sum was left for the procuring of a set of vestments of fine brocade for the Patriarch in Constantinople and another twelve matching sets for the members of the synod when they concelebrated, as well as for the deacons and priests.
And thus we come to this century which is ending, in which countless churches and monasteries were destroyed by the atheist authorities in the Communist lands. Yet in Greece and other free Orthodox lands this sacred tradition continued, as now it has been revived in the Orthodox countries freed from the atheist yoke. In Greece a recent example of a monastery founded by a pious family is that of the Convent of the Annunciation on the island of Oinoussai, Chios, by Panagos and Katingo Pateras, who themselves became monastics in time.
Thus the founders
and
benefactors of the newly formed Convent of the Meeting of the Lord in
the
Temple are following in this hallowed and timeless tradition of the
pious
and Orthodox Christians.
Sanctify them and preserve them, O Lord,
both them and their families. Amen.
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BENEVOLENT FUND. All Benevolent Fund donations are recorded as anonymous. When a donor informs us that a donation is to be treated as anonymous, we assume that the recipient is to be informed that it is from an anonymous donor. All Benevolent Fund donations are listed by city and state/province only: San Gabriel, CA; Wisconsin; Florida.
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS: (There is no subscription fee for the "Orthodox Christian Witness." We suggest an annual donation of $10 for United States recipients and $13.50 for foreign recipients, payable to "St. Nectarios Church.”) We are grateful for the outpouring of support from our recent appeal to help defray printing and mailing expenses of the Witness: John G. Treese, Arlington, VA; Theodore Khoury, Youngstown, OH; Fr. John Bockman, Tucson, AZ; Anonymous, Scarborough, Ont., Canada; Roger Monteyne, Fullerton, CA; Joni Zavitsanos, Houston,TX; Anne Dorozynski, Minneapolis, MN; Kenneth Luke Wamsley, Houston, TX; Helen Serafis, Phoenix, AZ; Paul Azkoul, St. Louis, MO; Joanna Reilly, Sioux Falls, SD; Fr. Elias Fagan, Ipswich, MA; Fr. Michael Irby, Fayetteville, AR; Mary Pappas, Wauwatosa, WI; Vasiliki Barrowman, Berkeley, CA; Ch. Christos, Stuart, FL; Diane Lewey, Beverly, MA; Soter Angelo, Webster, MA; Sebastian Wagner, Seattle, WA.
CHURCH
DONATION:
James Kolter, Avery, CA.