DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ST. JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF SAN FRANCISCO

is published monthly by
St. Nectarios American Orthodox Church
10300 Ashworth Avenue North, Seattle, Washington.
206-522-4471; 800-643-4233 (U.S. AND CANADA ONLY)
Fax: 800-643-4233; e-mail:frneketas@stnectariospress.com

Presbyter Neketas S. Palassis, Editor

FEBRUARY, 2002
Vol. XXXVI, No. 6 (1513)
IN THIS ISSUE:

1.  Appeal for the new Metropolis of Seattle
2.  Missionary society web site under construction
3. Abandoning Christ in Assisi
4. Greek leader explains absence from Assisi
5. Television Manages Us Because We're So Easy
6.  Syncretism Marches On
7. Pope Honors 12,000 Modern Witnesses to Christianity
8. Orthodox Christian Readings
9. Donations received for the Orthodox Christian Witness.
10. What is an Anathema’? By Bishop Theophan
11. New publications
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1. Appeal for the new Metropolis

    As you all know we have formed a new Metropolis that includes all of the parishes and communities in the states that have been incorporated in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Our Metropolitan Moses has remarked that in his travels throughout our country, he is reminded of Saint John of Kronstadt's initial desire to travel to some far away place in order to convert lost souls to Christ. Quickly enough, St. John realized that in his own homeland there were many lost souls that needed to be instructed and converted. Indeed, our own land is obviously mission territory. Missions are always in need of spiritual and financial support. In these initial stages of establishing our new Metropolis we need your prayers and financial support.

    When you make a donation to our Metropolis you are contributing to a missionary effort. Out here on the West Coast we are starting from scratch and the challenges are great and the Christians few and spread over a large geographic area, but with the help of our Merciful Savior, we will succeed. If, you wish to help the new missionary Metropolis on the West Coast with a contribution, it will be most appreciated. The start-up costs are many, so even a small contribution will be of help.

    To all those who have already made contributions we offer our heartfelt thanks.

    We need to raise $50,000. This amount will be dispersed in the following manner:

    A one-time expense of $3,000 for the establishment of an office here at the church for the Metropolis.

    $35,000 as a down-payment towards a condominium or towards the construction of a second floor apartment over the present St. Nectarios Press operations.

    $5000. for a vehicle for the Metropolitan’s transportation. If you are ready to buy a new car and are planning in trading in your old car, you can donate the older car to the Metropolis and receive a tax deduction equal to the blue book value of your car. Since, on many occasions, a dealership will not give the full bluebook value of a car on trade in, this donation can be spiritually and financially profitable to you. We need a car for the Metropolitan’s  personal use and he needs a used car that is in relatively good shape, large enough for a man 6 feet five inches tall to fit into.

    $6000. for our Metropolitan’s health insurance.

    Once the above amount has been raised the Metropolis will be supported through the tithing of the various parishes.

    We are certain that our parishioners and readers will respond to the needs of the new Metropolis. Over the years our parishioners and readers have responded generously to our pleas for financial assistance. We hope that at this time they will be able to respond with their usual generosity.

Checks payable to the Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Seattle should be sent to  Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Seattle, 10300 Ashworth Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98133-9410
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    The Holy Metropolis of Boston has announced the establishment of the Missionary Society Web site at http://www.omsob.org. The site is presently under construction and it is anticipated that it will be available in the very near future.

    The Missionary News Letter of the Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Boston is now available from the Metropolis’ office, 1476 Centre St., Roslindale, MA 02131-1417.
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    On the 24th, Buddhist chants and Christian hymns resounded inside a huge plastic tent decorated with an olive tree. Representatives of "Christianity", Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Jianism,
Confucianism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and followers of Tenrikyo and African tribal religions including (Voodoo) joined their prayers so that, with one voice, they could ask their respective deities to grant
peace to the world .

    Crosses and other religious objects were removed by Vatican officials so that non-Christian religious leaders would be free to pray in the manner in which they are accustomed. One by one, religious leaders holding
small, glass oil lamps lined up at the podium and read each of the 10 points of a communal commitment. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople was the first of 11 religious leaders to speak. Chief Amadou Gasseto, who described himself as the high priest of followers of Avelekete Vodoo in Benin, echoed the patriarch's point about personal behavior and its decisive role in creating peace or conflict.

    After sharing the "testimonies for peace," Pope John Paul and Patriarch Bartholomew led the Christians from 17 "orthodox" churches and 14 Anglican and Protestant communities into the lower basilica for an
ecumenical prayer service. There were 3 "orthodox" Patriarchs taking part. Not to be outdone by Constantinople, the Russian Patriarch Alexy led a delegation from Russia. It is noteworthy that the largest delegation to respond to the Pope's invitation was made up of "orthodox clergy" who no longer believe that our Saviour is the only hope for the "peace of the world"

    This two day meeting was consistent with the voices we hear coming from many directions that tell us to "discern and celebrate God's Spirit, not only in the people of the churches, but also in people of other faiths and ideologies." A few years ago this belief would have shocked those who considered themselves "Orthodox Christians". This blasphemy, however, was first made public in 1961. At that time, Archbishop Iakovos, who had just returned from the "Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches" in New Delhi, India, met with a small group of seminarians and proclaimed that the Hindus of India were enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

    The gathering at Assisi was a triumphant exhibition of the predominance of "Re-Imaging" theology. The Re-Imaging movement proclaims that "Christianity" ha s to acknowledge that our Saviour is not the only road
to God. Their pantheistic beliefs have led them to believe that it is an error to believe that only our Lord can lead us to God.

    The first major public proclamation of the theology of Re-Imagining was made in 1993 at a "Re-Imaging Conference", which had as its main premise that Christianity needed to be reformulated. This theology which gave such offense in 1993 is now — just 9 years later — being spoken of as being perfectly acceptable. In fact, the Interim Associate Director of the Women's Ministry Program Area, Jane Parker Huber, of the American
Presbyterian Church, was recently quoted as dismissing the reaction that many people have to Re-Imagining as "too bad."

    At that first conference, Delores Williams, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, told the group, "I don't think we need a theory of atonement at all ... atonement has to do so much with
death! ... l don't think we need folks hanging on crosses, and blood dripping, and weird stuff ... we just need to listen to the god within."

     Another speaker, Virginia Mollenkott, who serves on the National Council of Churches Commission to prepare an inclusive language lectionary, claimed that the death of Jesus was the ultimate in child abuse. She
said that the commonly accepted view of Christ's atonement pictures God as an abusive parent, and Jesus as an obedient child ... this violent theology encourages the violence of our streets and of our nation."

    Assisi is nothing less than the triumphal proclamation that the leaders of "world christianity" have decided to also abandon our Saviour and that Christianity needs to be re-imaged, reshaped and reformulated so that our Lord is no longer our hope.

    ASSISI, Jan 24, 02 (CWNews.com) -- A spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Church has indicated that the absence of a Greek delegation to today's inter-religious prayer service in Assisi should not be seen as an indication of opposition from the Orthodox hierarchy, but rather a recognition of resistance among the faithful.

     Msgr. Athanasios, a representative of the Greek Orthodox hierarchy to the European Union, told the Italian daily that most Orthodox bishops favor dialogue with the Holy See, but the rank- and-file members of the laity do not.

     We need more time to form the consciences of the faithful he said. While emphasizing that the absence of a Greek Orthodox delegation should not be setback for ecumenical relations, Msgr. Athanasios went on to observe that it would be difficult to assure the Greek faithful that the ceremonies in Assisi did not indicate acceptance of a syncretist approach to religious faith. For us, that is a question that we still have to work on, he said

     The Orthodox spokesman said that ecumenical relations between Holy See are improving, and noted that the Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens plans to visit>Rome soon for a meeting with Pope John Paul II and a pilgrimage to the martyrs' shrines.

    Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, confirmed that the Pope had received a very cordial and affectionate letter from Archbishop Christodoulos explaining his reason for not sending a delegation to Assisi but assuring the Pontiff that he would be spiritually close to the participants.
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    The crucial truths of the current age may be these: First, people will watch any television rather than no television. Second, sooner or later they will begin to imitate what they see on the screen. Third, while you can´t fool all of the people all of the time, you can fool enough of them enough of the time, especially if you are a lot smarter than they are, and do it patiently, calculatedly, over time, like water eroding stone. And that is all it takes. Finally, television is scalable: Swathing the earth in Baywatch is not much harder than covering a state.

    It is easy to miss what is happening. Criticisms of the vast wasteland are hardly new. Denunciations of televised fare have become commonplace, conventional, have sunk into clichedom and ceased to be noticed. The gibbering box dulls the mind. You get used to it. You forget what it is doing, and how well it does it. Until you are away from it for a while.

    Maybe two years ago, I got rid of cable, reasoning that while the world might be full of idiots, I wasn´t going to pay $40 a month to look at them. Recently I resubscribed because I wanted the Spanish channels. The experience was startling - though nothing had changed. I had just forgotten how appallingly propagandistic it was, how didactic, how gnawingly relentless in inculcating its messages.

    The genius of television is that, to shape a people as you want, you don´t need unrestrained governmental authority, nor do you need to tell people what you want of them. Indeed, if you told them what to do, they would be likely to refuse.

    No. You merely have to show them, over and over, day after day, the behavior you wish to instill. Show them enough mothers of illegitimate children heartwarmingly portrayed. Endlessly broadcast storylines suggesting that excellence is elitist. Constantly air ghetto values and moiling back-alley mobs grunting and thrusting their faces at the camera - and slowly, unconsciously, people will come to accept and then to imitate them. Patience is everything. Mold the young and in thirty years you will have molded the society. Don´t tell them anything. Just show them.

    And television is magic: People can´t not watch. No matter how bad the fare is, how much it offends against their most deeply held values, they will stare at it rather than be alone with their thoughts. Some of them will say, those who know they ought to know better, "There are some good things on TV. I like the History Channel." Yet they watch, and not just the History Channel. They cannot read a book instead. In saying this I am not striking a literary pose or making a conservative argument for high culture. I´m stating what I believe to be a psychological fact: People will watch a screen.

    The packaged urgings flow from here, from America. Television is profoundly American, yet respects no borders. Movies and TV from the United States permeate much of the world. The less civilized parts of the planet particularly depend on dubbed or translated programming from America, because they cannot produce their own. With satellite feeds, supplying these countries is easy. The message is remarkably homogeneous. How surprising.

    Last summer I was in Manzanillo, Mexico, and sometimes saw CNN in Spanish. The silent voice-over was exactly that of the big American networks: The same instruction on race, feminism, homosexuality, the same subtle disdain for religion, the same attack on traditional morality and on independence from the hive.. There was, for example, a favorable segment on a Mexican movie depicting druggery and casual sex among the young of Mexico City. The reviewer argued that the film was realistic and merely showing the world as it was. He pointed out that sex is natural. (So it is. So is tuberculosis.) The implication was that discouraging spontaneous coupling in adolescents was not properly progressive, and in any event would represent an intolerable rein on artistic expression.

    The effect of the movie was of course to foster early sex and druggery. Exactly the American message.

    To me, however, the arresting observation was how much of it was in opposition to Mexican culture. Whether for better or worse, television is grinding away at a whole society, imperceptibly turning it into a near-copy of ours. Few call this imperialism. It is, with a vengeance.

    CNN is not alone. The Spanish channels in the United States inculcate exactly the same view of the world. There is for example Christina, a talk show out of Miami that deals in soft porn and therapy. Same message: the heroism of single moms, the  moral duty to tolerate anything at all, that idea that the degraded is of the people and therefore praiseworthy.

    Cristina is syndicated through much of South America. All it takes is a satellite and the entire Latin world can be bathed in American values - or at any rate in the values of American television. Scalability. It´s what made the Internet great.

    I do not say, note, that the ongoing catechism is always objectionable, but simply that its pervasiveness will over time determine culture. I have no desire to persecute homosexuals, to keep women in chadors or out of school. I´m not sure what racial policy should be, so I´m not sure that I disagree with the compulsory sermon. What bothers me is that we can´t escape, that the same instruction whispers and babbles from sets in bars in Casper and Guadalajara and Nairobi.

    Some believe that the drone of right thinking springs from a conspiracy, from some cabal at the top of the journalistic pyramid. I don´t know. Through some inadvertence I am not invited to meetings of the boards of the networks. But I find the same values in desk editors and lowly reporters all through those parts of the media that I know. The old admonition against suspecting a conspiracy when stupidity, or insularity, is an adequate explanation may apply here. But it doesn´t matter. Whether through plot or simple imagery, we have what we have.

    The consequence is a ferocious centralization. Washington, New York, and Hollywood in large part determine what the world may see, what we may know and may not know and how it will be explained to us. The effect can be overstated, but so can it be overlooked.

    And while television makes it easy for New York to talk to the world, the world has no corresponding way to talk to the networks, which wouldn´t listen anyway. Nor do people have effective means of talking to each other, except in small groups.

    They have us, and we will do what they say.
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    Rome, 8 May (ENI ) Pope John Paul II has honored more than 12,000 members of modern Christianity's different traditions who endured great suffering for their faith. Yesterday's commemoration of "witnesses to the faith in the 20th century" had profound ecumenical significance because the Vatican ceremony included tributes to thousands of non-Catholic Christians.

    The ceremony took place in the Colosseum in Rome where the ancient Romans watched early Christians being slaughtered for their beliefs.

    After a Gospel reading by a Roman Catholic deacon and an Orthodox clergyman, Pope John Paul, who turns 80 on 18 May, said in his homily: "I warmly greet representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of the other Orthodox sister churches, as well as those of the ancient Churches of the East. I likewise thank the representatives of the Anglican Communion, of the world-wide Christian Communions of the West and of the ecumenical Organizations for their fraternal presence."

    Yesterday's ceremony was prepared by the Vatican officials overseeing church celebrations throughout the year, which has been named a Jubilee year by the Pope. The Vatican asked Catholic dioceses around the world, along with non- Catholic churches, to submit the names of 20th century "martyrs" and "witnesses to the faith". The Vatican has compiled a list -reportedly containing 12,692 names - but the list has yet to be published.

    In yesterday's ceremonies, the Christians in question were divided into eight categories:
    "Christians who bore witness to their faith under Soviet totalitarianism";
    "Witnesses to the faith who were victims of communism in other nations of Europe";
    "Confessors of the faith who were victims of nazism and fascism";
    "Followers of Christ who gave their lives for the proclamation of the Gospel in Asia and Oceania";
    "Christian faithful persecuted out of hatred for the Catholic faith";
    "Witnesses of evangelization in Africa and Madagascar';
    "Christians who gave their lives for love of Christ and their brothers and sisters in America";
    "Witnesses to the faith in other parts of the world.

    Two examples of each "category" were mentioned in yesterday's ceremonies, and included 11 Catholics, an Orthodox (Russian Patriarch Tikhon who stood up to the Bolsheviks), an Armenian leader (Catholicos Karekin I - of the Armenian Apostolic Church - who died of cancer last June), an Anglican (Bishop Philip Strong who died in a Japanese camp in Papua New Guinea during the Second World War), a Lutheran {Paul Schneider, who resisted the Nazis), and a Baptist (Canadian Dr W. G. R. Jotcham who died in Nigeria after contracting meningitis while caring far the sick).

    But Pope John Paul pointed out that many of the people who suffered or died for the faith were "unknown soldiers ... There are so many of them. They must not be forgotten. Rather they must be remembered, and their lives documented."

    A total of 19 churches and ecumenical organizations were represented at yesterday's event, including many Orthodox churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the Anglican Communion, the World Methodist Council and the World Council of Churches.

Editorial Note:  Together with the prayers for peace in Assisi, these above-mentioned proceedings now seem to be the established order of the day for the Papacy, all the jurisdictions of 'World Orthodoxy" and those in communion with them. The best antidote to this epidemic of "malignant syncretitis" is, of course, a healthy dose of the "Synodicon of the Sunday of Orthodoxy," read in Orthodox Churches on the first Sunday of the Great Fast. The Spring, 2000 issue of The True Vine, published by the Holy Orthodox Church in North America, has the full text of this monumental proclamation of the Orthodox Christian Faith. Below, we reprint the article "What Is An Anathema?" written by Bishop Theophan the Recluse, published in the same issue of The True Vine.

    Rarely does the Rite of Orthodoxy, which is now being performed, take place without censures and reproaches on somebody’s part. And no matter how many sermons are given explaining that the Church here acts wisely for the salvation of her children — still the malcontents just keep repeating their line. Either they do not listen to the sermons, or these sermons do not strike home as regards the latters’ perplexities, or perhaps they have formed their own conception of this rite and do not want to abandon it, no matter what you tell them.

    To some people our anathemas seem inhumane, to others constricting. Such charges might be valid in other situations, but there is no way they can apply to our Rite of Orthodoxy. I will clarify for you briefly why the Church acts thus, and I think you yourselves will agree with me that in so doing, the Church acts wisely.

    What is the holy Church? It is a society of believers, united among themselves by a unity of confession of divinely revealed truths, by a unity of sanctification by divinely established Mysteries, and by a unity of government and guidance by God-given shepherds. The oneness of confession, sanctification, and administration constitutes the rule of this society, which is obligatory for anyone who joins it. Membership in this society is contingent upon accepting this rule and agreeing with it; remaining in this society is contingent upon fulfilling it. Let us see how the holy Church grew and how it continues to grow. The preachers preach. Some of the listeners do not accept the preaching and leave; others accept it and as a result of accepting it are sanctified by the holy Mysteries, follow the guidance of the shepherds, and thus are incorporated into the holy Church — they are churched. That is how all the Church’s members enter her. In entering her, they are mingled with all her members, they are united with them, and they remain in the Church only as long as they continue to be one with them all.

    From this simple indication regarding how the Church is formed, you can see that as a society, the holy Church came to be and continues to exist just like any other society. And so regard it as you would any other, and do not deprive it of the rights belonging to any society. Let us take, for example, a temperance society. It has rules which every member must fulfil. And each of its members is a member precisely because he accepts and abides by its rules. Now suppose that some member not only refuses to abide by the rules but also holds many views completely opposed to those of the society and even rises up against its very goal. He not only does not himself observe temperance but even reviles temperance itself and disseminates notions which might tempt others and deflect them from temperance. What does the society ordinarily do with such people? First it admonishes them, and then it expels them. There you have an anathema! No one protests this, no one reproaches the society for being inhuman. Everyone acknowledges that thesociety is acting in a perfectly legitimate manner and that if it were to act otherwise, it could not exist.

    So what is there to reproach the holy Church for when she acts likewise? After all, an anathema is precisely separation from the Church, or the exclusion from her midst of those who do not fulfil the conditions of unity with her and begin to think differently from the way she does, differently from the way they themselves promised to think upon joining her. Recollect how it happened! Arius appeared, who held impious opinions concerning Christ the Saviour, so that with these notions he distorted the very act of our salvation. What was done with him? First he was admonished, and admonished many times by every persuasive and touching means possible. But since he stubbornly insisted upon his opinion, he was condemned and excommunicated from the Church — that is, he is expelled from our society. Beware, have no communion with him and those like him. Do not yourselves hold such opinions, and do not listen to or receive those who do. Thus did the holy Church do with Arius; thus has she done with all other heretics; and thus will she do now, too, if someone appears somewhere with impious opinions. So tell me, what is blameworthy here? What else could the holy Church do? And could she continue to exist if she did not employ such strictness and warn her children with such solicitude about those who might corrupt and destroy them?

    Let us see — what false teachings and what false teachers are excommunicated? Those who deny the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, divine providence; those who do not confess the all-holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the One God; those who do not acknowledge the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and our redemption by His death on the Cross; those who reject the grace of the Holy Spirit and the divine Mysteries which bestow it, and so forth. Do you see what manner of issues they touch upon? These are issues which are the very reason the holy Church is the Church, principles upon which she is founded and without which she could not be that which she is. Therefore those who rise up against such truths are to the Church what those who make attempts against our lives and our property are to us in our daily life. Robbers and thieves, after all, are nowhere permitted to carry on freely and go unpunished! And when they are bound and handed over to the law and to punishment, no one considers this to be inhumane or a violation of freedom. On the contrary, people see in this very thing both an act of love for man and a safeguard for freedom — with regard to all the members of society. If you judge thus here, judge thus also concerning the society of the Church. These false teachers, just like thieves and robbers, plunder the property of the holy Church and of God, corrupting her children and destroying them. Does the holy Church really err in judging them, binding them, and casting them out? And would it really be love for man if she regarded the actions of such people with indifference and left them at liberty to destroy everyone else? Would a mother permit a snake to freely crawl up to and bite her little child, who does not understand the danger? If some immoral person were to gain access to your family and begin tempting your daughter, or your son — would you be able to regard their actions and their speeches with indifference? Fearing to gain a reputation for being inhumane and old- fashioned, would you tie your own hands? Would you not push such a person out the door and close it against them forever?! You should view the actions of the holy Church inthe same way. She sees that individuals of corrupt mind appear, and corrupt others — and she rises up against them, drives them away, and calls out to all those who are her own: Beware — so-and-so and such-and-such people wish to destroy your souls. Do not listen to them; flee from them. Thus she fulfills the duty of motherly love, and therefore acts lovingly — or as you put it, humanely.
At the present time, we have a proliferation of nihilists, spiritists and other pernicious clever ones who are carried away with the false teachers of the West. Do you really think that our holy Church would keep silence and not raise her voice to condemn and anathematize them, if their destructive teachings were something new? By no means. A council would be held, and in council all of them with their teachings would be given over to anathema, and to the current Rite of Orthodoxy there would be appended an additional item: To Feyerbach, Buchner, and Renan, to the spiritists, and to all their followers — to the nihilists - - be anathema. But there is no need for such a council, and there is no need either for such an addition. Their false teachings have already all been anathematized in advance in those points where anathema is pronounced to those who deny the existence of God, the spirituality and immortality of the soul, the teachings concerning the all-holy Trinity and concerning the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you not see with what wisdom and foresight the holy Church acts when she makes us perform the present proclamation and listen to it? And yet they say, “This is outdated.” It is precisely now that it is relevant. Perhaps 100 years ago it was not relevant. But one must say concerning our time, that if a Rite of Orthodoxy did not as yet exist, it would be needful to introduce one, and to perform it not only in the capital cities but in all places and in all churches: in order to collect all the evil teachings opposed to the Word of God, and to make them known to all, in order that all might know what they need to beware of and what kind of teachings to avoid. Many are corrupted in mind solely due to ignorance, whereas a public condemnation of ruinous teachings would save them from perdition.

    Thus, the Church excommunicates, expels from her midst (when it is said, “Anathema to so-and-so”, that means the same thing as, “So-and-so: out of here”), or anathematizes for the same reason that any society does so. And she is obliged to do this in self-preservation and to preserve her children from destruction. Therefore there is nothing blameworthy or incomprehensible about this present Rite. If anyone fears the act of anathema, let him avoid the teachings which cause one to fall under it. If anyone fears it for others, let him restore him to sound teaching. If you are Orthodox and yet you are not well disposed toward this act, then you are found to be contradicting yourself. But if you have already abandoned sound doctrine, then what business is it of yours what is done in the Church by those who maintain it? By the very fact that you have conceived a different view of things than that which is maintained in the Church, you have already separated yourself from the Church. It is not inscription in the baptismal records which makes one a member of the Church, but the spirit and content of one’s opinions. Whether your teaching and your name are pronounced as being under anathema or not, you already fall under it when your opinions are opposed to those of the Church, and when you persist in them. Fearful is the anathema. Leave off your evil opinions. Amen.

*Translated by Iakov and Maria Tseitlin of Peabody, Massachusetts. Iakov and Maria are parishioners of St. Anna's Orthodox Church in Roslindale, Massachusetts.

     This is a book of 366 Readings, one per day, including leap year. The Readings contain “the wisdom and counsel of Abbas and Ammas (Fathers and Mothers in Christ) who have gone before us” (p. 9). They are appropriate for anyone who wishes to enhance his or her spiritual life, especially during Great Lent. “The editorial staff humbly asks forgiveness for any unwarranted liberties taken in our unworthy effort as we adapted this book into everyday American language” (p. 9). Unfortunately they did not include the names of source documents from which the sayings were taken. The Readings speak for themselves. People who enjoy the ones we have quoted will now know where to find more.

    Another holy man named Pambo asked Anthony, “What ought I to do to live a righteous and spiritual life?” Anthony replied, “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.” (Saint Anthony the Great, p. 14)

    All people are made in God’s image, but to be in His likeness is granted only to those who, through great love, have brought their own freedom under God’s control. Only when we do not belong to ourselves do we become like Him Who, through love, has brought us back to Himself. No one achieves this except by persuading the soul not to be distracted by the false glitter of this life. (Saint Diadochos of Photiki, p. 17)

    The person who wants to engage fully in spiritual combat, and to win the crown of righteousness, must try by every means to overcome this beast that assumes such varied forms. He needs to always keep in mind the words of David, “The Lord has scattered the bones of those who please men” (Psalm 53:5, LXX). It is important not to do anything with a view to being praised by other people, but seek God’s reward only, always rejecting the thoughts of self-praise that enter the heart, and always regarding oneself as nothing before God. In this way, with God’s help, he will be freed from the demon of self-esteem. (Saint John Cassian, p. 53)
Abba Macarius was asked, “How ought one to pray?” The old man said, “There is no need at all to make long discourses; it is enough to stretch out one’s hands and say, ‘Lord, as You will, and as You know, have mercy.’ And if the conflict grows fiercer say, ‘Lord, help!’ He knows very well what we need and He shows us His mercy.” (Saint Macarius the Great, p. 75)

    Amma Syncletica said, “In the beginning, there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God, and afterwards, indescribable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire. At first, they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek (as it is said, “Our God is a consuming fire” [Hebrews 12:24]); so we also must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work.” (Syncletica, p. 159)

 Donations were received from the following Dr. Dimitrios Pappas, Albuquerque, NM; Victor Nikiforov, Framingham, MA; Jefferson Steen, Salt Lake City, UT; John and Emelia Richmond, Richmond, VA; Mrs. Pearl Mitchell, Billings, Mt; Stephan and Alexandra Kaschkadajew, Rochester, NY; Mr. and Mrs. John Macaris, Chelmsford, MA; Patricia Gregoroff, Erie, PA; Anastasia McIntyre, Roslindale, MA; Monastery of St. Nectarios, Cleveland, OH; Clifford Argue, Mercer Island, WA; James and Styliani Chacharoune, Worcester, MA; Anonymous, NYC; Theodore Pappas, Brookfield, WI. William Anagnostopoulos. Johnstown, NY; Vera Modra, Santiago, Chile; Sebastian Wagner, Spokane, WA; Markl Matthewman, Charlottesville, VA

San Gabriel, CA; Seattle, WA; Milwaukee, WI

Harry George, Bellevue, WA; Christos Daskalakis, Burlingame, CA; Anonymous, NYC.
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HOLINESS: MAN’S SUPREME DESTINY
by  Constantine Cavarnos
Four homilies on the concept of Holiness, Hunger for Holiness and Striving for Holiness. Includes a chapter based on St. Nectarios’ counsel for spiritual strivers.    96pp.  Paper   d$8.00

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ICONS?
An Aesthetic, Historical and Theological Approach to Icons in the Form of Questions and Answers. Accompanied by numerous full color reproductions of panel icons and frescoes, this is an excellent “catechism” on iconography for the laymen. Excellent glossary and bibliography.  208pp.  Paper   e$35.00

ST. ANTHONY THE GREAT: Angel of the Desert.
Translated from the Greek by Thomas Arnis.
A beautiful rendition for young people (9 and up) of the life the great St. Anthony, anchorite of the Egyptian desert and often called “father of monastics.” Beautifully illustrated in color with icons and iconographic drawings.  101pp. Paper  e$13.00

METEORA: Drawings and Watercolours
by George Varlamos
A beautiful, full color, large format book of drawings of the rock monasteries of Meteora, unforgettable to anyone who has visited them.  Text and captions in Greek and Enlgish. 205pp.  Cloth   e$50.00