The Catalog of Good Deeds

Explaining the icon of St. George slaying the dragon to a 4 year old is amazing. Explaining the icon of St. George to a 10 year old is excruciating — “Yeah, but dragons don’t exist, do they?”.

Do they?

When someone tells you that dragons don’t exist or that monsters don’t exist, what is it they are saying? When gazing at the icon of St. George, which intuitively has to be one of the most satisfying icons to gaze upon, it reveals a truth so profound that despite the fact that “dragons don’t exist”, it is still one of the most popular icons and St. George is one of the most popular saints.

When we say “dragons don’t exist”, usually what is meant by “exist” is some kind of measurable, reproducible phenomena. “Dragon” then becomes a zoological specie, like a dog or a cat that could be separated into sub-species, bred and genetically modified. But to believe that such measurable categories in the world are the only ones that “exist” is not only untrue to the highest degree, but it is also an image of the mental tyranny of our scientific age that anyone could be so blind to believe this as they live out their lives.

What if dragons or else monsters in general are simply not the same type of “thing” as dogs or cats or apples? What if the way a dragon exists has less to do with the difference between a tiger and a rabbit and more to do with the difference between a friend and a stranger? The difference between a friend and a stranger is not a measurable, reproducible phenomenon, yet it is one of the most real experiences a human being has. A friend is a real category of existence, but there is no “zoological” friend, that is I cannot point to someone that would quantify “friend” for all the world in the way a cat is a cat for everyone. Friend is a category of human engagement. And in a similar vein, encountering a stranger is encountering an undefined person, we could say the undecided in human form. I would like to suggest that a dragon and more generally a monster, is the category of the unknown itself in animal form. Ultimately a dragon is an image of chaos, the place where knowledge and categories reach their limits.

That a dragon is an image of chaos is not a new idea, it has been proposed by thinkers from extremely diverse areas, including Orthodox ones. But usually it is implied in saying things like “dragons are an image of chaos” that dragons are a kind of fable, a kind of metaphor. I am saying dragons exist, or rather almost exist. They are as real as a stranger is real, as an alien is real, real in ways that show us the very limits of existence itself. It is silly, for example, to say that UFOs do not exist. Of course UFOs exist, they are unidentified flying objects. Now the way we portray, imagine and project certain cultural forms and narratives into these UFOs is another matter, an important one which shows us how humans engage with the chaos and the unknown. Just like we can experience a UFO or a stranger, we can definitely come into contact with a dragon. And I think the story of St-George and many other traditional stories of dragons are built, are constructed in a manner that helps us understand “what” a dragon is. This is the reason the story of St. George perdures despite all the myth busters trying to take it down.

But we need to give the myth busters their due. So now, just as a thought experiment, imagine a terrible dragon threatening a city and eating its children. St-George comes and kills it. Imagine now a scientist arriving with all his instruments to dissect it. After several weeks of analysis and peer-reviewed data, the scientist informs the silly people of the town via some academic journal, that the dragon was not a dragon, but rather it was a giant siamese-twin crocodile(s) with elephantiasis and rabies. The paper is quite long, in fact it details how each deformity on the giant siamese-twin crocodile(s) with elephantiasis and rabies is related either to it being siamese, it having elephantiasis or rather having come with time from its own violent self-destructive behavior due to its rabies. Some scientists begin to argue over the cause of certain of the deformities and soon someone holds a conference and the organizers publish a book stating the different views on the matter.

The question is this: which is more real, the dragon or the giant siamese-twin crocodile(s) with elephantiasis and rabies? The giant siamese-twin crocodile(s) with elephantiasis and rabies does not properly account for the terrifying experience of monstrosity, and though the dragon has been dissected and tamed in a way, the experience, the narrative which impacted the very identity of that village is an encounter with a dragon. And also, it would be absurd to rewrite our zoological categories to make way for the exceptional category of the siamese-twin crocodile(s) with elephantiasis and rabies. Just stick with dragons.

In the icon of St. George, the dragon is shown as an impossible hybrid, combining mammals, lizards and birds. As I have explained elsewhere, hybridity is the chaos which appears on the limits, in the in-betweens of categories, the exceptions. It is the very experience of the monster. The strange and exceptional are very important things and are categories which include many spiritual mysteries. Strangers in the Bible and in our tradition can secretly either be angels or devils. In the story of Abraham, the three strangers which come to him are angels and an image of the Trinity, but in the traditions surrounding the Nativity, the unknown shepherd tempting St. Joseph is secretly a devil. This is the nature of the ambiguous, it can hide either extremes.

Sadly in a world of only taxonomic categories, there is no room for the peripheral, the exception and the strange. Everything must fit, or else. This has caused both the mad permissiveness and unilateral openness as well as the totalitarian identity of absolute exclusion which characterize the duality of modernity. Both extremes cause each other and so can only swing from one impossible extreme to the next, either attempting to account for and justify every exception or else tracing an absolute border between us and them. In such a world there is no other option, either everything must fit, or else Occam’s razor comes a slicing. But in a world with room for dragons, the natural hierarchy of being is allowed to both include the rule and leave an undefined space for the strange and exceptional, the monster even. There the dragon can almost exist.

As long as the dragon does not eat our children. And there are those of us now who intuit that the dragons have started to devour children.

Luckily we will always have St. George to protect us.

Source: https://www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/dragons-almost-exist/

Don’t you worry, don’t be anxious:

Time of happiness will bloom!

Just you wait and just be patient:

The award will find you soon.

To mark the day of Elder Nikolai Gurianov’s blissful repose, we would like to share the memories of those who had the chance to talk with our dear spiritual guide. He is undoubtedly a spiritual guide for our St. Elisabeth Convent. Many years ago, Elder Nikolai blessed our spiritual father, Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, to build the Convent. Father Nikolai handed him a 5-rouble bill with the image of a church, and said, “People will give you the rest.” It was our first donation…

The life story of Olga Kormukhina, a famous singer, is amazing and wonderful. She got married thanks to the prayers of our dear Elder Nikolai:

Next time, I asked him about my private life. I said, ‘Father, I would like to remain chaste.’ I was certain that if I wanted to continue singing, it would preclude me from becoming a nun, even though I was very eager to go to a convent, I was ready. I couldn’t imagine a different road for myself. I told him that my only obstacle was that I hadn’t given birth to a child and therefore hadn’t accomplished my mission as a woman. He looked at me and said, “You’re not going to have kids.” I burst into tears! Then he brought an icon of the Holy Royal Martyrs to me, and he was praying for a long time, I just can’t describe it with words. I was in some kind of a flow, an ecstatic state. Naturally, Father Nikolai was the source of this state. I felt that I was between him and Someone else, whom he was asking for something. It took a while, fifteen or twenty minutes. Suddenly, he turned to me and said, with love and pain in his eyes, “The Lord will do what you want.” He added, “She won’t be ill.”

And indeed, while I was pregnant and then gave birth and fed my daughter, we didn’t get ill at all, even though doctors had predicted that the girl would have Down’s Syndrome."

During one of my visits, the elder saw an icon of the Guardian Angel, which I had received as a gift from a spiritual child of Metropolitan John. That icon stood by His Eminence’s deathbed when he was dying. Of course, it’s a really sacred object for me and my family. So, when Father Nikolai saw that icon, he asked me, “Who did you get that sacred icon from?” I realised that he was aware of its previous owner. So I replied, “A spiritual child of Metropolitan John gave it to me.” He said, “Keep it!” He blessed everyone and let them kiss that icon. That’s what an elder means. You don’t have to speak too many words with him. When I told him, “Father, I’d like to remain chaste,” he simply stroked me on my chin—his usual way of casting away bad thoughts. He said, “You shall get married.”

Now I had to struggle with my unwillingness to get married. I had almost convinced myself into becoming a nun and no longer considered any other alternative, so the prospect of marriage was… well, not wholly undesirable but still hard to swallow. I had already known what a marriage was really like. An abbess once said that it could be more difficult than living in a Convent, if it’s done right. I was fully aware of the fact that I’d have a hard time obeying my husband, given my character.

After Father Nikolai announced God’s will about my future life, I began praying, “O Lord, You know I’m not ready. Please make me ready to accept this decision with my whole heart and my soul.” And I started whining like a stupid girl. I said, “Lord, You know that I will have to continue being a singer. You remember how difficult it has always been for me to find good songs. It’s such a pain. One out of a hundred, and even then it has to be tailored to match my requirements. Please may he be a composer, O Lord! And You know how hard it has been for me to find the right arrangement of my songs because I don’t like anything that arrangers do. May he be a good arranger. Lord, You know how highly I value myself, so he must be a world-class musician, or else I will hardly obey him in work-related issues. And… he must be at least two years older and never married before.” Imagine? That request was granted in its entirety. By the way, girls, it shows you that sometimes it’s okay to pray.

I met my future husband in a monastery. I had seen him before and I had even been in love with him. I approached him and asked, “Hello, are you Alexei Belov?” He replied, “Yes, I’m from Gorky Park band.” And I said, “I’m Olga Kormukhina, a singer.” He said, “Interesting!” We went to the nearest café and had a cup of coffee. We immediately recognised that we had a lot in common, surprisingly. And he said, “My greatest dream is to visit Elder Nikolai Gurianov.”

God’s will was for him to go to Elder Nikolai together with me. When we were about to go to the island, I called Father Nikolai’s cell attendant and said, “Aunt Nina, please ask Father Nikolai if he blesses me to bring Alexei to him.” She responded, “He does.” I asked, “Aunt Nina, please ask him to pray for good weather.” We had planned to go there in September when it rains often but I wanted Alexei to have a wonderful trip. He thought to himself, “How arrogant she is, asking the elder for good weather.” He didn’t know that I was asking for good weather to make him happy. I knew how Father reacted to requests like those. It was evidence of our childlike faith. You see? Ask, and it will be given to you.

After the meeting, Father Nikolai blessed us to go on a walk around the island. We spent five days walking around the island, and Alexei later told me, “I was feeling that it was not accidental that Father Nikolai had told us to go on a walk.” And he kept observing me.

In fact, it was a real obsession, and we both saw it. We didn’t resist, I just said, “If your mother doesn’t bless our marriage, I’ll say no.” He went back to the elder and said, “Father, what should I do? My mother doesn’t want me to get married.” Father Nikolai responded, “I say, I bless you.” And he added, “The Lord will instruct your mother.” Then we brought his mother to the elder, and everything went fine.

Now we live happily and love one another. Of course, it is thanks to Father Nikolai’s prayers, and one also has to work hard to improve relationships, it has to be done on a daily basis. Alexei is very wise, and he has the gift of love.

Photos and a fragment of an interview with Olga Kormukhina are taken from her official website http://olgakormuhina.ru

August 24, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

On September 10, the Orthodox Church commemorated a unique saint – St. Moses the Black. Although the saint was from Ethiopia, which is located in the East Africa, it takes a while to understand that St. Moses was a black man. What is more, even the fact that in Church Slavonic language the saint is called by a strange name “Murin” (the Moor), which literally means “black”, does not help to shed the light to his race at first.

Moses became a saint when he rejected his predatory way of life and accepted difficult obediences in one of the monasteries. For his great humility, for his repentance in his former sins and his work on himself, St. Moses was ordained as a deacon; some time later, after his virtues were tested, he was ordained as a priest. There was a joke that remained untill today, told by a bishop at the ordination of St. Moses. When he was being dressed a sticharion, the bishop said: “Now, Abba Moses, you are absolutely white”.

St. Moses died at the hands of the robbers. He rejected to escape from his monastery since he wanted the words of the Savior to come true for him: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).

Although St. Moses the Black is one of the most well-known black Orthodox saints, there are plenty of them in fact. We can also mention, for example, the eunuch from Candace, who was baptized by Apostle Philipp, and who possibly was the originator of Orthodoxy in Ethiopia. There is also a countless host of saint fathers and mothers who spent their lives in the monasteries of Egypt and Ethiopia, martyrs and bishops as well as simple people of God, who were the loyal children of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

It is known that the Ethiopian Church preserved the Eucharistic communion with other local churches up to the time of the 4^th Council of Chalcedon. This is why all the saints of the Ethiopian Church that lived before the 4-5^th centuries can be commemorated as the Orthodox saints and we can ask them for help in prayers.

Overall, the Orthodoxy in Africa is strengthening, although the number of the Orthodox believers is still less than the number of the Catholics, Protestants and Muslims. However, Orthodoxy is the fastest-spreading confession on the territory of the whole continent. In the end of the 19^th century, the clergy of the Patriarchate of Alexandria consisted of only 2 bishops and 50 clerics, while the total amount of the believers was about 100,000 people, the biggest part of whom were of the Greek origin. Due to the wide mission among the peoples of Africa, the total number of the charge of the Patriarchate of Alexandria consists today of more than 6,000,000 people and the Church of Alexandria is the most rapidly growing Orthodox Church in the world.

The expansion of the Gospel preaching in Africa and the fact that more and more people come to the fold of the Orthodox Church, helps the Christians from other local churches to understand the universalism of Orthodoxy, to understand more clearly the plan of the Lord, to understand the great mission of the Church: to consecrate any creature and to call all the peoples to the saving Kingdom of Christ. Such saints as St. Moses the Black testify that the doors of God’s forgiveness are open for any dreadful sinner, for everyone is “called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).

By John Nichiporuk, a Bachelor of Theology,

a student of the Minsk Academy of Theology.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

Their lives were literally divided into the “before” and the “after”. They used to work, make friends, dream, love, and believe… until a mental disorder broke into their daily routine unexpectedly. After they left the psychiatric hospital, they found themselves alone in the face of the new world where neither the society as a whole nor employers want to have anything in common with them.

Dobrodel Social Rehabilitation Workshop was established by St Elisabeth Convent this spring. Dobrodel gives mentally challenged people an opportunity of rehabilitation. Government regulations guarantee rehabilitation as an integral part of treatment but in fact, mental disorders are heavily stigmatized in our society. Sadly, people are more ready to admit that their relative is an alcohol addict than that s/he is mentally challenged. This is pitiful because no one is ever fully protected against mental health issues. As a result, all rehabilitation efforts are solely the responsibility of the patient’s family. What can possibly be done?

We spent a day in Dobrodel Workshop and saw people who had been abandoned by many but are finding a way to return to normal life.

Sergey

Sergey is a jack of all trades. He learned to take pictures in a club house and now takes excellent photos. He spent a long time in hospital and looking for a suitable medicine. He is better now but drugs manufactured abroad are not sponsored by the government, so he has to buy them on his own money.

“I was a regular guy. It happened gradually. Several months prior to my demobilization, a drunk soldier started a fight. As a result, I got a double fracture with a displacement of the upper cheekbone and almost lost my eyesight. Now it seems to me that it was the first negative impact on my health.

I lost two close friends whom I had known since my first year at school during the tragic 1990s. I was depressed. I lost sleep. However, I heard about how awful psychiatric hospitals were and decided that I would never go there voluntarily.

I worked in an industrial plant after I had been discharged from the army. My health condition deteriorated until I had a fight with a co-worker. Finally, they sent me to the hospital for compulsory treatment in 1999.”

“When I was dismissed from the hospital in 2000, I received the 2nd disability group, and I was fired from my job immediately. I was looking for a job. I spent some time working as a mover and as an unskilled builder. My condition was unstable due to unsuitable drug therapy: I couldn’t sleep at all, I was weak to the extent of barely being able to drag my feet. After several years of suffering, I went to a private doctor who finally managed to choose the right drugs for me.”

“Today, I feel that I’m a regular person whose skills are in demand. The atmosphere here in the Workshop is totally different. It’s amicable. We are not hopeless. It’s just that the illness chose us.”

Igor

Igor is not disabled at all. He graduated from the Belarusian National Technical University, School of Transport. He used to work as an engineer in a large company. However, he admits, his unstable mental state would not let him stay in one and the same position. He had to change jobs all the time.

The Dobrodel Workshop has found a way to use Igor’s engineering skills. He develops schemes and blueprints of new items in AutoCAD. Igor has a very healthy and sweet hobby: he looks after bees. He has 7 beehives in Bierazino Raion. He participated in a special course on apiculture and received a certificate.

“I used to be a regular guy until I was 25 or 26. I had a job, hobbies, and friends. My life was totally normal. Then suddenly I felt bad, and that was how it started. I was weak, I had headaches and strange sensations. My parents showed me to a doctor but he just prescribed me some drugs and sent me away.”

“I know for a fact that our society doesn’t care about the people who are trapped by their own brain. It’s a huge problem. It’s almost impossible to find a good job that corresponds to your skills and qualifications. Employers don’t want to listen to anything you say. Who wants to deal with your quirks and symptoms?”

“The Open House Centre run by the Belarusian Red Cross helped me to adapt and return to normal life. I went from a guest to the foreman of the Centre. I had a list of duties, even if it was small. I felt my own value for the society and for the world.”

“The Dobrodel Workshop is a new step for me. I have crossed the line between rehabilitation and employment. Right now, I have a job. It’s hard for me to talk about it, but that’s my way…”

September 19, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

Question: Dear Father Andrew, your blessing. I am a mother of two. My younger son is 7 and he is autistic. I have a husband but we are not married in church. I go to church with the kids often and have them partake of the Holy Eucharist, although it’s difficult for the younger son.

Father, how does the Church view autism? Why are these kids even born? Man is made in the image and likeness of God, isn’t he? Essentially, what a human being must do here on earth is to get to know God and get closer to him. My child does not say anything and does not understand anything. Please tell us what to do. Olga.

Answer By Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok: You have to carry your cross. Your child has an immortal soul. In spite of the fact that he cannot interact with you right now, his soul is alive, and it’s all part of God’s plan. We cannot intervene into God’s plan. We can only accept it or not.

Praise be to God that you didn’t deny your child, that you look after him, and he lives with you. I think that this child will some day become the spiritual centre of your life. Of course, it’s not easy. It is painful and difficult. However, life is like that — it isn’t easy because it is poisoned by sin.

Why is this child born this way? Why God let this illness happen? It was due to our sins or to teach us a lesson of humility and repentance. It’s all in God’s hands.

It is great that you go to church and that your children partake of the Sacraments. I believe that after a while you will be able to notice that your son loves and understands you. Every Easter, we give communion to bedridden children who stay in the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs. They are old enough but their bodies remain short. When I give the Blood of Christ to those children (because they cannot digest the Body of Christ), I feel that I’m in Heaven already. They are quiet and holy sufferers…

Just keep carrying your cross. God will comfort you, trust me!

August 31, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

No Orthodox Christian in Russia doubts the existence of Demons, and that they wage brutal war against people. Neither do they doubt that Christ is stronger than demons; that He has won the war and continues to conquer. Why are they so sure? Because they see it with their own eyes. They see the pitiful victims of demonic possession who come to church to find relief but are tormented by the demons for doing so. Anywhere we go in the world we can see the result of diabolical hatred—violence, lewdness, profanity, coldness of heart—however, we fail to see the cause. But in the presence of the power of God, they are unmasked and revealed. The curtain is withdrawn that hides the puppeteer behind the puppets.

When I was in Russian, I stayed near a monastery where a priest lived who performed exorcisms. The rite of exorcism in the Orthodox Church is a formal service that has been the same for centuries. It includes generous amount of holy water, and is highlighted by the reading of the Gospel passages wherein Christ drives the demons out of people and demonstrates His authority over them. Just as the demons in the Gospels wail and lament when Christ appears, so they wail during these services.

Once the services are in full swing, the demons being to show themselves. One woman rages in a male voice, another person shakes violently, another shrieks in fear, yet another is thrown to the floor, losing consciousness. They scream their hatred for the priest, vowing to have their revenge as he douses them with holy water. Some demons make jokes some sound like dissatisfied customers (“I don’t have to take this!”), others are just raw anger and hatred. But the loudest noise always seems to be that of animals: mooing, crowing, and especially barking and growling.

Not all of the victims were adults. I saw one young girl being dragged and carried up to the priest. She was flailing and howling and wailing. When the priest finally came close enough to douse her with holy water, she moaned in a ghostly voice, which trailed off as she stopped her thrashing, finally collapsing. I saw another boy, held in his mother’s arms, who has the appearance of a poor, special ed. Child. He looked as though he was in distress and pain, just before he vomited on the floor.

Everywhere wailing, moaning, barking, convulsions, shrieking. It was a vision of hell. “Yes, you may attend,” the priest permitted me after I asked to witness and exorcism, “But stand near the icon of the Mother of God, and say the Jesus Prayer (‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner’).” This is not something to be taken lightly. It is not a horror film, not a ghost story, but pure evil tormenting real human beings.

Naturally, I could not help but wonder why these people are possessed. But it is not right to inquire—they are sufferer and it is not for me to judge. But there are cases when the demon itself provides the answer. One woman was being exorcised when, to the priest’s astonishment, the demon informed him that God Himself does not will that she be released, “She killed three babies in her womb,” the demon revealed, “I am here to punish her.” Very many ended up in their pitiful state after going to “psychic healers.” They had turned to these so-called healers with some physical illness, or simply in search of pseudo-spirituality, and received some relief of fulfillment. But then they became demonically possessed, for the “healing” or “experience” was made possible solely through the psychic’s own pacts with demonic powers. These people, however, were impossible to help if they were not prepared to abandon the pseudo-spirituality and embrace the spiritual life of the Church, putting their trust in Christ.

But what about the children? What had they done to deserve this? Usually they have nothing. Their parents had brought this catastrophe upon them by their own unwholesome lives. This may sound strange and unfair, but we all acknowledge that a mother who smokes puts smoke into her child’s lungs, and a mother who drinks nurses her child with alcohol. When a father curses, he puts curse words into his child’s vocabulary. So is it really so surprising that parents who immerse themselves in the forces of darkness being those forces down upon their children?

The service concludes and I am in awe. The priest’s countenance us one of intense concentration, authority and sternness. Throughout the service he held the holy water sprinkler like I mighty whip; now he holds the cross as an invincible shield and a trophy of victory. His long, grey hair is a bit tousled, and sweat glistens on his forehead. Those poor people kiss the cross and clamor desperately to receive his blessing, then gradually leave the church. They feel better. In spite of the demon’s torment during the service, they now feel relieved and strengthened. They can go on, they are no longer overcome by despair.

Some people come to the exorcisms thinking that they are possessed, but they are not—it is a sort of spiritual hypochondria. Others speak blasphemies against God and man, not realizing whose mouthpiece they are being, and therefore will not even consider going to church. But wonders never cease. Once when the Communists were in power, some top party members were “touring” the monastery, laughing at its out datedness. One of these happened into the church where an exorcism was taking place. You can imagine the confusion that ensued when she began crowing involuntarily, like a rooster. She realized her great mistake in denying God, and became a Christian.

Still others have chronic, seemingly incurable illnesses that bring them to the monastery in search of healing, and there they encounter the power of Christ, which exposes the demon inhabiting them. Then the battle begins—fasting, praying, repenting, suffering. These are their “medicines.” But what is the doctor’s scalpel? Humility. I cannot forget one incident related to me by a possessed woman herself. At her exorcism, the demon in her reviled the priest, saying that he would spit on him. “Go ahead,” the priest answered, “Spit. It will make me humbler.” At this the demons shrieked as if seared by a blowtorch. But this is not surprising. Jesus Christ, by Whose authority this Orthodox priest, and indeed all those apostles, saints and righteous ones before cast out devils, was also spat upon, reviled, even crucified. But the devil’s rage was his own defeat.

By Nun Cornelia

Originally Printed in Issue 6, 1995

Source: http://deathtotheworld.com/articles/exorcisms-in-russia-from-an-eyewitness/

Question: How can someone best assimilate into the ‘culture’ of Orthodoxy even picking up other national customs without losing their own nationality (being of the USA for example)? How do we find that middle balance of taking the good and leaving the bad from our own culture?

There is no such thing as a generic Orthodoxy. Our faith is handed to us by particular people, who come from particular cultural expressions of the faith. Consequently I think a convert can only embrace the particular expression of the faith as they receive it, in the context that they have converted in. Some converts have gone so far as to actually try to adopt the ethnic identity of whatever Orthodox Jurisdiction they convert into -- I have even heard of cases in which people Russified their surname. This is of course ridiculous, and is neither necessary, nor helpful.

When I first encountered the Orthodox Faith, it was in the Russian Orthodox context. I was never under any illusions that I could become a Russian, nor did I have any great desire to do so. When the Orthodox Faith was brought to the Slavs, they embraced many aspects of the Orthodox Byzantine culture that brought them the Faith, but they remained Slavs, and with time, they in turn made the Faith their own, and a new Orthodox culture developed. You could go back one step further and talk about the Jewish culture of the Apostles, and the interaction that the Greek converts had with it, which ultimately developed into the Byzantine Greek culture. So while I am not a Russian, nor could I ever become a Russian, my experience of Orthodoxy came in a Russian package, and so I am Russian Orthodox, and love and appreciate the best aspects of Russian culture.

Anything in any culture that is contrary to the Orthodox Christian Faith has to go. But anything that is good or virtuous in a culture can be embraced. The Greeks certainly did not give up the best aspects of their culture when they embraced the Christian Faith, and the Church has been enriched by the Greek Christian culture that came out of that. The same is true of Americans. Anything that is good in the culture that you have when you enter the Church you get to keep.

And while we have to embrace the expression of Orthodoxy as we receive it, since we live in a context where we have many other cultural expressions of Orthodoxy, we should resist the temptation to look down on other practices that are no less authentic, but nevertheless different than what we are familiar with.

Someday, God willing, we will see a distinctly American Orthodox culture, but attempts to force that into existence prematurely have met with bad results, and I think this fails to understand how Orthodoxy changes a culture. The Russians did not decide one day that they were going to toss out Greek culture, and concoct a Russian version of it. It happened naturally, as their national Church matured. The American Church has a very long way to go.

However, none of this means that those of us whose language is English need to have the services in a foreign language. The texts of the services have all been translated into English, and so there is no reason why we should not use them.

What a convert should do is try to learn what they can from the most pious and mature Orthodox Christians they encounter in their parish, and emulate them. You will inevitably find some faults in such people, and so those things you should not follow. And you certainly should not emulate the bad habits of those who have grown up on the Church. For example, many Orthodox Christians have a bad a habit of coming to Church late, or coming to Church inconsistently. Ignore the bad example of those people, and imitate the ones that are doing what they should be doing.

One temptation for any convert is to take things to extremes, and so finding the balance is something that you have to work towards. For example, while we can and should learn from monasticism, unless and until you go to a monastery, you should not try to live like you are an Athonite monk. For one thing, it's not going to work, and you are likely to have the wheels of your faith come off at some point. Keep your focus on trying to live like a normal pious layman, and if God leads you to a monastery eventually, you will be a lot more likely to work out your salvation there, if you have learned how to work it out in a balanced way, while living in the world.. We should always remember the wise words of St. Poemen the Great:

"Everything that goes to excess comes from the demons" (Benedicta Ward, translator, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, The Alphabetical Collection (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1975, 1984 revised edition), p. 185.).

By Fr. John Whiteford

Source: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2017/08/stump-priest-converts-and-culture.html

There are plenty of testimonies concerning miracles and graceful help through prayers to the Holy Royal Martyrs. By the time the Romanovs Family was canonized in August 2000, there had been lots of accounts about miracles related to them.

Myrrh-Gushing Icon of the Emperor

I would like to share one such miracle in detail. An artist by the name of Pavel Tikhomirov painted an icon of the Emperor Nicholas early in 1997. Later, the icon served as the basis for color lithographies, one of which was owned by Oleg Belchenko, a surgeon from Moscow. He attended a service in the cathedral church of Sretensky Monastery on September 6, 1998 with this icon in a plastic bag. It started emitting fragrance, which was so strong that people were turning their heads to look at him. When he took the icon out of his bag after the service, the scent increased.

The image spent three weeks in the sanctuary, emanating fragrance continually. It started to pour myrrh late in 1999. The icon was placed in the Ascension Church in Gorokhovo Pole, then transferred to St Nicholas the Wonderworker Church in Pyzhy in February 1999, and then to other churches in Moscow. Hundreds of parishioners could witness the pouring myrrh with their own eyes. When this icon was in Holy Trinity Church in Khokhlovsky Pereulok, it healed Alexander Vytiagov, a veteran of the WWII and a retired 87-year-old colonel. He had been blind for fifteen years by that time. He met Father Alexius Uminsky, the rector of that church, and said, “I believe that this icon will heal me.” Father Alexius replied, “Let it be to you according to your faith.” He covered the man’s head with a towel soaked in the myrrh. The colonel woke up the following morning, looked around, and screamed, “I can see!” His family ran to his bed and saw that he was able to see.

The wonderworking icon traveled around many churches and monasteries. It visited more than twenty dioceses before the 2000 Synod of Bishops. The myrrh was seen pouring from that icon on numerous occasions. A number of healings was also recorded.

Miracle in Krasnodar

Here is another example. Archpriest Alexander Ignatov, the rector of the Holy Nativity of Christ Church in Krasnodar, bought an icon of the Royal Family in the icon store of St Daniel Monastery in 2000. A cleaning lady who washed the icons after a Sunday Liturgy in 2002 noticed that the glass became blurred. When they opened the kiot, they saw that the icon of the Holy Royal Martyrs was imprinted on the glass from the inside in slightest detail. Miracles like these are well known to the Orthodox. A similar miracle happened in 1993 in the Monastery in honor of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple (Kyiv) with an icon of Look at Humility Mother of God, which had an imprint on glass not made by hands. The image on glass was then put in a separate kiot and is said to work miracles.

The icon of the Holy Royal Martyrs imprinted on glass in Krasnodar was sent to the Commission on Research of Miraculous Phenomena of the Moscow Patriarchate, with the blessing of Metropolitan Isidore of Krasnodar. Forensic experts from the Institute of Forensics of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the laboratory of the Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences tested this icon for a year using advanced equipment and modern methods. They confirmed the existence of the image on glass but could not explain its origin. The icon and the image on glass are made of different matter.

By Fr Job (Gumerov)

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

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