The Catalog of Good Deeds

Conserve: To protect from loss or harm; to keep quantity and quality constant through physical or chemical reactions or evolutionary changes.

Restore: To bring back into existence or use; to return to an original condition.

Close in definition, the differences when applied to art treasures can be catastrophic. Consider the botched effort to “restore” Elías García Martínez’s 120-year-old fresco “Ecce Homo” which had deteriorated from humidity in the church of Santuario de Misericordia of Borja in northeastern Spain.

Results like this are tragic when artists attempt to repaint the original.

Conservation

“My job is not to paint over injuries,” says conservator Elena Valentinovna King. “My job is first to make sure the artifact is structurally sound. I then carefully remove layers of grime and deteriorated varnish. Typically, I must compensate for losses or disfigurement using conservation grade materials. Finally, I apply a coat of varnish to unify and saturate the surface.”

Elena holds a master degree in art conservation, specializing in Byzantine icons, from St. Petersburg Academy of Art, St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as a master in painting from the Academy. Her expertise is broad, having stabilized hundreds of important icons, including work on 12th century frescos in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Pskov, Russia, and 14th and 15th century icons in the Pskov Museum’s permanent collection. She and her husband moved to the United States in 1997 where Elena worked as senior conservator in several of the country’s top conservation centers before establishing an independent service.

Over the last 11 months, beginning in September 2016, Elena has intermittently worked on site at Panagia Pantovasilissa Greek Orthodox Church in Lexington, Kentucky to preserve the integrity of a precious collection of icons painted in the mid-20th century on Mount Athos.

Panagia Pantovasilissa Church, Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, was the first so named in the United States, having dedicated their church building in 1953. After more than 60 years in the same location on Tates Creek Road, the parish initiated construction of a new church in Fall 2013 and moved their home in December 2015 to the intersection of Tates Creek Road and Rebecca Drive. An important part of the relocation process was the care of the four large icons and 12 smaller icons of the apostles that had been in place on the original iconostasis since the late 1950s.

What’s in the Name? The Patronal Icon of Panagia Pantovasilissa

Greek immigrants began clustering in Central Kentucky after the First World War and several Balkan conflicts. By 1948 they founded the mission parish of Panagia Pantovasilissa in Lexington. The patronal name of the community was derived from an icon that once resided in the great church of Hagia Sophia constructed in Constantinople (532-537) by order of Emperor Justinian I. Shortly before the city fell to Mehmed II on May 29, 1453, the Panagia icon, reputed to be one of the four that Evangelist Luke painted, was dropped into the Marmara Sea, along with other cherished panel icons from Hagia Sophia, to preclude their desecration by invading Ottoman Turks.

The Panagia icon was found on the opposite shore of the Marmara near the village of Triglia in Asia Minor. In response to miracles surrounding the arrival and presence of the icon, the citizens of Triglia moved it to a nearby monastery which was later converted to a parish church named Panagia Pantovasilissa in honor of the icon.

The 1918 Armistice of World War I, and the failed campaign of the 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish War to realize the Megali Idea, brought about massive deportations of Greeks from Turkey (Asia Minor). The “Great Idea” of recovering Constantinople (present Istanbul) and her former territories was not to be, but rather an expansion of Turkish control over Asia Minor under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, Ataurk. Triglia families forced to leave their homes relocated in Raphina, Attica, in southern Greece, taking the icon with them. A new church named Panagia Pantovasilissa was built in Raphina where the original icon is still enshrined today.

Many of the founding families of Lexington’s Panagia Pantovasilissa Church came from Raphina and can trace their ancestry to Triglia where the icon washed ashore after its sea journey from fallen Constantinople in the 15th century. To affirm the parish’s historic relationship with the miraculous icon, Helen Kafoglis commissioned Hieromonk Seraphim Oftalmopoulou of Karayae Monastery on the Holy Mountain (Athos) to paint a copy in honor of her parents, Stathis and Anna Kafoglis, who originated from Triglia. It was delivered to Lexington in 1956. The other icons on the iconostasis, also by Hieromonk Seraphim, arrived in 1959.

Preservation

Helen Collis, an honorary trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art and former parishioner of Panagia Pantovasilissa, was determined to ensure the preservation of these treasures she had prayed before throughout her youth. Her father had personally excavated the earth with a shovel for the foundation of the first temple on Tates Creek Road. On the recommendation of Dean Yoder, senior conservator for the museum, Mrs. Collis consulted with Elena about taking measures to protect the icons. The parish got behind the effort and raised funds for the project.

Because of Elena’s knowledge of antique materials and her skill in performing structural and cosmetic repairs, the museum had previously commissioned her to stabilize an extremely valuable acquisition before further conservation procedures could go forth. It was a 15th century Eleousa Theotokos icon attributed to Angelos Akotantos, known for marrying Byzantine and Western artistic elements. Angelos was one of the primary artists of the Cretan School, along with Andreas Ritzsos, that coalesced in Heraklion a few decades before the final siege of Constantinople. A century later El Greco (1541-1614) received his early training at this new center of post-Byzantine painting in Heraklion.

The icons of Panagia Pantovasilissa, while solidly within the Byzantine legacy, reflect this evolution of the Cretan school toward a partial fusion with aspects of Renaissance aesthetics. In contrast with the Panagia itself, which is a copy of a much older prototype, the three other large icons that inhabited the first iconostasis and the icons of the 12 apostles are more painterly. Their portrait-esque modeling using a range of color to determine brilliance and contrast (chiaroscuro) creates a sense of depth. This affinity for one-point perspective is one of the primary characteristics of Renaissance painting.

The artist

Hiermonk Seraphim was a mid-twentietn century iconographer and talented painter in the Cretan tradition stylistically influenced by the works of Angelos Akotanto. His icons, like those of Angelos, maintain a passion-less intensity that encourages prayer to the prototype more than admiration for the skill of the artist who created the images.

The second iconostasis constructed in marble by *Fr. Cosmin Sicoe for the new temple will support four large icons. Besides the Panagia, they are: the Pantokrator (Christ Enthroned), St. John the Forerunner, and St. Basil the Great.

The kisses of ancestors

The work of a conservator is archeological, revealing the material culture of past activity. It is also curative without risking “loss or harm.”

“It is inevitable with time, local atmospherics, smoke from lampades, and the loving gestures of lips and hands, that damages are suffered,” says Elena. Examples of unintended harm are the lip-greased kisses on the icons, some probably dating back to when the icons first arrived from Greece. “There are many kisses on all the icons, the heads and feet. I can do nothing to remove them because lipstick bonds with the paint on a chemical level. If I completely remove the kisses, the paint will come with them down to the gesso. These icons will always be signed with love, the kisses of ancestors.”

What Elena can and does do is to patiently clean the icons in stages. Over time, environmental stresses, including oxidation and aging as well as handling, cause weaknesses that lead to cracking, delamination and flaking. Note the fine separation lines on the face of St. Basil (header icon of this article) that expose the white gesso foundation. Inexpert treatment of stress-paths can actually hasten degradation.

The professionally trained conservator begins with analysis of the materials that were used to build the image. The monastic artist of the Holy Mountain who painted the icons of Panagia Pantovasilissa worked in the ancient technique and medium of egg-tempera, which was refined in the imperial schools of Constantinople and Thessaloniki and spread throughout the empire to the Balkans and Russia.

Repairing cracks

Hiermonk Seraphim of Karayae Abbey, who made a copy of the original Panagia icon from Hagia Sophia, added a detailed inscription in beautiful calligraphy. It describes the history of how the icon came via Triglia to Raphina in southern Greece. A split in the panel cuts through the left quadrant of the script. Splits like this are caused when splines remain taunt but the panel bows.

“These panels were made from pine available on Mount Athos. It’s a very knotty wood that can, in time, declare itself through the gesso to the painted surface. All wood has a very active afterlife; it will always respond to its environment.”

Repairs to this kind of natural wound are surgical though not invasive.

Damaged gold

Hiermonk Seraphim used generous amounts of gold-leaf on all the icons. The fabulous “punch” work on the Panagia is a testament to his skill in this technique of ornamentation.

The conservator uses specialized materials for each type of compromising event. Bruised areas of gold, for example, are treated with mica powders diluted with shellac rather than re-gilding, as some amateurs venture, resulting in signature patches.

The conservator’s tribute

The icons of Panagia Pantovasilissa Church are “museum quality,” Elena says. But her understanding of their value goes beyond that of art investor and museum collectors. Responding to suggestions that the icons be replaced with newer images for the new location, Elena submitted these remarks in her proposal:

“If these icons are replaced, we lose this connection and part of the rich history and traditions in this community. How many generations offered prayer upon these icons in a moment of despair or through tears of joy? The icons are imbued with the energy of the congregation throughout its history. If these icons are removed and replaced, this connection with the past is lost, leaving the future members disconnected. In Russia, we use the expression namolennaya icona, which means much prayed upon; we consider such icons priceless.”

By Mary Lowell

Source: https://www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/conserve-restore-question-ancestor-kisses/

Most people today consume a lot of various media content. This may be in the form of television shows, movies, music, books, magazines, the internet, and, perhaps some other forms of media of which only teenagers are aware. Most people are aware that some content–such as pronography, for eample–is not compatible with the Christian faith, even if they are not sure why this is. But in many other cases, it may be difficult to determine whether a movie or a song is appropriate, or whether it is compatible with the Christian faith. I hope that the following points will prove helpful in this matter.

That is correct: you only live once. Somehow, this very helpful reminder has become a license to do things that one would otherwise be prudently-hesitant to do. But this catchy phrase should really remind you that there is a limited amount of time that you have in this earthly life. We rarely value this time, even though on a smaller scale, we all understand what it is to have a large task and very little time to finish it. We all know what it is like to work against a deadline (think of writing a paper the night before it is due). It is the same in our lives: we are working against a deadline. This deadline is our physical death, and the task is truly great–we must prepare for life with God. And this means that we must have our priorities in an order that will help us complete this great task. Now think of how much time you can spend watching useless television shows, movies that excite your senses in the moment but leave you with nothing worth having two-and-a-half hours later, or browsing other people’s lives on social media, instead of living your own. If you spend only one hour each day on this (many people spend a lot more!), that is an entire day missing out of your month, or an entire week out of a year. Maybe this does not sound like much, but it amounts to an entire year by the time you are fifty–a whole year completely wasted! If you were given a year to do whatever you wanted, would you really just sit on a couch watching TV and “liking” other people’s FaceBook posts? So, this is the first problem: television wastes a lot of time that can be much better spent living the life that God gave us for a specific purpose: to learn to be with Him.

You Are What You Eat

We often have a lot of good sense about what we eat. If something is fresh and healthy we eat it. If something is rotten or poisonous, we stay away from it. And we know that if we eat something poisonous, we will become ill and can even die. Why, then, do we not have the same good sense about our brains? Why do we allow things that are poisonous to enter into our minds? What we allow to enter into our minds through the eyes and ears can be even more dangerous than bad food. Bad food can only afflict our bodies; bad television can corrupt our minds and souls. Well, is it ok to watch something that is only “a little” bad? Is it ok to eat food that is only a little spoilt? We would not do that. We would not take the chance of getting sick. Why not apply the same wisdom when it comes to our minds? Once you see something, you cannot unsee it. Your stomach can vomit, but your mind is not so easily cleansed.

Many television shows and movies are not produced for our benefit. Their goal is to earn money for those who produce them. And producers will appeal to every base and sinful passion in order to keep our attention. There is a reason why shows are steadily becoming more sexualized and violent–sex and violence capture and keep people’s attention. But they also introduce sin into our minds. This sin in the form of thoughts and memories remains in our brains long after the show is over, and buries itself deeper into our being. In this we see that “we are not just struggling with bad habits, pornographic television, and the various weaknesses of our bodies. We are also struggling with evil spirits, and we must take the fallen angels and this struggle seriously.” Media influence on our minds is tremendous. Often people will believe a lie just because they saw it on TV, become accustomed and desensitized to sin just because “everyone” in movies is doing it, or go and buy something that they had no idea existed, but an advertisement told them that they deserved it and had to have it.

What to Do About It

1. As Christians, our primary goal is life with God. Make a rule to spend at least as much time on your spiritual life as you do on entertainment. This spiritual life has many different expressions: prayer, reading from the Scripture, participating in church services, or helping and supporting other people. But it is important that in fifty years, you will not have spent an entire year of your life sitting in front of a screen, but instead working on your relationship with God.

2. Guard your soul at least as well as you guard your stomach. Be vigilant about what you put into your mind at least as much as you are vigilant about what you put into your body, and even more so, because your soul is at stake. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Php. 4:8).

3. Try technology-free days. Perhaps, once-a-week, perhaps, once-a-month, but try turning off your television, telephone, computer, whatever other device and engaging with the world which God has so beautifully fashioned. The best time for limiting technology distractions and time wasted is our fasting periods. In Russian, the word for ‘fast’ is the same as the word for ‘guard.’ Be on guard, guard your soul from those who want to exploit the weaknesses of your nature for their personal gain and from demons who want you to be as filled with filth as they are.

By Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov

Source: https://frsergei.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/is-it-good-to-watch-tv/

Now there was at Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him entreating him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he had come, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing tunics and other garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. (Acts 9:36-42)

That is our entire knowledge about Saint Tabitha, or Dorcas. All of it, right there. We don’t know if she was a young woman, married and with children to raise, or single and living with her family. We don’t know if she’d been disowned from a pagan family because she was Christian. Maybe she was old, and all by herself, so she dwelt with the other widows of the community. We just don’t know. Other than the fact that Peter’s prayers for her, and her return to this life brought believers into the fold, we don’t even know why St. Luke decided to include this account in the Acts of the Apostles.

Invisibly present

But every time I read this, I think of a woman in my parish. She’s quiet. She is raising children. She’s not a widow, and she doesn’t sew, although she does knit. When she smiles at you, her entire being lights up, and she smiles a lot. Our church doesn’t need electric lights when she’s around. She never has anything bad to say about anyone, even people who have hurt her. She knows her boundaries and is quiet, firm but loving when she has to enforce them. She adores her husband, loves her children, and is always there at the services. When she’s not present, we miss her.

What does she do? Why is she so important to our parish? What about her is so important and vital that I would compare her to Dorcas, a woman in the Bible?

Honestly? Nothing. And everything. The Biblical Tabitha was a non-entity. She didn’t hold an important place on parish council, she didn’t influence decisions in the community, she didn’t give pots and pots of money to the parish and to other Christian communities struggling to survive in a hostile world. She didn’t sing in choir, read the lessons, or even bring food for Sundays. But she is simply there, trying, in her own simple, broken way to love God and follow him, being a good wife, a good mother, a good friend, a good widow, whatever she was. Trying to be a good handmaiden of God. She was so underrated (until they lost her) that the widows felt compelled to point out her good stitching and her charity to Peter to justify asking God to bring her back.

Always there

But when the Sunday School needs teachers, she’s there. When someone in the parish needs a visit, or food delivered to their home, she’s organizing it, and cooking for it, but she never announces it (that’s why she has friends) and she never advertises what she’s doing. When St. Nicholas day is approaching, she’s sewing the bags, gathering the toothbrushes, the socks and the underwear (not to mention the cookies) to make sure the needy in the city have something. If the sanctuary windows need cleaning, or the kitchen needs organizing, guess who does it? But nobody ever hears from her, nobody ever thinks of her, and everybody overlooks her when they hand out the ‘attaboys.’

Cherish

Look for these women and men in your parish, and give them a hug. Because they, more than many, exemplify what Christ taught: Love your neighbour. Do good to others. Praise God and follow him. We forget them, we neglect them, and we overlook them for the simple reason that they are doing what Christ told us to do, and without them and their prayers, we would all be the poorer. Cherish the invisible people in your parish.

By Bev Cooke

Source: http://myocn.net/saint-tabitha-dorcas/

(This essay was originally delivered as a public talk at the June 2015 Fordham/OTSA conference on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church. It was part of a panel on canonical impediments to marriage.)

When examining marriage, starting with the liturgy provides an antidote from a legalistic affliction, which is easy to succumb to when applying the canons. Liturgy is the ultimate pastoral resource, and pastoralia is the goal of the canons, matters concerning our life in Christ. Throughout the liturgical rite, the Church presents its vision of Christian marriage: marriage is done not for something in and of itself, but by the design of God, who has ordained it as a holy act, done in order that a man and a woman come together in unity for a life with God.

This vision fits neatly with the canonical vision of marriage, which was provided for the Church by the classic Roman legal definition of marriage formulated by the Roman jurist, Modestinus, “Marriage is the union of a man and woman, a partnership for – a sharing of the whole of life, and the participation in divine as well as human laws (XXIII.2.1).” The emphasis here on union, sharing, and participation was understood one way by the pagan Roman world of Modestinus, but in a different way in the Christian Church.

This is precisely the task of the Church’s canonist: establish the rule and measure a response to challenges or aberrations to the rule. Aberrations of marriage can be grouped into three broad topics: divorce, mixed marriage, and cohabitation. In the canonical tradition of the Church, for each of these challenges the Church’s teaching is clear: it tolerates divorce only in extreme situations, forbids mixed marriages, and does not even recognize cohabitation as a state.

While the Church’s teachings are clear, practice demonstrates that requiring strict application is not always possible. And here is the basic canonical conundrum of rule and praxis: the Church must respond to challenges (praxis), but also make clear its canon (rule). Underneath everything we teach is the person of Jesus Christ, who gave his life and was willingly put to death on the Cross for the salvation of all. He has given us various means to attain this salvation, and one of them is Christian marriage in which a man and woman are joined, as from the beginning, as ordained by God, in order to work out their salvation. Any deviation from this is a deviation from Christian marriage. So, to address any aberration of Christian marriage, it is incumbent on us to proclaim Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, and then the canon of the Church.

But in any response, the Church must also remember its mission to bring all to salvation in Christ. In the words of the canons themselves, “the entire concern of God and the one entrusted with pastoral authority is to bring back the lost sheep and heal the serpent’s bite: neither pushing the sufferer to the precipice of despair, nor giving him rein to lead a dissolute or contemptuous life, but by one or another means, be it more severe and astringent medicines, or milder and more soothing ones, to stay the suffering and strive for the healing of the ulcer, examining the fruits of repentance and wisely guiding the man who is called to the splendor on high (Trullo 102).”

By Fr. Alexander Rentel

Source: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2015/12/09/a-perspective-on-marriage-from-the-canonical-tradition/

There was a philosopher who gave Bishop Evagrius three gold coins under the condition that he will receive the money in the afterlife from the Lord. the philosopher commanded his children to put the voucher into his coffin, and so they did. on the third day from his death, the philosopher appeared to the bishop in a dream and said, “Go take your voucher, I have received everything in abundance according to it.” The bishop asked his children about the voucher, and they indeed found a voucher signed with his own hand when they opened up the coffin. the note read, “ thank you Bishop Evagrius, I have received from the Lord more than I had invested.”

The Gospel also supports this claim when it says, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:20-21).

Someone asked an elder how a zealous Christian can avoid being tempted when there are so many temptations around: the world uses all means to oppose him; he sees monks who return to living in the world; he realises his own weakness, etc.?

The elder replied, “Let him imagine dogs that chase hares. Whenever one of them sees a hare, it immediately runs after the hare, whilst other dogs see just the running dog, and though they start following it, some time later they usually give up on the chase. However, the first dog that sees the hare will chase it for as long as is necessary to catch it. Neither the fact that other dogs turned back nor the difficult terrain on its way will stop it, although, as it runs through thornbushes, it often gets wounded. This is how a person who seeks Christ our Lord will chase him steadily and defeat all temptations that he encounters, until he reaches his destination.”

There were two friends. They had an argument one day, and one of them slapped the other one in the face. The latter felt pain but he chose not to say anything. Instead, he wrote on sand, “Today my best friend has slapped me in my face.”

They kept going until they found an oasis where they decided to bathe. The one who had been slapped in the face, almost sank, and his friend rescued him. As soon as he came around, he wrote on a rock, “Today my best friend has rescued my life.”

The other friend asked him:

— When I offended you, you wrote it on sand, and now you write on a rock. Why?

The guy replied:

— When someone hurts us, we should write it on sand so that winds could wash it away. However, when someone does anything good, we should cut it in stone so that no wind could wash it away.

Teach yourself to write your offences on sand and cut your joys in stone.

A new monk approached a famous ascetic, asking to show him the way to perfection.

— Go to a graveyard tonight, — the elder suggested, — and praise the dead who are buried there till dawn. And then come and tell me how they react.

The young monk came back from the graveyard on the following day:

— I’ve done what you ordered, Father! I was praising those buried ones out loud all night long. I called them saints, blesseds, great righteous men and women who pleased God, the lights of the whole Universe, fountains of wisdom and the salt of the earth; I claimed that they had all virtues that I had ever read in the Holy Scripture and in the ancient Greek books.

— So what? Did they say they were flattered?

— No, Father, they kept silent all the time; I didn’t hear a word from them.

— That’s surprising, isn’t it? — the elder said. — That’s what you’ll do now: go there again tonight and curse them till dawn as hard as you can. They will definitely start talking back at you.

The monk came back again, and that was what he reported:

— I cursed and shamed them in all possible ways. I called them dirty dogs, the devil’s vessels, God-forsakers; I likened them to all evildoers of the Old and New Testaments, from Cain who murdered his brother to Judas who betrayed Jesus.

— So how did you get away from their rage?

— I didn’t need to, Father! They were silent all the way. I even put my ear to the tombs but no one even moved.

— See, — the elder nodded, — you have conquered the first step of the Angel-like life, which is obedience. You will reach the top of this way of life on earth only when you become as indifferent towards both praises and curses as those dead persons.

There was a monk who prayed fervently saying:

— O Lord, you are merciful and patient; why is it so hard to save one’s soul, and why is the hell full of sinners?

He spent a great deal of time asking God about it. Finally, an Angel appeared to him and said:

— Let’s go, I will show you the ways that people choose.

They left the cell, and the Angel led the elder to the forest.

— Can you see that lumberjack who carries a heavy bundle of firewood and does not want to drop just a little wood to make it easier to carry? — the Cherub asked. — That is how some people carry around their sins and does not want to repent.

Later, the Angel showed the elder a well and said:

— Can you see a madman who draws water out of the well with a sieve? That is how people repent. They draw the forgiving grace, and then sin again, so grace flows away like water through a sieve.

Then the Angel pointed at a man and asked the monk:

— Can you see the man who laid a log across the horseback and is trying to ride into the church, though the log is stuck in the door? This is exactly how people do good without humility, with pride, and they don’t know the worth of it. Now tell me, is it easy for God to save these people, given that He is both merciful and just?

A philosopher strolled along the streets of a Greek city, surrounded by his disciples. They met a loose woman. She approached the philosopher and said, “You’ve spent half of your life teaching your disciples but if I wave at them, they will follow me and not you.” He answered, “You’re right, o woman. It’s because you offer them a downhill road, whereas I inspire them to go uphill.”

There were pilgrims who traveled to a big monastery for a big holiday. There were a blind man and a lame man among them. It was really hard for them to move forward. Suddenly, they were brought to a halt by a stream that cut across their path. There was no bridge across that stream; however, there were many big stones in the water, and most pilgrims could easily jump from one stone to another and get to the other shore. What could the blind man and the lame man do? The lame man could not step from one stone to another. The blind man could not see where to put his foot. They spent some time thinking about it, and finally they found a way out. The blind man seated the lame man onto his shoulders. The lame man told the blind man where to go. That was how they traversed the stream and kept moving forward until they reached the monastery.

It is hard for a person sometimes to traverse the river of evil and lies and reach the shore of godly Christian living. We can do it together, though, if we help one another like the blind man and the lame man did.

Q: Who were the "brethren of the Lord" (Matthew 12:46-47), and if He had brothers, why do we call the Theotokos "Ever-Virgin"?

A: The "brethren" of Jesus are mentioned several times in the New Testament. Four are mentioned by name. To explain who they were is not difficult, because the Scripture itself names four of them and identifies their parentage. Matthew (13:55) and Mark (6:3) list, as brethren of Jesus, James, Joses, Simon and Jude.

We know for certain that James and Joses were not sons of Mary or Joseph, for the Scripture identifies them, as children of a different Mary, who was the wife of Alphaeus-Cleopas (Matthew 27:56 ; Mark 15:40). James is also referred to as the "son of Alphaeus", in the listing of the Apostles (Matthew 10:3 ; Mark 3:18 ; Luke 6:15 ; Acts 1:13). The relationship between these "brethren" (including "sisters") must be seen in the context of Hebrew-Aramaic tradition, according to which even cousins were called brothers and sisters. This is the case also in Greek and Slavic languages and cultures to this day, so we do not have to speculate about it. This is a fact we know very well from our own families and lives. We have a perfect example of this in the Old Testament Scripture. The word used to describe the relationship between Lot and Abraham at Genesis 14:16 is "adelphi" in the original Greek, which can only be translated as "brother" in English. Nevertheless, we know that Lot was Abraham's nephew. The Greek word "adelphos" and "adelphi" are only attempts to translate an unknown Aramaic word - and no one has any idea what the actual word was which is rendered in Greek and English as "brothers" or "brethren".

There could have been no "first blood" brothers of Christ, otherwise He would not have given the care of His mother to St. John the Theologian (John 19:26) at the foot of the Cross. Indeed, Christ would have done His 'brothers' great disrespect and harm if He had done this ! The Old Testament prophecies explain the virginal marriage and ever-virginity of Christ's mother, and we also have the testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking through the Church that Mary is "Ever-Virgin".

Further evidence from the Holy Scriptures that in the Hebrew tradition "brothers" and "sisters" are not necessarily siblings. Our Orthodox Tradition teaches us that the Holy Virgin Mary was the only child of Saints Joakhim and Anna, but at John 19:25 we read, "Standing near the Cross of Jesus was His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary of Klopas, and Mary magdala." If our Church history is correct, how could Mary have had a sister? The first clue to our answer is that both women are named Mary. ! No family has two daughters and gives them both the same name! Therefore it is evident that the relationship between the two women has to be something different than our modern English concept of "sister". The second clue to our answer is that the Bible clearly identifies this Mary of Klopas (Cleopas in KJV), as the mother of Jesus' "brothers". The name Klopas or Cleopas is the same as Alphaeus in the Aramaic language which Jesus spoke. Therefore the so-called brothers of Jesus mentioned at Mark 6:3 are elsewhere clearly identified as the sons of Alphaeus and his wife Mary of Klopas - the "sister" of the Virgin Mary.

Thus the Scriptures show that the "brothers" of Christ are not His brothers, but some relation. There is no scriptural evidence to support the notion that the Virgin Mary bore any other children apart from Jesus Christ our God.

Seeing Him born as an infant in Bethlehem. Let all creation glorify Him!

Source: http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/Brothers.htm

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