The Catalog of Good Deeds

One of the greatest of all Anglo-Saxon treasures, the oldest complete Latin Bible in existence, is returning to the UK for the first time in 1,302 years.

The British Library announced it had secured its loan from the Laurentian library in Florence for a landmark exhibition in 2018 on the history, art, literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon England.

The Codex Amiatinus is known as the earliest full volume manuscript of translations by Pious Jerome. It is a bright example of the Anglo-Saxon book art. The Codex Amiatinus is a beautifuly decorated and giant manuscript produced in Northumbria by pioneering monks in 716 which, on its completion, was taken to Italy as a gift for Pope Gregory II. Since the 16^th century, all the reputable church and scientific publications of the Latin Bible are based on this very book. Since 1786 the Bible is kept in the Laurentian library in Florence. It is assumed that the manuscripts, which formed the basis of the Codex Amiatinus, were brought to England in 669. More kindly, it was created by the order of Ceolfrith, the abbot of Wearmouth-Jarrow monastery, who was going to present the manuscript to Pope Gregory II. In 716, Ceolfrith started a pilgrimage to Rome, but died before he reached the place. The codex itself got to San Salvatore Monastery on mount Amiata, which gave the manuscript its name. The text of the inscription was wiped out and written anew, which led to losing any traces of the English origin of the manuscript.

Bede the Venerable said in Vita Ceolfridi, that during that time three giant books of the complete Latin Bible were created in the monasteries of Wearmouth-Jarrow, one of which was likely to be the Codex Amiatinus. The remaining of the codex, found in 1882 in Newcastle upon Tyne, can serve as a prove of the words of Bede. It was a sheet with text, which was identified as a similar to the text from the Codex Amiatinus because it had the same format, the amount of lines and was written in the same uncial form. Now it is kept in the British Museum. In 1909 its text was published which let to find 11 more sheets with the text of Yeshua ben Sira. It was found out also that the second codex was kept in Worcester until the 16^th century. After that, it fell into private hands and was almost destroyed. The fate of the third book is still unknown.

The Bible is considered one of the most stupendous surviving treasures from Anglo-Saxon England but is not widely known about outside academic circles. “It is the earliest surviving complete Bible in Latin,” said Claire Breay, the library’s head of medieval manuscripts. “It has never been back to Britain in 1,302 years but it is coming back for this exhibition. It is very exciting.”

Source: http://pravoslavie.by/news/samaja-drevnjaja-v-mire-biblija-na-latyni-vozvrashaetsja-v-britaniju-cherez-1300-let

Pay heed to yourself, O monk, sensibly and diligently, with a vigilant mind, as to when the demons come, by what means they catch one, and by what means they themselves are vanquished. Guard yourself with great caution, because every hour you walk in the midst of passions and nets. Everywhere the passions surround one. Everywhere are set out their traps. Pay heed lest you be attracted by the enemy into his will through passions and traps. There is a great need for us, even essential for us men of flesh, to fight with the fleshless ones—one man with ten thousand enemies. Many tears, much patience, much suffering and caution, and a thousand eyes everywhere are required, for the evil spirits rise up maliciously against us like a lion. They would destroy us if we did not have the Lord with us.

They have been very skilled in the art of catching men for more than seven thousand years. Without sleep, food, and rest, constantly, every hour, and by all means, they seek our perdition with every trick and with great effort. Having turned out to be powerless in one way, they think up something else. They start one thing, and contemplate yet another. And they roar about everywhere looking where they might find doors to enter and from where they might begin the battle, and, as it were, trick us into doing evil. Do you not know with whom you battle? How legions of invisible enemies surround you, and every one of them wages his own battle? They sound numberless voices, and desire to swallow up your soul. Should you not be cautious?

Is it possible that having drunk your fill and given yourself over to sleep, lying down and constantly consoling yourself, that you can with all this receive salvation? If you will not be attentive to this, you will not escape their traps. We have come to struggle, as it were, stepping into the fire. If we desire to be true warriors of the King of Heaven and not false participants, then let us put far away from us every passion or other. And according to our desire and fervor they tighten their traps, for the occasion to sin belongs to us ourselves, our attachment, weakness; and let us put away from ourselves every negligence and faintheartedness and effeminate weakness, and thus we shall stand against the cunningness of the demons. Let us labor in prayers and other virtues with all fervor and power, with soul, heart, and mind, just as someone might run swiftly on a road without looking around, or as a stingy man might fast, for such is the cunningness of the evil demons.

They are constantly occupied with us. Like watchmen they notice our inclinations and our desires, what we are thinking about and what we love, what we are occupied with besides these. Whatever passion they notice in us, they arouse this in us, and thus they place their nets for us. In this way, we ourselves, first of all, arouse against ourselves every passion, being ourselves the cause of it. Therefore the demons seek in us occasion that through our own inclination and desire we might the sooner be caught. They do not compel us to do what we do not desire, to do that from which our mind inclines away and our will does not agree, knowing that we will not obey them. Rather, they test us some, whether we will accept some passion or other, And according to our desire and fervor they tighten their traps, for the occasion to sin belongs to us ourselves, our attachment, weakness, and negligence. We do not cut off the beginning of every passion, but the final cause of every evil is the demons. Through the demons we fall into every sin, and no kind of evil comes to us apart from them.

Thus the demons cast us into every passion. They compel us to fall to every sin, and we are tangled in every net. By nets I mean the first thought of desires and various foul thoughts through which we bind ourselves with every passion, and fall into every sin. This is the door of demons and passions, by which they enter into us and rob our spiritual treasury. Immoderate sleep, laziness, eating not at the proper time are a cause of the entrance of demons. And having come, they first of all knock on the doors of the heart secretly, like thieves. They introduce a thought, and they notice whether there is a watchman or not, that is, they see if the thought will be received or not. If it will be received, then they begin to cause passion and arouse us to it, and they steal our spiritual treasure. If they find a watchman at the doors of the heart who is accustomed to belittle and banish their suggestions, if one turns away in mind from the first mental impulse and has one's mind deaf and dumb to their barking and directed towards the depths of the heart and so does not at all agree with them, then to such a one they cannot do any evil, since his mind is sober.

Then they begin to scheme and place various nets to catch us in passion, for example: forgetfulness, anger, foolishness, self-love, pride, love of glory, love of pleasure, overeating, gluttony, fornication, unmercifulness, anger, remembrance of wrongs, blasphemy, sorrow, brazenness, vainglory, much speaking, despondency, fearfulness, sleep, laziness, heaviness, fright, jealousy, envy, hatred, hypocrisy, deception, murmuring, unbelief, disobedience, covetousness, love of things, egotism, faintheartedness, duplicity, bitterness, ambition, and laughter. then they arouse a great storm of thoughts of fornication and blasphemy so that the ascetic might become frightened and despondent, or so that he might leave off his struggle and prayer. But if the enemies after raising all this cannot hold and take away from his struggle a firm soul and an unwavering soldier of Christ who, like a passion-bearer, has placed his foundation on the rock of faith, so that the rivers of sorrows do not cause him to waver, then they try to rob him by some seeming good, considering it more convenient under the appearance of good to introduce something of their own and in this way to deprive one of perfect virtue and struggle. Thus they try to compel us to make spiritual conversations for the sake of love, to teach men, or to sweeten the food a little for the sake of a friend or for the Feast, for they know, the deceptive ones, that Adam fell for the love of sweet things. First they begin to darken the purity of the mind and heedfulness to oneself, and by this path they suddenly throw us into the pit of sexual sins or into some other passion. If even by this way they do not cause one to waver who is sober in mind, then they arm themselves with false visions and offend and disturb him by various afflictions. A most skillful warrior lets all this go by him and regards it as nothing, as if it has no relation to him, for he knows that all this is the device of the devil.

If even thus they do not conquer, then they battle by means of highmindedness. They introduce they thought that the man is holy, saying to him secretly, "How many afflictions you have endured!" The demons, like a clever hunter, when their first means turns out to be powerless, abandon it, go away, hide themselves, and pretend to be conquered. But beware, O man, pay heed, do not be lax, for they will not depart from you until the grave. But they will prepare a great sedge and will look attentively by what means they can again begin to rise up against you, for they do not rest. When the warmth of fervor grows cold in a struggler, they then secretly, having prepared some net, come again and lay them out and try to catch him. In all the paths of virtue, the devils establish their nets and hindrances when we fulfill heedfully every deed for our salvation and not out of pleasing men, or from some other idea. But if in virtue there is hidden some kind of impurity, pride, vainglory, and highmindedness, then in such a matter the devils do not hinder us, but they even inspire us, so that we might labor without benefit. The demons strive for nothing so much as by every crafty means to steal time and make it idle. In everything that the demons do, they strive to dig three pits for us. First of all, they act against us and hinder us so that there will be no good in all our acts of virtue. In the second place, they strive so that the good will not be for the sake of God. That is, having no opportunity to bring us away from good, they make efforts through vainglory to destroy all our labors. In the third place, they praise us as if we turn out in everything to be God-pleasing. That is, being unable to confuse us by vainglory, they strive by highmindedness to destroy our labors and deprive us of rewards.

Every demonic battle against us is in three forms. First, the devils darken our mind and a man becomes forgetful and dispersed in all his works. Then they introduce an idle thought, so that through it we might lose time. Finally, they bring various temptations and afflictions. Therefore, of us it is demanded that at all times we should be very sober of mind, for the enemies ceaselessly are making tricks and acting against us. If one struggles for many years, the enemy seeks a convenient time, so as in a single hour to destroy his labors. Not many men see the numberless traps, devices, and tricks of the demons. As a fleshless spirit the demon does not require rest, and through a long life he has learned to catch men. Therefore, no one can escape the tricks, the ruinous nets, and pitfalls of them, except one who remains in bodily infirmity from constant struggle, and who lives in spiritual poverty, that is, with a contrite heart and in humble thoughts. Such a one will conquer them.

Most of all, the Divine Help cooperates with us. However, in us, as we have said previously, is the beginning of all passions, attachment, weakness, and negligence, because we do not renounce in soul and thought and do not cut off the first impulse of every passion that comes. And the demons add yet more. Seek within yourself the reason for every passion, and finding it, arm yourself and dig out its root with the sword of suffering. And if you do not uproot it, again it will push out sprouts and grow. Without this means you cannot conquer passions, come to purity, and be saved. Therefore, if we desire to be saved, we must cut off the first impulse of the thought and desire of every passion. Conquer small things so as not to fall into big ones. It is evident that God allows one to be overthrown in battle by the demons or some stubborn passion because of our pride and highmindedness, when one considers himself to be holy, or strong, and trusts in himself, and exalts himself above those who are weak. Let such a one acknowledge his own infirmity, acknowledge the Help of God, and be enlightened. Let him understand that without God's Help he can do nothing, and thus he will humble his thought. Or again, this is allowed as a chastisement for sins, so that we might repent and be more experienced in struggle. Or it is allowed for the sake of crowns of victory. However, in that in which you are conquered and from which you suffer, before all other passions you must arm yourself against it and for this use all your fervor. Every passion and suffering is conquered by undoubting faith, by labor of heart and tears, by warm fervor and quick striving to oppose the present passion. This is a high and praiseworthy struggle, as taught by the Holy Fathers. Every warfare of the demons against us comes from and is reinforced by four causes: from negligence and laziness, from self-love, from love of pleasure, and from the envy of the demons. May the Lord preserve us by His Grace from all nets of the enemy and passionate works, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

By St. Paisy of Neamt

Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/stpaisy_battle.aspx

The sisters of St Elisabeth Convent organised a real feast for the patients and the staff of the Boarding Home No. 4 on the day of the Merciful icon of the Mother of God. A Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the chapel. After the Liturgy, everyone prayed during a procession as a way of consecrating this place that has become the home for some and the meaning of life for others.

Invisible World

The Boarding Home in Vulica Siamaška was opened in 2010. Former patients of the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs were transferred here immediately.

Nina Sandovich, a sister of mercy, recalls:

— When we began visiting our friends in this Boarding Home, we saw that they were somewhat forlorn; they felt lonely. We had visited them in the Boarding Home for children, and they had attended church. They had a hard time getting used to this new place, new people, and new circumstances. We would simply come to our children and invite Father Valery. We dreamed of having a church here. We decided that the church was to be consecrated in honour of the Merciful icon of the Mother of God. People pray to this icon of the Mother of God for those who have mental health issues or special needs, or, as they used to put it, about the "paralytics". Of course, the Mother of God is the mother of us all. Most of those who stay here lack motherly protection, love, and support.

A chapel in the Boarding Home was founded in 2013 and has been the place of weekly worship since that time. It is in this room that the residents meet their relatives on weekdays and encounter God on weekends and holidays.

The Boarding Home is a special and isolated world where things are different. As Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok noted in his address to the staff of the Boarding Home, "Christ teaches us to love. Out there in this world each person lives for his own sake but here we try to understand and accept people who suffer and in so doing defeat the sinful laws of this world. Prayers that are going on here help everyone and give us hope and faith, which are lost so easily. We see the insanity of what happens around us. These people who were cast out of this world due to their illness are much more honest and pure than those who consider themselves to be valuable and significant in this world.

Angels in Slippers

If you draw an analogy between the invisible world of the Boarding Home and the invisible world of the paradise, the people who stay here are Angels… They came to the Liturgy on the day of the Merciful icon of the Mother of God wearing slippers on their feet. It is dark and everyone else is sleeping in the houses that surround the Boarding Home but there are two windows shining in the building of the facility because the Liturgy is going on. Someone holds the hand of a sister, someone sings along with the choir, someone in his simple-heartedness blesses the priest. Some of the patients cannot leave their units but a priest comes to them so that they could receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

— Those who live here appreciate every meeting and every minute spent together. They show us how to be grateful, how to love, and how to appreciate each other. People who come here are genuinely blessed, — the Rev Rodion Alkhovik, who is the spiritual counsellor of the Boarding Home, says.

The sisters of St Elisabeth Convent regularly organise spiritual meetings with Father Rodion, pilgrimages to holy places, and birthday parties for the patients.

— The staff are so professional, and the art therapy classes are so amazing here that our main task is to come and just talk with the patients. You should not do things in a formal manner but instead you must show each of the people who you talk with that you care, — Sister Nina believes.

Rejoice!

The celebration was marked by a special atmosphere created thanks to spiritual chants, ballads, and contemporary church music performed by Rejoice Choir of the Sisters of Mercy and their friends. The staff are looking forward to new concerts like this one.

The concert kicked off with dances prepared by the residents of the Boarding Home. It was their first appearance on stage in front of the sisters and the personnel. It took them two years to prepare for this performance. They had prepared four dances. Some of the dancers can't even talk but they are very creative. Sister Ludmila who teaches them is a professional choreographer.

There was an exhibition of pictures and other artefacts made by the patients of the Boarding Home No. 4 for the mentally challenged in the National Art Museum of Belarus on Sunday December 3, which proved yet again that the residents of the Boarding Home are extremely talented.

St. Elisabeth Convent

November 28, 2017

Pravmir: The Orthodox Church prepares the faithful for the Nativity of the Lord by the 40-days fasting period. The secular world has its own spirit of Christmas preparation: parties, presents, Christmas markets, early decorated stores… How not to be involved by the secular pre-celebration of Christmas and to keep the fast not only in food, but in spirit as well?

Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov: First of all, I would warn against building too high a partition between the “Christian world” and the “secular world.” In the true sense of the word, there is no such thing as the secular world; there is only one world–that which was created by God and corrupted by sin. Trying to “flee from the world” may be a lofty aspiration indeed, but one that in its purest form would require us to abandon our employment, family, relationships, oh, and probably the internet as well. Yet it is unthinkable that the Church would want all of us to become monastic hermits—Christians would simply die out within a generation or two!

Unlike the somber Great Lent, which is a preparation for the Passion Week, the Nativity Fast is full of joy, as we prepare for God Himself to enter this sinful “secular world,” and to dwell among us—not only among the Essenes, the Nazarites, and other desert dwellers—but among us also. Like a pregnant woman who knows what the result of her labors will be and smiles in anticipation, the Church cannot but know what joy awaits us at the end of the Nativity Fast and rejoices in anticipation of God’s love and abundant mercy. Christ tells us not to look dismal when we fast, but to anoint our heads and wash our faces (Matt. 6:16-17), that is to say, to act in normal ways expected of us in our society.

Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov

There is nothing inherently sinful in parties or presents. That is not to say that gluttony or addiction to shopping are not sinful diseases–that they are in all seasons—Advent and any other; and if we feel that we should not be doing something during Advent, we probably should not be doing that before or after the fast either. Having said that, I certainly realize that many people experience what is called “peer pressure” as our friends, classmates, or coworkers invite us to their Christmas parties where non-fasting dishes and alcoholic beverages are served on days when we cannot have them.

Thankfully, in America it is very much acceptable to be different. Most people actually understand and respect their friends’ dietary preferences. Sometimes, Orthodox Christians excuse their own desire to break the fast by citing some story from the life of some ascetic who broke his fast in order not to offend the people who offered him food. These Christians usually forget that the said ascetic led a very strict life before the incident, and that he fasted for forty days after tasting of the chicken which was brought to him by some poor people who gave him the last of what they had. Our situation is incomparably different. We have a lot of control over what is served at a party: we can ask the hosts ahead of time to prepare certain fasting dishes, we can bring some dishes to the party, or we can respectfully and discreetly excuse ourselves and not go to the party at all. In most cases, people will understand and respect our choices in the same way that we understand and respect theirs.

Pravmir: What would you advise those who face the problem of celebrating two Nativities (in a case where one spouse is a non-Orthodox or where one member of a family converted to Orthodoxy and attends a parish which follows the Old Calendar)?

Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov: If our spouse celebrates the Nativity of Christ according to the Gregorian calendar (I shall not address the “New Julian” conundrum here), we should show to them our utmost love and respect and celebrate with them. Of course, we do so without breaking our fast; but a true celebration can be equally joyful even without our eating a piece of duck or ham. And if we show acceptance of their customs, traditions, and beliefs, our loved ones will be likely to accept ours. In any case, what we must avoid is any division in the family. “No house divided against itself will stand” (Matt. 12:25), and if we want to have a strong family, we must learn to respect each other, including each other’s choices in celebrating the Nativity.

Pravmir: How to deal with the problem of two dates of celebrating of the Nativity in the Orthodox Church, if one follows one calendar but attends the nearest parish who follows another?

Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov: This is a very difficult and painful issue. I do not know whether Christ was born on December 25, January 7, or some other day, but I think that it is very important that the Church is united. Adopting a new calendar not recognized by the fullness of the Orthodox Church has clearly caused divisions and strife within the Church. As members in the Body of Christ, we must see divisions and separations as one of the greatest evils that can be endured only in cases of great necessity. And I do not feel that the calendar issue presents such a necessity. For me, this statement goes both ways: those who instigated the calendar reform had no right to do that, unless the entire Church was in agreement; but in the same way, we have no right to separate ourselves from our brothers and sisters in Christ over the calendar issue.

Liturgically, however, a person cannot celebrate two Nativities in one year any more than he can celebrate two Liturgies in one day. We can certainly be present at both services (although, I would strongly advise against that), but we can fully participate only in one. In other words, if we choose to attend a new-calendar parish, we should celebrate Church feasts and fasts according to the customs of our chosen parish. If we worship with them in the same church, commune with them from the same Cup, ask them to baptize our children, but think that their Nativity is not the “correct” one because the “correct” one is two weeks later, then we are driving a wedge between ourselves and the Church and are guilty of schism. We can choose to make matters very complicated when clergy of different jurisdictions concelebrate together, but for most lay people, the principle of Orthodox unity should be primary to any astronomical, historical, cultural, or any other arguments presented by proponents and opponents of the New Calendar.

Source: https://frsergei.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/questions-and-answers-about-the-nativity-fast/

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