The Catalog of Good Deeds

What is the aim of life (death)? For Orthodox Christians it is salvation and eternal life with God. How are we saved? Paul tells us we are justified in Christ through our faith (Gal 2:16). But what is faith? Faith is our surrender to the truth of the Gospel and TheTradition of His Church. Faith is not some general belief in God, but specifically total acceptance of the life, death and resurrection and teachings of Christ as recorded in the Scriptures. Our Faith implies a way of life following the teachings of Christ. Faith means we accept the Gospel and Epistle writings and do it! It is not enough to be good citizens, we must also have faith - complete and total faith in the Word of God. At the Final Judgment our lives will be examined and we will be saved through the grace of God. The Church provides us with the structure and guidelines to live our faith.

A holy person recently told me that there will be few in this society who will be saved. That should be scary, it made me think. It challenged me to wake up. I found that it was important to recognize that our current day culture is based on as set of assumption or values that differ from our Orthodox Christian faith. An Orthodox Christian stands as a stranger in today’s culture. An Orthodox way of life has a worldview that is quite different from the dominate culture we live in and have been conformed to accept.

What is a world view? To make sense out of all the sensual data we receive at any time, our mind relies on assumptions to simplify all the inputs we receive through our senses. This is how we can make sense of what we experience and act. It is these often hidden assumptions that make up our world view. One person may have the assumption, “If I do good, I will be saved.” Another may assume, “To be saved, I must first have faith and follow the teachings of the Bible as commandments from God and work to perfect myself though repentance and by partaking regularly in the sacraments of the Church to become a holy person and then by God’s grace I can be saved.” This is the Orthodox view. As another example, one may not firmly believe that God created the world and believe that truth is only determined by scientific evidence. Alternatively, the Orthodox assumes without question that God created all we know, provides all we have, He is "Our Father," and that Truth is revealed to us by Him and is made known to us through the Scriptures as interpreted by the Church which is the body of Christ on earth headed by Christ Himself. With just a few differing assumptions we can interpret what is good and bad in quite different ways leading to different actions based on the same reality. It goes without saying that people with differing world views have a difficult time communicating on issues that matter for salvation. Even the idea of salvation may not be in their worldview. How many actually put God at the center of everything they do?

In an Orthodox world view, we accept without question, based on faith, that God is our Creator and Lord. Through the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles we have documented for us the example of God Himself in human flesh, His actions and teachings, showing us the path to salvation.

We must accept that our Orthodox worldview puts us at odds with our current society. As we act out of our Orthodox world view, others will not understand our actions and we will be seen as a bit weird, out of step, not with it, or old fashioned. We can expect to be ridiculed and ignored. And when we try and explain our actions, we should not expect to be understood, because our reasons will not make sense in their worldview. It is only by exposing their underlying assumptions that we can ever hope to explain. We must remember these assumptions are generally hidden. Salvation requires that we have a firm understanding of the basis our Orthodox way of life.

In today’s culture it is generally accepted that truth is relative. Many believe that what is the truth for one person may be different than that of another, and it is accepted that both are equally valid. One thing that is not tolerated in this view is someone who thinks they have the absolute Truth. But, we Orthodox know through faith that there is but one Truth. Therefore we can expect that our worldview will not be welcomed in general, and that others will work to undermine it. We can expect to shunned and persecuted, just as the early Christians were persecuted in the Roman pagan times. Even though we act out of love to our neighbors as we are commanded, we will still be rejected and ridiculed for our practices. Because of this it is important to be careful about who we choose to spend our time with. It is important to follow the practices of our faith, which are there to support us on a path to salvation. We must regularly read Scripture, attend worship services, pray daily and throughout the day, participate regularly in the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion and follow the fasting guidelines. These activities are all intended to help us. They are not the end we seek but the means to prepare ourselves to enter the Kingdom of God. It is important for us to constantly work to purify our hearts and to cultivate our inner strength so we can carry out the Boss’s commandment to love others. Christ is there always to help us along the path of salvation, and He has infinite compassion for all of mankind.

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com.by/2009/09/is-orthodoxy-bit-weird.html

In Great Lent, a period of intensified prayer, the Church does not forget to pray for its departed children, because the driving force of prayer—love—overcomes all obstacles of time and space, not stopping even before the boundary of eternity, passing between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant. The following instance that took place at the end of the twentieth century in one Greek diocese is a clear confirmation of this.

The bishop who told this story is still alive. It is genuine and has profound significance, because it speaks of the prayers of the living for the departed. God always hears these prayers, especially during the Divine Liturgy.

In the diocese of this bishop whom we have mentioned, there was a Papa Ioannis serving—a devout priest loved by all. He would somewhat linger during the proskomedia because he commemorated many names. But the priest had a terrible shortcoming: He loved to drink. As diligent as he was in the fulfillment of his priestly duties, so powerless was he before wine. Many implored him to overcome this passion, so unbecoming of a servant of God. The priest himself was aware of it, was furious with himself, and tried to quit drinking several times, although everything would start again within a few days.

Once, when this papouli had again surrendered to his passion, he went to church. Half-drunk, he exclaimed, “Blessed is the Kingdom…” and he began the Divine Liturgy. By God’s allowance, the priest slipped in the altar and dropped the Precious Gifts from his hands. He froze with horror! Dropping to the floor, he began to gather the Body and Blood of Christ with his tongue. He was choked with guilt, because it happened because of his intoxication.

The priest went to the bishop and confessed his terrible sin to him. The next day, the bishop, after much thought, sat down at the table and took a pen: He had to begin the process of defrocking Fr. Ioannis. The bishop’s hand was lingering in indecision when he beheld as if in a vision how thousands of people were coming out of the walls of the room. There was a burning pain in their eyes. Passing by the bishop, they cried out, “No, Vladyka, do not punish this priest! Do not defrock him! Forgive him!”

An endless stream of people passed in front of the bishop: men, women, children, well-dressed and poor—an entire demonstration of souls! And they all stretched out their hands to the bishop and cried out, imploring, “No, Your Grace, don’t do this; don’t expel our papouli! He remembers us and helps us at every Liturgy; he truly takes pity on us; he is our friend! Don’t remove him from his dignity! No, no, no!!!”

The vision continued for a long time. The stunned bishop watched the sea of faces pleading for the drunken priest. He realized that they were the souls of the reposed whom Fr. Ioannis commemorated at the Liturgy. And this commemoration greatly alleviates their lot, like water given to the thirsty in the summer heat. “This is a clear testimony that our prayers assuage the souls of the reposed,” the bishop thought.

He called for the priest.

“Fr. Ioannis, tell me, when you serve the Liturgy, do you commemorate a lot of names at proskomedia?”

“Hundreds of names, Your Grace. I haven’t counted them.”

“Why do you remember so many names and delay the Liturgy?” the bishop asked, as if angry.

“I pity the departed: They have no other help but the prayers of the Church. Therefore, I ask the Most-High to grant them rest. I have a book where I record all the names that are given to me for commemoration. I inherited this practice from my father, who was also a priest.”

“You do well,” the bishop agreed. “Their souls need it. Continue doing this. Just be careful, and don’t drink anymore—not a drop of wine, starting tomorrow! Such is your penance! You are forgiven.”

From that day, Fr. Ioannis was truly freed completely from the passion of drunkenness. And now he stands even longer at the proskomedia, commemorating the names of the departed.

From the book Miracles and Revelations of the Divine Liturgy,

published by Paraclete Monastery (Oropos-Attica), 2012.

Source: http://orthochristian.com/111598.html

It’s going to be the 20th anniversary of our wedding this year! Add to it four more years we had known one another for before marriage. It’s hard to imagine…

I remember how I was impressed by a fairy tale I read when I was a child. It was titled “Old and Happy.” The main character of that story caught a miraculous bird who bought its freedom by promising to make him happy either when he was young or old. His wife advised him to choose to be happy during their old age. The reason she gave was that while they were young they were capable of standing up against all hardships on their own. He followed his wife’s advice. As soon as he did so, their family was beset by all kinds of troubles: war, poverty, and captivity. They were scattered and left all hope to reunite and to lead a happy life ever again. In the end they met each other, got rich, and lived happily together ever after. When I was a child, I was thinking that I would also like my life to be like that.

On the following day after the future Father Sergius and I met in the arts college and took a stroll down the city streets, he had the unusual courage to hand me a note with a self-composed poem. The poem ended with the following words: “Let’s stay together and see how this story ends.” I liked to look out of a certain window in the arts college. I wrote a small note on its jamb. It was a line taken from my favourite song, “A story with unhappy end…” He noticed my answer and wrote back something only we could understand. Over time, we scribbled over the entire jamb (strange though it may sound in this era of mobile phones). They did not erase those inscriptions… Recently, I saw that the old building of the college has been demolished.

During our first 10 years of living together, we quarrelled almost daily and were going to get divorced. It was thanks to Father Sergius’ humility and the prayers of Father Andrew that our family has survived until now. The enemy attacked us from all sides. He tried to destroy our marriage with sinful thoughts and plausible pretexts. Naturally, I was to blame for it. My mother-in-law told me, “I’ve noticed a pattern: the better the husband is, the worse the wife turns out to be!” (I wish I could change over time. Time goes by and I don’t change, and my character is getting worse…) Our relationships changed dramatically when I broke my back and stayed in bed for a month and a half. Father Sergius looked after me and the house. It brought us closer together and helped me to recognise and appreciate my husband’s love. I stumbled upon a book titled Five Languages of Love, which stated that people had various ways of showing love, and if spouses don’t coincide in these ways, they will have a hard time dealing with one another. There was a remarkably straightforward advice on how to find out the language of love that your loved one speaks: Pay attention to what he asks most often, and what he finds most valuable. Father Andrew often says that people can live together for years and still don’t hear each other.

I have often been pestered by thoughts about God’s will and how to recognise it in my own life. I was always dreaming of meeting a holy elder who would predict everything and lay out a plan for my future life, easily propelling me towards the bright future and the perpetual salvation. Real life was different. Even if a holy man would tell me the obvious God’s will, I did not want to follow it. If I encountered any obstacles on that road, I would blame the holy man and not myself. I heard that God’s will can be unmistakably deduced from the circumstances of one’s life. It seems to me (I might be wrong, of course) that one’s own inclinations are also part of such circumstances. I mean, if one does not stick to them obstinately but adds, “Thy will be done.” I remember a guy who graduated from a seminary and went to an elder to ask him which path to choose in life: that of a monk or of a family man? The priest asked him, “What do you want? Don’t you know? You’ve got to make up your own mind first.”

Rather unexpectedly, in 2011 I had a growing certainty that we had to adopt a child, preferably two kids. It took us a couple of years to get ready for it. Finally, this dream came true in 2013. Father Sergius became a priest around the same time. His life became even holier than it had been. When he was a deacon, he would attend one Liturgy every Sunday or a holiday. After his consecration, he started attending three Liturgies every Sunday. If there was a nocturnal Liturgy, he wouldn’t miss it, either. I remember how he told me about an old lady who complained that she couldn’t bring her grandson in for communion because she wanted to be able to pray comfortably. Father Sergius replied:

- You can attend the nocturnal Liturgy, and then bring your grandson to the morning Liturgy for communion.

The parishioner gasped:

- I can’t. It’s beyond my strength.

Father Sergius laughed:

- Why is it possible for me, then?

- You are an extraordinary person.

- No, I am not: I get tired, too.

When Father Sergius comes home after a service, it’s out of the frying-pan right into the fire! The kids and I don’t let him relax.

When Father Sergius became a priest and was required to hear confessions, he discovered the true thoughts of many people. Of course, it is much harder to listen to confessions than to intone “Again and again…” from the ambo. Still, there is something authentic in it. Father Sergius told me that if he were a film director, he would make a film about confession, with voices of the penitents set against the background of amazing liturgical chants. A child, a young girl, a middle-aged man, a senile old man—talking about one and the same thing: their separation from God and how they suffer in exile. It’s tragic and bright at the same time.

Aside from his priestly ministry, Father Sergius has painted up several churches, several iconostases, and continues to be the head of the Icon Painting Studio of St Elisabeth Convent. As far as I’m concerned, services, singing in the choir, working in the Icon Painting Studio, and my ministry as a sister of mercy remains merely nostalgic memories about a long-gone bright period of my life. I have a boarding home right at home and I have to be there round the clock. We adopted our third child, a one-year-old girl, in the summer of 2017. I have written a lot about adoption. I’ve tried to be as candid and honest as possible. On the one hand, adoption is great but on the other hand, there are lots of difficulties that we’ve had to deal with.

I recall how I met a friend who is also an icon painter. She had just given birth to her fourth child. They lived in a small flat. I was sympathetic with her and asked, “Do you find it hard to live like that?” Pushing the pram, she replied plainly but with dignity, “I believe that if a Christian tries to live bona fide, she cannot have it easy.”

I look back and see that some of my friends and acquaintances pass away, some leave the Convent, and some come to the Convent. Some people live their lives happily, their hopes come true, while others have a never-ending trail of misfortunes.

What will happen next?

Somehow, it seems to me that in any case a human life is a “story without a happy end.”

When I recall the fairy tale about happiness in the final years of one’s life, I think whether a happy end might foreshadow the eternity?

By Matushka Larisa Nezhbort

March 12, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

A new CD album of the Monastic Choir of St Elisabeth Convent has been released. The album was recorded under the supervision of Nun Juliania (Denisova). We hope that the listeners will enjoy the new album Our Faith with its diverse tracklist, which includes:

– Church hymns of Byzantine, Macedonian, and znamenny chants;

– Music by P. Chesnokov, P. Tchaikovsky, I. Boldysheva, V. Basner, Nun Juliania (Denisova);

– Spiritual canticles with lyrics by classical poets and contemporary authors, including St Nikolaj of Serbia, Archpriest Andrei Logvinov, and Archpriest Artemius Vladimirov;

– Folk songs.

These hymns and songs gained popularity among parishioners and audiences in many cities and towns around the world where the sisters had concerts or participated in church worship. It was thanks to numerous requests of the music lovers that the sisters decided to record some chants from the repertoire of the Monastic Choir, which normally consists of no more than 10 sisters.

Nun Juliania (Denisova), the Precentor-in-Chief of St Elisabeth Convent, points out that the new album of the Monastic Choir includes chants from the Shining Bright album, chants from the repertoire of the Festive Choir of St Elisabeth Convent, and songs specially harmonised for the tours of the Monastic Choir. Belarusian and Russian folk songs are mingled with a French song. Tchaikovsky’s piece When Jesus Christ Was Yet A Child is followed by an ancient (7^th – 8^th century) canticle Walking Down God’s Mountain. All these pieces are joined together by the peculiarities of treatment and sound of this choir.

Konstantin Karmanov, the head of the Audio Studio of St Elisabeth Convent and the sound engineer of the Our Faith project, emphasises that this project has a missionary purpose, “We speak about Christ through the brilliant art of church singing. The sisters sing wholeheartedly and take to heart the music pieces they perform. Beside that, this album contains a chronicle of the development of contemporary art of church singing, expressed through the traditions of choir singing upheld in St Elisabeth Convent.”

Total runtime of this album is 54 minutes.

Download this CD here: https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/our-faith-cd-the-monastic-choir-of-st-elisabeth-convent-download.html

Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of St. Elisabeth Convent, answers various questions of the parishioners.

Have you ever met people whose repentance was similar to the repentance of St Mary of Egypt?

The repentance of St Mary of Egypt is an extraordinary example. Having worked in the Church for a long time, I have seen people come in a miserable and poor condition, and the Lord provided them with a chance to begin a new life. They went through a complete transformation. Of course, they didn’t walk on water and they didn’t live in deserts but it was evident that the Lord gave them power to oppose sin, to get the better of their own self, and the outcomes were visible.

When you see the result, it makes your faith stronger. In any case, we need to witness the acts of God with our own eyes. We need it badly, particularly when we are in trouble.

Why are we more accustomed to the time of repentance and fasting than to the season of Easter joy?

We all are ill, both spiritually and physically. We are more likely to feel sorrow than joy. It is much harder to be happy than to cry. Joy is beyond our capabilities.

It is with this long fast, self-denial, temperance, and restrictions of earthly joys that the Church prepares us for celestial delight. We will embrace that delight when we arrive at the Bright Resurrection of Christ. However, we have to work hard to preserve that joy through the entire Bright Week, the entire Easter season until the Ascension, and throughout the entire year in general.

Orthodoxy does not necessitate one’s grim and stiff repentance, when one doesn’t care about anyone else. Orthodoxy is primarily centred around the joy of the Risen Christ, which ensues when an individual humbles down and feels that God loves him and is always near.

When anything bad happens, it has become common to hear, “Well, that’s the Great Lent for you…” Is Great Lent really to blame for all our misfortunes?

We are always looking for someone to blame for our own sins or the trials and sorrows that we have to go through.

Whenever someone tries to make any spiritual effort and to get closer to God, there are more sorrows, that’s true. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you want to get a result, if you are not afraid of moving forward, if you exert yourself and start working spiritually and fighting the sin, you must be aware of the fact that the sin won’t give in so easily. It will fight tooth and nail. You will observe within yourself the things you have never thought existed. You may have had a peaceful life and thought that you were a good person who loved God and your neighbour. Nevertheless, when you get more involved in Christian living, when you start going to church and trying to lead a spiritual life, everything goes awry. You are shocked to find out that you are not actually a decent person: in fact, you are a disgraceful sinner. Your mask goes off. It is baffling for a proud person to see his sins and his nefariousness, so he becomes desperate and dreary. That’s the usual scenario.

What you should do in this case is be patient. You talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk. You decide to follow Christ to the end. You might choose a big and unbearable prayer rule and appear to be holy in your own eyes but then you will turn out to be incapable of anything… It is extremely embarrassing to humble down in this case. It is hard to admit, “Yes, Lord, forgive me, I am but a little child who has put on a grown man’s clothes.” You’ve got to know your level. That is why it is greatly beneficial if you seek advice of more experienced people and ask your spiritual father for his blessing of your abstinence and prayer rule.

March 21, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

This is a translation, exclusively for Russian Faith, of an interview which appeared in Today, a Russian news site, with Father Joseph Gleason, an Orthodox priest who moved to provincial Russia with his wife and 8 children, primarily in order to raise his family in an Orthodox Christian country.

They settled in Rostov-the-Great, 3 hours north of Moscow, not far from Yaroslavl (not to be confused with Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia). The interview was conducted by Artemy Schmidt, a sociologist at the university of Yaroslavl, who also wrote the introduction.

This article was also published on Russia Insider, where it is generating a lively discussion in the comments section.

The modern world is seeing increased immigration activity due to wars, conflicts, natural disasters, globalization, and many other factors. Traditionally, the immigration stream primarily goes to prosperous countries with welcoming legal systems. When inviting foreign workers, students or refugees, these countries inevitably face the challenges of cultural and confessional assimilation. These problems are especially acute in the EU and USA where Middle Eastern refugees fail to assimilate, ruining the Western ideal of a cultural “melting pot”.

Meanwhile Russia, which traditionally attracts immigrants from all over the world, is offering its own approach to cultural integration. It is one of the main advantages of coming to this great country.

Consider the unique path taken by Fr. Joseph Gleason from the USA. Formerly a Protestant pastor, Joseph and his family converted to Orthodoxy several years ago. Eventually he became a priest in the Orthodox Church. In 2017, Fr. Joseph moved to Russia with his wife Amy and their 8 children, and they settled in Rostov-the-Great. He is building a house in a nearby community, and he looks forward to spending his life as a village priest.

Many thanks to Fr. Joseph who kindly agreed to answer my questions.

– Father Joseph, please tell me your story. What brings you to Russia?

– I would say the first step was the religion itself. I was formerly a Protestant pastor, and had a small church in Omaha, Illinois. Then all of us became Orthodox Christians.

We didn’t want to be hypocrites, visiting church on Sunday and then watching “Game of Thrones” at home afterwards. That would make no sense. When the Faith is the most important thing in your life, you want to devote your entire life to it.

We didn’t want our children studying in government schools, so we homeschooled them. The USA is a good country in many ways, with many good people. But for various reasons, my family and I no longer felt good about living there. I was looking for a different country where we could live, and I began to research countries with strong Orthodox traditions: Serbia, Georgia, Greece, and of course Russia.

– Why were you disappointed with life in the USA?

– In America, many things were very good. We had 6 acres of land, I had a tractor, my children milked goats, and our church was not far from home. I was also working as a computer engineer. All of these things were great.

But I didn’t want to live in a country without a future. When the Supreme Court legalized so-called “gay-marriage”, we were very frustrated. Every society is built on the foundation of the family. When the family is strong, society and the state are strong too. History has confirmed this many times. But without strong families, society crumbles. The homosexual lifestyle is a sin, and it destroys families.

In Russia it is possible to find people who practice the homosexual lifestyle, but it is not promoted by the Government. And as St. Paisios says: When an individual sins, God punishes the individual, but when the government sins, God punishes the whole nation. I don’t know if it will take 10 years, or if it will take 50 years, but if America does not repent, then the nation will fall.

The second reason was related to foreign policy. They put hundreds of military bases around the world, and have supported numerous unjust wars. And whenever they bring war to Orthodox lands, it seems that they are always attacking Christians, rather than protecting them.

However bad the leader of Iraq may have been, at least he protected the Christians who lived there. But after war was forced upon Iraq, the Christian populations were mercilessly exiled or slaughtered. There were around one million Christians there prior to the war, and today there are virtually zero.

In December, 1998, western armed forces stopped bombing Iraq during Ramadan, out of respect for Muslims, yet in 1999 they had no qualms about bombing Serbia on Pascha, the holiest day of the year for Orthodox Christians.

Consider the recent war in Syria. The Orthodox Christian faith has been native to Syria for 2000 years, going all the way back to the first century. In ancient times Antioch was a Syrian city, and according to the New Testament scriptures, Antioch is the very first place where the word “Christian” was used. These ancient Orthodox Christian communities have been around for 2000 years, and they still exist in Syria today. And the current leader of Syria protects them.

Meanwhile, in the recent war, opposition forces were systematically torturing, raping, and slaughtering Christians without mercy. And when the West entered the fray, they supported the opposition. Over and over again, Western countries continue to support those who kill Orthodox Christians. This is not acceptable.

Because I am a Christian, I believe that supernatural beings are among us, and that they influence the course of history. I am confident that international policy is not merely a confrontation between human beings – it’s also a battle between angels and demons. If you on God’s side, then you should protect Christians, not try to destroy them.

Russia openly promotes the Orthodox Christian faith. And in various military conflicts, Russia has fought for the side which protects Orthodox Christians. So if there is ever another major war, I do not want my children to be in an army that fights against Russia. I would rather they be in the Russian army, so they can help protect Christians.

– Why did you choose Russia?

– The most important reason is religion. The Orthodox Church has been in Russia for over 1000 years. And today, millions of devout Orthodox Christians are living life and raising their families in Russia.

Whenever firemen fight a large fire, and they need a safe meeting place, they go to a part of the forest that has already burned out. For 70 years, the fires of atheistic Communism burned through Russia, bringing oppression and martyrdom to millions of faithful Christians. But that fire has burned out, and Russia has learned its lesson.

In Russia for the past 25 years, over 25,000 churches have been either built or rebuilt. That’s an average of over three new churches built every day. While the rest of the world is turning its back on Christian principles, spiritually burning itself to a crisp, the Church has found a safe haven within the borders of Russia.

We could have moved to Canada, Mexico, or a number of South American countries, but homosexuals are allowed to “marry” each other there. And if you don’t support the sodomites, then you risk losing your job, or even losing your children. Western European countries also have fallen into the claws of the homosexual movement.

I love the churches in Greece. But homeschooling is prohibited there, and they too have succumbed to sodomite propaganda. Thankfully, some African nations have rejected the homosexual nonsense. But many of these countries are in chaos, with Muslims killing Christians, blacks killing whites, and unhealthy levels of civil unrest.

It is also important to consider national security. Most countries have a relatively weak military, and they would not be able to withstand an attack from a major world power. For example, what if I had settled in Chile, Paraguay, Serbia or Greece? Hypothetically, if any of these countries were attacked by America, or attacked by a coalition of U.N. forces, they would probably not be able to defend themselves.

Russia is better: Orthodox Christianity is respected, homeschooling is legal, and sodomite propaganda is forbidden. And the Russian army is very strong. Instead of putting military bases all around the world, they focus on defending national borders. If any nation is foolish enough to attack Russia, I believe they will lose. I feel safer in Russia than I do anywhere else.

– What was your family’s reaction to your decision?

– Very positive. We talked a lot during the whole process, and I explained my thoughts along the way. They understood the dangers of remaining in a country where the traditional family is under attack. And they were excited to see the ancient Orthodox churches in Russia, and to meet Orthodox Christians living there.

As a family, we all started studying the Russian language, even before moving across the ocean. Since arriving here in 2017, my family and I have grown to love Russia more and more. It is a good place to live.

When a spaceship travels from earth to the moon, the first step is to escape the earth’s gravity. But when it reaches a certain point, the moon’s gravity takes over, and pulls the spaceship towards itself. Our journey to Russia worked in a way that is similar. Initially, we were just trying to escape the troubles of our former country. But the more we learned about Russia, the more it attracted us.

Regardless of how good or bad other countries may be, Russia itself is a good place to live.

– Did you have some fears before moving?

– Nearly a decade ago I became an Orthodox Christian, but I still had the mindset of an average American. I did not think of Russia in a positive way. I remembered Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and the Berlin Wall. I was naive, and I trusted the mainstream news.

But thankfully, over time, the Orthodox Christian faith helped give me a better understanding of Russia.

Surprisingly, I have met Americans who still think of Russia as a communist country. They are amazed to find out there are so many churches here. It helps open the eyes of American readers, when I post photos of beautiful Russian villages and churches on my blog.

Many Americans think Russians don’t smile, so some of them have been impressed, seeing a simple picture of a Russian person smiling.

Before moving here, many Americans told me that Russia is a dangerous place. They worried that I would be robbed and that my children would be kidnapped. Yet the reality is that life here is quite safe for families.

Here in Rostov, many times I have let my children walk from home to church and back again. That is not something I would allow them to do in Chicago. The people here in Rostov are very kind, and life is peaceful and quiet.

I think propaganda is the main reason why most Americans misunderstand Russia. They don’t know anything about Russia, except what they have seen in the movies and on the news, so they just don’t have an accurate picture.

But when a person finally travels to Russia, the reality becomes much clearer. People come here to visit once, and then they want to come back again and again, and they want to bring their relatives and friends.

– Where do the false stereotypes come from?

– In this modern world, most people are preoccupied with entertainment and pleasure. Most people don’t know history well, and they don’t watch the news critically. Too many people trust mass media, and the news stations and movie studios are really good at manufacturing propaganda. The main aim of propaganda is to dehumanize your enemy.

But if you just once visit Russia and see Russia with your own eyes, you will never believe the news stations again.

Thankfully, I have not seen the same sort of propaganda here in Russia. The news is not filled with anti-American bias, and the people here do not hate Americans. People here know that I am from America, and they have been very welcoming and kind.

– Why was Russia chosen as a main rival?

– During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was considered enemy number one, and in 1991 this enemy lost. Russia struggled for a while afterwards, and many Western influences tried to work their way into the country. But after several years, a strong leader arose who was not willing to let Russia be a servant to the West.

Russia is willing to work together as an equal partner with other countries, but Russia is not willing to be a vassal. Unfortunately, the U.S. doesn’t seem willing to treat Russia as an equal. Thus, there has been a lot of anti-Russian rhetoric among politicians, and the mass-media has been a major source of anti-Russian propaganda.

For much of history, the word “Russian” has been hated by Western Europe and the U.S., regardless of whether one is discussing the Russian government or the Russian Orthodox Church. Many of the reasons can be traced back to ancient grudges held by opposing religions.

A thousand years ago, Rome was still part of the Orthodox Church. But then the Roman Catholic Church went into schism. Ever since, Western Europe and Eastern Europe have been at odds with each other.

Eight hundred years ago, St. Alexander Nevsky agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols, because they didn’t try to impose their religion on him. But Sweden tried to force Russians to become Roman Catholics, so Nevsky fought them.

In some respects, little has changed since then. The West still tries to control the East, and the East still refuses to be controlled.

Much earlier, in the 4th century, the Roman Empire had moved its capital from Rome to Constantinople. Thus Constantinople became known as the “Second Rome”.

1000 years later when Constantinople fell to the Muslims, Russia picked up the torch, building an Empire closely integrated with the Orthodox Christian Faith. Thus Moscow has often been called the “Third Rome”.

Throughout the middle ages, the Roman Catholic Church stood in opposition to the Orthodox Church. And this influenced international relations on numerous occasions. The West opposed the East. The First Rome was at war with the Third Rome. And this ancient grudge has continued until the present day.

Like two families that have been feuding and fighting for multiple generations, many people have forgotten the original reasons for disagreement. They just know they are on opposite sides, and that they are at war with one another. Multiple centuries of fighting have led to a very deep-seated animosity, almost down to the level of one’s DNA. The culture in America and Western Europe conditions people to think of Russia as the enemy, and it is very difficult to overcome such ancient grudges.

That may help explain why Westerners are so quick to forgive Western nations for past sins, yet so unwilling to forgive Russia. Of course, bad things have been done in this part of the world. In the Soviet Union, the Orthodox Church was under attack, churches were destroyed, and many Christians were martyred. The murder of the Royal Family was a terrible crime. The West is always quick to remember the sins of Russia’s past.

Meanwhile, Hitler and Napoleon also did terrible things, and committed many crimes. Yet time has passed, and Western nations have been willing to forgive Germany and France.

Why can’t they also forgive Russia? Perhaps it is because conflicts with France and Germany are assumed to be “internal affairs”, while conflicts with Russia are assumed to be risky interactions with a dangerous foreign power. The descendants of the First Rome are still trying to fight against the Third Rome.

– Why do some critics accuse the Russian Orthodox Church as if it were an instrument of the Kremlin?

– In America, many people push for the separation of Church and State, where government operates without regard to religion or Christian morality. Of course, this approach is wrong. It is just an excuse for a nation to ignore God. Such people are worried by any cooperation between the Church and the government. As far as I can tell, the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church don’t try to control one another. They just work together in a brotherly way, to accomplish common goals. Of course, this annoys the West.

– The Russian Constitution provides the freedom of religious choice. Religions are separate from the state. Why is Orthodoxy so heavily criticized?

– Yes, Russia has a long history of religious freedom. For centuries, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims have lived in Russia, without being a danger to one another. But in the West today, respect is usually only given to non-Christian religions. Muslims, Buddhists and atheists are praised, while Christians are called bigots. The West hates Russia, and the West also hates Christianity. The Russian Orthodox Church is both Christian and Russian, so it is doubly hated by the West.

– What were your first steps in moving to Russia?

– When I first became interested in visiting Russia, I didn’t know anyone here. Then on Facebook I became acquainted with an American who had moved to St. Petersburg and had been living there with his family for several years. In 2015 he invited me for a visit. I visited Russia two more times in 2016. I visited many places, including Moscow, Pskov, Voronezh, Kostroma, Galich and Unorozh. In January 2017, I moved here to Rostov with my family.

– Did you have any problems?

– My friend from St. Petersburg told me that Russian people are good people. If you are friendly, then they will be friendly. But if you are arrogant and triumphalistic, then things won’t go so well. If you are humble and grateful, then everything will be OK. That’s true. He also said there would be many problems with documents and bureaucracy – unfortunately, that’s also true. Also, in Rostov it has been difficult to find a Russian language teacher.

– Did you have any problems based on your nationality?

– No. Most people here think I look like a native Russian. When I try to speak Russian, people are friendly and they try to understand, even when I don’t speak perfectly. So it’s not really an issue.

The family from St. Petersburg that invited me in 2015 is also multinational: he was from California, his wife was from Russia, and her father was of Mongolian background. The family was very kind and friendly. More recently, while returning from a trip to Suzdal (my favorite Russian town), we visited an Armenian café. The owner, an Armenian man, was also very hospitable and kind.

Not far from Rostov is the village of Davidovo, where my friend Fr. Vladimir is the village priest. One of his parishioners has a wife who is Chinese. In my travels, I have had no problems with people of various nationalities. They have all been very kind and friendly. I think we can say the “melting pot” phenomenon takes place in Russia rather successfully.

– What are your plans for the future?

– I look forward to being a village priest, and to farming my own land. I want to raise my children here, and see my grandchildren grow up here as well. Life here is not easy, but it is good. Everyone in my family can uphold traditional Chrsitian marriage, without anyone losing a job as a result. If the Lord allows, we can live our lives in peace as Orthodox Christians.

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/us-orthodox-priest-wife-and-8-children-move-to-russia-rostov-the-great-interview/

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