The Catalog of Good Deeds

So… they’ve taken Christmas out of Christmas and put it in Advent, and they’ve taken Christ out of Advent, except it’s not really Advent anymore, it’s Shopping Season, and then when the real Christmas comes, Christ is still in Christmas but Christmas is over. And who has done it is not who everybody thinks it is. (Are you still with me?) That is where modern American society is. The true Advent and Christmas are still here in the Church, but is anybody paying any attention?

Orthodox Advent and Christmas

Here’s how the Church intends us to keep this time of year: On November 15 our Orthodox Advent (Christmas) Fast begins. The calendars all say it should be kept like Great Lent. In parish use (outside the monasteries) I think it is usually just meatless. All Christians once kept an Advent Fast; now we Orthodox alone are left to tell you, and I’m not sure how many of us keep it. All the liturgical churches, east and west, follow approximately the same pattern. Advent is intended to be a time of quiet patient waiting, hope, prayer, repentance, reflection on the mystery of the Virgin and the coming of the Maker of all to our earth, as we move towards The Nativity of Christ – rather like Great Lent as we prepare for Pascha. Western Advent is shorter than ours but “fuller”, with many hymns and Scripture readings leading up to Christ’s birth. We Orthodox don’t have as much “verbal” preparation for Christmas. Some readings speak generally of darkness and light. On November 26, this year, we get our first Advent hymn, the lovely Kontakion “The Virgin Comes Today” – often sung slowly as we wait patiently.

Those who come to Sunday Matins/Orthros hear the Christmas Canon. The two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ are dedicated to Christ’s Ancestors and to those in his Genealogy. For us, that’s about it until a few days before Christmas. Hardly a celebration. The Christmas feast begins (surprise!) on Christmas and continues, with us Orthodox, for 8 days. Westerners get “The 12 Days of Christmas”. Our Fast goes off on Christmas and remains so till the great feast of the Epiphany, which originally was considered more important than Christmas.

How our culture has totally messed up Advent and Christmas

However today in popular secular practice the “Christmas” season now begins… when? Well, one Milwaukee radio station has played wall to wall 24 hours a day pop “Christmas” music since late October. As I write this on November 21, the White House has announced that “the Christmas season has begun”. The White House press corps are skeptical of many things, but they didn’t question that. In stores where once they played Christmas carols, now they play pop winter songs. (This I think is a good thing. They no longer use songs about Jesus to sell merchandise.) Santa Claus now arrives, sometimes by helicopter (and sometimes accompanied by whoever this is!), in mid November to sell merchandise. (This is a very bad thing. In 3 weeks we’ll talk here about “The Real Santa Claus” and how commercialism has turned our beloved Saint Nicholas into a car salesman.) Even many churches now schedule their Christmas concerts and activities before Christmas. Then after the Christian Christmas season actually arrives on December 25, it all stops. Just try to go to “The Nutcracker” or “The Christmas Carol” after Christmas Day. Sorry, it’s all over. Our neighbor lady across the street acts this out perfectly. Usually she puts her “Christmas” tree up on November 1 and takes it down on the day after Christmas. And as for poor Epiphany, after the holiday Shopping Season from Thanksgiving to Christmas, followed by civil New Years Day parties and a gazillion bowl games (there used to be 4), everybody is wiped out, and Epiphany is ignored.

To summarize: 1) In our culture there has been a War on Advent, and we have lost it. Advent has been almost completely secularized, and most Christians go right along with it. When I was a boy, at least in our part of Ohio, Christmas trees were not put up and decorated until Christmas Eve. No more. 2) Nobody has attempted to take Christ out of Christian Christmas. December 25 is still ours! But most Christians ignore the Christmas season and the Epiphany.

Now, I’m not trying to sound like Scrooge. But look: even Scrooge repented during Advent and then celebrated with the Cratchit family on Christmas Day. I’m only saying that the secular world around us has got it all backwards. And if we follow the secularists, we miss the joy of both seasons. One can hardly blame non-liturgical Christians who have no Church guide to the seasons. But we Orthodox and Roman Catholics and Anglicans and Lutherans have no excuse. We are living double lives at this time of year, and we really should know better.

Does this make any difference? Yes! Of course, sin and death are worse problems – keep it in perspective. But consider what a difference it would (will?) make if the commercial interests turned our Great Lent into a season of parties and shopping leading up the visit of the Easter Bunny, and if Christians just went along with it. What would we lose in our prayer life and spiritual growth and devotion to Christ? and if at the end of Lent we were so exhausted and our stomachs so full that the joy of the Paschal feast and Paschal season meant little to us? Think of what we would lose. Well, that’s what has already happened to Advent and Christmas. And by losing the Epiphany we have lost its theme of “Christ for the world”, the mission of the Church.

The War on Advent: How we lost it and who was behind it

Some television and political personalities say there’s a “War on Christmas”, that evil atheists are taking Christ out of Christmas. They’re onto something, but they haven’t got it straight. As I said, it’s really a War on Advent. And who’s behind it is not the atheists but the commercial interests, the very people who sponsor the television shows and the political campaigns of those who complain there’s a “War on Christmas”!

How did all this happen? Let’s do some history.

The feast of the Nativity of Christ dates back only to about the fourth century. Believe it or not, Christians did not celebrate Christmas for the first 3 centuries of the Christian era. Since we don’t know the date of Christ’s birth, Christians borrowed the date of the ancient pagan winter solstice festival of “Sol Invictus”, the return of the “Unconquered Sun” – since Christ is indeed the true Light that came into the world, that “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it”.

Most of the rest of what we think of as “traditional Christmas” is in fact modern. Most popular Christmas carols go back only to the 19th century. Christmas gift-giving as we know it seems to have begun a couple of centuries ago. At first gifts were given to the poor. Then in the mid 19th century, about the time the lovely and bizarre poem “’Twas the Night before Christmas” became popular, people began to give Christmas gifts to children. In the late 19th century the commercial interests saw a marketing opportunity, and they promoted Christmas gift giving for all. Not surprisingly this caught on – for Jesus said “it is more blessed to give than to receive”, and after all who doesn’t also like getting presents?

Read the full article here: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/frbill/40-war-advent/

On September 26/October 9, the Orthodox Church commemorates the 1989 glorification of New Hiero-confessor Tikhon (Bellavin), patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. St. Tikhon is of course best remembered as the first Patriarch of Russia, elected in 1918, since the 1721 abolition of the patriarchate by Peter I. He guided the Church as a firm and steady anchor during the early years of the communist regime, suffering imprisonment in Donskoy Monastery from 1922 to 1923 for opposing the government’s confiscation of Church property. He entered into repose on the great feast of Annunciation in 1925 and is considered a confessor of the Orthodox faith.

Before taking up the yoke of arch-pastor for the entire Russian nation, St. Tikhon served as a missionary bishop in the burgeoning American mission. He was appointed as bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska in 1898 and he traveled throughout America, visiting parishes, comforting the faithful, and consecrating new parishes. In 1905 he was raised to the dignity of archbishop and he relocated the center of the diocese to New York, before being called back to Russia in 1907.

St. Tikhon of Moscow and St. Tikhon of Zadonsk holding the monastery church at St. Tikhon's

One of his great and lasting achievements in America is surely the founding of St. Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, PA in 1905, named for his own patron, St. Tikhon the Wonderworker of Zadonsk. St. Tikhon’s is the oldest Orthodox monastery in America and throughout its 110 years, while it has known highs and lows, it has become a center of Orthodoxy in America, offering up countless liturgies and prayers as sweet incense before the throne of God, enjoying the presence of many saints, and, along with the seminary established in 1938, molding and refining innumerable servants of Christ’s Church in the form of monastics, clergymen, and hierarchs. Every year the monastic, seminary, and parish community of St. Tikhon’s commemorates the Sunday nearest to St. Tikhon’s October 9^th feast as its “Founder’s Day” with a festive liturgy and meal, to which all are warmly welcomed.

St. Tikhon’s is home to a rich history and a great many “treasures” of Orthodoxy, some known, some relatively unknown, which stand as a testament to the prayers and labors of our American apostle, St. Tikhon, and his continuing heavenly protection.

Relics

St. Alexis Toth

The relics of St. Alexis Toth

St. Alexis was a Uniate priest from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, assigned to serve a parish in Minneapolis in 1889. Upon arrival in America he found the Latin bishop quite hostile to Catholics of the Byzantine Rite, and found himself without a parish. By God’s providence this led to his reception into the holy Orthodox Church on March 25, 1891, after which he worked tirelessly, delivering fiery sermons throughout all of America to bring thousands of Uniates into the true Church. He reposed in 1909, being laid to rest in the monastery cemetery at St. Tikhon’s. Seven years later his body was relocated to a special crypt built behind the Church. Today his relics lie in a reliquary on the right kliros in the monastery church, where all are welcome to venerate and pray to this faithful missionary of Orthodoxy in America.

Archbishop Arseny

The idea of founding a monastery on American soil belongs actually to Hieromonk Arseny (Chagovtsev), later the archbishop of Winnipeg, Canada. He arrived in America in 1902 to serve the parish of St. John the Baptist in Mayfield, PA, just a few miles from the future site of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. He envisioned a monastery to serve the spiritual needs of the monastic clergy serving in America, and he eagerly promoted the idea to all who would listen. In 1905 he sought out land with St. Tikhon and they eventually purchased the present property in South Canaan, PA, with Fr. Arseny becoming the monastery’s first superior. St. Tikhon provided the necessary episcopal oversight and spiritual guidance, as well as financial support, while credit for the concept and physical labor in establishing St. Tikhon’s Monastery belongs to Archbishop Arseny.

After more service in America, Canada, Russia, and Serbia, Archbishop Arseny returned to Canada as the bishop of Winnipeg in 1926. In 1937 he retired to the monastery which he had founded, and the following year he founded the pastoral school which became St. Tikhon’s Seminary.

Archbishop Arseny, locally venerated as a saint in the Canadian diocese, is buried in a simple grave next to the chapel in the monastery cemetery.

Metropolitan Leonty

Metropolitan Leonty faithfully served the Church in America for many decades. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1905 and became one of St. Tikhon’s closest advisors. He became a bishop in 1933 and the primate of the American Metropolia in 1950, serving until his death in 1965. During his tenure the first English-language parishes were opened and various pan-Orthodox initiatives were undertaken, including efforts to reunite the various Russian jurisdictions in the diaspora. He is remembered as a man of humility, prayerfulness, meekness, dignity, kindness, generosity, forbearance, thoughtfulness, sense of humor, vision, erudition and wisdom. He is buried behind the church at St. Tikhon’s, and is considered a saint by many.

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St. Tikhon’s Monastery also knows the blessing of the relics of many other saints, including its revered founder St. Tikhon of Moscow, its patron St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, St. Panteleimon, St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, St. Raphael (Hawaweeny), and many others, notably including a piece of the True Cross.

Miraculous Icons

She Who is Quick to Hear

The monastery church is home to a miraculous icon of the Mother of God “She Who is Quick to Hear” which hangs on the left side of the iconostasis. Upon its founding in 1905 the monastery was gifted with a copy of the miraculous icon of the same name of Dochariou Monastery on Mt. Athos, which is commemorated on November 9. This copy has also become known as a miraculous icon, through which the Mother of God especially deigns to help those couples who are unable to conceive. The icon, radiant in its beauty, travels throughout America to bring comfort, healing, and peace to the Orthodox faithful.

St. Anna

St. Tikhon’s is also home to a miraculous icon of St. Anna painted in the Holy Land which began to stream myrrh in 2004. Subsequently traveling throughout America, St. Anna is also known for helping couples conceive, and also many miraculous healings. In the Fall of 2012 Archimandrite Athanasy (Mastalsky), the owner of the miraculous icon, relocated to St. Tikhon’s Monastery. St. Anna is not currently streaming myrrh but she continues to emit a heavenly fragrance and to answer prayers. A Moleben to St. Anna is prayed in the monastery church every Sunday, and bottles of myrrh from the icon are available at the monastery.

We recently published an interview on the miraculos icon of St. Anna with Fr. Athanasy, conducted by Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green.

Where Saints Have Walked

In addition to Sts. Tikhon, Arseny, and Alexis, St. Tikhon’s has been blessed with the ministry and prayers of several other venerable American saints.

St. Raphael of Brooklyn

St. Raphael (Hawaweeny) was born in Lebanon in 1860 and received his theological training in Halki and Russia. He came to America in 1895 to assist St. Tikhon, heading up the Syro-Arab Orthodox mission in America. On the third Sunday in Great Lent, 1904 he became the first Orthodox bishop consecrated in America. In 1905 St. Raphael traveled to St. Tikhon’s Monastery to dedicate the hundreds of acres upon which it sits, serving also the monastery’s first Divine Liturgy. He was canonized at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in 2000, and his relics currently lie on the property of the Antiochian Village in Bolivar, PA.

St. Alexander Hotovitsky

St. Alexander was born in today’s western Ukraine and was ordained to the priesthood in San Francisco in 1896. He undertook vast missionary labors with the blessing of St. Tikhon both in America and later in Russia. He served as editor of the American Orthodox Messenger and he visited St. Tikhon’s Monastery on several occasions, leaving an intriguing account of the 1906 pilgrimage and consecration. He later served as the rector of Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, and was arrested by communist authorities in 1937 which led to his martyric death.

St. Nicholai of Zhicha

The seminary chapel of St. Nicholai of Zhicha

St. Nicholai is one of the greatest saints of the twentieth century. Known as the New Chrysostom for his penetrating preaching, St. Nicholai brought much comfort to the suffering Serbian Church during the years of the Second World War. He too suffered, being imprisoned for two years at the Dachau concentration camp. St. Nicholai also served the Church in America, living at St. Tikhon’s Monastery from 1951 until 1956 and teaching at the seminary, for which he served as rector in the 1955-1956 school year. It was in the St. Tikhon’s Seminary building that this giant of Orthodoxy reposed on March 18, 1956 under suspect circumstances. The seminary chapel is dedicated to his memory.

Fr. Vasily (Philipoff)

One of St. Tikhon’s Monastery’s most intriguing “treasures” is the monk Archimandrite Vasily (Philipoff) who lived the quiet monastic life there from 1934 until his repose on March 29, 1986. Fr. Vasily seems to be mostly unknown—it is nearly impossible to find any information about him on the internet, but those who knew him in his decades of prayer and struggle at the monastery remember a saintly man. He served in various obediences but is best remembered as the bread baker for the monastery and for the orphanage that used to function also at St. Tikhon’s. He communed as often as possible and always gave simple and direct advice: pray, work hard, be faithful in Church attendance, obey God’s laws, and never hold anger against another man, and by all accounts, he lived his life thusly.

Igumen Gregory (Zaiens) who lived several years at St. Tikhon’s with Fr. Vasily recalls:

As to his spiritual life, Fr. Vasily could be described as a pillar of Orthodox piety—blagochestie. He held that which was God's in honor; he had a holy, blessed, humble, fearless fear of God. He had assimilated this as a natural, organic part of his being. To live with such a person is a great lesson in the Orthodox way of life even if one is never given a word of instruction. There are a few small words which I remember that I could pass on. One time I asked Father: “What is the meaning of humility of wisdom?” He replied, “When you repent, you become humble and then God gives you wisdom.” He once said in a sermon, “Some people say that if you read the Bible too much you will lose your mind. That is true. You will lose your carnal mind and get a spiritual one.”

Once after the evening service I was going to venerate the central icon in the Church. Fr. Vasily who had served was approaching the icon so I waited. As he neared the icon and I looked at him his physical appearance changed so that he physically looked somewhat smaller than he actually was. He looked extremely humble and it seemed as though he was on fire with prayer.

Archimandrite Vasily is buried in the cemetery at St. Tikhon’s where pilgrims can come to seek his intercession.

Museum and Icon Repository

St. Tikhon’s is also home to a great many beautiful artifacts in its museum and icon repository, which traces the history of Orthodoxy in America and houses icons, vestments, and other Church items that date back several hundred years. The oldest of the 400 icons is from the fifteenth century.

Among the most notable articles in the museum are the a Gospel book gifted by Tsar Michael Romanov to a convent in Russia which dates to 1636, the mantia of St. Tikhon of Moscow from his time as the metropolitan of Moscow, vestments of St. Nicholai Velimirovich, and hand-written letters of St. Alexis Toth.

The museum is an evangelical effort as many non-Orthodox come out of an interest in art or history and learn about our holy Orthodox faith. The museum is open by appointment to all who are interested.

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The monastery brotherhood, which has known sixty bishops, currently under its sixteenth abbot, Schema-Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer), is growing and continues to serve the Church in America and beyond through its many endeavors including the St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press and Bookstore, iconography, and support of the training of new clergy in the seminary through providing several professors as well as the church in which the seminary community prays and is shaped.

Of course the main task of a monastery is always to pray, which is a constant emphasis of Abbot Sergius. Perhaps the greatest treasure the monastery offers to America and to the world is the daily serving of the Divine Liturgy since 1905. Few places in America offer the holy Eucharist daily, and certainly none for as long as St. Tikhon’s. The grace and power of the Divine Liturgy is inestimable, and the presence of Christ that is manifest in holy Communion sustains the world.

St. Tikhon’s Monastery and Seminary sits on a quiet property in north-eastern Pennsylvania surrounded by nature ideal for fostering prayer, humility and love for God. St. Tikhon’s is indeed a center of Orthodoxy in America, ever being offered for the benefit of others who are always welcome to go on pilgrimage to experience the grace and many “treasures” of St. Tikhon’s—St. Tikhon of Moscow’s offering to America.

By Jesse Dominick

Source: http://orthochristian.com/86627.html

“There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.” The rich man calls the steward but he doesn’t check whether the accusations were true or false and whether the steward was guilty or not. He writes the steward off, tersely and clearly demanding from the steward, “give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.” Neither does the steward ask his master, “Why?” He doesn’t attempt to justify himself or repent. He evaluates his status, abilities and possibilities realistically: “What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”

He is looking into the future: “What shall I do?” It is the only question, which the Lord has always answered directly, unlike other questions. Finally, the steward comes up with a solution, “I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.” He called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him and suggested that they re-wrote their bills and thus cut their debts.

It seems strange that the lord commended the unjust steward for his actions because he had done wisely. It is even more surprising how the Lord finishes this parable: “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” Someone might say that it’s appalling to leverage someone else’s riches in such a way. Let’s recall the Parable of the Prodigal Son whose return felt repugnant to the older brother. The younger brother had used up all his possessions carelessly but then he shamelessly came back to enjoy the riches that he hadn’t moved a finger to preserve!

The Lord commends both of these strange characters for their determination. The Lord in these two parables is not just the house owner but also the father—and not just a father but the Heavenly Father. The prodigal son came to use the property that wasn’t his own, and that was exactly why his father showed him a lot of kindness. The steward in this parable also got the chance to survive at someone else’s expense. He received praise, too. However, the Prodigal Son had wasted all his money and hadn’t acquired friends thanks to the wealth that he fiddled away. On the contrary, the Steward stopped in his tracks. Instead of stealing more of his master’s possessions one last time, he decided to use them to help others.

Of course, he was stealing and wasting the things that weren’t his own. The point is, everything that we have in this life doesn’t belong to us by any means. Apostle Paul writes, “[W]hat hast thou that thou didst not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7) We must learn to make use of everything for our genuine benefit, so as to achieve the eternal bliss and find those who will pray for us. It is really valuable when someone prays for you or at least remembers you with kind words.

As far as justice is concerned, we all live at the expense of the Only Innocent Savior who suffered for us, which is a horrendous breach of justice, don’t we?

By Fr. Viacheslav Reznikov

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

On 11 December Russian Orthodox Church commemorates Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) of Petrograd. To honor his memory, we offer you an excerpt from Fr. Yves Dubois’ sermon on this not very known, but yet great saint, originally published on Ancient Faith Radio.

Leonid Chichagov born in 1856 and martyred in 1937 was born 25 years after the death of St. Seraphim of Sarov who was the most important influence on his life.

The orphan son of a builder, St. Seraphim of Sarov was raised by an energetic and warmhearted mother who took on and looked after many orphan girls. This motherly care of orphan girls was to be the model for St. Seraphim’s dealings with the convent he guided from a distance for much of his life. From his childhood till his death St. Seraphim was the beloved of the Mother of God who appear to him 12 times and healed him several times. For many years he lived by himself in a tiny hermitage in the deep forest. For 1000 days and nights he prayed kneeling on a stone. He saw almost no one. If people came he would hide in the tall grass. Almost beaten to death by thieves, he made sure they were pardoned. This most humble and sober saint was unusually aware of the closeness of Paradise. In his old age he was seen transfigured like Christ on Mount Thabor shining with a light brighter than the sun. He has left important teachings saying that the goal of human life is to acquire the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is received in exchange for good deeds done for the love of Christ. Prayer and kind actions are the means by which we make it possible for the Holy Spirit to come and abide in us. St. Seraphim is a sure guide in Orthodoxy, and many of his disciples, all of them women, have been glorified as saints by the Orthodox Church. I shall come back later to the role of St Seraphim in the life of Leonid Chichagov.

The second influence on him was St. John of Kronstadt, his confessor for 30 years. Together with St. Seraphim, St. John of Kronstadt is known as one of the two greatest pillars of Orthodox holiness in the last two centuries.

A married parish priest in the military harbour of St. Petersburg, St. John of Kronstadt healed thousands of people by his prayers, converted vast numbers of lapsed Christians and warned his country about the imminent catastrophe and long period of terror. God worked mightily through the faith and prayer of St. John of Kronstadt because his soul was nourished daily by the Bible and the Divine Liturgy. He said he had to celebrate the Liturgy every single day, otherwise he would not be able to breathe, he would choke to death. St. John of Kronstadt is one of the most powerful

examples of Christian life we can meet.

The third saint who was close to Leonid Chichagov was Patriarch Tikhon who had been Orthodox Archbishop of New York before he guided the Russian Church during the first eight years of Communist persecution. While in America he asked Isabel Hapgood to translate the main services of our church into English and her book is still in use. At is Cathedral in New York, he served in English every other week. He is the pioneer of English language Orthodoxy. Wise, gentle and firm, he defeated the Soviet government’s attempt to set up a pseudo-church: the people remained faithful to the Patriarch whom they trusted.

The fourth saint who was close to both Patriarch Tikhon and Leonid Chichagov, Ilarion Troitsky, Abbot then Archbishop, was a brilliant young theologian and a powerful orator who convinced the Council of 1917 to elect Patriarch Tikhon. His teaching was that Orthodoxy is a community held together by the Holy Spirit, not just a set of notions about God. What matters for the Christian life is the fullness of the Church’s life, a real community of love. The Christian life cannot be fully contained in books but only in a living community. St. Ilarion Troitsky was martyred in 1929 at the age of 42 in Leningrad. Leonid Chichagov organised a magnificent funeral for him.

Four great saints surrounded Leonid Chichagov. Let us now look at his own life which started brilliantly: a happy marriage and a successful career in the Army. At 34 he was already a colonel. He had taken part in a battle and had seen the appalling lack of appropriate medical care for the wounded on the battlefield. He took some courses in medicine and wrote two books on what should be provided medically on battlefields. Those books are still in print. At 34 he left the Army, trained for the priesthood and was ordained three years later. Steadily for nearly half a century, from the day he became a priest, he began to share Christ’s descent into tragedy, rejection, suffering and death for the redemption of the world. His first task as a priest was to rebuild a ruined church with no congregation and no money.

Nine months later the church was built and had a congregation, but his wife was ill and soon died. At the age of 40 he became a monk. From that time he was no longer known as Leonid but as Seraphim Chichagov after the saint of Sarov. He became a historian, sifted fax from legends about St. Seraphim and wrote two volumes about him which reveal the nature of Orthodox holiness. He rebuilt monasteries, renovated their communities and many monks were jealous of him. He was made a Bishop not long before the Russian Revolution and had difficulties with anti-Church people in the civil service. Then the revolution came. He was jailed for two years. Released, the Patriarch appointed him as Metropolitan of Leningrad. His health declined. He witnessed the barbaric bloodbath which engulfed Russia under Stalin. He saw churches desecrated and destroyed, often by people who had previously worked for the Orthodox Church.

The enemy, the persecutors, were former Orthodox Christians turned atheists. He did not know during his earthly life that the persecution would ever end, and yet the certainty of his faith and the vigour of his prayer were never damaged. Ill and worn out at 75 he retired and went to live in the small house assigned to the Metropolitan Sergius who was head of the Russian Church at that time. Every humiliation was inflicted on the old bishops. At 81, bedridden and gravely ill he was dragged to prison, given a summary trial then shot at Butovo in the south of Moscow, where the Soviet authorities had 500 people shot daily for 30 years. At the time of his martyrdom, since Seraphim Chichagov did not know that less than 60 years later the churches would be rebuilt and that the place of his execution will be marked by a huge church in honour of all the New Martyrs.

Saint Seraphim Chichagov and all the New Martyrs of the Orthodox Church, pray to God for us. Amen.

By Fr. Yves Dubois

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/holy-martyr-seraphim-chichagov-colonel-doctor-bishop-martyr/

The first to be healed was my wife (at that time she was not yet my wife). It happened thus: Gallia Alexandrovna, with her mother, Vera Dionysiyevna, came to live in our DP camp, Purshen, near Mulldorf (80 km from Munich) in the spring of 1949. She was a healthy, young, energetic woman, but in the middle of the summer she fell ill, severe pains began and she had to enter the DP hospital. There the causes of her sickness could not be discovered and so she was treated by guesswork; basically she was given pain killers. The sickness, however, continued to develop, the pains kept growing more severe, and her body quickly weakened.

Within a month and a half, upon our demand, she was transferred to a German hospital in the small city of Mulldorf, not far from the camp hospital. The doctors there could not establish the cause of her sickness either; according to all the symptoms, the cause was gallstones, but repeated X-ray tests did not confirm this.

September ended and G.A. had become a skin-covered skeleton (exactly as in Turgenev's Living Relics). At the beginning of October she could not even sit up, let alone walk; the nurses (Catholic nuns) had to feed her with a spoon. During the last weeks her temperature was very high. It was impossible to perform an operation because of the complete weakening of her body and her high temperature. The German doctors (perhaps to "wash their hands") decided to send her to the DP hospital in Munich. We knew that she would not be able to endure the trip, and it was doubtful that she would make it there alive.

At that time, the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos was approaching our camp's patronal feast. A visitation by the miraculous Hodigitria icon (icon of Kursk) was expected, accompanied by the First Hierarch Metropolitan Anastassy, Fr. George Grabbe and a protodeacon. I was a member of the parish council and was entrusted with the duty of meeting the icon, Vladyka and the clergy upon their arrival in the city of Mulldorf (they were traveling by automobile), and accompanying them to the guest house, previously prepared.

On the eve of the feast I left the camp for town early, intending to make one more check on the readiness of the suite in the guest house, and to visit the patient. By 10 a.m., having completed my business, I came to G.A. I told her of the preparations for the feast, of how the wonder-working icon and Vladyka Anastassy were coming, and how I would go at two in the afternoon to the agreed place and meet them there. Because of her weakness she could barely speak. She lay there with her eyes closed. At times I even thought that she did not hear everything that I was saying. Then suddenly she opened her eyes, somehow looked at me very attentively, and we said at the same time, "What if the icon could be brought here!" (to the hospital). I said, naturally, that I would ask Vladyka about this, but I myself deeply doubted the possibility, for shortly after their arrival the icon and clergy were to depart for the camp. There was time for only a brief rest after the long trip.

At twelve o'clock I left the hospital. I had still two hours until the arrival of the icon, but somehow I automatically went quietly to the meeting-place. Suddenly, when I had not even gone three blocks, someone called me, and I saw Father George who was waving to me from the automobile. I ran to them, received a blessing, and shortly we were already in the guest-house. Two feelings crowded inside of me: first, how good it was that I had come early and met the visitors on time, and secondly, that they had arrived two hours earlier than scheduled, meaning that there was hope of serving a moleben at the sick woman's bedside

As soon as the guests were accommodated in the guest-house, I expressed my request to Fr. George, and he passed it on to Vladyka. Vladyka immediately gave a blessing to Fr. George and the protodeacon, and we at once drove to the hospital.

At first G.A. greeted the icon with only a joyful, clear gaze. The moleben began and the sick woman crossed herself several times. Then again. When Fr. George blessed her with the icon, she raised herself from the bed without any help, and on her knees venerated the icon, and this at a time when, for ten days already, she had not only been unable to lift her head from her pillow, but also the nurses had been wiping perspiration from her face — she had been so weak.

After the moleben Fr. George encouraged her with a good word, and having said good-bye, we left. The next day, the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, after the liturgy and festal dinner, I went to the hospital. The nurses told me that the sick woman had slept well the whole night, her temperature was normal, and that she felt much better. When I entered the room I was amazed by the significant change in G.A.'s condition. She looked decidedly better than she did the day before, and conversed with me freely. Due to the late hour I stayed for a very short time and went home. The next day, Saturday, the hospital's main doctor, Dr. Loucks, confirmed the significant improvement in the patient's condition and, having canceled her transfer to Munich, scheduled an operation for the following Monday.

During the operation it was discovered that the gallbladder was so filled with stones that it was beginning to rupture. In view of this condition the journey to Munich might well have ended fatally.

In this whole story it is especially miraculous that: 1) the crisis came just when the icon was scheduled to arrive at our camp; 2) in spite of the previously established time of arrival, Vladyka Anastassy arrived with the icon two hours early, which gave us an opportunity to visit the patient; 3) without any particular reason I went to the meeting-place two hours earlier than scheduled and, fortunately, met the visitors; 4) G.A.'s sick body, without any physical reasons, battled the fever and strengthened significantly at first so much that, although she had already lain immobile for a long time, she was able to rise up on her knees and venerate the icon, and then, within three days, she gained so much strength that she was able to endure a long and difficult operation. But at the time of the visit of the icon the stones were still present. She ate nothing after the moleben, and, as a result of complete weakening, she had no internal "reserves." Of course, only the inexplicable power of God, through the intercession of the Holy Virgin, could have restored the sick woman's strength. 5) The experienced doctor believed in the reality of such an improvement and decided to perform the operation — of course, only by inspiration from above. All this, by the mercy of God and the miraculous help of our Sovereign Lady through her holy icon, led to a fortunate ending — the complete recovery of the sick woman. After the operation she recovered quickly; soon, she checked out of the hospital. In December, together with her mother, she left for Munich for the emigration committee, and in March of the next year, 1950, departed for the U.S.

In the beginning of 1950, when G.A. was before the emigration committee, I also was called before the same committee. At the preliminary medical checkup, spots were discovered on my lungs, and I was sent to the Gauting sanitarium for a detailed examination, and, if necessary, for treatment. I was very disappointed. I did not wish to remain in Germany, nor did I wish to take leave of G.A., as during the time of her illness we became close friends, and after her recovery we considered marriage after arriving in the U.S. G.A. often visited me in the sanitarium, which was located near Munich. Now we had switched roles, and here, not long before her departure for the U. S ., she brought me a prosphora and said that she had been in the Synodal church and asked that a moleben for my health be chanted before the miracle-working icon. During those days the final examination of my lungs began. Many X-rays and bacteriological examinations were made. As a result, the doctors came to the following conclusion: my lungs were normal and there were no obstacles to me entering the U.S.A. After an appropriate waiting period I left for the Funk armory — the emigration center in Munich — from where I departed for the U.S.A. in the month of August. Thus did our Most Holy Lady aid me.

Having met with G.A. in the U.S.A., we were married in the beginning of 1951. As at this time I was thirty-eight years old and G.A. thirty-five; we wanted very much to have children and considered that at our age it was not yet too late. On the other hand, the years were going by and we remained childless. More than three years had passed, and we had lost hope (I had even stopped paying for the "Blue Cross Maternity Plan"). In the autumn of 1954, on the feast day of our church, "The Joy of All That Sorrow." as was customary, the miracle-working icon came to us. Vladyka Anastassy and you, dear Vladyka, were with us then; at that time you recorded from my wife's words, the miracle which had occurred with her.

We did not arrange it, but, on our own (as much as our strength would allow), both of us prayed fervently before the holy image that we would be granted a child. Now the Most Holy Theotokos, having heard our prayers, granted us her favor a third time: in nine and a half months, in August of 1955, God gave us our daughter Marina. In spite of our age, all the illnesses we had undergone, and all the adversities of the terrible years past, the child was born completely healthy, and today, glory to God, is growing strong and healthy, and studies very well.

Glory to God! Glory to His Most Holy Mother — our Protectress! Glory to her honorable miracle-working icon!

By Sergei Shenuk

Source: http://www.kurskroot.com/miracles-series-of-miracles.html

By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok

I’m a priest, right? A spiritual father, if you like. To be honest, I’m nobody. I know that but I also know that there is the devil who sneers at me gleefully, “Aha! You’re done!” I say, “No, I’ve only just begun. I want to change. I want to be different. I want to serve God.” I clearly feel during the ensuing battle that God is near. When I feel despondent and start wailing that everything is bad, everything is lost, I remain alone in the void, face to face with my sins.

I have to talk about my own experience, not about something that I’ve read in books. Our life is the only real book. Everyone has his own book and his own problems that he has to tackle. God is the one who resolves all problems.

All our problems have been solved already: Christ is risen, the door to the paradise is wide open. Sadly, we rely on this world and on the sin that dwells inside our hearts. We pretend to be soldiers but we don’t know how to fight. It isn’t because we aren’t educated enough. It’s because we are lazy, idle, and proud. What can you be proud of, honestly? But you are proud nonetheless. One can be a beggar and sit on a church porch with a stretched hand and judge everyone. Or one can drive a Mercedes Benz and not judge anyone. A criminal can find God in prison and be free. That same criminal can lose God once he gets out of jail and finds himself in a different setting. That’s abhorrent. When that guy was in prison, he prayed. It was marvellous. His eyes shone forth the light of faith. When he got released, worldly temptations tied him up and he lost his freedom…

The sin mutates so well! It attempts to attack us from all sides and under all kinds of masks, so we have to be alert and stay awake at all times. If we aren’t awake, if we lead a relaxed life, sin will deceive us and the devil will lead us into dead-ends. Our lack of trust in God and the laziness that leads us to wrong actions over and over again is the dead-end.

We can correct our errors because we are still here on earth. We can change our lives. We can repent. Repentance isn’t just a word. It’s life. Repentance means changing our lives. It’s proof that we will not sin any longer: “At least, I’ve made up my mind not to sin. I know I can’t do that on my own, so help me Lord!” If one is resolute in doing so, he won’t sin, of course. When an individual says, “Well, I’d like to quit smoking—all residents of our rehabilitation centre want to quit smoking—but I can’t, you know,” it’s self-deception. You’d better admit, “I don’t want to stop, at least for now.” It’s honest. People deceive themselves when they say they can’t. They can do everything. They can do everything if they really need it and if they ask for God’s help.

November 12, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

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