The Catalog of Good Deeds

Our Church celebrates today three important historic events. The first is the Annunciation of the Theotokos, which we celebrate today with joy and love, along with awe before the majesty of this event, called the "capital" of our salvation.

Nine months after the Annunciation the second of the important events took place, the Birth according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The pinnacle and completion of our salvation was the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ after His horrible death on the Cross.

Not just once but many times have holy angels been manifested. Six months before the Annunciation of the All Holy Virgin Mary the Archangel Gabriel was sent to the priest Zechariah, who was serving in the Temple, to announce that from him would be born the greatest among men, the Forerunner of the Lord, John. And today this same Archangel brings the joyful message to the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, who lived in a humble and poor home of the carpenter Joseph.

The dialogue of the Panagia is so holy and majestic that I dare not describe it in my own words, but I must repeat the words of the Gospel.

When the Archangel entered the room, he said: "Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women."

She was terrified by these words, and she considered such a greeting troubling, and the angel went on to say: "Do not be afraid, Mariam, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."

“How will this be,” Mariam asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For with God nothing is impossible.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mariam answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Lk. 1:26-38).

In previous years I have told you many things about this most unique dialogue in the history of the world. But now I will stand on the words of the Archangel: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

No one ever, since the creation of the world and even until its end, has been born nor will be born in a way that is similar to that of the God-man Jesus Christ. No one has ever been born without a man. No one was ever born or will be born by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has never dwelt in anyone with such comprehensive thoroughness as He did with His indwelling of the All Holy Virgin Mary. The power of the Highest has never encompassed anyone, and the maternal bowels of no woman has ever been sanctified with such completeness and power, as the bowels of the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

Hold deep within your heart what I tell you about the complete unity of the Spirit of God and the human essence of Mary.

The soul and spirit of man have their beginning in the Spirit of God. The second chapter of the Old Testament, records how God created the first man, Adam, "from the dust of the earth and breathed into his face the breath of life" (Gen. 2:7).

Only the spirit of man can commune with the Spirit of God, since it comes from Him, just as in nature there is real communication between related things.

The possibility of true communion with God was taught by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who said: "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them" (Jn 14:23).

Even the Apostle Paul with some surprise asks the Christians of Corinth: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16).

From the lives of the saints we know what authentic communion with God is, which the saints of God had in their lives. We know that they were dwelling-places of the Spirit of God. Yet even this deep communion with God cannot be compared to that blessed state, which even exceeds the state of angels and archangels, in which the Most Holy Virgin Mary was found after the coming of the Holy Spirit.

This the unfortunate heretic Nestorius was unable, or better, he did did not want to understand, since he claimed that the Most Holy Theotokos gave birth to a common man Jesus Christ, who was later united with God, which is why the Most Holy Virgin Mary he named Christotokos and not Theotokos.

If, even minimally, Nestorius was correct, then our Lord Jesus Christ would not have been the Son of God and the God-man, but merely one of the many great saints, who are called true temples and dwelling-places of the Father and the Son for their endless love of God and the perfect application in their lives of the commandments of Christ. As you can see, Nestorius was rightly anathematized by the Third Ecumenical Synod.

At this point I can complete my encomiastic words in honor of this great feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos. But I do not want to overlook those words of the Archangel Gabriel, which enter within every pure heart: "Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you."

All of you, who are united in soul with me, tell me, is there a higher and purer joy than this, that gives a feeling that the Lord is with us! That He loves us, and because we keep His commandments, He will come with His Unoriginate Father to dwell with us!

May our Lord and God Jesus Christ make us worthy of this highest happiness and joy, through the intercessions of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary. Amen.

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Crimea

Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2015/03/homily-on-annunciation-by-st-luke-of.html

Written sources

The iconography of the Annunciation derives primarily from the canonical Gospels of Matthew and (above all) Luke (1:26-38), but also from the apocryphal gospels, such as the Gospel of the Pseudo Matthew and the Protogospel of James (11:1-3). These apocryphal gospels were divulged in the West by Vincent de Beauvais (1250 ca.) in his Speculum Historiae and by Giacomo da Varagine (1260 ca.) in his Leggenda Aurea. Another apocryphal source is the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy which had a significant influence on Byzantine iconography.

According to the apocryphal gospels, there were two annunciations. The Armenian Gospel (5:2-9), for example, says that the Virgin was initially greeted by an invisible angel as she left home carrying a jug on her way to fetch water at the fountain. Fearing that the devil was trying to trick her, Mary began to pray, asking God to free her from the temptations of the devil. Then, upon returning home, she begins spinning the purple veil for the temple. Gabriel then enters through a closed door and appears before her, this time as a being of flesh and blood, announcing that she will give birth to the Messiah. At that moment, the Word of God penetrates her through her ear, beginning the act of conception.

Early representations

Among the earliest representations of the annunciation in Christian art are the frescoes in the catacombs in Rome, where [the] funerary art was a “prayer”, a witness to hope. Particularly significant was the message of Christ’s victory over death. The annunciation to Mary is the very beginning of this message.

The oldest image of an annunciation is a fresco on the vault of a cubicle in the catacomb of Priscilla, dated to the first half of the 3rd century. Mary is wearing a tunica and pallium according to the roman fashion. Seated on a high-backed chair, she is listening to a man in front of her, to the right, who is wearing a tunica with wide sleeves. He is raising his hand in the loquendi sign, i.e. the sign of speech. In this fresco, Mary is without a veil. The introduction of a veil in her representations comes at a later date following the fashion of the oriental omophorion (a veil that is worn with a dark blue cape). Yet, Mary will also continue to be depicted without a veil and with her hair down, as a sign of her virginity (unmarried women wore their hair this way). The angel’s gesture of orator will sometimes be replaced in later depictions by his raised finger, indicating the provenance of his message. The fresco in the catacomb of Priscilla follows the then contemporary iconography representing a messenger in the presence of some high-ranking person: remaining seated while receiving a visitor symbolised the person’s dignity. The fact that the divine messenger is featured without wings in early Christian iconography is probably an attempt to distinguish Christian angels from the “winged victories” of pagan religion.

Revelation

As I have already mentioned, the annunciation to Mary is somehow the beginning of God’s plan to redeem humankind through Christ. However the annunciation is not depicted exclusively in this light. Over time it becomes increasingly used as a message pertaining not only to salvation, but also to revelation: the mystery of Christ is first revealed to Mary. Mary is considered to be the first witness to God’s love taking shape in the Incarnation.

Thus, in the 4th and 5th centuries, the annunciation becomes part of a much wider context. It starts to be included in cycles of epiphany scenes relating to the first manifestations of Christ to humankind. The epiphanic nature of the annunciation is often emphasized by the presence of a curtain, which is used not merely for decorative purposes but also for its symbolic reference to revelation. (In this context, it is worth remembering that the curtains in the sanctuaries of some pagan “mysteries religions” hid the sacred image until the moment of the theophania, i.e. the appearance of the divinity, when they were pulled open). The feature of the curtain was introduced in the iconography of Christian martyrs towards the end of the 4th century. The first example is the portrait of the Saint in front of the Confessio of the Basilica of Ss. John and Paul in Rome.

Regal nature

With the passing of time, the attention focuses more and more on the nature of Christ and the dogmatic importance of his representation, as true God (the Council of Nicea in 325 declared that the Father and the Son are consubstantial; the Council of Ephesus in 431 proclaimed that Mary is the mother of God) and true man (the Council of Chalcedon in 451 declared that two natures –human and divine- coexisted in Christ). Yet, it is above all the divinity of Christ that the victorious Church wants to stress (it is after the Edict of Theodosius in 381 that Christianity becomes the official religion of the empire). Mary acquires a nobility and a regal nature of clearly imperial inspiration. The regal nature of Mary is naturally due to the regal nature of Christ, increasingly represented as Christ in Glory, who will judge humanity at the end of time.

The dove and the angel

In the 5th century, in the mosaic of the triumphal arch in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, a flying dove appears for the first time in an annunciation, symbolising the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a dove can be found only once, namely in the account of Christ’s baptism. However, the Council of Nicea in 325 declared that the dove of the baptism was a valid symbol for the Holy Spirit. From then on, the dove will be depicted above all in the annunciations of Mary and then later in the scenes of the Pentecost and eventually in the images of the creation and the Trinity. It should be said though that the depiction in Santa Maria Maggiore remained for a long time a unique example, perhaps due to the aversion towards the still existing cult of Venus which also used the dove as a conventional symbol. Four hundred years would have to pass before this symbol took hold in Christianity: it became a fully integrated part of the annunciation iconography in the 11th-12th centuries.

In the 6th century, we witness a reversal in the positions of Mary and the angel. Mary begins to appear on the right of the scene. The main figure has thus been moved, following the direction in which Greek and Latin are written and read (from left to right), so that the eye stops on the image of the Virgin.

The angel Gabriel is portrayed usually alone, facing Mary, holding a rod or a sceptre, the symbol of the staff of command that God – the celestial emperor – entrusts to his special ambassador. However, there are exceptions. Sometimes the scene introduces more than one angel. For example, in the above-mentioned mosaic of Santa Maria Maggiore, four angels surround Mary. Yet, it is after the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that we begin to see an increasing number of angels and a multiplication of little putti.

Mary’s position and gesture

The seat of the Virgin, who is often depicted resting her feet on a footstool, is covered with an imperial cushion. At times the seat becomes an actual throne. We frequently see an aedicule with a gable above it, suggesting the idea that the Virgin is the “dwelling place” of the Most High, and the symbol of the Church itself.

Emotions are not portrayed in these images. Gestures, on the contrary, have a highly symbolic value. Mary’s hand can assume several positions. When she holds it to her chin, it is a sign of reflection. Her palm facing outwards suggests her initial reserve. The back of her hands held to her chest indicates her consensus. The gesture of the orans (praying figure) is also highly significant, with the palms of her hands facing outwards at chest level, as a sign of trusting welcome. Iconographically, the image of the orans was borrowed from the image of the Roman pietas which represented devotion and respect towards the gods, as well as towards one’s family and nation.

Besides the byzantine tradition featuring Mary seated while spinning the purple veil for the temple, we find a different iconography. In the 6th century, the Virgin begins to be depicted in a standing position in the act of speaking. This image is influenced by the byzantine-hellenistic regal tradition, which wants to emphasize not only the nobility but also the wisdom of the Virgin, who instantly recognises the true nature of her visitor, rises to her feet out of respect, and is able to answer him after listening to his message.

Source: http://www.theglobaldispatches.com/articles/iconography-of-the-annunciation

By St. John Chrysostom

And so having beforehand prepared the hearer to look for some ordinary piece of information, and by this laying hold of him, after all he amazes him by adding the marvelous fact, saying, "Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit..." (Matt. 1:18). Proceed therefore no further, neither require anything more than what has been said. Neither say, "But how was it that the Spirit wrought this of a virgin?" For if, when nature is at work, it is impossible to explain the manner of the formation; how, when the Spirit is working miracles, shall we be able to express these? And lest you should weary the evangelist, or disturb him by continually asking these things, he has said who it was that wrought the miracle, and so withdrawn himself. "For I know," says he, "nothing more, but that what was done was the work of the Holy Spirit."

Shame on them who busy themselves touching the generation on high. For if this birth, which has witnesses without number, and had been proclaimed so long a time before, and was manifested and handled with hands, can by no man be explained; of what excess of madness do they come short who make themselves busy and curious touching that unutterable generation? For neither Gabriel nor Matthew was able to say anything more, but only that it was of the Spirit; but how, of the Spirit, or in what manner, neither of them has explained; for neither was it possible. Nor think that you have learned all, by hearing "of the Spirit." Nay, for we are ignorant of many things, even when we have learned this; as, for instance, how the Infinite is in a womb, how He that contains all things is carried, as unborn, by a woman; how the Virgin bears, and continues a virgin.

How, I pray you, did the Spirit frame that Temple? How did He take not all the flesh from the womb, but a part thereof, and increased it, and fashioned it? For that He did come forth of the Virgin's flesh, He has declared by speaking of "that which was conceived in her" (Gal. 4:4); and Paul, by saying, "made of a woman;" whereby he stops the mouths of them that say, Christ came among us as through some channel. For, if this were so, what need of the womb? If this were so, He has nothing in common with us, but that flesh is of some other kind, and not of the mass which belongs to us. How then was He of the root of Jesse? How was He a rod? How Son of man? How was Mary His mother? How was He of David's seed? How did he "take the form of a servant" (Philip. 2:7)? how "was the Word made flesh" (Jn. 1:14)? and how says Paul to the Romans, "Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is God over all" (Rom. 9:5)? Therefore that He was of us, and of our substance, and of the Virgin's womb, is manifest from these things, and from others beside; but how, is not also manifest. Do not either then inquire; but receive what is revealed, and be not curious about what is kept secret.

From Homily on Matthew, 4:6.

Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2017/03/the-secret-mysteries-of-annunciation.html

Can a person justify himself
not only by submission to a higher power,
but also with his own creative ascent?
Human creativity is not a human demand and a human right
but a divine calling and human responsibility.
God is waiting for a creative act by humans
as a response to God’s own creative act. (Nikolai Berdyaev)

Inclusive theatre nowadays is making attempts at getting into the spotlight and fitting into the general theatrical sphere. Specialists classify it as art brut (French, lit. raw, unrefined art). Currently, inclusive theatre is a noteworthy experiment that fuses together elements of naive theatre, symbolism, and personal creativity.

We talked about inclusive theatres in Moscow and Minsk, ProTheatre International Festival, everyday life of actors and worldwide theatrical tendencies with Alexander Zhdanovich, an actor of Gorky National Academic Drama Theatre.

Alexander, could you please tell those who might not be aware of it yet, what is an inclusive theatre? Is it in demand today and does it have its own audience?

Strangely enough, I heard the term ‘inclusive’ not long ago, although I have been working with the residents of the boarding home in Novinki for over a decade. There is a “Simple-Minded” Theatre in Moscow where people with special needs play. Its name is so spot on that all other terms seem superfluous.

People keep talking about inclusion in general, and inclusive theatre in particular. There were conferences during ProTheatre International Festival in Moscow – a festival that specialises in theatres for people with disabilities – where participants seriously spent several hours trying to figure out the proper name for this kind of theatre: whether it is ‘inclusive’, ‘special’, or ‘exceptional’… Is it really that important? I believe that life is stronger than our deliberations.

Inclusion means getting people with disabilities involved in social life. Inclusion means creating a society where there are no “unwanted” members. In fact, inclusive theatres have existed for a long time, at least in Europe, where actors with disabilities are fully integrated in professional acting careers.

You are the head of Joy Inclusive Theatre and the director of The Little Prince, a play performed by those who live in the boarding home in Novinki. How did you decide to launch this project?

As far as our theatre is concerned, there is also an eponymous theatre studio for children. I believe that we are one single whole. Unfortunately, currently the theatre lacks consistent methodology work, aside from rehearsals and staging of The Little Prince. First, my young actors were sent to multiple boarding home at one moment. Secondly, it is hard to meet regularly due to the fact that I’m always busy.

Of course, we desperately need a professional director and tutor who could work with children from the boarding home on a permanent basis. Although we have put our active collaboration on the back burner, sort of, we have been looking for new alternatives. The residents of the boarding homes take part in the performances of Joy Children’s Studio, which makes their appearances really inclusive.

This is the right way to go, useful for both parties. Children with special needs can hear normal speech and learn to interact with other children. Children without special needs who are wary of socialising with the young residents of the boarding home at first, because they are different, soon enough overcome the barrier, break the wall, and learn to make friends with them. This is where the real joy is!

Do you remember how you first met the children with special needs?

My late wife Ludmila took me with her to the boarding home for children with special needs. To be honest, when I first saw these kids, I wasn’t especially fond of them. I didn’t trust them immediately. I felt the distance but then I was constantly drawn back to them. I started thinking why a busy person and an ambitious actor like me would be so attracted to the boarding home? Suddenly it dawned on me: it was because these special kids accept you for who you are, and there’s no need to mask your true self.

We enjoy going to the woods or sunbathing by the river. Why? Because it is there that we are who we are. The endless stress of the city, the stress of constant communication, of having to adapt and to comply with certain requirements and norms, disappears. Who invented those rules, after all? Similarly, it is easy to be real with the guys from Novinki. They are closer to God, and you can feel happier around them.

I always recall the words of Father Andrew Lemeshonok who said that we need people with disabilities more than they need us. They help us rediscover ourselves. I am grateful to God for having the opportunity to work with such people and to learn from them. These children are just a sunny gift. It is not for no reason that they are called “sunny people”.

Your theatre has a sunny name, too – Joy Theatre.

Yes, our actors are not only sunny but also very talented. Each one of them is gifted differently, of course. Eduard Kovalets is one of the leading actors of Joy Theatre and The Little Prince, and he has amazing acting talents. I didn’t even need to explain to him such exercises as Public Loneliness or Actions with Imaginary Objects. He literally breathes with theatre. He has the courage and the desire to improvise. Not all professional actors possess such burning passion, such improvisation skills, and such an ability to be constantly on alert. The public always feels it.

Joy Theatre has existed for over a decade now. What are the most important, key factors that have to be taken into account when working with people with special needs?

Let me begin with a fact that shocked me: 90 per cent of pregnant women who discover during an ultrasound that they might give birth to a child with Down’s Syndrome terminate their pregnancies. I recall reading an article that explained why that was the right thing to do. This is bizarre. Yes, the parents of these children have a tough time dealing with them. These kids demand a lot more attention, time, energy, and patience. Perhaps, they won’t reach certain heights in our society. But it isn’t essential for happiness, is it?

There are successful actors, painters, and athletes among the less able. I even read about these people doing business! If one gives these children enough care and love, they will leave many developmental issues behind. Theatrical art can be very helpful on this road. Look at the actors of Simple-Minded Theatre – they develop verbally and physically to the extent that many of them become professional actors.

Naturally, I don’t have any ready-made recipes on how to work with the less able. I use trial-and-error approach. There are much more experienced specialists who use this method: Igor Neupokoev, the director of Simple-Minded Theatre, or Andrey Afonin, the director of Quadrat II Theatre Studio. One can learn a lot from them. Strangely enough, it is somewhat easier to work with special children than with regular kids. They are more loyal. To them, theatre is something greater than just a game.

Can you please tell our readers more about the directors you’ve just mentioned? Are the Simple-Minded and the Quadrat II a unique cultural phenomenon?

Igor Neupokoev began his career in Minsk as an actor in Cinema Actors Theatre Studio. Then he left for Moscow. Today he is well-known, so to say, in the movement of inclusive theatres. The Lord has led him to these people. There is a remarkable documentary titled Your Turn! about his theatre.

When they started, they faced many hardships. At present they have a place where they can rehearse but they don’t have their own performance venue even today. This is why their performances are usually staged in Courage Theatre. It seems that Igor Neupokoev uses his gut feeling to figure everything out. He simply sacrifices his entire heart and his entire soul to his actors. This is perhaps how they get such results.

The actors who play in Simple-Minded Theatre are mostly people with special needs who grew in families. Their mothers hugely support their children (although they are mature enough). Andrey Afonin, who is the head and the director of Quadrat II Theatre Studio, strongly opposes this approach.

Andrey Afonin is very experienced in dealing with special people. There are about a dozen professional drama teachers in his studio. They work systematically and thoughtfully: the actors rehearse and practise for several hours six days a week. I had the pleasure to meet his guys. They are unique!

Well, he is vehemently opposed to the presence of parents during rehearsals. He believes that excessive care makes their children dependent and turns people who are forty or fifty years old into toddlers. Indeed, the actors in his theatre become independent. They marry and create families. I asked him why he didn’t publish any books. “I’m going to, one day.” We’re still waiting…

Why don’t you invite Simple-Minded Theatre to Minsk?

In fact, not only have we invited them but we are also doing everything we can to find a way for this theatre to perform on stage here. It is going to happen very soon, on May 29, to give you the exact date. Cinema Actor Theatre Studio offered its performance venue to Simple-Minded Theatre. They will stage a performance based on Wrangle of Life and Death, a symbolist play written by Alexei Remizov, a fin-de-siècle author.

Inclusive theatre is not an amateurish undertaking but a serious theatrical subgenre. Best Moscow critics have discussed the development of inclusive theatre as an independent genre in its own right within the international theatrical movement. We may not know something in this world that the less able people do know. Such a theatre can convey hidden the mystical meanings and messages that no other theatre can.

I have watched many plays staged by inclusive theatres, including those from Europe (France and Spain). They emphasise miming and physical theatre approach. They have little in the way of drama. We would like our public to see what Simple-Minded Theatre is doing. The play Wrangle of Life and Death was highly acclaimed during ProTheatre International Festival. It is an interesting, valuable, and meaningful play. The actors really are simple-minded. They don’t act. Theatre is a part of their lives.

As always, money is the problem. Their company isn’t small. We are trying to find the funds for the Simple-Minded to get to the capital of Belarus.

Alexander, can you tell our readers about The Little Prince, the play staged by your theatre?

This performance is not just another interpretation of the famous story but a chance to look at the world differently. It is performed by actors with special needs. These wonderful actors, in spite of their age, will always be children. The children who will never grow up play for adults who used to be children. They want to be loved just as we do but most importantly, they want to love.

The Little Prince is a moving and profound story with a touch of self-irony, a plethora of subtle meanings, and Christian depth.

Interview by Maria Kotova

March 31, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

By the time we serve Vespers this evening at 7:00 p.m., Great Lent will have ended. We have just been through the "sacred forty days" that will prepare us for Holy Week following the two great feasts of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday.

Looking back and assessing the recent past is not always that easy. What does it actually mean to have had a "good Lent?" What kind of balance did we maintain between the outward and inward? If we fasted from meat, did we also fast from sin? We can, of course, examine the patterns we maintained during Great Lent concerning our prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Was there a "lenten atmosphere" in our homes for forty days? We can also look back and ask ourselves about our participation in the lenten liturgical services. Did we make it to Confession and, if so, did we sincerely confess our sins? (And if we did not make it to Confession, then why not?)

Then again, perhaps we should look forward instead of backwards. Great Lent is over, but if, for the moment, we look beyond even Holy Week and the initial Paschal celebration, we will find ourselves in the post-Paschal season. What positive practices can we carry forward with us as we resume our Christian lives outside of the rarefied atmosphere of Great Lent and Holy Week? If, during Great Lent, we worked on overcoming a particular "bad habit," an unhealthy obsession, or one of the passions, are we determined not to allow that spiritual victory to lapse now that Lent is over? If we were less dependent upon food and drink; if we overcame this or that "addiction;" and if Great Lent was about acting in a particularly vigilant manner for forty days; are we to now act as if it never happened once we have our "Pascha bash?" I often wonder if Bright Week is all about forgetting what we may have learned in the "school of repentance" of Great Lent. As if we try and "catch up" with what we "missed" for Great Lent. In this way, Great Lent is reduced to being a pious interlude that brings to us a false sense of spiritual complacency because we more-or-less followed the rules.

I would encourage everyone to look precisely at those positive practices that were established with a bit of "blood, sweat and tears" during Great Lent, and try and carry them forward. We may no longer be fasting, but there must be some things that we have learned to live without - on the material, psychological and spiritual levels of existence - in a manner that was "good for the soul," to use that expression. Perhaps, with some serious reflection, we can make a choice about a new experience of freedom that we truly want to continue beyond Holy Week and Pascha. Great Lent is a time of recovery - beginning with a recovery of a sense of urgency in our relationship with God. An even greater struggle is now coming: with the "post-Paschal blues" that leave us rather empty and lacking in any vigilance toward the passions that undermine our recovery of God's loving and dynamic presence.

In short, I am hoping, on the one hand, to alert everyone to the danger of treating Great Lent as a limited season of abstinence that does not extend beyond the shaded areas on the church calender that represent "fasting days," and, on the other hand, to the great potential that those very fasting days revealed to us of focusing our lives on God in a serious manner, thus making Great Lent the entrance into a renewed and reinvigorated commitment to the life in Christ. We need to choose between mere formalism and the Gospel precept of placing God before all else. The choice is simple, though the "follow through" is challenging.

Source: http://orthodoxmeditations.blogspot.com.by/2010/03/at-end-of-great-lent-looking-forward.html

On the 15th of September in the year 1998 the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria sent out an apology. Here is what they wrote,

“The Holy Spirit has enlightened the gathered members of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa, under the leadership of H.B. Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, more than a century since Saint Nektarios, the great Teacher and Father of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church was expelled from the Church of Alexandria, to reach the following decision:

Taking into account the resolution of the Church to rank Saint Nektarios amongst the saints because of his innumerable miracles and his acceptance within the religious conscience of Orthodox Christians throughout the world, we appeal to the mercy of the ever-charitable God. We hereby restore the ecclesiastical order of the Saint of our Century, Saint Nektarios, and grant to him all due credits and honors. We beseech Saint Nektarios to forgive both us, unworthy as we are, and our predecessors, our brothers of the Throne of Alexandria, for opposition to the Saint and for all which, due to human weakness or error, our Holy Father, Bishop of Pentapolis, Saint Nektarios, suffered.” Petros VII Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.

What led to this apology? Let’s find out…

Saint Nektarios, known for his countless miracles of healing, and as, “A Saint for our Time,” was born in 1846 in Thrace. When he was fourteen, he left his home and traveled to Constantinople in search of work and study. There, St. Nektarios lived a very modest life constantly praying to Christ and believing that He would provide everything he needed to live. Many acts of kindness were shown to St. Nektarios by his neighbors and townspeople, and it was through them, and by the grace of God, that St. Nektarios became an accomplished academic at the age of twenty-one. By this time, too, St. Nektarios was considered a theological scholar and a devout Christian. Upon completing his studies, he left Constantinople and entered a monastery in Chios.

Some time later, the Patriarch Sophronios of Alexandria, Egypt, offered St. Nektarios a scholarship to study theology at the University of Athens. Upon completing studies at the university, St. Nektarios was ordained to the priesthood to serve in Cairo, Egypt, where he became quite popular as a preacher and confessor. Within five months of his ordination, the Metropolitan of Nubia blessed St. Nektarios with the title of archimandrite, and two months later he was appointed to the high position of Patriarchal Trustee.

It was in January of 1889 that the Metropolitan Nilos suddenly passed away. As the seat was under the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Patriarch Sophronios nominated St. Nektarios to fill the vacancy. Therefore, on January 15, 1889, St. Nektarios was ordained a bishop and began to serve his congregation with humility and an oath to never succumb to the temptations of this world. He served as bishop until countless rumors and false accusations were brought up against him. Patriarch Sophronios became subjected to unbearable pressure regarding the rumors circulating about Metropolitan Nektarios (including the rumor that Nektarios wanted to become patriarch instead of Sophronios). Soon after, Sophronios stripped Metropolitan Nektarios of his authority and duty as bishop. Upon this humbling and confusing experience, St. Nektarios returned to Athens where he continued to serve God by preaching and teaching in its many churches.

In the beginning this was difficult because so many lies and rumors had hurt his reputation in the eyes of the people. But over time, love won. His popularity among the people in Athens again gained him popularity, and led to his appointment as dean of Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens, where he dedicated fourteen years of his wisdom and loving care, until his body forced him to retire on March 24, 1908. Once a new dean was found and instated as his replacement, St. Nektarios retreated to the island of Aegina, to the monastery that he helped to establish years before.

With his return to Aegina, the monastery began to receive countless visitors who sought to be in the presence of St. Nektarios’ pious and loving nature. While there, St. Nektarios witnessed the completion of the building of the chapel on the grounds, which he first started in July of 1906. On June 2, 1908, the chapel was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and he began to settle in and plan for the building of his simple home on the grounds. Throughout the years that he spent in Aegina, St. Nektarios wrote and published many theological treatises, guided the nuns of the monastery toward divine work, and performed many miracles of healing. It was also while serving at the monastery, that St. Nektarios endured many spiritual and physical tribulations, as well as witnessed the magnificent power of the Trinity and the Virgin Mary.

On November 9, 1920, St. Nektarios retired his spirit to the Lord. However, even in death St. Nektarios continues to perform miracles, the first of which occurred in the very hospital room in which he died. With the passing of St. Nektarios, a hospital nurse, assisted by a nun from the monastery, immediately began to change his clothes and threw his undershirt on the next bed. In this bed lay a paralytic, who once the undershirt landed upon him, was instantly healed and jumped out of bed, praising God for his miraculous healing. This was the first of many miracles that St. Nektarios began to perform in death. The stories of these miracles, along with his body remaining completely intact and emanating a magnificent fragrance for twenty years after his death, led the nuns at the monastery to venerate him as a Saint of the Church. Finally, in April of 1961, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople further blessed St. Nektarios with a proclamation of Sainthood.

What a worthy example of humility, patience, long-suffering, faith, hope and love. Holy Father Nektarios, pray for us!

Source: https://outofegyptblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/when-the-church-apologized/

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