The Catalog of Good Deeds

There are just two Lavras in Russia: one is Holy Trinity Saint Sergius Lavra near Moscow; the other is St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg. There are lots of visitors in St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, both pilgrims and tourists. It seems that there isn’t anything new to be told about this Lavra. Is that the case? What do most people know about it except the most basic “tourist-oriented” stuff? Nowadays, during the 300^th anniversary of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, we would like to offer you several interesting facts about this monastery.

1. The place where the monastery was founded in the beginning of the 18^th century, was called Victoria because, according to one account, it was there that the victorious battle of Holy Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky against the Swedes took place.

2. The first printing house in Saint Petersburg was opened in the monastery in 1720. The Slavic School “for teaching young children to read and write” was opened here in 1721. That school laid the foundation of a whole network of church-operated schools. Saint Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy and Seminary has its origins in that school.

3. There are relics of Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky and a particle of relics of Saint Innocent of Irkutsk in St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra. These relics were taken away from the Lavra to the Museum of Religion and Atheism in 1922 and returned to the Lavra in 1989.

4. Many monks of the Lavra were persecuted for Christ’s sake. Almost all namestniks of the Lavra since 1917 until it was closed in 1933 were executed. Archbishop Prokopius (Titov) of Odessa and Kherson who was the namestnik of the Lavra since 1917, was killed by a firing squad, too. When Red Army soldiers attempted to seize the Lavra in January 1918, he refused to give them keys from the storehouses, which led to his arrest and subsequent release after believers’ protests.

Memorial Sign in honor of the New Martyrs, St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra

5. The memorial cemetery of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra is the place of eternal rest for many famous people, e.g., Fyodor Dostoyevsky (whose last will was to be buried there), Vassily Zhukovsky, Nikolai Karamzin, Mikhail Lomonosov, Alexander Suvorov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky (who was buried there upon a direct order of Emperor Alexander III).

6. The Soviet government, which was based in Petrograd at that time, decided to confiscate the buildings of the Lavra in January of 1918. Alexandra Kollontai, the People’s Commissar of Social Welfare, issued a decree and sent armed soldiers to the Lavra. However, they were blocked by a religious procession of 500,000 locals who came to defend the Lavra. It’s hard to imagine a crowd of such size nowadays… The Soviet officials gave up. The Lavra continued to exist for fifteen more years.

7. St. Alexander Nevsky Fraternity, established in the Lavra on January 21, 1918, was a unique phenomenon for the post-Revolution Russia. In spite of the ban on missionary and social work of the Church, the members of that Fraternity continued their spiritual education and charity efforts in Petrograd illegally until 1932. When the God’s Law was excluded from school curriculum, the Fraternity members led by Hieromonk Leo (Egorov) rolled out an extensive project of Christian education for children and adolescents. The monks of the Lavra and lay brothers taught church singing and Church Slavonic to the children, held special meals and even special “children’s” Liturgies where children could sing, read, and help the priest.

Church of the Holy Annunciation of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra

8. Holy Annunciation Church (the first stone church in the Lavra) is located on the territory of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra but isn’t monastery property even now. It is used as a museum of urban sculpture now. The monastery attempts to get this church back.

9. However paradoxical it may sound, there is a Communist Memorial in the center of the Lavra. There are graves of famous proletarian warriors and heroes, party officials of the early days of the Soviet rule, party leaders, generals, and engineers near the entrance to Holy Trinity Cathedral on both sides of the alley that leads to the Metropolitan’s Office.

10. When the Lavra was re-opened in 1994, its first namestnik was Archimandrite Kirill (Nachis), a former prisoner of Nazi and Soviet labor camps. The current namestnik, Bishop Nazarius (Lavrinenko), actively uses modern technologies, such as Facebook.

Article and Photos by Vitaly Kaplan

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://foma.ru/aleksandro-nevskaya-lavra.html

The issue of the time of the birth of Christ has been addressed by many people in the past, both scholars and theologians, so what I intend to do here is present an overview trying to bring some clarity to the topic for those who are really concerned that the 25^th of December may not be the correct time to celebrate Christmas.

Let me start by saying that there are two pieces of evidence, which people present in support of the position that Christ was not born in December:

The first one is the verse from the Gospel of Luke, “And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8) The argument from this is that December is too cold for shepherds to be in the field watching over their flocks! Hence, the proponents of this theory claim that Jesus had to be born in the spring. I read recently on an online website a second claim based on the same reason, which suggests that Jesus was probably born in the fall, before it got cold. I am sure that someone out there must have also claimed that Jesus was born in the summer, instead!

At first sight, any one of these times claimed by the different theorists may seem reasonable, but without more historical evidence they are just claims, because you cannot rule out the possibility that some shepherds could have been there watching over their flocks by night in the area of Bethlehem even in December. Shepherds had summer pens and then moved their sheep into the caves of the area during the winter. The sheep were not grazing in the field by night. The shepherds were just guarding their flocks; perhaps taking turns overnight, as the sheep were in their pens in the nearby caves. Although the weather in these parts of the world can be cold in December, it can also be warm enough for the shepherds to still take their flocks out during the day, but bring them back inside the caves at night where it is much warmer than in their summer pens – a practice prevalent in some places the Middle East even until today.

The second piece of evidence, which the proponents of an alternate time for Christmas present, is the fact that the ancient pagans celebrated on December 25 the birth of the God Sun. As a follow-up syllogism, they conclude that Christians adopted December 25 to cover up the pagan feast, ignoring the historical date of his birth. It is, in fact true that many pagan feasts were Christianized during the fourth century and subsequently, which makes this a reasonable claim. Still, this is no proof that the birth of Christ did not take place at some time in December, even if it was not exactly on December 25, and even if the Christians intentionally overlaid the birth of Christ over the pagan feast.

As we look for more evidence, we discover that the feast of Christmas was first celebrated at the beginning of the fourth century, first in Rome (in 336 AD) and subsequently in the Eastern parts of the Empire by the end of the fourth century, where we find a sermon by St. John Chrysostom explaining why celebrating Christmas in December and especially on December 25 is appropriate and has historical proof in the events of the New Testament.

St. Chrysostom, preaching at the end of the fourth century in Antioch, about ten years after the feast of Christmas was established in the East (as he himself informs us), offers a contemporary account of the reasoning behind the choice of December 25 as the day for celebrating the birth of Christ. He is addressing people who disputed the necessity of the feast (as an innovation) and also the time of its celebration.

He does not mention the effort to remove from the Roman calendar the pagan worship of the Sun, but lays out a very distinct biblical explanation. He starts with the time of the Census as mentioned in Luke 2:1-7 and points out that this was the first Census, which happened when Quirinius was governor of Syria. He also points out that whoever wants to know the exact time of the Census can freely search the ancient codices, which are kept in the public libraries of Rome, hinting that the time of the birth of Christ is easily verifiable from the public records. Chrysostom was a trained lawyer of the time with personal knowledge of government records.

He then continues his argument from a biblical perspective, explaining the Jewish tradition of the censing of the Temple in Jerusalem by the high priest, who would enter the Holy of Holies only once a year (Hebrews 9:7; Lev 16:29-34) during the Feast of Tabernacles in September. He points to the Gospel of Luke 1:8-15, when Zacharias was selected to enter the Holy of Holies to offer incense (perhaps there was no high priest that year and the group of Levites, who were on duty at the time selected by lot, according to tradition, the priest who would make the offering in the place of the high priest).

Zacharias entered the Holy of Holies to offer incense and there he had a vision of an angel of the Lord who announced to him the birth of his son, whom he was to call John. Soon after that, Elizabeth, his wife, became pregnant.

Continuing with the biblical narrative, Chrysostom points out that six months later, the angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and announces to her that she will bear the Son of God and also reveals to her that her cousin Elizabeth is already in her sixth month of pregnancy (Luke 1:30-37).

Chrysostom concludes that, Elizabeth became pregnant in the latter part of September (after the Feast of Tabernacles) and the Virgin Mary became pregnant six months later in the latter part of March. If we count nine months from that time we end up at the latter part of December, which is the time when Jesus was born. Hence, the celebration of Christmas on December 25 is justified.

The fact is that we do not know the exact day of Christ’s birth, but the Christians of the fourth century had calculated the time of his birth and concluded with December as the month. They were much closer to the original event and much closer to the people who had experienced it than any person of today. Their decision was biblically and historically based and it has to be closer to the real day than any modern guess.

It is possible, however, that the decision to establish the celebration of Christmas on December 25 and not on the 20^th or the 24^th, or whatever date would have been the real date of the birth of Christ, was intentional, aimed at quashing the pagan feast of the God Sun – although Chrysostom is silent about it in his Homily. It is indeed possible that the Christians sought to substitute the celebration of the birth of the God Sun with the birth of the Son of God. This seems to have become one more victory for them against the dwindling pagan religion that worshiped the creation rather than the Creator. They were comfortable that the season of his birth was the right one and December 25 seemed perfect to them.

Hence, for those who have been worried that they might be celebrating Christmas at the wrong time, please enjoy the joyful feast and find comfort in the fact that the Early Christians knew what they were doing when they decided that December 25 it is.

By Archpriest Panayiotis Papageorgiou, Ph.D.

Source: http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2015/12/was-christ-really-born-on-december-25/

Dear friends! The Catalog of Good Deeds team starts a new series of personal stories devoted to the Feast of the Nativity. Our brothers and sisters are going to share with you some of their brightest Christmas memories from their childhood and explain how that influenced their own perception of this Great Feast.

You can also tell us about your own memories. Join us on Facebook to learn more.

People in big modern cities begin to get ready for Christmas and the New Year in advance… First twinkling string lights, Christmas trees and other similar attributes appear in late October. People want to make the dull gray fall more colorful and to make the Bright Holiday come faster.

When I walk past the flashy shop windows, I feel somewhat blue because I recall my childhood…

I used to spend Christmas at my grandparents’ home in a tiny hamlet surrounded by a dense and picturesque forest. When I was a child, it looked like a different universe to me, as if a winter-themed postcard suddenly came alive.

First we went by car until we got to a point on the road where there was too much snow for the car to go any further. Then we got out of the car and continued our trip in a one-horse sleigh… Where a car can’t go, this more reliable “means of transportation” will always help. But first we had to feed the “reliable transport” some wheat bread or an apple. Let’s go! The jingle bells were ringing so merrily! At last, we got to the snow-covered hamlet. I remember the charming little houses amidst huge piles of snow. Smoke went up from every chimney, and the twinkling stars on a boundless dark sky were our only string of lights.

As soon as we came to the hamlet, a loud alarm of barking dogs went off, gradually spreading to the entire settlement. The hosts had to be aware that guests were near, right? Then there was the time for a happy meeting with the loved ones, hugs, greetings, and gifts.

Strangely enough, unlike the sparkling city, Christmas preparations in the country houses were a long way from ready, even though it was Christmas Eve. I found it hard to understand… The house was swept clean, Christmas dishes were being cooked in the oven… and that was it. Why? It was time for Christmas! What a pity… What about the Christmas tree and the baubles? My eyes started to fill with tears.

That’s when a miracle happened! The door opened, and the smell of spruce tar mixed with cold crisp air filled the room. My granddad brought a huge spruce into the house. My soul was overflowing with excitement!

While the male part of the family were busy setting the tree up, my grandmother opened a box of Christmas toys. I’ll always remember those toys. They were very old and were stored carefully year after year to be used for decorating the Christmas tree. I have never seen such toys anywhere else: they were animal figurines made of cardboard and painted with silver paint. They were nice and safe to play with while hanging on the branches. My grandmother didn’t have Christmas balls. Instead, she would adorn the Christmas tree with small red apples. While they were on an apple tree, they were too hard to bite and not really tasty because they were a winter breed and became ready to eat around Christmas. Last touches of our decoration were heaps of snow made of cotton wool. The Christmas tree had a Christmas star on top. That Christmas tree didn’t look like the pretentious Christmas trees back in the city. It was natural and heart-warming.

The following morning, we all rode in the same sleigh to a Christmas service in a church located 2 miles from my grandparents’ house. It was another unbelievable journey! I was wrapped in my granddad’s fur-lined leather coat so that I could only stick out my head. I could see amazing winter landscapes, a road in the woods, and the sparkling snow. I could hear the snow squeak under the skids… O Lord, how exhilarating! That’s the only thing that I was capable of thinking about.

After the Liturgy, the celebrations began! People greeted each other, sang Christmas carols, and visited each other’s houses…

The rural Christmas of my childhood was like a fireworks: first you wait but nothing happens… and then suddenly it explodes and the night sky is immediately lit up with millions of colorful lights, filling you with excitement and joy! These bright memories will always remain in my heart. I would like my little daughter to have memories like these, too.

By Sister Ludmila (Samutina),

a content manager, a member of The Catalog of Good Deeds team

More stories will come! Join our group on Facebook to share your childhood memories about Christmas with others and get a chance to receive one of our handmade gifts.

Today we’re going to tell you what wineskins are, and perhaps, the meaning of the words of Christ will be more clear for you. Neither is new wine put in old wineskins; for if it is, the skins burst and are torn in pieces, and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. (Matthew 9:17).

What did ancient vessels look like?

Wineskins are leather bags of some sort, which were used for carrying liquids. People in ancient times could not use clay or stone vessels to carry water or wine with them on the go: they could break and were generally too heavy. That is where wineskins came in handy. The wineskins were bags made of animal skins (e.g., goat or camel skin). The skin was treated thoroughly and then sewn in such a manner so as to leave only one hole (where the animal’s neck had been), which served as the bottleneck. You might have guessed that wineskins came in various sizes depending on the size of the animal. They could be so huge that they held up to 18 bucketfuls of water.

New wineskins, like other leather products, were soft and flexible. That is why new wine was to be poured into new wineskins: fermentation continued within the soft vessel and the gases stretched it a bit. Old wineskins became stiff and more tearing-prone. That was why fermentation of new wine could cause them to burst. In that case, both the wine was spilled and the skins were ruined.

Where else does the Holy Scripture mention wineskins?

We read an interesting story in the Old Testament. Residents of Gibeon came to Joshua to make a peace deal with the Israeli people. Trying to fool the Israelites, they wear old clothes and take old wineskins with them, so that Joshua could believe that they had made a very long journey. They had to do so because God had forbidden the Israelites to make peace with their nearest neighbours (the Canaanites, to which Gibeonites belonged). Israeli elders were fooled, and the residents of Gibeon had their way thanks to this trick. When their trick was discovered, they could not be punished with death because the elders swore to keep them alive. Although Joshua didn’t exterminate the liars, he turned them into slaves: Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. (cf. Joshua 9:23).

We learn more about the characteristics of the wineskins from the Psalter of King David, For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet do I not forget Thy statutes. (Ps. 119:83). It points at the fact that the leather vessels were blackened with smoke and became very dark. The Psalmist basically uses this image to point out that he has become black from grief.

The Meaning of the Parable of the Old Wineskins

It is especially important to pay attention to the context of this parable. Some disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus why his disciples didn’t fast. He responded with this parable, thus making it clear through simple images that one cannot lay a serious burden on someone who isn’t ready for it yet. Saint Ignatius Bryanchaninov explains it perfectly, “It is not only sin that is devastating for us. Even good actions can be harmful when we do good at a wrong time or out of measure. Thus, not only hunger but also eating too much food or consuming food, which doesn’t correspond to your age and physical needs, can be bad for your health… The Lord used this parable to emphasise that acts of virtue must by all means correspond to the condition of the actor, or else they will damage the actor and perish, that is, they will be to no avail and will turn out to be harmful for the soul, in contrast to what they were intended for.”

By Ilja Alekseev

Illustrations by Irina Savritskaya

St. Elisabeth Convent

December 6, 2018

Just as he did during his life, out of his great kindness St. Spyridon continues to help people who pray to him. Here is a story sent to the editors of Eskom-Vera from Olga of the town of Syktyvkara.

It happened 7 years ago. Before then, my husband and I lived with our three children in a crowded two-room apartment. When a fourth little one appeared to the world, it became clear that six people could not live there and we had to look for a larger place. The matter could not be put off, time was running out, and we still couldn’t find a suitable apartment. Then Olga began ordering molebens to St. Spyridon in the local church, remembering that he helps with finding living space. She ordered one moleben, but nothing changed, and then a second, with the same result. Then suddenly a friend, a very good man, out of nowhere gave Olga a small icon of St. Spyridon of Tremithus, for the children. “I heard that St. Spyridon helps children,” he said. It was as if the saint wanted to send a mysterious message through this friend, to say, “Don’t despond, it’s in the works, although you don’t see it yet.” Soon we found an apartment—four rooms, a large kitchen, and an entrance room just as large! And it was not expensive because it was on the first floor, but that also turned out to be a good thing: our four little foot-stompers could now stomp around as much as they like without disturbing the neighbors. From the apartment windows the church where Olga ordered the molebens to St. Spyridon could be seen. And what is even more amazing is that twenty years ago this apartment was a “children’s room”; it is where the kids from the surrounding yards would come to pass the rainy summer days playing checkers and table tennis… This is the “children’s room” that the kind God-pleasing, children-loving St. Spyridon spotted for Olga’s family. They moved right before the New Year. There’s no need to say how joyful they all were. And St. Spyridon looks at them from the icon as if to say, “Never despair, but be joyful, for the Lord is near!”

By Elena Grigoryan

Source: http://www.orthochristian.com/50595.html

In all their affliction he was afflicted,

and the angel of his presence saved them:

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

(Is. 63:9)

Did Baby Jesus cry when He was born into this world? Apparently yes, for He is a human being, too, and is like us in all respects, except sin. Being the eternal Wisdom of God, the Logos, the Lord knew about the road of the Cross that He had to go through since the beginning. He was born to drink the cup of suffering for all people and die so that we who believe in Him could die with Him in the waters of the Baptism and rise from the dead to live forever with Him. Perhaps, this is the reason why Orthodox icons of the Nativity depict Baby Jesus in a crib that resembles a coffin. Yet, I like to think that Baby Jesus smiled at our world, smiled at the human race as He lay in the lap of His most pure Mother.

God Smiled at the Shepherds

There were shepherds with their flock in the fields not far from Bethlehem on that glorious night. What did those men have in mind? They must have been busy thinking about their daily routines and small and big misfortunes of their harsh and difficult lives. Their problems only grew worse with that new census, which could mean more taxes and more burden on the Jewish people. Suddenly, they heard an Angel who brought them happy news from God, For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). But first, the Angel said, “Fear not!” (Luke 2:10) We often read this message on the pages of the New Testament. It permeates the entire history of our salvation. People, fear not! For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (Is. 9:6). God has come to this world so that we could have a great hope for life—and an abundant one—in spite of all troubles and sorrows that we have to face day-to-day.

God Smiled at Angels

It might sound strange but God’s incarnation was a source of great joy for the Angelic world, too. These first intelligent creatures give incessant praises to God and behold His glory. They are in the state of bliss but apparently, when the Lord united the uncreated Divine nature and the created human nature, it was a boon not only for the fallen human race, which it was intended for, but a benefaction for the countless heavenly hosts, too. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels… (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16). Truly, this mystery is great. The Angels rejoiced at the Incarnation of the Logos also because, as Jesus said, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:10). Thanks to the incarnation of the Lord of Hosts, whole nations will repent and believe in the Messiah and great hosts of saints from all ends of the earth will sing eternal praises to God along with the Angelic choirs.

God Smiled at the Three Wise Men

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy (Matthew 2:10). God smiled at the Wise Men who kept staring at the night sky in intense anticipation of the signs that God had promised, for He once said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Gen. 1:14). God smiled at them and sent them a star that led them to His beloved Son who is the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16). When they observed stars and celestial bodies, did they expect to see the star that Balaam had prophesied about so boldly? There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth (Num. 24:17). As soon as they saw Baby Jesus lying in the crib, the Wise Men may have exclaimed the same words that the great John Chrysostom later did in his works, “What do I need heaven for when I can see the Lord of the Heaven?” The Lord calls upon the Wise Men, “I’ve brought you to Myself with help of a star. Now leave your stars behind and follow Me, carrying your crosses.”

God Smiled at the Calf and the Donkey

Yes, God loves animals, too. He created them to enjoy their lives, praising their Creator, the great Conductor of all living beings and all cosmos. Man fell, and the animal world fell with him, and the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now (Rom. 8:22). When the Savior comes into this world, He transforms it, and so the animals are also happy at seeing their Master come to liberate them. Look at the Orthodox icons of the Nativity: the donkey and the calf are looking at the Lord with so much love, tenderness, and devotion. They warm the Divine Baby up with their breath. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast (Ps. 36:6).

God Smiled at Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed

Finally, God smiled at His parents: the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary and Holy Joseph the Betrothed. Saint Joseph had clearly gone through lots of temptations and doubts but, according to the Scripture, an Angel of the Lord instructed him in a dream and bolstered his faith in God’s Plan and in the innocence of Mary. Joseph had humbly accepted the God’s Plan and was happy to raise the young Jesus who became his good helper throughout the rest of Joseph’s life.

As far as the Virgin was concerned, She had a unique road in front of Her. A road of joy and pain and suffering; a road of great comfort and of great sorrow. The Mother of God carried the Cross that the Lord had given to Her with dignity. She was exalted by God to a height that is beyond reach even for the Cherubim: She stands to the right hand of the Lord, according to the Psalmist. She always intercedes for everyone who prays to Her.

God smiles at us from the Bethlehem crib. He believes in us even when we don’t believe in Him. He is waiting for our repentance. He is waiting for our love, for it was love that led Him to be born in a carpenter’s family. It was love that led Him to endure cold and heat, thirst and hunger, mockery and indifference. He came to destroy our disbelief and our loneliness with His Cross and His ministry. He wants us to give Him just one thing, which rightfully belongs to Him alone and which only we can give Him: My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways (Proverbs 23:26). That’s the gift that our Savior wants from us this Christmas: our loving heart. Let’s give Him that gift and smile back at Him.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

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St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra and 10 Interesting Facts About It

Is December 25 Really the Day When Christ Was Born?

Christmas Memories from the Catalog of Good Deeds: “My Christmas Was Just from the Other Universe!”

Bible Stories: What’s Wrong with Pouring New Wine into Old Wineskins?

How St. Spyridon Miraculously Helped a Family

God Smiles at Adam

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