Crucea.ro

Protopriest Vladimir Ivanovich Kassenyev served in the village of Bolshie Berezinki, Simbirsk province. He was related through his wife to the poet F.I. Tyutchev and the over-procurator of the Holy Synod, K.N.
Pobedonostsev. The family of Fr. Vladimir was large and friendly – there were nine children. Fr. Vladimir served in the largest church of the village, which had four altars. On great feasts the service encompassed all four altars. Fr. Vladimir read the canons for Christmas and Pascha in twelve languages, which astonished everyone. At his house there assembled congresses of priests.
They came with their families and lived there for weeks. For Christmas and Pascha three tables were laid with places for twelve people on each, and for three days the doors were open for everyone. The intelligentsia also came, and the richer and poorer peasants. The family had two cows, two horses and poultry. Batyushka was friendly with Michurin and had a beautiful garden.
Matushka was good at sewing and cooking, and was an excellent housewife.
They were dekulakized three times: first they took their livestock, then their furniture, then their house. But each time they recovered. The people used to say: “Batyushka is helped by God! Everything with him is not as it is with us!” He was arrested several times on various excuses. In 1932 he was cast into prison in Saransk for refusing to renounce his priesthood. In prison they forcibly cut his hair in Holy Week, and he died on the night of Pascha. His fellow inmates brought matushka his watch and boots and said: “
Batyushka looked at his watch, said: ‘Christ is risen!’ and died.”

Source: Vladimir Moss

de Ioan N. Polychroniade

Cum ai indrasnit, Parinte, in ast secol de rusine

Sa te ‘nalti cu cugetarea pana ‘n sferele divine?

Si cu sufletul tau mare de apostol si martir

Sa dai suflet si simtire mortilor din cimitir?

Vreai lumina? Dar in noapte, Crima, lumea stapaneste!

Vreai Virtutea? Dar desfraul pretutindeni straluceste!

Vreai Dreptate? Dar in lanturi Dreptul e incatenat!

Vreai Credinta? Dar Cuvantul e si azi crucificat!

“Esti nebun” caci crezi ‘n Domnul, c’o ardoare ingereasca!

“Esti nebun” caci vrei Altarul sa nu se mai pangareasca!

“Esti nebun” caci pentru Tara si Dreptate vrei sa mori!

“Esti nebun” caci inferat-ai pe sperjuri si tradatori!

Indrasneala ti-a fost mare, Arhiereu fara prihana,

Sa dai piept cu Athanase, cu a iadului Satana,

Si de paisprezece umbre, stapanite de pacat,

Tu, al Eclisiei Soare… judecat si condamnat!

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Archimandrite Cronid, in the world Constantine Petrovich Lyubimov, was born on May 13, 1859 in the village of Levkievo, Volokolamsk uyezd, Moscow province to the pious sacristan Peter Fyodorovich and his wife Agatha Vasilyevna. His mother prayed that one of her children would become a monastic, and his father took particular care over the education of the children.
Constantine went to the Volokolamsk theological school, but did not finish the course, having decided to become a monk. He entered the Holy Trinity Lavra in 1877, and on February 2, 1883 became a novice, being appointed as the cell-attendant of the superior, Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin). On March 28, 1888 he was tonsured in the Gethsemane skete, on September 25, 1889 was ordained to the diaconate, and on May 23, 1892 – to the priesthood. He was then appointed overseer of lithography and photography, and from 1896 – overseer of the school of iconography attached to the Lavra, which he greatly improved. He was a member of the examining board for candidates to the priesthood, and from 1902 – assistant treasurer of the Lavra and a member of the spiritual council. In 1904 he was appointed inspector of the diocesan school of iconography and a member of its council. On January 17, 1905 he was made steward of the Lavra’s podvorye in St. Petersburg, and in the course of a year completely transformed it. On May 11, 1905 he was raised to the rank of igumen, and on May 9, 1908 – to the rank of archimandrite, while remaining in the St. Petersburg podvorye. On January 9, 1915 he was appointed superior of the Lavra. He was a fine spiritual father and preacher. Grand-Duchess Elizabeth asked him to be her spiritual father. He was a member of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917-18, and from 1918 – a member of the patriarchal administration.
In the autumn of 1918 there began the confiscation of the Lavra’s property. Fr. Cronid was removed from the post of superior by the Bolsheviks.
The monks were expelled from the Lavra on November 3, 1919, and Fr. Cronid followed on January 26. On May 7, 1920 there took place the final sealing of the Lavra.
In 1920 Fr. Cronid was living in the house of a church warden in the village of Bratovschina, Moscow province, but in 1922 returned to the Gethsemane skete. In 1926 he moved to the skete of the Paraclete in Sergiev Posad, and from 1929 lived in the town itself. He helped many people returning from exile, and continued to look after his spiritual children, who in turn looked after his material needs. According to his case records, by 1937 he had returned from exile himself.
On November 21, 1937, already blind and weak, Fr. Cronid was arrested in Sergiev Posad and cast into the Taganka prison in Moscow. He was accused of leading illegal monasteries and “a counter-revolutionary monarchist group”
that included Protopriest Demetrius Fyodorovich Bayanov, Elder Hippolytus Yakovlev (the spiritual father of the Lavra) and Igumen Nicodemus. He was sentenced to be shot in accordance with articles 58-10 and 58-11. When interrogated about his attitude to Soviet power, Fr. Cronid replied: “By conviction I am a monarchist to the present time, and the monks have been educated in the same spirit by me. They must be followers of the True Orthodox Church.” However, he thrice refused to name them. Fifteen people passed through “the Case of Archimandrite Cronid and others, Zagorsk, 1937”.
Besides Fr. Cronid, there were nine former inmates of the Holy Trinity Lavra, Protopriest Demetrius, two priests, a nun and a church warden. Eleven were shot, and four received sentences of ten years in the corrective-labour camps.
In 1938 there were two more cases were fabricated as a continuation of this case among the clergy and monastics of Sergiev Posad – sixteen people were charged. Fr. Cronid himself was shot at Butovo on December 10, 1937.

via Vladmir Moss

by Vladimir Moss

Protopriest Macarius Fyodorovich Kvitkin was born in August, 1882 in the town of Orsk, Orenburg province, in the family of the pious parents Theodore and Eudocia Kvitkin. From an early age he loved Christ and the Church. He often went to church, reading and chanting in the choir. He graduated from a teacher training college and became a schoolteacher in Orsk. In 1904, Macarius married a pious girl from a well-to-do family, Euphrosyne Kondratyevna Beznosova. A year later their first child, Sergius, was born. Having worked for some years as a teacher, Macarius went to a theological seminary, and after graduation was ordained to the diaconate, serving from 1914 in the village of Verkhnyaya Pavlovka, 25 kilometres from Orenburg, where his second son, Vladimir, was born. In 1918 he was ordained to the priesthood and went to serve in Novo-Troitsk. In 1920, Batyushka and his family settled in the village of Alexandrovka, Orenburg region. At first Fr. Macarius served in a prayer house, but then, in 1924, he constructed a small wooden church. In 1925, however, this church was closed, and they moved to Orenburg. In the autumn of 1925, he was appointed as the second priest in a large, three-altared church whose main part was dedicated to St. Seraphim of Sarov and which was situated in Forstadt, a suburb of Orenburg. In 1925-26, the diocese was temporarily administered by Vladyka Dionysius. Fr. Macarius’ son Vladimir was the bishop’s staff-bearer and often travelled with Vladyka when he served in the other, still open churches of Orenburg and in the women’s monastery.

On July 16/29, 1927, Metropolitan Sergius issued his notorious declaration, which formally opened the way for the antichristian authorities into the Church. Over 90% of parishes in the Urals rejected Sergius’ declaration. The rector of the St. Seraphim church where Fr. Macarius was serving as the second
priest at that time was Fr. Alexis S. During the first years of their serving together, he and Fr. Macarius had had peaceful, friendly relations. But after the declaration of Metropolitan Sergius, frictions between them developed.
Fr. Macarius categorically refused to commemorate the puppet of Soviet power, Metropolitan Sergius, as the patriarchal locum tenens, but commemorated Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsa, who was at that time in prison. This difference in understanding of church truth and the true pastoral way led to the division of the parish into two groups, one supporting Fr. Alexis and the other – Fr. Macarius. Finally, the parishioners came to the decision that the priest who had the majority of votes would remain in the parish. Since the parish was a large one (more than 1000 people), a general meeting was arranged in the church. The first to speak was Fr. Alexis. He rebuked Fr. Macarius for not recognizing or commemorating Metropolitan Sergius and thereby disobeying him as the rector of the church, and for creating a division and a schism. Then Fr. Macarius took the floor. He explained to the believers that through his declaration Metropolitan Sergius had betrayed church truth and had entered into union with the atheists, the enemies of the Church. For that reason he could not commemorate him for fear of becoming an accomplice in the sin of betraying the Church. This was why he did not agree with, and could not serve together with, Fr. Alexis. Finally, Fr. Alexis suggested to everyone that those who agreed with him should go to the right part of the church, while those agreed with Fr. Macarius should go to the left. He was hoping for a majority, since he had been a priest for many years and was the rector of the parish. But then something unexpected took place: the left part of the church filled up with parishioners, more than two thirds of those present. Thus did the parishioners express their trust in Fr. Macarius and he became the rector of the church of St. Seraphim. Immediately a thanksgiving moleben was served with great prayerful enthusiasm. Many of the worshippers had tears in their eyes.
It seemed as if everything had gone according to the will of God and the parish had been pacified. But the devil, in the person of the Soviet authorities, was not pacified. In order to force the parishioners to close the church, they imposed an unbearable tax burden on them, and increased it after each payment. Usually the taxes were paid quarterly, but after a general meeting the authorities decide to increase the tax each month. At first the parish somehow managed to pay the tax, but then the authorities began to seize the gold and silver rizas and frames from the icons, together with the Gospels and other precious objects as if in payment of the tax. Then, in 1930, they closed the church on the excuse that the tax had not been paid.

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Părintele Dionisie: Uniunea asta Europeană e după Dumnezeu? Ε desăvârşit după Satana. Desăvârşit, sigur. Că după Dumnezeu este numai Biserica. Biserica Ortodoxă e după Dumnezeu.

Dar vedeţi că şi oamenii Bisericii zic că Uniunea Europeană e un lucru bun.

Părintele Dionisie: S-a terminat. Oamenii Bisericii au alunecat. Fiindcă ăştia, europenii, vezi cât sunt de diplomaţi? Întâi pe capii Bisericii vor să-i înşele. Dacă au înşelat capii Bisericii, sigur… S-a terminat, e sfârşitul. Ei, măi, măi, măi. Vezi ce se lucrează? (2003)

Părintele Dionisie: Conducătorii omenirii vor să îngenunche adevărul, fiindcă se apropie împărăţia lui Antihrist, şi aceia, cu diplomaţia lor, se osârduiesc să facă lesnicios drumul pentru Antihrist. Şi ca să fie lesnicios drumul, na, fac şărlătăniile lor.

Ei spun că e numai o chestiune politică.

Părintele Dionisie: Politică, da’ care-i scopul politicii ăsteia?

Şi mai spun că Biserica n-are voie să se amestece în treburi politice.

Părintele Dionisie: Apoi vezi? (părintele râde) „N-are dreptul”. Biserica n-are dreptul să spună adevărul. Da, da, e „bun”. Ei găsesc Biserica vinovată, vinovată de fărădelegile lor. Dar Biserica propovăduieşte adevărul, iar adevărul este Dumnezeu. Numai Dumnezeu îi fără greşeală şi numai lui Dumnezeu nu-i poţi găsi pricină, că-i Dumnezeu, că-i Adevărul, bunătate. De aceea vine Antihrist, pentru că e învederat contra lui Hristos, contra Adevărului.

Articolul integral este disponibil in revista Presa Ortodoxa.

The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police.

Ziarul The Guardian a obtinut aceste imagini ale lui Ian Tomlison la un protest prilejuit de G20 la scurt timp inainte de a muri. Filmul il arata pe Tomlison, care nu facea parte dintre demonstranti, fiind agresat din spate si trintit la pamint de un politist. Tomlison a murit de atac de cord citeva clipe mai tirziu. Mai multe despre acest caz care anticipeaza zilele care ne asteapta odata cu instalarea statului politienesc mondial, aici.

by Vladimir Moss

Hieromonk Alexander, in the world Athanasius Vasilyevich Turuntayevskikh (he later changed his surname to Orlov), was born in 1878 in Vologda province in the family of Protopriest Basil, who served in one parish for 50 years. His mother, who was called Olga, was a deeply believing Christian. There were six brothers and one sister in the family. All the brothers and the brother-in-law were priests. Athanasius was the youngest in the family. The Lord placed the mark of His grace on the younger son of this noble spiritual family from his youngest years – Athanasius refused to eat meat from the age of five.
He went to study in a theological seminary. Now atheism was widespread among schoolchildren in those years, and Athanasius fell into its nets. But this was not hidden from his mother. On her deathbed – she died at the age of 56 – she told him: “Leave your atheist comrades, change your character and God will not abandon you.”
The death of Athanasius’ mother had been exactly prophesied by a fool-for-Christ, which made a strong impression on him, the more so in that a good provincial doctor had said that she would recover.
After the death of his mother Athanasius began to become interested in theology, the philosophical approach to religion, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and life after death. But he was burdened by the fact that he had been so attracted to atheist ideas, and he was constantly pursued by the thought: “you will not be forgiven”. The thought gnawed at his brain: “If you wish to receive forgiveness, offer yourself as a sacrifice to God”.
In despair he decided to commit suicide. His nearest relatives did not let him out of their sight, but followed him day and night. Many priests tried to convince Athanasius to abandon his plan, but without success. He took a raw thong from a harness, put his head into a noose and stepped off the stool…

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de Paul Grigoriu

Stăm de ani de zile de vorbă. Discutăm prin cafenele, baruri, pe la petreceri, în parcuri, la mare şi la munte. În mijlocul preocupărilor noastre cotidiene, ne amintim din când în când şi despre Basarabia. O facem uneori de dragul unui exerciţiu retoric, alteori pentru a ne mai ciondăni sau a ne făli cu patriotismul respectiv pragmatismul nostru. Râuri de vorbe. „Pământ românesc”. „Moldoveni împuţiţi”. „Fraţii noştri”. „Le avem pe-ale noastre, ce ne mai trebuie să ne batem capul şi cu ei”. „Credinţă, neam”. „Curve, mafia”. Şi uite aşa ne-am tot implicat în problema Basarabiei. De la adăpostul confortabil al unor opinii care nu costă nimic. Acum însă se aude o chemare. Vom şti să răspundem?
Toate poveştile despre Basarabia complet rusificată şi despre cetăţenii „moldoveni” care de fapt n-ar vrea să audă despre România s-au spulberat în faţa zecilor de mii de oameni care îşi strigă disperarea anticomunistă în faţa unei autorităţi care, prin sclavul Voronin foloseşte cam acelaşi vocabular ca Ceauşescu în faţa martirilor timişoreni: fascişti, huligani, agenturi străine. La Chişinău se strigă „România”. E cel mai frumos compliment care ni se putea face, după 45 de ani de teroare roşie şi încă 20 de impotenţă politică şi slugărnicie falimentară. Dorinţa de libertate a unor oameni capătă numele nostru, al ţării şi al identităţii ei îngropate sub stratul de fals şi indiferenţă. La Chişinău, România este sinonim pentru libertate.

Restul articolului aici.

1) Diaspora ortodoxa: definirea jurisdictiei asupra credincioslor ortodocsi dincolo de granitele nationale. Canoanele valide astazi sint cele de dinaintea cresterii fara precedent a emigratiei. cind credinciosii din afara tarilor lor de obarsie apartineau jurisdictonal de patriarhatul ecumenic.

2) Modul de recunoastere a statutului unei Biserici autocefale

3) Modul de recunoastere a autonomiei unei Biserici

4) Dipticele, adica regulile recunoasterii canonice reciproce intre Bisericile Ortodoxe.

5) Stabilirea unui calendar comun al sarbatorilor. De exemplu, unele Biserici sarbatoresc Nasterea Domnului pe 25 decembrie, altele mai tirziu.

6) Piedici si canonicitate in taina cununiei.

7. Chestiunea postului in lumea contemporana.

8) Relatiile cu celelalte confesiuni crestine.

9) Miscarea ecumenica.

10)  Contributia Ortodoxiei in afirmarea idealurilor crestine de pace, fraternitate si libertate.

Sursa: Nat da Polis

With the sending of letters of invitation to all the heads of the Orthodox
Churches for the two preparatory meetings for the grand pan-Orthodox synod,
scheduled for June and December of this year, Bartholomew has set in motion the
decisions made at the recent pan-Orthodox meeting in October, held in
Constantinople, and attended by deceased patriarch of Moscow Alexy as his last
act in life.
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În partea dreaptă a imaginii sunt trei lideri ai opoziţiei; din plan apropiat înspre planul îndepărtat, Serafim Urecheanu, de la alianţa “Moldova Noastră” (care a obţinut 9,81%) în alegerile de duminică), Dorin Chirtoacă, primarul Chişinăului şi vicepreşedinte al Partidului Liberal (12,79% la alegeri) şi, în fine, Vlad Filat, preşedintele Partidului Liberal Democrat (12,26%). Pe partea cealaltă a mesei, bărbatul brunet şi cu ochelari, care vorbeşte mult spre finalul înregistrării, este Marian Lupu, preşedintele încă în funcţie al Parlamentului Republicii Moldova.

via: Mihnea Maruta

Citesc vesti de la Chisinau aici.

Vai de ceea ce ni se intimpla, de felul rusinos in care i-am lasat de izbeliste pe fratii nostri.

Dumnezeu sa ne ocroteasca si sa ne ierte!

Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου

St. Gregory the Wonderworker
First Homily on the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary
To-Day are strains of praise sung joyfully by the choir of angels, and the light of the advent of Christ shines brightly upon the faithful. Today is the glad spring-time to us, and Christ the Sun of righteousness has beamed with clear light around us, and has illumined the minds of the faithful. To-day is Adam made anew,² and moves in the choir of angels, having winged his way to heaven. To-day is the whole circle of the earth filled with joy, since the sojourn of the Holy Spirit has been realized to men. To-day the grace of God and the hope of the unseen shine through all wonders transcending imagination, and make the mystery that was kept hid from eternity plainly discernible to us. To-day are woven the chaplets of never-fading virtue. To-day, God, willing to crown the sacred heads of those whose pleasure is to hearken to Him, and who delight in His festivals, invites the lovers of unswerving faith as His called and His heirs; and the heavenly kingdom is urgent to summon those who mind celestial things to join the divine service of the incorporeal choirs. To-day is fulfilled the word of David, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad. The fields shall be joyful, and all the trees of the wood before the Lord, because He cometh.”³ David thus made mention of the trees;⁴ and the Lord’s forerunner also spoke of them as trees⁵ “that should bring forth fruits meet for repentance,”⁶ or rather for the coming of the Lord. But our Lord Jesus Christ promises perpetual gladness to all those who believe on Him. For He says, “I will see you, and ye shall rejoice; and your joy no man taketh from you.”⁷ To-day is the illustrious and ineffable mystery of Christians, who have willingly⁸ set their hope like a seal upon Christ, plainly declared to us. To-day did Gabriel, who stands by God, come to the pure virgin, bearing to her the glad annunciation, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured!⁹ And she cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. And the angel immediately proceeded to say, The Lord is with thee: fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. Behold,¹⁰ thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call¹¹ His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever: and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? “¹² Shall I still remain a virgin? is the honour of virginity not then lost by me? And while she was yet in perplexity as to these things, the angel placed shortly before her the summary of his whole message, and said to the pure virgin, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” For what it is, that also shall it be called by all means. Meekly, then, did grace make election of the pure Mary alone out of all generations. For she proved herself prudent truly in all things; neither has any woman been born like her in all generations.

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St. Gregory the Wonderworker
Second Homily on the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary
It is our duty to present to God, like sacrifices, all the festivals and hymnal celebrations; and first of all, the annunciation to the holy mother of God, to wit, the salutation made to her by the angel, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured!” For first of all wisdom² and saving doctrine in the New Testament was this salutation, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured!” conveyed to us from the Father of lights. And this address, “highly favoured,”³ embraced the whole nature of men. “Hail, thou that art highly favoured”⁴ in the holy conception and in the glorious pregnancy, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”⁵ And again the Lord, who came for the purpose of accomplishing a saving passion, said, “I will see you, and ye shall rejoice; and your joy no man taketh from you.”⁶ And after His resurrection again, by the hand of the holy women, He gave us first of all the salutation “Hail! “⁷ And again, the apostle made the announcement in similar terms, saying, “Rejoice evermore: pray without ceasing: in everything give thanks.”⁸ See, then, dearly beloved, how the Lord has conferred upon us everywhere, and indivisibly, the joy that is beyond conception, and perennial. For since the holy Virgin, in the life of the flesh, was in possession of the incorruptible citizenship, and walked as such in all manner of virtues, and lived a life more excellent than man’s common standard; therefore the Word that cometh from God the Father thought it meet to assume the flesh, and endue the perfect man from her, in order that in the same flesh in which sin entered into the world, and death by sin, sin might be condemned in the flesh, and that the tempter of sin might be overcome in the burying⁹ of the holy body, and that therewith also the beginning of the resurrection might be exhibited, and life eternal instituted in the world, and fellowship established for men with God the Father. And what shall we state, or what shall we pass by here? or who shall explain what is incomprehensible in the mystery? But for the present let us fall back upon our subject. Gabriel was sent to the holy virgin; the incorporeal was despatched to her who in the body pursued the incorruptible conversation, and lived in purity and in virtues. And when he came to her, he first addressed her with the salutation, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured! the Lord is with thee.” Hail, thou that art highly favoured! for thou doest what is worthy of joy indeed, since thou hast put on the vesture of purity, and art girt with the cincture of prudence. Hail, thou that art highly favoured! for to thy lot it has fallen to be the vehicle of celestial joy. Hail, thou that art highly favoured! for through thee joy is decreed for the whole creation, and the human race receives again by thee its pristine dignity. Hail, thou that art highly favoured! for in thy arms the Creator of all things shall be carried. And she was perplexed by this word; for she was inexperienced in all the addresses of men, and welcomed quiet, as the mother of prudence and purity; (yet) being a pure, and immaculate, and stainless image¹⁰ herself, she shrank not in terror from the angelic apparition, like most of the prophets, as indeed true virginity has a kind of affinity and equality with the angels.

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