The Orthodox Theological Society in America’s recent pro-vaccine statement has been condemned as “abhorrent to any informed, devout Orthodox Christian” by the recent dean and professor of Moral Theology at Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, New York. “A ‘lesser evil’ decision process cloaked in ‘greater good’ language is sophistry, prelest, and sheer moral evil.”
The Tragic Case of the Vaccinated Bishop Benjamin-- and Fellow American Hierarchs
“In the last days, evil and heresy will have spread so widely that the faithful will not be able to find a priest or shepherd to protect them from delusion and guide them to salvation." +St John Maximovitch (1897–1966), Bishop of Shanghai and San Francisco
Bishop Benjamin of the Diocese of the West of the Orthodox Church of America is, sadly, in familiar company with other U.S. bishops who have not only enforced the increasing draconian public health restrictions imposed in the U.S. -- but often gone beyond them. The Orthodox faithful who refuse the abortion-tainted COVID vaccines (and all of them are, at one level or another) face the very real possibility of being locked out of Divine Liturgy and excommunicated. Many have already been excommunicated for lesser "offenses."
“In the last days, evil and heresy will have spread so widely that the faithful will not be able to find a priest or shepherd to protect them from delusion and guide them to salvation." +St John Maximovitch (1897–1966), Bishop of Shanghai and San Francisco
Bishop Benjamin of the Diocese of the West of the Orthodox Church of America is, sadly, in familiar company with other U.S. bishops who have not only enforced the increasing draconian public health restrictions imposed in the U.S. -- but often gone beyond them. The Orthodox faithful who refuse the abortion-tainted COVID vaccines (and all of them are, at one level or another) face the very real possibility of being locked out of Divine Liturgy and excommunicated. Many have already been excommunicated for lesser "offenses."
In the absence of episcopal support for Orthodox faithful who refuse vaccines, it is wise to consider the words of the late Metropolitan, Augustine Kantiotis, whom St. Paisios called “the new Chrysostom of the Church” : “The bishop must obey the Gospel. This is why when the Bishop is ordained, he is ordained under the Gospel. As the Fathers say, this means that the people shall obey the Bishop on one condition – that the Bishop obey the Gospel. But when the Bishop does not obey the Gospel and does not do according to the Holy Canons, then the clergy and the people are not obliged to obey the Bishop. In the event of a dilemma because of a contradiction between the Gospel and the bishop’s teaching, ‘we must obey God rather than human beings!’ (Acts 5:29) And then heroic clergymen and monks, even ordinary lay people – in cases where the bishops are silent and the pulpits are silent – then every clergyman and lay person has the right and the obligation to say those things which the Bishops dare not say either because of cowardice, or a worldly spirit, or misapprehension. Whenever the pulpits were silent, simple and humble monks and people, men and women, supported Orthodoxy. Let us not forget that Romania was liberated from Ceausescu with the help of an obscure cleric who lit the fuse of freedom and destroyed Ceausescu’s dictatorship and tyrannical regime. Therefore, each clergyman is not a slave of his hierarch, but is only obligated to obey his Bishop when that Bishop is a contender in the holy struggle.”
Source: https://orthodoxreflections.com/why-we-fear-the-horrible.../
Source: https://orthodoxreflections.com/why-we-fear-the-horrible.../
Orthodox Reflections
Why We Fear the Horrible Orthodox Bishop and His Brethren - Orthodox Reflections
We have accepted that bishops can require whatever they choose as prerequisites to attend liturgy and receive - a very dangerous situation.
Chart: Known Role of Aborted Fetal Cell Lines in Some Covid-19 Vaccines Source: https://orthodoxreflections.com/an-orthodox-md-tries-to-work-out-the-biothecial-kinks-of-the-covid-19-vaccine/ What should our response be when bishops or priests, with a "wordly spirit" actively promote or fail to warn against unethical vaccines? The bishop must obey the Gospel. This is why when the Bishop is ordained, he is ordained under the Gospel. . . . In the event of a dilemma because of a contradiction between the Gospel and the bishop’s teaching, ‘we must obey God rather than human beings!’ (Acts 5:29) . . . [I]n cases where the bishops are silent and the pulpits are silent – then every clergyman and lay person has the right and the obligation to say those things which the Bishops dare not say either because of cowardice, or a worldly spirit, or misapprehension." - the late Metropolitan Augustine Kantiotis, whom St. Paisios called “the new Chrysostom of the Church”
Orthodox Homily - Fr. Kosta Kaltsidis Week by week through Lent, we have an opportunity to climb "peak" to "peak" to the highest mountain, the Cross of Christ-- planted at Golgotha, where the bones of Adam were buried.
Christ's message to Adam and to us is, "I will raise you up. Behold your ladder-- the Cross." Satan says, "You don't have to climb a ladder." This lie is contradicted by the message of St. John of Climacus in "Ladder of Divine Ascent." It is not too late to join in the lenten leffort-- fasting, praying, and showing mercy to those in need. https://youtu.be/xa6m0cRDZIw
Christ's message to Adam and to us is, "I will raise you up. Behold your ladder-- the Cross." Satan says, "You don't have to climb a ladder." This lie is contradicted by the message of St. John of Climacus in "Ladder of Divine Ascent." It is not too late to join in the lenten leffort-- fasting, praying, and showing mercy to those in need. https://youtu.be/xa6m0cRDZIw
YouTube
Homily - Sunday of St John Climacus
Behold, the Holy Fire from Christ’s Tomb!
Annually, on Holy Saturday, Greece's ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ 4Ε (TV 4) broadcasts the Ceremony of the Holy Fire from the Holy Sepulchre at 1pm Jerusalem/ 6am ET in N. America.
Live stream: www.tv4e.gr/livestreaming.php
Annually, on Holy Saturday, Greece's ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ 4Ε (TV 4) broadcasts the Ceremony of the Holy Fire from the Holy Sepulchre at 1pm Jerusalem/ 6am ET in N. America.
Live stream: www.tv4e.gr/livestreaming.php
Love now. Forgive now. The time is now. Fr Gheorghe Calciu, a survivor of torture in communist prisons, gives us a timeless Holy Week: "Those of you who couldn’t love, start to love now. Forgive those who have wronged you. You who never had the power to forgive even the slightest mistake… Make out of this week, a week of purification, of angelic life. Be like angels!" Related link: otelders.org/theology-and-spirituality/lets-like-angels-holy-week-fr-gheorghe-calciu/
As the Holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer (Apr 23/ May 6) was being tortured, he addressed Emperor Diocletian, “Do not imagine that it is any human learning which keeps me from being harmed by these torments. I am saved only by calling upon Christ and His Power. Whoever believes in Him has no regard for tortures and is able to do the things that Christ did” (John 14:12).
St George is the patron saint and protector of several of the great builders of the Russian state. St Vladimir’s son, Yaroslav the Wise (in holy Baptism George), advanced the veneration of the holy martyr in the Russian Church. He built the city of Yuriev, translated "of Yurii". “Yurii” is the diminutive of “George”. Yaroslav also founded the Yuriev monastery at Novgorod and built a church of Saint George the Victory Bearer at Kiev.
"You were bound for good deeds, O martyr of Christ: George;
by faith you conquered the torturer’s godlessness.
You were offered as a sacrifice pleasing to God;
thus you received the crown of victory."
St George is the patron saint and protector of several of the great builders of the Russian state. St Vladimir’s son, Yaroslav the Wise (in holy Baptism George), advanced the veneration of the holy martyr in the Russian Church. He built the city of Yuriev, translated "of Yurii". “Yurii” is the diminutive of “George”. Yaroslav also founded the Yuriev monastery at Novgorod and built a church of Saint George the Victory Bearer at Kiev.
"You were bound for good deeds, O martyr of Christ: George;
by faith you conquered the torturer’s godlessness.
You were offered as a sacrifice pleasing to God;
thus you received the crown of victory."
Churches and monasteries throughout the world are dedicated to the holy, glorious and right-victorious Great-martyr and Trophy-bearer George. He is the patron saint of Moscow, Georgia, and England, amongst many other places. The Church of St George, Lod (Lydda), Jerusalem, contains the holy relics of St George. (See photo.) The Ottoman authorities stipulated, that part of the plot for the church be made available for a mosque, a plot with which the church continues to share.
O Holy Martyr George, intercede to Christ our God for the savlation of our souls and courage in troubled times.
O Holy Martyr George, intercede to Christ our God for the savlation of our souls and courage in troubled times.
You became man, O Christ.
You took human nature from the Virgin!
As a man, you asked where Lazarus was buried,
Though as God, you know all things!
You have given us a pledge of your own resurrection
By raising your friend as if from sleep, O Word of God,
Though his flesh had tasted corruption from four days in the tomb.
#LazarusSaturday
You took human nature from the Virgin!
As a man, you asked where Lazarus was buried,
Though as God, you know all things!
You have given us a pledge of your own resurrection
By raising your friend as if from sleep, O Word of God,
Though his flesh had tasted corruption from four days in the tomb.
#LazarusSaturday
Every day you should try to plant in your soul something spiritual which will eject something worldly and sinful. Gradually, the old self will be disclaimed, and you will be able to move freely in the spiritual realm. Replace the sinful images in your mind with holy ones. Replace songs with hymns, worldly magazines with spiritual books.
+St Paisios of Mount Athos
+St Paisios of Mount Athos
"O Christ the Bridegroom, my soul has slumbered in laziness. I have no lamp aflame with virtues. Like the foolish virgins, I wander aimlessly when it is time for work. But do not close Thy compassionate heart to me, O Master. Rouse me, shake off my heavy sleep. Lead me with the wise virgins into the bridal chamber, that I may hear the pure voice of those that feast and cry unceasingly: 'O Lord, glory to Thee!'"
"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
"This prayer was so intense, according to the evangelists, that perspiration, like drops of blood, dripped from His face to the ground ...
No one can comprehend the total weight of the Savior’s sorrow when He was preparing for His sufferings on the Cross for the salvation of sinful humanity. There is no need to deny the natural fear of death, because to Him as a human, all the habitual human sorrows and ills were known. It is natural for normal humans to die, but for Him, being completely without sin, death was an unnatural state." - Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
Icon: The Prayer in the Garden of Olives. Basilica di San Marco
"This prayer was so intense, according to the evangelists, that perspiration, like drops of blood, dripped from His face to the ground ...
No one can comprehend the total weight of the Savior’s sorrow when He was preparing for His sufferings on the Cross for the salvation of sinful humanity. There is no need to deny the natural fear of death, because to Him as a human, all the habitual human sorrows and ills were known. It is natural for normal humans to die, but for Him, being completely without sin, death was an unnatural state." - Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
Icon: The Prayer in the Garden of Olives. Basilica di San Marco