The Falling Asleep of the Glorious Apostle John the Theologian and Evangelist

St. John the Theologian from Orthowiki

John was "the apostle Jesus loved." When all had forsaken Jesus, John stayed beneath the cross with the Theotokos whom he cared for as a mother right to her falling asleep. Exiled to Patmos by Emperor Domitian, he wrote the Revelation and his Gospel there. He is called "the theologian" because his five New Testament writings, that is the Gospel, Revelation, and the three epistles show him to be " the breath of the Holy Spirit." He was over a hundred years old when he died. When his disciples later opened his tomb, they found his body was not there. Often the expression "dormition" or "falling asleep" is used for his death.
by Anthony Coinaris in Daily Vitamins for Spiritual Growth

St. John the Evangelist from Wikipedia
TROPARION OF ST. JOHN

O APOSTLE, SPEAKER OF DIVINITY, THE BELOVED OF CHRIST GOD, HASTEN AND DELIVER THY PEOPLE POWERLESS IN ARGUEMENT; FOR HE ON WHOSE BOSOM THOU DID LEAN ACCEPTETH THEE AS AN INTERCESSOR. BESEECH HIM, THEREFORE, TO DISPERSE THE CLOUD  OF THE STUBBORN NATIONS, ASKING FOR US SAFETY AND THE GREAT MERCY.

Some words to think about

Dear Son,
 I know you are busy with your life. Sometimes one needs to take a short break and be nourished in other ways. Here are some articles that I'd like to pass on to you. Please take a few minutes to read and ponder. These articles are the ones that you've seen before. You can read them here again whenever.

Story : Stolen Book
Thoughts: He who gives to the poor gives to Christ
Thoughts: Peace of soul is precious to all men
Thoughts: Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek ...
Homily: The power and mission of Christ as foretold by Isaiah
Prayer: Never A King Like This

I will send you some more soon. For now I hope these will help.

Love,
Dad

Elevation of the Holy Cross

The Orthodox Weekly Bulletin … Vestal, Cliffwood, New Jersey … Litho in U.S.A.

There are two stories surrounding the precious and life-giving Cross of our Saviour that bear repeating as we commemorate the Feast Day of its Exaltation and Elevation. The first story centres on how it came to be found by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in the first place. It seems that the St. Helena led an expedition to Jerusalem, determined to find this greatest of all Christian relics. Nearly 300 years had passed since Christ’s Crucifixion: who would remember what happened to the Cross? After inquiring of scores of Christians and Jews alike, an elderly Hebrew named Jude was able to shed some light on this clouded picture. He believed that the Cross was buried under a pagan temple dedicated to Venus. The temple was destroyed and the cross discovered! After witnessing a dead man being brought back to life and a sick woman cured instantly after being touched by the Cross, Jude himself declared his belief in Christ and was baptized into the Faith. This humble man received the name “Cyriacus” and later became Bishop of Jerusalem, suffering a martyr’s death during the reign of Julian the Apostate.

The second story would occur over 300 years later. In the 7th century, the Cross was seized and taken from Jerusalem to Persia. When it was later recaptured and returned to Jerusalem, the Emperor Heraclius, gloriously arrayed in his imperial crown and finest purple robes, attempted to carry it back into the Church of the Resurrection. An invisible force, however, blocked his path! The Patriarch Zacharias pointed out that the One Who originally carried the Cross to Golgotha did so with great humility. It was only when the Emperor removed his lavish garments that he was able to make his entrance into the church.
The Orthodox Weekly Bulletin … Vestal, Cliffwood, New Jersey … Litho in U.S.A.

The Basilica of the Holy Resurrection in Jerusalem was built by St. Helena at Golgotha on the site where she found the precious Cross. Under the roof were the places where the Lord was crucified and buried. The date of September 13 was chosen to counteract a pagan celebration in honour of the temple of Jupiter on the capitol in Rome, observed on the same date.
The Holy Cross was preserved in the Basilica of the Resurrection in Jerusalem until May 4, 614 when the Persians seized the city and burned the basilica. In 628, Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians and returned the Holy Cross to Jerusalem.

Nativity of the Holy Virgin

The story of the birth of the Theotokos is found in a second century manuscript called the Pro-Gospel of James. Both Joachim and Anna had been praying for years for a child. On day while Joachim prayed in the desert and Anna at home, an angel of the Lord appeared to both and announce the conception of a daughter who would have a great destiny. Overwhelmed with joy, Anna ultimately gave birth to Mary.
Anthony Coniaris in Daily Vitamin for Spiritual Growth

In the city of Nazareth there dwelled a God-fearing elderly couple, Joachim, from the house of David, and Anna, from the priestly tribe of Aaron. In those days Hebrews, awaiting the Messiah, believed that any one who did not have children had in some way offended God and was being punished by having no descendants to be part of the Messiah's kingdom. Joachim and Anna grieved greatly because they were childless. Despite the ridicule and reproaches that Joachim and Anna received from their neighbors, they did not lose hope but continually prayed that God might grant them a child, which they promised to dedicate to the service of God. For their patience, their faith and their love of God and of each other, their prayers were heard: a daughter was born to them in their old age. An angel directed them to name the child Mary, which in Hebrew means "lady and hope." The one who was to be the Mother of God was born into a righteous family, known more throughout the generations for its goodness than for its royal blood. The importance of this feast, the first in the Church calendar year is that it was the first step in preparing mankind for its promised salvation.
Missionary Leaflet # E50 Copyright © 1999 and Published by
Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Church
2049 Argyle Ave. Los Angeles, California 90068
Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Icon from Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Frackville, PA website

The Icon of the Nativity of the Theotokos

The icon of the Nativity of the Theotokos presents to us the central figures of Saints Joachim and Anna, Mary's parents, and the Mother of our Lord as an infant. Saint Anna is in the middle of the icon with her right hand extended toward her daughter. Likewise, Saint Joachim, Mary's father, is gazing upon the young child with his right hand extended toward her. Anna is surrounded by attendants who have assisted with the birth. The icon directs attention to Mary as the central figure in this feast. It also acknowledges the joy that was felt by Joachim and Anna as new parents with a child received through a promise from God. The liturgical texts of the feast acknowledge this joy and confirm the special role of Mary as the Mother of the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ. In this event, another step is made in sacred history in preparation for the entrance of Christ into the world. The icon and the feast also acknowledge a transition from barrenness to life. This was but another foreshadowing of what would be offered through Christ, the transformation from death to eternal life.
Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Frackville, PA

Church Timeline

Picture from Wikipedia

Details of Church Timeline (PDF document)

The above picture and document link present the timeline of the major branches of Christianity in the last 2 millenniums. This timeline study is not exhaustive in both events and research. I have compiled the information from various sources including Wikipedia, OrthoWiki, other websites, and written sources. A qualified Church historian may cringe at what I have done. But I've tried to do as best as I can for the purpose of this document. And for now, it works for me as it is. Feel free to double check on what is written here and if you would be kind, let me know how I can improve, for my sake or otherwise.

The main goals of this document are to illustrate the timeline the New Testament (NT) canon was completed, to list out Apostles and some of the early Church Fathers who have helped transmit the Christian faith in the absence of the written and canonized NT scriptures, to point out the various ecumenical councils that consolidated the understanding of the Christian faith, and to both list out and date the major schisms and church spin-offs in the last two millenniums.

Although the NT was canonized in 397 in the Council of Carthage, it is only written in Greek and Latin. I don't believe that the full set of the NT scripture is widely available to Christians. In Europe, Gutenberg invented printing in 1455. The first Gutenberg Bible is a 2-volume printed Latin version.  The first English Authorized version of the Great Bible - Old Testament, New Testament, and Apocrypha - became available in 1539. King James came out in 1611. When did the Bible become widely available to the believers? I don't know for sure. With printing coming to existence in 1455, with the "first authorized" Bible becoming available after 1539, my best guess is the Bible started to become widely available only in the last 300 years as printed books become commonly affordable. Assuming that this is so, one then has to ask, how did the earlier Christians practise their faith in devotion with so limited access to the Bible?

Different colours mark major events found in this PDF document (and have nothing to do with the colour scheme in the above diagram). The document colour code legend is explained as follows:

Green - Time of the Lord Jesus Christ, His twelve Apostles, and the wider circle of 70 disciples
Yellow - Major Church Councils
Hot Pink - The writing and canonizing of the New Testament
Purple - Church Fathers and Early Apostolic Successors. These Church Fathers generally transmitted the Christian Faith orally and in writings that are not necessarily included in the NT scriptures.
Darker Green - Christianity becomes state religion or becomes tolerated
Blue - Schisms and Church spin-offs

The Holy Prophet Zacharias, father of St. John the Forerunner

Today we commemorate the Holy Prophet Zacharias, the father of St John the Forerunner. Zacharias was the son of Barachias, of the tribe of Aaron, a high priest in descent from Abia, and held the eighth degree of service in the Temple in Jerusalem. His wife Elisabeth was sister to St. Anna, the mother of the holy Mother of God. In the reign of King Herod the child-slayer, Zacharias was serving one day in his turn in the Temple in Jerusalem. An angel of God appeared to him in the altar, and Zacharias was afraid. But the angel said to him: ‘Fear not, Zacharias’ (Luke 1) and informed him that his wife Elisabeth would bear a son in answer to their prayers, for Zacharias and Elisabeth were both old. When Zacharias doubted the words of the heavenly messenger, the angel told him: ‘I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God’, and Zacharias was made dumb from that moment, and did not speak until his son was born and he had written on a tablet: ‘His name is John.’ Then his mouth was opened, and he glorified God. Later, when the Lord Christ was born and Herod began killing the children in Bethlehem, he sent men to find Zacharias's son and kill him, for he had heard of all that had happened to Zacharias and how John was born. Seeing the soldiers, Elisabeth took John in her arms - he was eighteen months old at that time - and fled from the house with him to a rocky and desert region. When she saw where the soldiers had driven them, she cried out to the mountain: ‘O mountain of God, receive a mother with her child!’, and the rock opened and hid the mother and child inside itself. Herod, furious that John had not been killed, ordered that Zacharias be cut down before the altar. Zacharias’s blood spilled over the marble and became as hard as stone remaining thus as a witness to Herod’s wickedness. At the place where Elisabeth hid with John, a cave opened and a spring flowed forth, and a fruit-bearing palm grew up by God's power. Forty days after Zacharias’s death, blessed Elisabeth also entered into rest. The child John stayed in the wilderness, fed by an angel and guarded by God's providence, until that day when he appeared by the Jordan.
From St. George Orthodox Church Bulletin

Troparion of  the Prophet Zacharias
In the vesture of a priest, according to the Law of God, thou did offer unto Him well-pleasing whole-burnt offerings, as it befitted a priest, O wise Zacharias. Thou was a shining light, a seer of mysteries, bearing in thyself clearly the signs of grace; and in God's temple, O wise prophet of Christ God, thou was slain with the sword. Hence, with the Forerunner, make entreaty that our souls find salvation.

Church New Year

Through the events of the liturgical year which begins today we actually relive with Christ the great events of His life. Unlike a movie or a play, however, which merely reenacts the events in the life of a great person, the liturgical year not only reenacts those events but also places us in each event. An existential encounter takes places between us and Christ in the events of His birth, crucifixion, resurrection, etc. These sacred events are mystically present in the Church here and now. We reenter each event in such a way that it becomes a unique and refreshingly new act of salvation for us today. Thus, far from being a cold and lifeless representation of the events of the past, the liturgical year is a living and personal encounter with Jesus today. Today He comes to be born in the manger of my soul and yours to bring us new life. Today He offers me His precious Body and Blood for my salvation. Today He hangs on the cross for me. Today He is resurrected and I am resurrected with Him. Today He is transfigured and I am transfigured with Him. Today He ascends into heaven and I ascend with Him. So it is that the beautiful word "today" tears down the walls of the past and the future and makes Christ the eternally present One, Who is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

Each year the liturgical calendar relives and makes present again the sacred events of our salvation so that we are there when they happen. The past reaches out and joins the present. The acts of God for His people are not buried in the past. They live in the present. History does not exhaust grace. God is present through the centuries. He never ceases accomplishing the work He has begun.
Extracted from page 253 of Daily Vitamins of Spiritual Growth by Anthony M. Coniaris