Reflection on Alms Giving

Dear Son,
If you give alms to the poor, know that inasmuch as you do good works for your neighbour, so much and more do you do for yourself. St. Anthony says: “Both life and death come to us from our neighbour.” St. Peter Damascene writes: “As the poor should give thanks to God and love the rich who do them good, even more should the rich give thanks to God and love the poor; for they are saved by the providence of God, both now and in the future age, because of their alms. For without the poor, they not only cannot attain the salvation of their souls, but they also cannot avoid the temptations of wealth.” Alms which are given out of vanity or with disdain are of no benefit. In earlier times, the wealthy would bring gold to the hermits and beg them to accept it. It was a rare occurrence for the hermits to accept alms gladly, and when they did, it was out of compassion for the rich. The most destitute of men received alms out of compassion!

Love you son,
Dad

St. Mary Magdalene

One of the myrrh-bearing women and equal to the apostles, Mary was born in the town of Magdala, along the shore of Lake Gennesaret, of the tribe of Issachar. She was tormented by seven evil spirits – from which she was freed by the Lord Jesus and made whole. She was a faithful follower and servant of the Lord during His earthly life. She stood beneath the Cross on Golgotha, and grieved bitterly with the All-holy Theotokos. After the death of the Lord she visited His sepulcher three times. When the Lord rose again she saw Him on two occasions: once by herself, and once with the other myrrh-bearing women. She traveled to Rome and appeared before Tiberias Caesar, presenting him with a red egg, and giving him the salutation: “Christ is Risen!” She also denounced Pontius Pilate to Caesar for his unjust condemnation of the Lord Jesus. Caesar accepted her accusation, and transferred Pilate from Jerusalem to Gaul where, in disfavour with the emperor, this unjust judge died of a dread disease. After this, she returned from Rome to Ephesus, to assist St. John the Theologian in the work of preaching the Gospel. With great love toward the resurrected Lord, with great zeal for the Faith and as a true apostle of Christ, she proclaimed the Holy Gospel to the world. She died peacefully in Ephesus. According to tradition, the cave she was buried in was the same cave in which the Seven Youths (August 4) later slept a wondrous sleep for hundreds of years, then came to life and again died. The relics of St. Mary Magdalene were later transferred to Constantinople. There is a beautiful Russian Orthodox convent dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene near the Garden of Gethsemane.

Hymn of Praise - Saint Mary Magdalene

Magalene was shrouded in dark sorrow

Because of the bloody death of the Son of God.

Sorrow from love is most bitter sorrow –

She had neither consolation nor friend in the world.

Her tears were her comfort, and pain was her only friend.

For St. Magdalene, the world was turned to darkness

As a weak human, she sought light,

And Mary groped in the darkness, without hope.

Even His tomb to her was light – but lo! The tomb is empty!

“He has been stolen,” she thought, “naked and unanointed!”

Bitterly she wept, and there was no end to her weeping.

Then she heard the voice of a man beside her:

Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?

“You ask Whom I seek? Do you wish to calm me?

If you have taken His body, tell me where you have put it.”

Jesus looked upon her as she wept and sorrowed

And called to her in a sweet voice: “Mary!”

Light shone forth in Mary’s heart:

O voice now recognized, incomparably sweet,

O voice overflowing with life and power!

With this voice the Lord healed the sick,

With this voice He raised the dead.

O life-giving voice – O wondrous voice!

Mary sprang up and turned around:

“Rabboni!” she cried as the sun rose.

For Mary and for the world, a new Day dawned.

St. Veronica

St. Veronica is remembered on July 12. Veronica is the woman with the issue of blood whom the Lord healed (Matthew 9:20). Out of gratitude to the Lord, her Healer, Veronica ordered a statue of the Lord Jesus be made for her, before which she prayed to God. According to tradition, this statue was preserved until the reign of Emperor the Apostate, who altered the statue so that it became an idol of Zeus. This is one of the rare instances in which holy statues have been used in the Eastern Church. As is known, this later became a common practice of the Western churches. St. Veronica remained devoted to the Faith of Christ until her peaceful repose.

Ecumenical Coucils recognized by the Orthodox Church

The seven Ecumenical Councils recognized by the Orthodox Church are:

Nicea I (AD. 325) This Council was called to deal with the heresy of Arianism - the teaching that the Word and Son of God is a created being. The first part of the Nicene Creed was drafted here. The hero of Nicea I was St. Athanasius of Alexandria, whose theology was decisive even though, as a deacon at the time, he could not vote.

Constantinople I (AD. 381) This Council expanded and completed the Nicene Creed and affirmed the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The theology of the Cappadocian Fathers - St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. Gregory of Nyssa - was particularly influential here.

Ephesus (AD. 431) This Council condemned the teachings of Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople, who refused to accept the unity of humanity and divinity in the person of Christ and who refused to call the Virgin Mary Theotokos. St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, was the hero of this Council.

Chalcedon (AD. 451) This Council was called to combat the opposite heresy of Nestorianism: Monophysitism. According to the Monophysites, Christ's divine nature swallowed up His human nature, leaving Him with only one nature. The bishops accepted the Tome of Pope St. Leo the Great along with the theology of St. Cyril of Alexandria as the standard of Orthodox thought concerning the person of Christ. The Council decreed that in Christ the divine and human natures exist without "mixture, confusion, division, or separation."

Constantinople II (AD. 553) This Council further elaborated on the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. In addition, some of the teachings of Origen of Alexandria, such as the pre-existence of souls, were condemned.

Constantinople III (AD. 681) This Council condemned the heresy of Monothelitism, which held that Christ had only one will. The bishops affirmed that Christ has a perfect human will as well as a perfect divine will, thus affirming His full humanity. Pope Honorius of Rome was condemned as a heretic for his support of the Monothelites.

Quinisext (AD. 692) This Council, also called the Council in Trullo, is considered a continuation of the Fifth and Sixth Councils and not a separate Council unto itself. Among other things, it reaffirmed the condemnation of the teachings of Origen.

Nicea II (A.D.787) This Council was called to decide the appropriateness of using icons in the Church. The bishops decreed that the veneration (not worship) of icons was necessary to preserve a proper understanding of the Incarnation.
Source: The Faith …… Author Clark Carlton

The Holy Archangel Gabriel

This great archangel of God is commemorated on March 26. On July 13, however, his appearances and miracles throughout the entire history of man’s salvation are celebrated. It is believed that this celebration was first established on the Holy Mountain in the ninth century, during the time of the Emperors Basil and Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoverges, and was occasioned by the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel in a cell near Karyes, where the archangel wrote with his finger on a stone tablet the hymn to the Theotokos “It Is Truly Meet.” Because of this event, the cell was called, and is called to this day “It is Truly Meet.” Together with this occurrence, the other appearances of the Archangel Gabriel are also commemorated: the archangel’s appearance to Moses while he was tending the flock of Jethro, when he related to this great one called of  God how the world was created and all the rest that Moses later recorded in the Book of  Genesis; his appearance to the Prophet Daniel, revealing to him the mystery of future kingdoms and of the coming of the Saviour; his appearance to St. Anna and the promise that she would give birth to a daughter,  the All-blessed and All-pure Virgin Mary; his repeated appearances to the Holy Virgin while she was living in the Temple in Jerusalem; his appearance to Zachariah the High Priest with the tidings of the birth of John the Forerunner, and the punishment of dumbness upon Zachariah because he did not believe the archangel’s words; his appearance once again to the Holy Virgin, in Nazareth, with the Annunciation of the conception and birth of the Lord Jesus Christ; his appearance to the righteous Joseph; his appearance to the shepherds near Bethlehem; his appearance to the Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he strengthened the Lord, as a man, prior to His passion; his appearance to the myrrh-bearing women, and so on.

Ecumenical Councils

During the early years of the Church, when a dispute arose concerning whether or not gentile converts should be circumcised, the Apostles met together in Jerusalem to resolve the issue (Acts 15). This council set the precedent for all future gatherings of the Church’s leaders.

As the Church grew and spread throughout the Roman Empire, it became necessary for the bishops of Churches in a given area to meet together on a regular basis to address issues of common concern. Apostolic Canon 34 provides for the creation of a regional synod. The bishops of a given area were to gather together twice a year. The meetings were to be chaired by the bishop of the major city in the area, the metropolis. The bishop of this city became known as the metropolitan.

Each bishop was responsible for the governance of his Church. Issues of common concern, however, were brought before the regional synod and decided by all of the bishops. The metropolitan did not “rule” the synod, but he did have veto power over the synod’s decisions. Just as nothing within a given Church could be done without the bishop’s approval, so nothing could be done in a region that affected more than one Church without the approval of the metropolitan. The metropolitan, then, served as the principle of unity within the synod.

Some issues, however, such as doctrinal questions, involved more than the Churches of a particular region, to deal with issues pertaining to the universal Church. The largest and most important of these gatherings are called the Ecumenical Councils.

The Ecumenical Councils were originally convened by the Roman Emperor and presided over by a senior bishop. The Orthodox Church recognizes seven councils as being Ecumenical.

It is important to note that not all large councils are considered Ecumenical Councils. We often speak of Ecumenical Councils as being “infallible,” but there was no guarantee at the beginning of any of these Councils that they would be considered infallible. Only after the decisions of a Council have been received by the consciousness of the whole Church can it be called Ecumenical and infallible.

When the bishops meet together in council, they do not invent new doctrines. Rather, their job is to express the mind and life of the Church. A specific situation, such as the challenge of a new heresy, may necessitate the development of the Church’s vocabulary or a change in the way the Church expresses a particular idea. Nevertheless, it is the duty of the bishops to elaborate upon what the Church has always believed and experienced, not to invent new teachings.

When, however, bishops in council did deviate from the faith once delivered and made decrees contrary to the faith and life of the Church, the Body of the Church throughout the world rejected the decisions. A council held in Ephesus in 449 had a greater number of bishops in attendance than many Ecumenical Councils, yet its decisions were rejected by thee Church at large. It has gone down in history as the “Robber Council.”

The purpose of a council, whether a regular meeting of a regional synod or a gathering of all of the world’s bishops, is to express the mind and heart of the Church as a whole. No single bishop, not even a patriarch, can claim exclusive rights to the Holy Spirit. The bishops are answerable to the whole Church for their decisions.

It is this conciliar process, reflecting the conciliar nature of the All-Holy Trinity, which is the supreme expression of authority within the Church. It is for this reason that the Church cannot and will not accept the claims of the bishop of Rome to be infallible and to rule over the entire Church.

Excerpt from: The Faith ...... Author: Clark Carlton

The 4 Ecumenical Councils like the 4 Gospels

The saints of the Church were so compassionate towards human weakness and so fiercely unyielding and unsubmissive with regard to the confession of the truths of the Faith. St Nicolas of Myra struck Arius with his hand at the First Ecumenical Council. St Antony left his desert and went to Alexandria publicly to denounce Arius. St Euthymius, under great pressure from the Empress Eudocia and the false Patriarch Theodosius, and being unable further to fight with arguments, left his monastery and hid in the desert; an example followed by monks thereafter. Euthymius remained in the desert until the false Patriarch had been dethroned and Orthodoxy confirmed. And when agitation was spread in Jerusalem in the Emperor’s name against the Fourth Ecumenical Council which had taken place in Chalcedon, and when the entire population was going in terror of the heretics, then St Theodosius the Great, already burdened with years, came as the fearless soldier of Christ he was to Jerusalem, went into one of the great churches, mounted the steps and, gesticulating with his arms, said to the people: ‘If a man does not revere the Four Ecumenical Councils as he does the Four Gospels, let him be accursed!’ All his hearers were deeply impressed by these words, and none of the heretics dared speak against him.