Sunday, March 31, 2013

VIDEO: Anathema against Sergianism

 VIDEO: Anathemas against Ecumenism and Sergianism in ROCA Astoria, New York Church, with Met. Agafangel Serving

For Sunday of Orthodoxy, 2013, in our ROCA Holy Trinity Church,
 Astoria, New York, with Metropolitan Agafangel serving.

VIDEO:  

Related post:

Russian money in Cyprus

• "Russian Money in Cyprus"-? (!)

Russian Mafia money in Cyprus banks?
-most likely now electronically  extracted to safer places......

Mar 18, 2013 ... Russian money in Cyprus: Why is there so much? By Emily Young Business reporter, BBC News. A billboard selling Russian homes in ...

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Commentary on College Student incident

Something of interest from Monomackhos blog

Regarding the recent incident of a college student refusing to stomp on
the name of JESUS:


plus, comments............

originaol news report here:
   http://readerdanielsharing.blogspot.com/2013/03/student-refused-to-stomp-on-jesus.html

German Orthodox Chant

"German Orthodox Chants" 

Comment: Just interesting..... (& I have no idea what jurisdiction this German church currently is in or the choir, etc.) – 
but I remember, that in the past, the old free ROCOR had this German Diocese, and sought to reach out to the German people, and bring them to Orthodoxy.  Some, did convert.  Now, ROCOR/MP has sold them out, also, to their false-Mother Church, the KGB controlled MP, just as it also, in 2007,  under Lavr Shkurla, & aided by turn-coat Bp. Yevtiki, sold out the Orthodox Russians in Russia, who had previously fled for spiritual refuge to ROCOR.... from the MP's clutches.

7 minutes

different traditional Orthodox values

Just interesting! 
– an exposition of many traditional Orthodox values-and how different they are from what many of us, Orthodox in the west, practice

 Comment: unfortunately, however, this short presentation, does not mention THE Apostasy of all Apostasies,  that today befalls many Orthodox people, world-wide,the massive End-Times betrayal of many of our hierarchs and clergy, to Sergianism, Modernism, Syncretic-Ecumenism, and Papism, etc., etc., etc.

Also: while most local indigenous Orthodox people, in their ancient native lands, know &   practice these traditional Orthodox worship and discipline practices, their higher clergy are in many cases, betraying/or rather HAVE betrayed ALREADY! ... the entire Orthodox Faith! to our enemies, and are ever zealously seeking to unite our church with the heterodox, thereby cynically casting aside all of our Sacred Apostolic doctrines, and melting us into the new-world-religion, under the apostate's banner: "that all may be one".

13 minutes

Two horrifying RC articles

Two rather horrifying articles

What is going on in the RC church, that church which the 'Orthodox-Ecumenists' want us all to join

 This is being shared by Archimandrite Alexius in the UK,
and gives sickening proof of what is the full reality and direction of Ecumenism,
in this case, of how Rome is abandoning the pure Gospel and turning to
a 'strange Gospel': 

> Subject: Two rather horrifying articles
> Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2013 
> These were sent me by a ROCA-MP priest.  They are written from an R.C. point of view of course, and in rather sensationalist terms (though that might be the fault of the translation, presumably from Ukrainian) but the documentary and photographic evidence they produce is distressing enough:-
Archimandrite Alexius



Holy father Francis
Città del Vaticano
An Appeal to the Head of the Vatican

Holy father Francis,
whether You like it or not, You face the fact that owing to the gesture in Assisi and beatification of John Paul II the Catholic Church changed her doctrine and received a gospel different from that preached by St. Paul or the other Apostles. This new doctrine promotes syncretism with pagan religions. Apart from some other public denials of the Gospel, John Paul II allowed the crosses in the Assisi churches to be removed and a statue of Buddha to be placed on the tabernacle and worshipped as God! It is flagrant apostasy! His apostatical thinking was followed by all Catholic bishops, priests and theologians who introduced a new teaching among the Catholic faithful holding that it is not necessary to preach Jesus Christ as the only God and Saviour. They started to teach that one does not need to receive and believe in Jesus to be saved because according to this new gospel all are saved in their own religion if their belief is sincere. However, this is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, rejection of His redemptive death on the cross and dishonour on millions of martyrs.
You have lost an understanding of the way of salvation. You have rejected the enduring truth of the Gospel that man is justified and saved through the saving faith in Jesus Christ which unites us to Him. This communion with Jesus is conditioned by adherence to His unalterable doctrine and commandments through constant repentance. In contrast to that, You have fabricated another gospel and another Jesus, something in the style of the Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad or various gurus. You have come up with new theological theories, teaching that sin practically does not exist, that hell will be empty and that there is no need at all to attain salvation because man is not born in a state of damnation. According to this theory, one only needs to be “good”, a member of Your Catholic organization and so on. Under the circumstances, Chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Zollitsch, could freely and with impunity declare on Great Saturday that “Jesus did not die for our sins but only out of solidarity with the poor”. This is the supreme heresy which destroys the salvation of millions. But You were all silent!
What paved the way for such blasphemous thought in the Catholic Church was the historical-critical theology (HCT) which, whether You accept it or not, in essence denies the Divinity of Jesus Christ, His real and historical resurrection and almost all the miracles and supernatural acts in the Holy Scripture. Your apostate cardinals and theologians put the Bible on an equal footing with all the other so-called sacred books of pagan religions. But God’s Word says that the gods of pagans are demons and there is no agreement between Christ and Belial (2Cor 6:15). John Paul II kissed the Koran and said that Muslims have the same God. However, the Koran denies the Divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity. God’s Word says: “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either.” Jesus said to the Hebrews: “If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
On 1 May 2011, at the hour of so-called beatification of John Paul II when the Catholic Church de facto confirmed officially – «ex cathedra» – a new heretical teaching with the spirit of New Age, the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate and the Ukrainian orthodox Greek Catholic Church separated from the Vatican and in accordance with Galatians 1:8-9 declared God’s anathema on Benedict XVI and John Paul II – i.e. excommunication which they had automatically fallen under by their denial of the very essence of the Gospel. The Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph 2:20). So we partly exercise this prophetic ministry and the prophetic voice of the Church.
The fruit of the curse could be seen even before the declaration of anathema. Christian Europe accepted the anti-Decalogue of the Lisbon Treaty, including the promotion of homosexuality, and this moral devastation was embraced by USA as a priority of their foreign policy. Gender ideology destroys all moral, spiritual and Christian values. Child kidnapping by the juvenile justice system and demoralization and demonization of the kidnapped children is the fruit of this curse too.
Church hierarchy, including You, is to blame for total apostasy, which is described by St. Paul in 2Thes 2:3. Jesus foretold it when He said: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Let us remind of the words of Jesus about the abomination of desolation in the holy place (Mt 24:15) connected with Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 9:26-27; Dan 11:31). He speaks about the removal of the daily sacrifice. It certainly can not be related, as Catholic hierarchy would probably like to relate it, to destruction of the Old Testament temple during the rein of Emperor Vespasian in 70 A.D.
From the moment of death of Jesus Christ on the cross the Old Testament offering was removed by God and the Jewish temple was no longer a holy place, but rather “the synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9). It was the Body of Christ – the Church – which became the true temple. When Jesus spoke of the abomination of desolation in the holy place, He spoke about the spirit of antichrist. You, cardinals and bishops, have let it inside or rather introduced it into the Church, driving away from her the Holy Spirit. And when Jesus speaks about the removal of the perpetual sacrifice, He speaks about God removing the Eucharist from You because of Your apostasy.
Jesus Christ is the vine and we are the branches. Without Him we can do nothing. If any of the priests or bishops is a moral sinner but professes the same faith as was proclaimed by the Apostles, then even though he is a dead branch, he administers the sacraments validly (ex opere operato). However, in case somebody received another gospel and denied the essence of Christianity by his gesture or unity of “faith” with the apostate, the one is not only a dead member of the Body of Christ but is also cut off by God from the vine – Jesus Christ. His gift of the priesthood does not operate owing to his apostasy. St. Basil the Great as well as the whole Eastern Church has it that an apostate administers the sacraments invalidly. St. Basil did not recognize the “sacraments” of Arians because they did not believe in Jesus as the true God. The Arian-like view of Jesus is found with the adherents of the historical-critical theology and of the spirit of Assisi. Unfortunately, this spirit lives in Your heart and in the hearts of the Catholic hierarchs who have received the spirit that is behind so-called beatification of John Paul II.
Holy father Francis, You have come to the Vatican which contrary to God’s Word became the first country in the world globally chipped with the number of the apocalyptic beast – 666. We expect that Your first step will be that You will cancel the chipping of Vatican officials. Otherwise the Vatican chipping becomes a precedent for all the nations of the world.
Certainly You can feel Yourself that this is no time for celebrations but for true repentance. Your predecessor, for whom You prayed sincerely, retired as a defendant for crimes against humanity. He just covered them up but thus de facto approved of them. He wanted to keep the image of the official structure. We believe that You are aware that this whole sad legacy has passed on You.
What is treated as Your modesty – the fact that You lived in a private flat and not in the building of Your residence – arouses suspicion rather than admiration.
Argentina became the first state in South America which legalized same-sex marriages and adoption of children by homosexuals. Since You, as the Primate of Argentina, failed to guide the priests into true conversion and repentance consisting in renouncing the heresies of liberal theology, You are also responsible for the homosexual epidemic in Argentina. You evaded attendance at large demonstrations against homosexuality and preferred to stay in hiding. The public judged it as a grave faux pas. You just had a futile speech read out. It is a psychological manoeuvre of the mass media that they keep presenting You as a respected homophobe. Surely they are aware that they will thus help You win an excellent reputation among the Catholic public.
Your statement that “we must respect homosexuals” reveals Your true attitude. To respect aggressive homosexuality means to create conditions for a homodictatorship. Then it only remains for us, following Your example, to kiss the feet of not only a few infected homosexuals but of the whole young generation dying of AIDS.
For the love of God and the salvation of souls, we call and beseech You to make a public act of renouncing the contemporary heresies: the spirit of Assisi and the apostatical thought (HCT), and thus to eliminate the abomination of desolation in the Church. It is also necessary to annul the invalid beatification of John Paul II. Unless You do so, You will not be able to shepherd the Catholic Church in the spirit of repentance and conversion. You will remain an apostate elected by apostates. The official hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church will not be the Church of Christ but a harlot of antichrist. But then it will be better for You to do the same as Benedict XVI in good time.
+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
+ Methodius OSBMr            + Timothy OSBMr
Secretary Bishops





His Holiness
Benedict XVI
Città del Vaticano
The spirit of Assisi
Your Holiness,
we send You a series of documentary photographs and statements witnessing to the so-called mission of John Paul II, which opened the Church to the spirit of paganism, the spirit of New Age and the spirit of apostasy. For this great offence and crime against the Church this Pope should be posthumously excommunicated and not beatified. Openness to apostasy through paganism began with the Nostra aetate declaration of the Second Vatican Council (1965). All propagators of a “new gospel”, especially within the Church, constantly appeal to this declaration.
Let us put an essential question: DID THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL OPEN THE DOOR TO SYNCRETISM WITH PAGANISM THROUGH THIS DECLARATION? THE FRUIT GIVES THE ANSWER: YES, IT DID. In such case the whole Council is false in that it stood against the two-thousand-year-old Tradition of the Catholic Church and against the essence of the Holy Scripture. If we want to save the Christian doctrine of the infallibility of the Council, it must be authoritatively proved and declared that this declaration was misused through inaccurate formulations. Unfortunately, Pope John Paul II confirmed the misinterpretation of the Nostra aetate declaration by his deeds. The culmination was the apostatical gesture in Assisi in the years 1986 and 2002. That it was no isolated error is also confirmed by the gestures which preceded and followed ‘the Assisi event’ and thus brought the whole Church to confusion. This apostatical spirit has spread throughout the world and has not spared even the monasteries. Instead of witnessing to Jesus, the only Saviour, and saving the souls from eternal perdition through conversion and repentance there has been an opposite path marked out – a path of apostasy! The fruit of this apostasy within the Church is the spread of demoralization through homosexuality and paedophilia, which has affected even the key positions. This spirit of apostasy has caused desecration of the whole Church. This is not a question of isolated cases but of a whole stream which nowadays is no longer tolerated only but even preferred. And that is a tragedy. Who is most responsible for it is Pope John Paul II. The adherents of syncretism along with liberal theologians are exerting extremely great pressures in order to achieve canonization of John Paul II as soon as possible at any cost! What aim are they pursuing? HIS CANONIZATION WILL IN ESSENCE BE CONFIRMATION OF AN APOSTATICAL LINE which he introduced in the Church through his bad example. This beatification and canonization will be a gesture which will deny the very essence of the Church and no longer allow true biblical repentance. And that is a crime because this path ends in hell.
Throughout the history of the Old-Testament Church God punished the chosen people for spiritual adultery, i.e. syncretism with other religions. This is the principal line of the whole Holy Scripture, because it concerns the essence of the faith. Man either opens his heart to true God or worships creatures and demons. The same critical attitude towards idolatry is in the New Testament too. This basic necessity of a true relationship to God has also been emphasized by the whole Christian tradition for 2000 years.
The present-day Church is to blame most for moral decay of Europe, America as well as of other nations. The responsibility for the laws of homo-sexuality in the European Union falls on the apostatical Catholic hierarchy. Therefore at the present time God demands from us the most elementary thing: repentance. The Church must turn away from false reverence for idolatry and from the spirit of unbelief connected with so-called historical-critical theology. The Church nowadays is obliged to repent, that means to concentrate all her efforts on the essence – conversion and the following of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your Holiness, in case You let Yourself be manipulated by the great pressure which is being brought to bear upon You and unless You cancel the planned beatification, the punishment of God’s excommunication will fall upon You too for unity with another gospel (cf. Gal 1:8-9). Thus, publicly before the whole Church, You will separate from Christ, excommunicate Yourself from the Church and fall under God’s curse. Supposing You died in this state of impenitence, You would be eternally condemned. Realize that You are 83 years old, and the Church is looking at You with great hope that You will start that which is most important – the internal renewal of the Catholic Church. The first step to this must be cancellation of the planned beatification and on the other hand, public repentance for the gesture of Assisi as well as for all offence caused by John Paul II. This is what God, and also the bleeding Church, demand of You today.
Documentary part and the final letter to follow.

I. Preparation for Assisi
John Paul II embracing the Dalai Lama
On 3rd May 1984, John Paul II said: “Your ances-tors embraced such overwhelming spiritual worlds as Confucianism and Buddhism. They enhanced them, lived them and even transmitted them to others.”
Jesus commanded: “Preach the Gospel to all na-tions...” (Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19) “He who believes will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mk 16:16) By his gesture of friend-ship with the Dalai Lama the Pope set a bad example not only to hierarchs but also to politicians of the so-called Christian nations. As a result, now-adays the Dalai Lama enjoys the greatest popularity throughout the world, which, however, causes grave harm to Christianity! The Dalai Lama considers himself an incar-nation of a deity (demon). We ask what har-mony of spiritual worlds there is between Christ and Belial (cf. 2Cor 6:15). The Dalai Lama propagates the spirit of New Age – false unity of all religions. If any Christian apologist will now defend the true faith, he will be punished by the hierarchy for going against the line of John Paul II.
On 6th May 1984, the Pope said: “May I address a particular greeting to the members of the Buddhist tradition as they prepare to celebrate the fes-tivity of the Coming of the Lord Buddha? May your rejoicing be complete and your joy fulfilled.” (L’Osservatore Romano, 14th May 1984, pg. 7)
The way of Buddha is idolatry and the Pope supports it – this is a crime!
John Paul II in the Buddhist temple
John Paul II went into the temple and bowed to the Buddhist Patriarch.
In his second Asian journey in 1984, John Paul II visited the Buddhist Temple. Be-fore reaching the Temple, he expressed how anxious he was to meet “His Holi-ness, the supreme Buddhist Patriarch in the Temple”. The Holy Scripture says that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God”! (1Cor 10:20) What was the sense of the Pope’s visit to a place where one consciously worships demons? Paying respect to idolaters dishonours Christ and offends the little ones. The Council of Elvira, A.D. 305, decreed that “those who in adult age after receiving Baptism shall go into the pagan temples to worship idols (i.e. respect for pagan religions), which is a deadly crime and the height of wickedness, shall not be admitted to communion even at death.
Unfortunately, John Paul II’s attitude towards paganism and pagans is dia-metrically different from the attitude of the Holy Scripture and of the whole Christian tradition. Who is mistaken? Whom are we to obey and follow? The Pope betrayed Christ and the Gospel! He says that non-Christian religions are other ways which also lead to salvation, to one god and one father! To state that pagan religions are ways to salvation is a heresy. The Church teaches that even a pagan who seeks the truth sincerely can be saved. This, however, is completely different from the statement that the pagan religious system leads to salvation. On the contrary, this system is an obstacle to sal-vation because it kills God’s voice – conscience – in the pagan. This happens through Oriental meditations and mantras (the invoking of demons).
On 8th August 1985, John Paul II prayed with African Animists (witch doctors). John Paul II re-called the meeting: “Particularly noteworthy was the prayer meeting at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy at Lake Togo where, for the first time, I also prayed with a group of Animists.” (L’Osservatore Romano, 26th August 1985, pg. 9)
(While in Togo he paid homage to the sacred snakes.)
If we should follow the Pope, we shall end up in hell along with the witch doctors: “Those who practise witchcraft and idol worshippers – their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur.” (Rev 21:8)
John Paul II receives the mark of the god Shiva
On 2nd February 1986 (the feast of the Presentation of the Lord), the Pope received on his forehead a sign of apostasy – the mark of the Hindu god Shiva – from a pagan priestess (sacral prostitute). This is public apostasy and offence given to all Christians. The soul of a Christian is a temple of the living God. Through pagan rituals, however, it becomes a dwelling place of demons and their property. The Apostle Peter, the first Pope, said: “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) It is obvious that the first Pope admits no alter-native ways of salvation. That is not only his personal opinion but it is the attitude of the Holy Scripture and of the whole Tradition of the Apostles, Church Fathers and saints. So no one can be saved through the faith in the god Shiva or Rama. “What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.” (1Cor 10:20) Through this public gesture John Paul II fell away from the true faith, denied the whole Scripture and the whole Church Tradition and opened the door for demons to enter the Church. He discredited all mission and mission-aries as well as the essence of whole Christianity. He thus let himself be de-dicated to Satan. Having committed this act as Head of the Catholic Church, HE ALLOWED DEMONS TO HOLD SWAY OVER THE WHOLE CATHOLIC CHURCH. It is a flagrant crime. And now he is to be beatified and canonized for this?
A priestess of the god Shiva (temple prostitute) places a magic wreath round the Pope’s neck.
By this gesture the Pope voluntarily subjects himself to the rule of demons. This is no indifferent thing, for one opens up to demons through a ritual.
The Pope wearing a magic wreath, surrounded by pagan priestesses, serves idols. 
He caused offence to all Christians.
1986, India: John Paul II venerated Gandhi

Friday, March 29, 2013

'Praise the Lord from the Heavens'

'Praise the Lord from the Heavens' 
By Cappella Romana

Medieval Byzantine Chant.
Title: "Communion: Praise the Lord from the Heavens"
Service: Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom (IN ENGLISH)

Composer: Maistor Ioannes Koukouzeles
Performers: Cappella Romana
Album: "The Divine Liturgy In English In Byzantine Chant"
Artist: Cappella Romana, Alexander Lingas Buy: Buy "The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: Distribution of Holy Communion: 'Praise the Lord from the Heavens' after St. John Koukouzelis" on: AmazonMP3, eMusic

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew in me a right spirit!" 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew in me a right spirit!"  

A video testimony of an elderly  lady, who when she was 17, died for 4 hours, saw hell, and met Jesus.....

Comment: Yes, for sure, we Orthodox need to be very careful about too  readily accepting as valid, 
the many many current testimonies of people from all around the world, who declare that they saw heaven & hell, and have returned from the dead, to testify to us as to what they saw, heard, and felt, etc.
(though such testimonies have been duly reported/recorded  through the centuries, and are not unknown in the Orthodox church, especially from the Lives of Saints)..
if we are spiritually aware, God is constantly sending us reminders of the realities of  life and death, of this passing  world and about the next.

However! also, we dare not automatically dismiss out-of-hand, all of these 'after-death' or 'near death' encounters with the other world, as demonic delusions, (though some of them may be), as they have been declared through the centuries,  
as that would be to blaspheme the Holy Spirit,...our Philanthropic God, Who desires that, 'all men may be saved',  and  'Who art everywhere present and Who fillest all things'.
Further, when some of these testimonies yield from the people in question or from their heterodox pastors, etc. flawed heterodox explanations as to their meaning or interpretations, doctrines or mindsets, that too,
does not mean that what all,  these people experienced is false/delusional  or from the devil, etc.
To the spiritually cautious Orthodox mind, IF...what these people  saw and heard, then inspires these people to true repentance and reformation of life, (& as the Bible and our Orthodox Patristic understanding of such is),
that....is a proof that it was most likely  sent from God.
(Though [certain] imperfect Protestant theologies & the now popular/secular post-Christian  culture,  tendency to believe that: "All are going to Heaven" is not a supported by the Bible or Sacred Tradition).
THAT, our Orthodox Church cannot teach, as Jesus did not teach that.
Some of these after-death testimonies...do declare this false & smug delusion, which most likely is..from the devil,
so of those faulty testimonies, we must beware...e.g. that there is no hell, or that by merely 'confessing the Lord Jesus with our mouths, then we are , 'saved', ...no matter how we lead our daily lives before our deaths, etc....or that automatically when anyone dies.... then they...go to Heaven, etc. 
BUT  too, very often, what many have  experienced and seen......is, surprisingly,  in keeping with Orthodox doctrines and
how Orthodox saints have described the next world.
The face of Jesus that this lady saw, is more or less, a description of what our Orthodox church teaches how Jesus in His flesh, actually looked like, and which  centuries of our best/most correct  iconography depicts (or should depict).
But....this is just my observation....
To me, such numerous testimonies can help US...to remember that: God IS real, and so is Heaven and so is Hell....and that Our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST is our path to Heaven, and besides Him...there is no other....and that we too, need repentance and reformation of life, so that as we live with Him HERE on earth, we MAY also dwell with Him in Eternity, i.e. so that we may be 'fit' to live with God.
For us to foolishly or pridefully imagine, that we Orthodox  will automatically get to Heaven, merely, because we say, 'I am an Orthodox'Christian', is utter spiritual folly.
Only the truly soul and heart cleansed and sanctified .....CAN dwell in Heaven, those with a clean heart and a clean soul....those who DO the will of the Father and not just give lip-service.
Rd. Daniel
P.S. But of course: "Ye must test the spirits, to see if they be of God!".


Monday, March 25, 2013

Student Refused to Stomp on Jesus

University Files Charges Against Student who Refused to Stomp on Jesus
Posted in Top Stories | 0 comments
University Files Charges Against Student who Refused to Stomp on JesusMar 25, 2013
By Todd Starnes
A Florida Atlantic University student who filed a complaint against his professor after he was ordered to stomp on the name of Jesus has been brought up on academic charges by the school and may no longer attend class, according to documents obtained by Fox News.

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The “Notice of Charges” against Ryan Rotela is contrary to a statement the university released late Friday night saying no one had been disciplined as a result of the classroom activity.

“We can confirm that no student has been expelled, suspended or disciplined by the university as a result of any activity that took place during this class,” the university said in a prepared statement.

However, according to a letter written by Associate Dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela is facing a litany of charges – including an alleged violation of the student code of conduct, acts of verbal, written or physical abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.

“In the interim, you may not attend class or contact any of the students involved in this matter – verbally or electronically – or by any other means,” Williams wrote to Rotela. “Please be advised that a Student Affairs hold may be placed on your records until final disposition of the complaint.”

Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at the Liberty Institute, told Fox News the university’s behavior is “outlandish” and called their press release “inaccurate.”

“We believe the university punished him in retaliation for him exposing the class assignment to the public,” Sasser said. “Sadly, it is a testimony to the indoctrination that some of the public schools and universities are engaging in – to demonize anything that was valuable in the culture.”

The Liberty Institute wants Rotela reinstated with full credit for the course – along with an apology.

“He’s being punished because he told the professor to never do the assignment again because it’s offensive and that he was going to complain to the university,” he said.

Rotela, a devout Mormon, ran afoul of the university after he refused to participate in a classroom assignment that involved writing the name “Jesus” on a piece of paper – and then stomping on it.

The university initially defended the Christ-bashing lesson which is included textbook titled, “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.”

Fox News obtained a synopsis of the lesson taught by Deandre Poole, who also happens to be vice chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party.

“Have the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper,” the lesson reads. “Ask the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up. Ask the students to think about it for a moment. After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper. Most will hesitate. Ask why they can’t step on the paper. Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.”

The university issued an apology late Friday after a national uproar and said the exercise “will not be used again.”

Rotela told Fox News he was baffled by the university’s latest statement.

“The university has a huge problem with integrity,” he said. “They are tripping over their own words.”
The “Notice of Charges” accused the student of using threatening language. The school did not return calls seeking clarification. Rotela’s attorney said he believes the perceived threat came when Rotela told the teacher “don’t do that again” – in reference to stomping on the paper. The student also told the instructor, “You’ll be hearing from me.”

Florida Atlantic University also denied that anyone was forced to participate in the assignment.

“Contrary to some media reports, no students were forced to take part in the exercise; the instructor told all of the students in the class that they could choose whether or not to participate,” the university stated.
Sasser said Rotela’s case has generated national outrage and a number of high-profile attorneys have offered to volunteer their services.

“The textbook reveals the agenda,” he said. “So-called intellectual enlightenment is stomping on everything that has held western civilization together for the past 2,000 years.”
Paul Kengor, the executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, told Fox News he’s not surprised by the classroom lesson.

“These are the new secular disciples of ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ – empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,” Kengor said.

Kengor said classes like the one at Florida Atlantic University demonstrate the contempt many public institutions hold for people of faith.

“It also reflects the rising confidence and aggression of the new secularists and atheists, especially at our sick and surreal modern universities,” he said.

The university did not explain why students were only instructed to write the name of Jesus – and not the name of Mohammed or another religious figure.

“Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Mohammed,” Kengor wondered.

Rotela told Fox News he has been overwhelmed by the support he’s received from Christians across the nation.
“The response and support I have gotten has been beautiful and uplifting,” he said. “I have never seen such a strong wave of Christians thank me for this. Looking back – the whole incident was one of the best and worst moments of my life.”

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Vladyka Agafangel has trouble in Moscow


The First Hierarch's visit to the ROCA New Martyrs parish in Moscow and the sudden appearance of the local police

21 MAR 13 - As Metropolitan Agafangel was visiting the building where the ROCA New Martyrs and Confessors parish in Moscow is located, the local police suddenly appeared.

The policeman explained that he was responding to an anonymous call received by the police and that the caller had said "suspicious people" were on the premises.  The incident had no effect on the First Hierarch's visit, which continued without any further problems.

Metropolitan Agafangel viewed the church and prayed in the altar.  A parish meeting was then held in the dining room, at which the First Hierarch wished them, "to apply Christian generosity in enduring the falsehoods and insults that have taken place lately."

After the meeting, Metropolitan Agafangel left to attend a meeting of the diocesan council of the Moscow diocese.

The ROCA New Martyrs and Confessors parish in Moscow is led by Fr. Valeriy Leonichev and services are held in a house church in the village of Dubki near Moscow.

Source:

Sunday, March 24, 2013

St. John of Kronstadt video


Sharing (with caution): Russian narration with English subtitles: St. John of Kronstadt videos








Comments: 

*Many old fascinating photos, and also present day photos of places where St. John lived or walked, etc. ...i.e., of his home village of Sura, past and present, and of people related to him by blood, etc.

I just, carefully & critically, viewed all 4 parts of this.

And, if one uses this DIRECT link here, to part 1, the viewer can then, at the end of part  1, click on to the succeeding other parts, 2,3,4,.. (it is the far highest left video section that needs to be clicked on to, when part 1 is finished)

This video was produced in 2008, by:

"The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation....and...the OAO "TPO-St. Petersburg Studio of Documentary Films, 2008".  It is titled: ECCE HOMO ,"Behold the Man {in Latin}". 

I could not perceive (much) overt Kremlin propaganda in it, just their soft-sell approach, and I think that it may be of value, though OF COURSE, the only strong criticism of communism (of those past nasty soviet days), is from some words of St. John himself, whom God took away in 1907, before what he foresaw became a reality. 

Otherwise, those other people  interviewed here, say nothing really strongly against the communists, and of course, nothing at all, against the current regime in power.  (Except perhaps the past history of the deliberate mass drowning of St. John's nuns in the river, by the bolsheviks). 

AND, interestingly enough,..... the brief interview, in part 4, with current Jordanville Abbot Luke-Murianka, who... in explaining his monastery's past (when ROCOR was still a free church), large scale printing of many books by and about St. John, also states that what horrors St. John warned about ..i.e.., the coming catastrophic atheist-communist takeover of Russia and the evils connected to the overthrow of the Czar, ....were all CORRECT, warnings. etc.

But.... because these strong words are spoken by a ROCOR/MP Jordanville Abbot, AND INCLUDED in this official Putin government produced video (in 2008), (yes, the very same Vladimir Putin who admires Stalin and Pat. Sergius, and who often laments the fall of the soviet-union, etc.), are we to assume?, that...  this video means, that the current Kremlin gang ...is...admitting that their predecessors and thus that they themselves, were and are, criminals, etc.?

But, of course not.

This presentation is somewhat, pandering/soft-talking/flattering to the old Russian Emigration, all-in-all.

This is just part of their false-front of seeming sympathy/forgiveness?... (forgiveness for being anti-Communist), towards the old Russian Emigration, & of a FALSE- penitential KGB- 'piety' NOW, and their pretended regrets for the murder of the Czar and of the many millions, from Old Russia in general, (their current KGB Party-Line of bull) and thus, the (former) soviet-era alienation of the anti-communist Russian emigration, etc. (which group of Russians, the Kremlin now believes, with glee,  that it has largely... captured, since 2007).

In plain English: I think that viewing these 4 parts is of definite interest and value, but it should be done with some caution, as to what are the full political motives/message  of those who have produced this.

The current KGB lying successors of the official soviet era, who STILL run Russia, cannot be trusted to tell us the FULL truth, about anything of the past or of the present.

And these clever videos were produced and aimed at, & for the consumption of mainly, the Russians abroad, plus some kindly but vapid/silly sentiments directed at Americans, (or silly street interviews of air-headed Americans who 'love'Russia', etc.), is also included in part 3.
Rd. Daniel 

P.S. And in the final end credits, on part 4,  we see the names of others who bless and approve of this, including ROCOR/MP's Hilarion-Kapral's name. (!)




Saturday, March 23, 2013

Video in Russian About Pat. Ireney

Video in Russian: About the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Pat. Ireney, etc. 

For those who understand Russian: 
This appears to be a defence of imprisoned Jerusalem Patriarch Irenaus.
I found this on our Orthodoxy-news blog.
I cannot tell if there is anything objectionable in this.
 Viewers judge for yourselves.




You need Adobe flash player.


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

OCA Met. Tikhon Attends Inauguration of Pope Francis


Metropolitan Tikhon and Fr Eric outside the walls of the church of the Holy Apostle Paul

from Nun Vera's blog
http://inokinya-fakel.livejournal.com/238663.html


March 19, 2013, Tuesday, at the inauguration of  Pope  Francis in Rome, there  participated Metropolitan Tikhon, head of the Orthodox Church of America. He also prayed at the Solemn Mass in honor of the new Pope, and was present at the dinner, accompanied by Archpriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the OCA.  On March 20, Metropolitan Tikhon and Fr. Eric join the delegation for an audience with Pope Francis.

This is not the first time that an OCA delegation has been taking part in a papal inauguration and in such events.  In September 1978, Metropolitan Theodosius and Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann attended the inauguration of Pope John Paul I, who died within that month.  In mid-October of the same year, [OCA] Archbishop Sylvester, Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky were also present at the inauguration of his successor - Pope John Paul II.  In April 2005, attending his funeral were Bishop Seraphim and Priest Alexander Rentel, while Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Rev. David Broome (OCA secretary at the time) were present at the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI in the same month.

see photos here:


Monday, March 18, 2013

ecumenist dribble

From:  monomakos

Are this man's confused/ignorant opinions the mainstream mindset for OCA members and for most World-ly?, so-called, 'Orthodox'?

It seems so.

In what possible stretch, can these bizarre views be construed as anything closely even approaching genuine Orthodox Christian patristic or canonical stances?

Obviously these misguided modernist ecumenists have constructed their own novel & totally heretical and impious definitions of Orthodoxy, and its relations with those outside our church.

Reading this ecumenist dribble, it is hard to find anything remotely  Orthodox in these observations.  

Perhaps, all Orthodox churches should attend the new Pope's enthronement, and kiss Pope Frasncis's  big right foot's toe? as a sign of obedience to 'Christ's  Vicar'?


The Colloquium and Pope Francis

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Asking Forgiveness

from Fr. Siluan in Argentina [RTOC]


For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt. 6:14–15). What a simple and handy means of salvation! Your trespasses are forgiven under the condition that you forgive the trespasses of your neighbour against you. This means that you are in your own hands. Force yourself to pass from agitated feelings toward your brother to truly peaceful feelings—and that is all. Forgiveness day—what a great heavenly day of God this is! If all of us used it as we ought, this day would make Christian societies into heavenly societies, and the earth would merge with heaven. (St. Theophan the Recluse, "Thoughts for Each Day of the Year")


Dear in Christ, Masters, Fathers, Brothers and Sister! 
If I offended anyone, whether it was intentional or not, forgive me, a sinner! and Good beginning of Great Lent! 
I ask your holy prayers in this time in the desert. 
Yours in Christ, 
Humble and unworthy, 
Priest Siluan Dignac

Asceticism for Catholic



Asceticism for Catholic
In algebra, there is a concept: to bring to a common denominator. In linguistics, would be to be the same. It often happens that people use the word, obviously not understanding their meaning. The same word can, in different circumstances, to designate two different things. Here, it is written that the biography of Francis suggests that "the new pope tries to adhere to austerity of the early Christians."

Our article does not refer directly to the new Pope. No doubt that he is spiritually in times above many of his brethren. Are referring to Catholicism and Western Christianity in general. In the Orthodox Church, we have a precise idea of what austerity and in vain do not use that word. One of the best prototypes of what is ascetic and austerity we see in the person of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist, who, as we all know from the Gospel, lived in the desert, was clothed with camel's hair and a leather belt, eating locusts - t, e, Locust - and wild honey. So disheveled hermit and ascetic we portray on the icons. And as he is shown, it means, and see Western Christians? Take the largest piece of Italian Renaissance, the High Renaissance, Leonardo Da Vinci, author of the famous Mona Lisa Zhokondy. The Louvre also has his other masterpiece - the image of John the Baptist. Readily accept that from an artistic point of view it is a masterpiece, but the ecclesiastical point of view it is a real blasphemy. Complete insanity. These curly hairs, gentle smile, plump rosy body, this delicacy, almost feminine ... It's, pardon the expression, the image of a hermaphrodite, not an ascetic hermit, not John the Baptist! We invite everyone to find in an encyclopedia or on the Internet this famous picture. In this example we can see how the spiritual perversion was, all the vaunted Western Renaissance. It is here seen as a Western man has usurped the place of God, the Christian God-Man.

We remembered it on the new Pope, or rather about how to characterize it cited biography as a man sticking to austerity of the early Christians, and ask ourselves the question - what do these biographers concept of asceticism of the first Christians, and that under this understanding? Do not want to be the Pharisees and sees a sliver in the eye and not see the beam in their own, but today saw a live interview with a French Cardinal Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, tells how, after appearing in the window in front of two hundred thousandth cheering audience, the Pope, Francis went to all the cardinals at a gala dinner. Recall that the elections took place on Wednesday the week before the Catholic Holy Week. The journalist asked - and what was the menu? Smiling Cardinal willingly answers first served sausages, then some vegetables, then veal with the famous Italian sparkling wine Asti Spumante ... This is austere post ... We have known that the Catholics post almost completely canceled for m i Ryang, but did not know as for the Cardinals and the Pope himself.

It is that the same concepts can be with us and Catholics are completely different values and perceptions. Major Catholic theologian and church historian, in particular expert on Eastern Christianity, Father Yves Congar, left a very correct judgment about the major differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, which is not in a different interpretation of certain dogmas, but in the fact that even the fact that the type common between us, both in reality perfectly, because in different feels and experiences.

One can see the way it is for austerity.

Archdeacon German Ivanov-Thirteenth 



Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Some old-Metropolia History

Video: 
Some old-Metropolia History:
'Fr. Vladimir Prislopsky Documentary'
(the founder of FROC,) 
born 3/15/1900, died 9/3/1970


And some historic photos: Russian Church life in America, before the Platon-Schism, and slightly after it:



8 minutes

My memory, when I was about 17-18  years old:
The first Orthodox Church and priest that I encountered in Cleveland, Ohio, about  1960 or 61. This priest and parish, were my Godfather's home parish.  (The northern Ohio region, then had a very large Orthodox ethnic population).  St. Michael's  then had two Sunday services, both packed with people., each with a full and quality large & beautiful choir. The first was an all-English 'Obednitsa', (a glorified/sung Typika), and the second one, the all-Slavonic Liturgy ...both served by Fr. Vladimir.

What is not mentioned in this brief documentary, is the fact that the majority of his parishioners, virtually all of Carpatho-Russian or 'Rusin' heritage and mostly born under Austro-Hungarian rule, or some under Polish rule,  
of his St. Michael's Church (on Union Avenue, the south-east side of Cleveland, an old ethnic Polish and Carpatho-Russian  neighborhood originally), were all former born-uniates, or their children, immigrants to America,  who had left the Latin-unia and their nearby uniate parish, and joined the North American Russian Metropolia, (i.e. they  became Orthodox and joined The Russian Church), as a group, but they were unable to take their beautiful large church they had built with their own labour and money,with them, as it was retained by the Catholic diocesan bishop.

 But they were the majority membership of that uniate parish.
Fr. Vladimir Prislopsky was dearly beloved by his flock.

Later, Fr. Vladimir was instrumental in founding their daughter parish, of St. Andrew's in Maple Hts., as it shows here, but also, some years after his passing, his old original parish of St. Michael's had to sell it's property, and move to the suburbs, and build a new St. Michael's Church, in Broadview Hts, as it's old neighborhood, had become a dangerous crime-infested racial ghetto.
  Rd. Daniel Everiss

“for those who cherish the Russian [Orthodox] Church Abroad”

A Positional Statement of Metropolitan Agafangel Regarding Himself and our ROCA, and Our Relationship with Others, etc.

English (amplified for clarity & unofficial)

Comment: All that our Metropolitan Agafangel declares  here, is nothing new.  He has been steadily saying these same things, for a very long time, and reaching out his hand of friendship to those who sincerely  want to have a dialogue.


Metropolitan Agafangel:
“for those who cherish the Russian [Orthodox] Church Abroad”

Published on the Internet after Nativity [Christmas] 2012 was the video program “Transfiguration” [(Преображение) Issue 4, Part 2], in the course of which Metropolitan Agafangel was asked numerous questions.
In particular, its animator, Fr. Sergy Kondakov, read out a question that is in the  heart with many [Orthodox]: There are ... “fragments” of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad; and how do you view the possibility to unite these “fragments”?

Metropolitan Agafangel replied as follows:
"The untruthfulness in this question is in the fact that it affirms that I want [as if] to unite under my omophorion all [and any] “fragments”... I have never even had such thoughts – to unite under my omophorion all “fragments”. I’d like to see these “fragments” united, but then under whose omophorion and in what form would it be?
This I have always said that it should be decided by our All-Diaspora Council. All we together have to think about how can the highest authority in our Church  be organized. And I am not planning to come [on stage] as some [kind of] dictator and demand that all have to obey me. Because, unfortunately, in our time, it is impossible to convince others that  they – you see – are mistaken in something. There, [each and] everyone thinks he did the right thing in the situation that had developed. But [just] maybe it is like this, in general. Everyone has one’s own truth.
And I held on there (not officially yet departing from the other bishops), until the 17th of June, 2007, only because they asked me to. Though,  I felt very heavy, past all bearing, to witness this – the falling away of the [Russian Orthodox] Church Abroad, and its  submission  to the Moscow Patriarchia. It was hard for me to witness that process. They simply persuaded me to wait until the last [minute] when that act would be signed. For I had came to New York, to the Synod, I came intending to say at the Synod to all the bishops what I thought about it. At that time we had already stopped commemorating Metropolitan Lavrus for quite a long time. And I was ready (I’d come specifically for this) to say that I, too, disagreed with this. But, there came other [ROCOR]  priests from other parishes in America, we had a meeting, and I was simply talked into it:[i.e. to wait before official departing], “there, because of us, our flocks, so that we might all be together until the actual signing of the act”. And it was not willfully that I opposed them. But  that was really the right [thing to do], as time has shown, in hindesight. They straightened me [up], they corrected me, those people. I am very grateful to them, those  priests, that it all went that way. It so happened that we still waited to see the time of the signing, that final time of falling away.
And the fact that others had gone earlier, I do not think that this is any [kind of] fatal mistake of their. “Different people”, as Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov, new priest martyr), “different temperaments”. In general, some did so earlier, others did it later, still others may be [did so] even after the signing, they too would have right.
It’s unnecessary to clarify here in this situation who is to blame more; we must return to some form of conciliarity. All [of us] need to meet, talk and decide what are we to do next, how are we to arrange the life of our Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
Of course, this is for [implies] those who cherish the Russian [Orthodox] Church Abroad. If anyone out there went his own separate way, and is not interested in the [Russian Orthodox] Church Abroad, and [he is] not an authority, then there is nothing we can do. But those who think they have emanated from the [Russian Orthodox] Church Abroad, ... that they belong to the [Russian Orthodox] Church Abroad, with such people we need to try and establish some kind of a dialogue, even if only for a start.
And word here is not about me personally, [not] about my omophorion. I’ve written earlier that I am even ready to write a statement to the All-Diaspora Council to step down from this post [I hold]. And let the Council decide this – who is to be chosen as Primate. If they reckon to disgard  me, then they will; if they consider someone else, if the Council so decides, that’s how it would be. This is to say, I’ve never insisted that all this must take place under my omophorion.
We believe, unconditionally, that we are on the right path, that what we have done, we did the right thing, that everything with us is canonical, that everything with us is legal, we have not stepped away from the tradition of our fathers. But still, we must understand that the unity of the Church is also – a very large and important point in our lives. And still, we can make some concessions for the sake of church unity, for the sake of fraternal communion with other Orthodox.
This is my personal opinion ...
Again, I do not insist that I alone speak the only correct  things, [and] in general, I may be wrong, as I’ve just said in this case with the point that until the act [of signing] we had  held on...
So that, I have always invited and keep inviting others, the so-called “fragments” to a dialogue, a talk. Let’s sit down and talk about how we should go on living. Not to be at emnity [enemies with each other], with each other, but to establish peaceful relationships for a start, and then [on], God will judge. < ... >
We are ready to talk with all, but simply we may offer different things. Of course, there are those to whom we can only say: Come back to us, so to speak, on our terms; and there are those with whom we can negotiate how to arrange that union so it may be as seamless as possible for our flock, for their flock. But it’s all a process, and quite a longish process.
But most important is the [presence of] willingness for that process to begin.”
Source: http://kondakov.ws/blog/Zapis-programmy-%22Preobrazhenie%22-Vyp--3



kindly translated by

Vladimir Djambov, Eng
00359.885.455.189 - M/cell
00359.2.855.62.62 - H
En <> Bg translation, interpreting
 
http://pra-blah.blogspot.com/