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The Wednesday Weekly The Wednesday Weekly November 04, 2020 His Beatitude our Primate Marc with some of our monks and clergy in France Holy Presence Monastery at St. Dolay in France Our Lady of the Sign Church, St. Dolay, France 1 Monastery seen from the woods Monastery seen from the fields 1) Comments a) Father Leonard Hollands – History has far too many cases of ‘religious’ intolerance, persecution, and so-called ‘holy wars.’ The massacre of Christians continues today, and, sadly, probably always will. And, of course, the Church itself has been guilty of such ‘religious’ hatred. It is frightening to look at the history of the Church for that and many other reasons. We must make sure that we personally never allow religious or denominational prejudice to dwell in our hearts. There is no place for it in the Christian Faith as there is no place for class, cultural, racial, disability or any other kind of prejudice. Jesus’ bidding that we should love one another must not be watered down to loving just those who think, talk and behave like us. We are even to love our enemies! Our Lord certainly set the bar high for us! b) Mwrog Hermit – Bishop Paul, thank you so much for this week’s wonderful News: filled with inspirational and enlightening content! Duw bendith! God bless. 2) Recommended Reading – The Northern Thebaïd, Monastic Saints of the Russian North * The Solovetsky Monastery, founded in 1436, is a fortified monastery located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea in northern Russia. It was one of the largest Christian citadels in northern Russia before it was converted into a Soviet prison and labor camp in 1926–39, and served as a prototype for the camps of the Gulag system. 2 Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, whom many consider a saint though not officially canonized, writes of Orthodoxy’s Northern Thebaid, which follows the spiritual lineage of the Egyptian Thebaid. Thousands of monks and nuns sought out their salvation in the Russian “desert” of the forested, marshy North, in the footsteps of great monastic Fathers: St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Cyril of White Lake, St. Nilus of Sora, and hundreds of others who appear in the Calendar of Orthodox Saints. Ivan Michailovich Kontzevitch (+1965), who received spiritual guidance from Elder Nectarius of Optina, inspired this book. These Lives breathe the same spiritual fragrance as the Lives of the great Fathers of the Egyptian desert, with the “mental activity” of the Jesus Prayer, the spiritual guidance by Elders, the “revelation of thoughts” to the Elder, and spiritual labors joined with love of neighbor. Though many of these monasteries have disappeared, it is still possible to find Orthodox monastic communities that teach the spiritual doctrine of the Holy Fathers. This living monastic tradition of Holy Russia today is directly linked to Optina, Valaam, St Seraphim’s Diveyevo, St Job’s Pochaev, Lesna, and of course in the monastic citadels of the Holy Land and the Holy Mountain of Athos. The earnest seeker can find his “desert” even in our dark and barren 21st century. Not everyone can follow such lives, but they can draw inspiration from these men and women who lived like angels. At least let us increase our far-too-feeble struggles for God, and offer our fervent tears of repentance and our constant self-reproach at falling so short of the standard of perfection that God has shown us in His wondrous Saints. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (1934-1982) in his cell at Platina, CA * The Northern Thebaïd, Monastic Saints of the Russian North, Compiled and Translated by Fathers Seraphim (Rose) and Herman (Podmoshensky) of Platina (Fr. Seraphim Rose Foundation, Platina CA 1995) 3) Saints – Saint Foillan of Fosses Feast Day 31 Oct Saint Foillan of Fosses (7th century) Saint Foillan was born in Ireland early in the seventh century and was the brother of Saints Ultan and Fursey, the latter a famous missionary who preached the Faith to the Irish, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Franks. Probably in company with Ultan, Foillan 3 went with his brother Fursey to a lonely island. Fursey soon went among the Anglo- Saxons and built a monastery at Burgh Castle (Cnoberesburg) in Suffolk, between 634 and 650. Seized again with the desire for solitude, Fursey left the monastery in the care of Foillan, who remained at the head of the community, and had the happiness of once more seeing his brother Fursey, who, having since gone to the kingdom of the Franks, came to visit him about 650. Soon a disastrous war broke out between Penda, the Mercian chief, and Ana, King of the Eastern Anglo-Saxons. Ana having been put to flight, the monastery of Cnoberesburg fell into the hand of the enemies. It was pillaged, and its superior, Foillan, barely escaped death. He hastened to ransom the captive monks, recovered the relics, put the holy books and objects of veneration on board ship, and departed for the country of the Franks, where his brother Fursey was buried. Like so many other Irishmen who went to the Continent in the seventh century, Foillan was invested with episcopal dignity, having doubtless been a monastic bishop at Cnoberesburg. He was therefore of great assistance in the organization of worship, and the holy books and relics which he brought were great; treasures for St. Ita and St. Gertrude. As the monastery of Nivelles was under Irish discipline, the companions of Foillan were well received and lived side by side with the holy women, occupying themselves with the details of worship under the general direction of the abbess. Through the liberality of Ita, Foillan was enabled to build a monastery at Fosses, not far from Nivelles, in the province of Namur. After the death of Ita in 652, Foillan came one day to Nivelles and sang Mass, on the eve of the feast of St-Quentin. The ceremony being finished, he resumed his journey, doubtless undertaken in the interests of his monastery. In the forest of Senèze the saint and his companions fell into a trap set by bandits who inhabited that solitude. They were slain, stripped, and their bodies concealed. Foillan’s head, still speaking prayers, was thrown into a nearby pigsty. St. Gertrude recovered their bodies, and when she had taken some relics of the saint his body was borne to the monastery of Fosses, where it was buried about 655. 4) Quotes a) St. Matthew 10:32-33 – Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 4 b) 2 Corinthians 3:17 – Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom c) 2 Timothy 1:7 – God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. d) Abbot Tryphon – Being real with God is far more important than being emotional, since emotions can be contrived and fleshly. As in all relationships, there are times when we do feel moved by emotions, but the lack of such feelings in no way represents a lack of love for God, because God cares for us, and God knows we love him, even when suffering in those dry times. e) St Paisios of Mount Athos – The anxieties of modern life are only symptoms of our separation from God. Once we make our love of God the primary focus of our lives and allow His grace to work through us, all anxiety disappears. 5) Carmina Gadelica – Selection from Hogmanay May God bless this dwelling, Each stone, and beam, and stave, All food, and drink, and clothing. May health of men be always there. 6) Poet’s Corner – Malcolm Guite A Last Beatitude And blessèd are the ones we overlook; The faithful servers on the coffee rota, The ones who hold no candle, bell or book But keep the books and tally up the quota, The gentle souls who come to ‘do the flowers,’ The quiet ones who organise the fete, Church sitters who give up their weekday hours, Doorkeepers who may open heaven’s gate. God knows the depths that often go unspoken Amongst the shy, the quiet, and the kind, Or the slow healing of a heart long broken Placing each flower so for a year’s mind. Invisible on earth, without a voice, In heaven their angels’ glory and rejoice. 7) Practical Steps, from Father Thomas Hopko Practice silence, inner and outer. 8) Spiritual Notes St Symeon the New Theologian – The Books Will Be Opened 5 God is truth and light, God’s judgement is nothing else than our coming into contact with truth and light. In the day of the Great Judgement all men will appear naked before this penetrating light of truth. The “books” will be opened. What are these “books”? They are our hearts. Our hearts will be opened by the penetrating light of God, and what is in these hearts will be revealed. If in those hearts there is love for God, those hearts will rejoice in seeing God’s light. If, on the contrary, there is hatred for God in those hearts, these men will suffer by receiving on their opened hearts this penetrating light of truth which they detested all their life. So that which will differentiate between one man and another will not be a decision of God, a reward or a punishment from Him, but that which was in each one’s heart; what was there during all our life will be revealed in the Day of Judgement.
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