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AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION of ORTHODOX CHURCH OPINION MARCH-APRIL, 1999 Vol. 11, No. 2 {78) Suppcrted by the Vcluntary Contribut

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AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION of ORTHODOX CHURCH OPINION MARCH-APRIL, 1999 Vol. 11, No. 2 {78) Suppcrted by the Vcluntary Contribut $HUR$H HgU$ AN INDEPENDENTPUBLICATION OF ORTHODOX CHURCH OPINION MARCH-APRIL,1999 Vol.11, No. 2 {78) Suppcrtedby the vcluntarycontributions of its readers Republicationpermitted upon acknowledgment of source The staffof 'Church lVews"offers hearfelt greetings to all their readerson the radiantdays of the great Feastof Feasfs, Holy Pascha,and extendsw.sfies to atl that fhesedays be spentin spkitualjoy and gaod hea{th. CONTENTS PASCHALEPISTLE of the FirstHierarch of the RussianOrthodox Church Outside Russia FASCHALEPISTLE of His EminenceValentine, Archbishop of Suzdaiand Vladimir REGARDINGTHE LAST COUNCIL OF BISHOPSOF THEROCOR IN 1998 ''BLANCO'' THE ECUMENICAL''ORTHODOX YOUTH SCC|ETY OF GERMANY' FROMTHE LIFE OF THE ORTHODOX CHIJRCH IN RUSSIA TOWARDBUILDING A NEWCHURCH IN SUZDAL CANCELLATIONOF THELOCAL COUNCIL OF MOSCOWPATRIARCHATE FOR 2OOO KOSOVOTODAY TWOMYRRH-GUSHING ICONS IN MOSCOW A BLA$PHEMOUSDEBAUCH IN GOMEL ROMANIANCHURCH INVITES ROMAN POPE WCCON A COMMONDATE FOR PASCHAAGAIN CRITIQUEOF WCC AMAZINGGENERO$ITY OF YELTSIN CATHOLICUNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES LOSE THEIR CHARACTERIST;CS THEPOPE AND THE MUSLIMS A "MARDISGRAS'' IN AUSTRALIA GRABBEARCHIVE CHURCHNEWS 639 Center $treet Oradell,NJ, 07679-2003USA Tel: 20'l-967-7684 1 PASCHALEPI$TLE OF THEFiRST HIERARCH OF THERUSSIAT.I ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTS:EE OF RUSSIA .J ,9il'-Y'iJi-FH5:-,J I greetall the childrenof the RussianOrthodox Church Outside Russia en thisfestlval of festivals,cn thet"Day", out of all the daysin the year,'khich the Lordhath made." At Paschatime disappears, for time is a greatmystery, not a calendar,because Christ is Risennot 1999years ago, but now,today, on our OrthodoxPascha. This is not someihingwe have imagined,not a dreamor an emotional feeling,but a spiritualreality, whieh no calendarcan fit intothe constraintsof its divisionsand calculations. At the timeof the final resurrection,all will rise up fromtheir graves and will enterinto the eternalPascha with Christ,with indescribable rejoicing and beatitude * allwho havepassed this short life worthily and in a Christianway. Mywish for all of you is thatyou will enterinto this eiernai Pascha with Christ in His HeaveniyKingdom. MetropolitenVitaiy Christ'sPascha. vear 1999 PA$CHALEPISTLE OF I.I!SEMINENCE VALENTINE, A.RCHBISHOP CF SUZDALAND VLADIMIR TO THEGOD LOVING FLOCK OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CHRISTIS RISEN! "Todaydoth every creature rejoice and shout for joy. For Christis risen.and Hellis led in captivity" On this all joyfulday all the Orthodoxworld celebrates Christ's Resurrection. He is our purifyingPascha, eternal Fascha,the livingsacrifice. Christ the Lambof Godwas doomed to be slaughteredfrom the first daysof His life.There wasa searchto kiltHim and what Herod did not succeedin doing,the mostevil deicides finished. Greatwas the sadness,unspeakable were the sufteringsof the HolyApostles and the Myrrh-bearingWomen duringthe daysof crucifixion,sunering and the deathof our LcrdJesus Chrisi. But the cloucisof spiritualsaciness anci aganizinggrief, which hung aver Golgotha, dispersed before the brillianirays of Christ'sResurrection. Togetherwith the stonewhich was pu*hedfrom door of the Sepulchre,the stoneof griefand hopelessdespair -_,,alsowas liftedfrom the soulsand heartsof the weepingand scbbingloyal followers of Christand theirsculs and hearts haaamoirrr rminarr by joy anCcelebratlon. This is namelythe joy for whichHoly Church prays: "O, Christthe Lordl Fill our heartswith gladness and joyr." To ali the endsof the worldthe disciplesof Christbrrought and carried the newsof the NewChrist's Pascha, God's saving Pascha. A multitudeof nationswent through face of the world,like a disastrouswhirlwind rushed the wars,empires and civilizationswere swept aside, taking one anothefs place, but the resurrectionof Christremains alive for ageslongevity. Togetherwith the Angeis and the Apostles, together with the Myrrh-bearingWomen and the hostsof the saints,we again have a feelingcf renewedlife and rush towardthe Sepulcherof the Life-giverin order to witnesswith pure heartsthai Christis Risen.Ancj this is the basisof ourfaith, our lifeand hope. Todaywe are forgiven,redeemed and saved. And all of us exclaim:"Christ is Risen!" And theseare the very samewords of the Angeiwho appearedto the Myrrh-bearingWomen ai ihe SavioursSepulchre. These are the worcls 'And whiehhe orderedthem to repeatto the Apostles: go quickiy,and tell his diseiplesthat he is risenfrom the dead." 'All {Mt.28: 7} Andwhen ihey wer.e going to the Apostles,Christ Himself met them on theirway anci said: hail!" And the hcly Myrrh-bearingWomen worshipped Christ with joy and exaltationand rushedto the Apostlesand "told all these thingsunto the eleven,and to allthe rest." And so thisjoyful news, this Paschalgreeting, went from mouth to mouth,went through two millenniaand all the nationsand bir nowwith the greatestjoy is announcedalso by our mouths!The HolyEvangelist Luke relates to us how the secondpart of today'sgreeting also appeared: "Truly He is Risen!"When Luke and Cleopasretumed from Emmaus, they greetedthe Apostleswith the words,"Christ is Risen!"and they answered:"The Lord is risen indeed,"in other words,truly risen" {l-uke 24: 34). ln this way when hurryingtoday to the ehurch,which on this holy night representsthe very same Sepulchrein whichwas the Lord'sgrave and when hearingat the doors of the churchas if beforethe rolledaside stoneof the tomb, "Christis risen!"and answering,"Truly risen!" we are not only the witnesses,but also participantsin the greatestof mysteries,Christ's Resunecticn, a "feaet of feasts anci celebrationof celebrations." Thus. see how great is today's holidayand howprecious and life-givingis oi:r participationin it. And therefore"with joy let us embraceone another." Throughus, thie salvific and alljoyful news wiil be carriedto ali the nationsthrough the future ages. -i But will ihoseages and nationseorne to be? You knowthat thoseto whomthere is nothingmore frightening than the newsof the Resurrectionof Christalso rush to the Sepulchre!With feverishfright beforethe first ray of Lightwhich shonefrom the darknessof the Sepulchre,they are in a huny to block the entrancewith a stone,to seal it, to place a guardon watch... 2 They rush to block the heavenlybrightness of Truth from the humanheart with absurdmotives of materiaiistic - ,,spectersof profitableearthly life and, since no onecan seala heart,will sealthe forehead and right hand. I considerit to be my pastoralduty to remindto you of the warningsof the Apostles:"This know also, that in the lastdays perilous times shall come. For men shall be loversof theirown selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedientto parents,unthanKul, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisersof those,who are good,traitors." Those are the heirsof Herod,a unsuccessfuldeicide, and the othergod- fighters,beginning with Judas,Annas, Caiaphas, Simon the Magician,Arias down to the contemporaryapostates from Orthodoxy.They are those, who in thefuture age will be placedon the leftside, of the TerribleLast Judgement of Christ, whenthe sheepwill be separatedfrom the goats.They are those,who in a fuiureage will not inheritsalvation, but will inheritages icng condemnation and Gehenna, full of fire. "Andwhc worshipsthe beastand his image,and whosoever receiveth the markof his name...shall drink of the winecf the wrathof God,which is pauredcut withoutmixture i:'rto the cup of his indignaticn...and he shallbe tormented withfire and hrimstonein the presenceof holyangels, and in the presenceof the Lamb. And the smokeof thelrtorment ascendethfor everand ever:and theyhave no restday nor night,whc worshipthe beastand his imageand whosoever receiveththe markof his name"(Rev. 14: 1A-11). 'And he {the beast)causeth all, bothsmall and great.rich and poor,free and bond,to receivea markon their righthand, or on theirforeheads: And that no manmight buy or sell,save he thathad the mark,or the nameof the beast, or the numberof his name....Let him that hathunderstanding count the numberof the beast.for it is the numberof a man;and the numberis six hundredthreescore and six"{Rev. 13: 16-18). Until"the manof sin,the son of perdition"is revealed,we may not positivelystate that this is the actualseal. But no doubt,this is a step in that direction. Every Christianhas alreadyreceived a seal on his ioreheadand handsat baptism- this is the seal of the Hoiy Spirit- and therecan be no othersealfor a Christian. Thereis still time to listenta the Lord'swcids, "Cqmeout of her, my peoplel"(Rev. 18. 4). Comeout cf her, Russianpeople, do not add by yourseifthe amountof thesewho worshipped the beastand he will weakenimmediately andyau will seethe Gloryof Godand with yourself also saved a world,which is on the brinkof perishing. I greetyou, God-lovingfathers, brothers and sistersin Ghrist,an thisjoyous and brightday cf Resurrectionof Christ. May a joyful day also comefor the Russianpeople when all of us with pure heartsand inspiredby spiritua! - ,feelingswill be imbuedwith the powerof Christ'sresurrection, which will lead us from the abyssof sins,but also the entirefallen human race. Maythe Lordgrant to all of us the Christianvirtue of reason,which is the motherof all the virtues. VerilyChrist is Risen! ArchbishopValentin of Suzdaland Vladimir Pascha1999, Suzdal, Russia REGARDINGTHE I-ASTCOUNCII- OF THE BISHOPSOF THE RUSSIANORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIAIN 1998 A newspaper"RusskiiVestnik" ("Russian Herald") from Moscow in issue#3-4 published with some omissions an appealto
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