FROM THE FATHERS
“WHAT is ‘let us draw near with a true heart’? (Heb. 10:22)? It is, without hypocrisy; for ‘woe be to a fearful heart, and faint hands’ (Sir. 2:12). Let there be, he means, no falsehood among us; let us not say one thing and think another; for this is false- hood; neither let us be fainthearted, for this is not [a mark] of a true heart. Faintheartedness comes from not believing. But how shall this be? If we fully assure ourselves through faith.” Saint John Chrysostom, + 407 A.D .
“IN THE SCRIPTURES, it is written that falsehood is from the evil one, and that He is the ‘father of lies’ (John8:44), while God is truth, for He Himself says, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). Thus you see from Whom we estranged ourselves and to whom we are united by a lie. So then, if we really want to be saved, we must love truth with our whole hearts and guard ourselves from all falsehood. There are three different types of lies: in thought, in word, and in life itself. A man lies in thought when he accepts as true his own imagin- ations, that is his vain despite of his neighbour. Such a one, when he sees that someone is conversing with his neighbour, makes his own estimation and says, ‘They are talking about me.’ If someone says a word, he considers that it was said to grieve him. Never believe your own guesses and interpretations, for a crooked measurement makes even the straight to be crooked. Human opinion is false and harms those who are given to it. The one who sins in word is one who, for example, when out of
1 d e sp onde ncyhehasnotg otu pf ort hese rvice ,d oe snotsay , ‘Fo rgiveme ,Iw ast o ol azyt og e tu p ,’b u ts ay s ,‘Ih adaf e ver,I h adt o omu c hw o rk,Ih ad n' tt h es t re ng t ht og e tu p ,Iw ass ick,’ and s ay s t e n f alse s t at e me nts , rat h e r t h an make a s ing l e p ros t ra- t ionandb eh u mbl e d .Andifh es h o u l db ere b u kedins u c ha s it u at ion,h ec h ang e sh isw o rdsandargu e s ,ino rde rnott ob e re b u ked .O new h ol ie sb yh isl if eiso new h o ,ifh eisd e file d p re t e nds t o b e c h ast e , o r ifh e isavariciou s p raise s almsg iving , o rifh eisp rou dp raise sh u milit y .Thu s ,ino rde rt oe s c ap e f als e h o o dandb ed e l ivere df romt h ep arto ft h ee vilo ne ,l e tu s s t rivet oap p rop riat et rut h ,ino rde rt oh aveu nionw it hG o d .” A bbaD orot h e o s ,+6 2 0A . D .
“ THELORD’SANS WER t o o new h o e nquire s c o nce rning e verlast ingl if e is, Thou know est t hecom m andm ents , d o not com m i tadu l t er y,d onotki l l ( M ark7 :19);f o rt h isist h ec h ild l ike blame le ssne ssw hichisp rop ose dt ou s,ifw ew ou lde nte rt he K ing d o mo fHe aven.O nw h icht h e ref o l l o w s , Andheansw er ed ands ai du ntoHi m ,M ast er ,allt heseIhaveo bser v edfro mm y you t h. Wemu s tnots u p p o s et h att h ismane it h e raskedt h e Lordw it haw isht ot e mp tHim,ass o meh avef ancie d ,o rl ie do n accou ntofhislif e ;bu tw emu stbe lie vet hatheconfe sse dw it h s imp l icit yh o wh eh adl ived ,w h ichise vid e ntf romw h atis s u b joine d , ThenJesu s behol d i nghim l o v edhim , ands ai d u nto him . Ifh o w e verh eh adb e e ng u ilt yo fl y ingo rd iss imu l at ion,b y nome answ o u l dJes u s ,af t e rl o o kingo nt h es e c re t so fh ish e art, h aveb e e n s aidt o l o veh im.” Ven .BedeofJ a r ro w,+7 3 5A . D .
“ M ANY-e sp e ciallyamongt hey ou t h-t ryt ose e mcle vere r, moreb e au t if u l ,moreg if t e d ,mored e vel o p e d ,andmorec h ari- t abl et h ant h e yareinre alit y . F romt h is,t h e yo b t ainmortal d e c e itandinsince rit y ,w h ichnows oo f t e nd e s t roy sp e o p l eand t h e irh ap p ine s ,andw h icharec l e arlyb ase do nf als e h o o dand noto nt rut h .” S tP h i la r e tt h eNe wC on fe s s or , + 1985 A.D.
2 Our Ascended Lord The Saving Swallow Who Opened the Way to the Eternal Spring
Saint Nicolas of Ohrid and Žiča, + 1956 A.D.
WHEN SWALLOWS run short of food and the cold weather is coming, they set off to warm climates, where there is plenty of sun and food. One swallow flies ahead, testing the air and showing the way, while the rest of the flock follows after. When our souls run short of food in the material world, and when the cold of death draws near - ah, is there a swallow like that one, to take us to a warm place, where there is plenty of spiritual warmth and food? Is there such a place? Is there, oh, is there such a swallow? Outside the Christian Church, there is no one who can give any sort of reliable answer to this. The Church alone knows, and knows with certainty. It has seen that part of Paradise for which our souls yearn in the frozen twilight of this earthly existence. It has also seen this blessed Swallow, the first to fly to that yearned- for place, dispersing the darkness and cutting through the heavy atmosphere between earth and Heaven with its powerful wings, opening the way to the flock behind it. Apart from this, the Church on earth can tell one of innumerable flocks of swallows that have followed the first Swallow and flown off with It to that blessed land, a land abounding with all good things, the land of eternal Spring. You will see from this that, by this saving Swallow, I am thinking of the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Has He not said of Himself that He is the Way? Did He not Himself say to His Apostles: “I go to prepare a place for you... and if I go... I will receive you unto Myself” (John 14:2–3)? And did He not say to them before this: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
3 draw all men unto Me” (John 12:32)? This that He Himself said began to be fulfilled a few weeks later, and has continued to be fulfilled right down to our own day, and shall be to the end of time. That is, being the beginning of the first creation of the world, He became also the beginning of the second creation, or the blessed renewing of the old. Sin clipped Adamʼs wings and those of all his descendants, and they all fell away from God, went off, and were blinded with the dust from which their bodies were created. Christ, as the New Adam, the first Man, the First- born among men, was the first to rise up to Heaven on spiritual wings, to the throne of Eternal Glory and power, thus cleaving the way to Heaven and opening all Heavenʼs gates to His followers, with their spiritual wings - as an eagle cleaves the way for its eaglets, as the swallow which goes ahead, showing the flock the way and breaking the airʼs heavy resistance. “O that I had wings like a dove; for then would I flee away and be at rest” (Ps. 54:6), the Psalmist cried in distress before Christʼs coming. Why? He himself explains: “My heart is dis- quieted within me, and the fear of death is fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me” (vv.4-5). Such a terrible sense of deathly fear and of the horror of existence in the wastes of this life must, like a heavy nightmare, have weighed on the whole rational,honest world before Christ.“Who would give me wings, to fly away from this life?” This must be a question asked by many noble and sensitive souls. But whither will you fly, O sin- ful human soul? Can you still, as in a dream, feel that place of warmth and light from which you have been driven out? Lo, the gates were closed behind you, and Cherubim with flaming swords were placed there, to forbid your approach. Lo, sin has clipped your wings - not birdʼs wings but Divine wings - and has forced you firmly down to the ground. Someone is needed, first to free you from the weight of sin, to wash you and make you stand erect. And then someone is needed to implant and nourish new wings in you, so that you can fly. Then you need someone, someone very strong, for whom the Cherubim with flaming swords will stand aside, to let you through to your glorious homeland. Lastly, you need someone who will find
4 mercy for you from your grieved Creator, so that He will receive you once more into the lands of His immortal country. This “someone”was unknown to the pre-Christian world. He revealed Himself as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. From love for you, He bowed down from Heaven to earth and came down on earth, clothed Himself in flesh, became a prisoner for the sake of you prisoners, suffered sweat and frost, endured hunger and thirst, gave His face to spitting and His body to be nailed to the Cross, lay in the tomb as a corpse, went down to Hades to destroy a prison worse than this life, that was intended for you after your parting from the body - and all this in order to save you from the mire of sin, and set you on your feet. He then rose from the dead, by this means to give you wings for flight to Heaven, and finally ascended into Heaven to open the way to you and bring you into the Angelsʼ abode. You do not now have to sigh in fear, trembling and horror as King David did, nor to desire wings like a dove, for the Eagle has appeared, and has shown and cloven a road through. You have only to nurture the spiritual wings that you were given at your Baptism in His name, and to desire with all your strength to climb up there where He ascended. He has done ninety-nine percent of all that is needed for your salvation; will you not strive to do that one remaining percentage point for your own salvation,and this when,for you an entrance shall be ministered … abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Ptr1:11). The Lordʼs Ascension from earth to Heaven is as unexpected to men as His coming down from Heaven to earth and His birth in the flesh was to the Angels. What event in His life does not represent something unique and uniquely unexpected to the world? As the Angels watched with wonder how God, at the first creation, separated light from darkness and water from dry land, how He placed the stars in the heavenly vault, and how He brought forth plants and animals from the dust and finally formed man, giving him a living soul, so each one of us must look with wonder at the events of the Saviourʼs life, beginning with the wondrous Annunciation to the most holy Virgin by the
5 Archangel Gabriel in Nazareth, and then through in order to His mighty Ascension on the Mount of Olives. It is all, at first sight, unexpected, but, when they are made aware of the plan for the dispensation of our salvation, all rational men must shout for joy and glorify Godʼs power, His wisdom, and His love for man- kind. You can take no single great event out of Christʼs life and not disfigure the whole, as you cannot cut off a living manʼs arm or leg and not disfigure him, or remove the moon from the heavenly vault or blot out a part of the starry myriads, and not disfigure the order and beauty of the heavens. So do not think of saying: “It was unnecessary for the Lord to ascend!” When some of the Jews were constrained to acknowledge and cry out: “He hath done all things well!”(Mark7:37),howcanwe,whoare baptized in His name, not believe that all He did, He did well: devising and ordering with great wisdom. And His Ascension is therefore also good, devised and ordered with great wisdom, as are also His Incarnation, Baptism, Transfiguration and Resur- rection. “It is expedient for you that I go away” (John 16:7), said the Lord to His disciples. Do you see how He disposes and does everything as is best for me? Every word and act of His have our good as their aim. His Ascension is of boundless good for us all. Were it not so, He would not have ascended. ❇❇❇❇❇❇❇ HomilyontheAscensionoftheLord Saint John of Cronstadt, + 1908 A.D. “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things – both heaven and earth”(Eph. 4:10). THE words above, beloved brethren, have been taken by me from the holy Apostle Paul’s epistle to those inhabitants of the city of Ephesus who had been converted to the Christian faith. He says that the Lord Christ, Who came down to earth in the flesh for the sake of our salvation, after performing His great deed again ascended into heaven, or far above all heavens, but
6 ascended as God in the flesh, or God and Man together-intwo Natures, but in one Person indivisibly, inseparably, unmerged. The Apostle also shows the reason why the Lord did not remain on earth, but ascended into the heavens. The reason was to fill everything with Himself - both heaven and earth, - to be the Head of heaven, all the angels or celestial forces, principalities, dominions, thrones, the cherubim and the seraphim, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come (Eph. 1:21), and at the same time to be the Head of the Church on earth, which He had acquired by His Blood and united with Himself. Christ ascended into heaven, yet He did not leave us, His children, but remains and will always remain with us until the end of time; in His own words, He also ascended into heaven in order to send down to earth and upon His Church in His stead the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity - unorigin- ated, co-eternal, life-giving, equipotent, equally-glorious, all- holy, all-good, all-righteous, almighty, omniscient, omnipotent, -in order that He take an equally-triumphant part in the salva- tion of the mankind that had been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ. Had Christ remained on earth, the Holy Spirit would not have descended to earth, as Christ Himself announced, and that would have been unacceptable for the reason of the equality between the Persons of the Holy Trinity, and Their equal action and participation. Just as the world was created by the Word of God the Father with the participation of the Holy Spirit, so the redemption of mankind had to take place with the unfailing participation of the All-holy Spirit. What thoughts and memories does the Lord’s ascension into heaven bring to mind? The most elevated and joyous thoughts and memories. Before Jesus Christ could ascend from earth to heaven, He had to come down to earth, become incarnate, be born of the Holy Virgin, be an Infant called Jesus, gradually grow up, reach the age of manhood, be baptized by John in the River Jordan, be subjected to temptation from the devil for the sake of our salvation, conquer him and shame him who boasted
7 of his strength and dominion over the earth; Christ had to preach the word of God to men, commune with them for their salvation, eat and drink with publicans and sinners, talk with prostitutes in order to make them chaste, deal with the scribes and the Pharisees, instruct and censure them, heal all kinds of illnesses, resurrect the dead, show His Divine power over all the elements, winds, and waters, show His power over the evil spirits and Satan’s entire kingdom, show His power over death; Christ had to endure all manner of injustice from evil people, had to suffer and die on the cross, descend into hades and destroy it, deprive Satan of all the power of which the latter boasted and thought to have forever, vanquish the sting of death and resurrect the dead, and had to rise from the dead as the Conqueror of hell and death. Before ascending into heaven He established the salvific sacraments: Baptism, repentance, and the sacrament of sacra- ments – the holy Eucharist, or communion of His most-holy Body and Blood as a sign of His boundless love for mankind and for the purification,sanctification,renewal and deification ofour nature, revived from its deep fall and corruption. Before ascending into heaven He founded His Church on earth - a divine community of people being saved in Christ, united with each other by a single faith, law of God, divine service, clergy, and sacraments. Having founded the Church, He gave over its establishment to the Apostles with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, Whom they were to receive on the great day of the Holy Pentecost. And the Church of God which was planted on earth flourished mightily, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit nurtured an im- mense multitude of Saints from all peoples and nations, from all human ranks and positions, of both genders; especially in the early centuries the earth became like heaven due to the count- less number of holy Apostles, hierarchs, martyrs, venerables, unmercenaries, righteous ones, and all the saints who were glorified in the Church. Christ’s Church on earth was and is the greatest miracle; within it was performed and is being performed a wondrous
8 renewal of mankind, whereby true believers become like the celestial angels, adorned with all manner of heavenly virtues. They have adorned the Church both with their holy lives and with their immortal and divinely-inspired writings, which for- ever continue to delight our hearing and to instruct the faithful. Glory to Thee, O Christ, Who hath ascended with glory, our God, Who hath not left us, but Who continueth to act within us and save us! Amen. q8r How to live in accord withtheGospel A translation of a Booklet published by the Synodal Press in Russia in 1905, somewhat adapted to meet the needs of our times. The Christian Responsibility towards Oneself NOW let us talk about love for oneself. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself(Matt. 22:39). Between love for oneself and love for one’s neighbour there exists the closest bond. Everyday experience teaches us that,regardless of the situation,aswelove ourselves so also we love our close ones. Those things that we consider as having no importance for ourselves, we hold as having none for others. The person who dwells in self-love, living only for himself, will regard others as also being lovers of themselves, and will include in this assessment even those who are no concern to him. We suggest also that when some better feeling might arise within him, he will, all the same, find within himself a thousand excuses, so that he can pass by anyone else in misfortune, like the priest and the Levite in the Parable of the Kind-Hearted Samaritan.
9 But the person who honours God’s image within himself, will also value it in others. He who senses what greatness, what riches and at the very same time what infirmity and helpless- ness are bound up together in what is man, and especially the person who feels within himself the need to liberate himself from sin and the distress under whose weight all creation languishes and sighs, the same feels the need for love, long- suffering, forgiveness, and naturally he will have fellow-feeling with people, and will strive to fulfil to the very letter the word of the Lord:Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them(Matt. 7:12). Thus, to acquire true Christian love for one’s neighbours one must in the first instance turn attention to one’s own moral state,recognise its spiritual impoverishment and strive to resur- rect in one’s soul the lost image of God. What does this require? Guarding the Conscience First of all, it is absolutely necessary to guard one’s con- science and to obey its voice. The conscience is the power of our soul that moves us to the good and warns against evil; it is the voice of God within us, bearing witness to our likeness to God; it is the moral law, imprinted by God in our hearts. What God’s law teaches, the conscience also teaches; and what He forbids, our conscience also forbids. The law of God commands us to believe in God, to honour Him above all things created, to obey Him as the Master of all, to fear God as the supremely righteous Judge, to love Him more than everything in the world, to thank Him as the all-merciful Benefactor, to hope on Him as the One Who is All-good and Almighty. This also the conscience instils in us. The law of God orders that we honour and are subject to parents and all those authorities, instituted by God; and the conscience also instils this in us. The law of God forbids us to harm anyone, or to take his life; it forbids profligacy, purloining someone else’s goods either openly or secretly, either through cunning or by force. It forbids lying, flattery, deceit, slander, envying another’s good
10 fortune, wishing evil upon or gloating over the misfortune of a colleague. The conscience also forbids these things. Pay attention, Christian, to your conscience and immedi- ately do what it indicates. The conscience is a true teacher; listen to it and do not undermine it with objections. The con- science not only moves us to the good and protects us from evil, but in addition to this it dispassionately and with integrity assesses us with regard to our various actions, and relentlessly punishes us for every evil thing we do. “An offender can flee from human judgment, but he cannot escape the judgment of his own conscience,” says Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. … to be continued. ❇❇❇❇❇❇❇ THE COMING MONTH IN MAY this year the only Great Feast is the Ascension of our Saviour (28th May / 10th June), which falls on the fortieth day after Pascha itself. This feast, perhaps more than any other in the year, beautifully expresses our hope as Christians, and yet sadly in contem- porary practice it seems to be almost neglected: perhaps because it falls in the middle of the week, perhaps because it is rather over- shadowed by Pentecost, and sadly perhaps because it falls within the customary post-paschal lapse. For this reason we have included two homilies on the feast, which we hope will be for your edification. Among the Saints celebrated this month, we have one of the greatest of the pre-schism English Saints, our Holy Father Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury (19th May/1st June). He was born at Baltonsborough near Glastonbury on the estate of his father, Heorstan, a West Saxon noble. The site of the place of his birth is marked by a roadside memorial on Ham Street to this day. His mother, Cynethryth, a saintly woman, was in church on the feast of the Meeting of the Lord when all the lights were suddenly extinguished. Then the candle held by Cynethryth was as suddenly relighted, and all present lit their candles from her flame, thus foreshadowing that the boy child she was then carrying in her womb was one who “would be a minister of eternal Light.” His birth dates
11 from about the earliest years of the tenth century. Dunstan was brought by his father and entrusted to the care of the Irish scholars, who then frequented the then desolate monastery of Glastonbury. Even as a child he showed great fervour, and had a strong desire to restore the great abbey to splendour. He absorbed every kind of human knowledge and mastered manual skills. Indeed, throughout his life he was noted for his devotion to learning and for his mastery of many kinds of artistic craftsmanship. In time he received the clerical tonsure and served Saint Mary’s church. So well-known did he become for his devotion to learning that he is said to have been summoned by his uncle Athelm, Archbishop of Canterbury, to enter his service. The young Dunstan soon came to the notice of King Athelstan and became so great a favourite with the king as to excite envy at court. They made accusations against him and he was dismissed from the king’s service. As he quitted the palace his enemies attacked him, beat him severely, bound him, and threw him into a filthy pit, treading him down in the slurry. He managed to crawl out and make his way to the house of a friend whence he journeyed to Winchester and entered the service of Bishop Alphege, who was a kinsman of his. Alphege tried to persuade him to become a monk, but Dunstan was at first doubtful. Then an attack of swelling tumours all over his body, so severe that he thought it was leprosy, changed his mind. He was tonsured by Saint Alphege, and returned to Glastonbury to take up the monastic life. He built a little cell only five feet long and two and a half feet deep, where he studied and worked at his handicrafts. While Dunstan was living thus at Glastonbury he became the trusted adviser of the Lady Aethelflaeda, King Athelstan's niece, and at her death found himself in control of all her great wealth, which he used in later life to foster and encourage the monastic revival. About the same time his father Heorstan died, and Dunstan inherited his wealth also. He was now become a person of much influence, and on the death of King Athelstan in A.D. 940, the new king, Eadmund, summoned him to his court at Cheddar and numbered him among his councillors. Again the royal favour roused the jealousy of the courtiers, and they contrived so to enrage the king against him that he bade him depart from the court. However, a few days later, the king rode out to hunt the stag on the Mendips. He became separated from his attendants and followed a stag at great speed in the direction of the Cheddar cliffs. The stag rushed blindly over the precipice and was followed by the hounds. Eadmund endeavoured vainly to stop his horse; then, seeing death to be
12 imminent, he remembered his harsh treatment of Saint Dunstan and promised to make amends if his life were spared. At that moment his horse was stopped on the very edge of the gorge. Giving thanks to God, he returned to his palace, called for Dunstan and bade him follow, then rode straight to Glastonbury. Entering the church, the king first prayed before the altar, then, taking Dunstan by the hand, led him to the abbot’s throne and seated him thereon. He promised him every assistance in restoring Divine worship and regular obser- vance there. The Saint at once set vigorously to work at this task. He had to re-establish monastic life and to rebuild the abbey. His first care was to repair the Church of Saint Peter and the cloister, and restore the monastic enclosure. The secular affairs of the house were committed to his brother, Wulfric, “so that neither himself nor any of the professed monks need break enclosure.” A school for the local youth was founded and soon became the most famous of its time in the country. But Saint Dunstan was not long left in peace. Within two years of his appointment as abbot King Eadmund was assassinated (A.D.946). His successor, Eadred, appointed Dunstan guardian of the royal treasure. The policy of the government was supported by the king’s mother, Eadgifu, by the Archbishop Oda, and by the East Anglian party, at whose head was the great ealdorman, Aethelstan, the “Half-king.” It was a policy of unification, of conciliation towards the Danish portion of the nation, and of the firm establishment of the royal authority. In ecclesiastical matters it favoured the spread of regular observance, the rebuilding of churches, moral reform, and the extirpation of pagan beliefs. The West-Saxon party, which included most of Dunstan’s own relations and the Saxon nobles, was against all this ardour of reform. For nine years Saint Dunstan's influence was dominant, during which period he twice refused being consecrated a Bishop, affirming that he would not leave the king's side so long as he lived and needed him. In A.D. 955 Eadred died, and the situation changed. Eadwig, who then came to the throne, was a dissolute and headstrong youth, wholly devoted to the reactionary party and entirely under the influence of two unprincipled women. These were Aethelgifu, a lady of high rank, and her daughter Aelfgifu, whom her mother desired would wed the king. On the day of his coronation, the king abruptly left the royal feast, in order to enjoy the company of these women. The indignation of the assembled nobles was voiced by Archbishop Oda, who said that he should be brought back. None, however, were found bold enough to make the attempt save Dunstan and his kinsman Cynesige, Bishop of Lichfield. Entering the royal
13 chamber they found Eadwig with the two harlots, the royal crown thrown carelessly on the ground. They delivered their message, and as the king took no notice, Dunstan compelled him to rise and replace his crown on his head, then, sharply rebuking the two women, he led him back to the banquet hall. Aethelgifu determined to be revenged, and left no stone unturned to ensure Dunstan was overthrown. Conspiring with the leaders of the West-Saxon party she was soon able to persuade Eadwig to confiscate all Dunstan's property and make it over to her. Seeing his life was threatened the Saint fled the realm and crossed over to Flanders, where he found himself ignorant alike of the language and of the customs of the people. However, the ruler, Count Arnulf I, received him with honour and lodged him in the Abbey of Mont Blandin, near Ghent. This was one of the centres of the Benedictine revival in that country, and Saint Dunstan was able for the first time to observe the stricter observance that had had its renaissance at Cluny at the beginning of the century. But his exile was not of long duration. The Mercians and Northumbrians, able no longer to endure the excesses of Eadwig, revolted and drove him out, choosing his brother Edgar as king of all the country north of the Thames, the south remaining with Eadwig. Edgar's advisers at once recalled Saint Dunstan, caused Archbishop Oda to consecrate him bishop, and on the death of Cynewold of Worcester at the end of 957 appointed him to that see. In the following year the see of London was also widowed and Dunstan appointed there. In A.D.959, Eadwig died and his brother became king of the whole nation. Saint Oda had also died and the Archbishopric of Canterbury was conferred upon Dunstan, who went to Rome the following year and received the pallium from the Pope. On his return Dunstan at once regained his position as virtual ruler of the kingdom. By his advice Aelfstan was appointed to the see of London and Saint Oswald to that of Worcester. In A.D. 963 Saint Aethelwold, the Abbot of Abingdon, was con- secrated Bishop of Winchester. With their aid and with the ready support of King Edgar, Saint Dunstan pushed forward his reforms in Church and state. Throughout the realm good order was maintained and respect for law, and there was peace in the kingdom such as had not been known within the memory of the living. Monasteries were built, and parish priests were required to live chastely and to fit themselves for their office; they were urged to teach parishioners not only the truths of the Faith,but also such crafts as would improve their position. So for sixteen years the land prospered. In A.D.973the coronation of King Edgar at Bath by the two Archbishops of
14 Canterbury and York was celebrated. It is said that for seven years the king had been forbidden to wear his crown, as a penance for violating a virgin living in the care of the nuns of Wilton. However, only two years after his crowning Edgar died, and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward. His accession was disputed by his stepmother, Aelfthryth, who wished her own son Aethelred to reign. By the influence of Saint Dunstan, Edward was chosen. But the death of Edgar had given courage to the reactionary party. At once there was a determined attack upon the monastics and the protagonists of reform. Throughout Mercia they were persecuted and dispossessed by Aelfhere, the ealdorman. Their cause was supported by Aethelwine, the ealdorman of East Anglia, and so the realm was in serious danger of civil war. Three meetings of the Witan were held to settle these disputes, at Kyrtlington, at Calne, and at Amesbury. At Calne the floor of the hall where the Witan was sitting gave way, and all except Saint Dunstan, who clung to a beam, fell into the room below, some being killed. This was seen as a miraculous deliverance of Saint Dunstan and therefore a vindication of his policies. In March, A.D. 979, King Edward was slain, probably at the instigation of his stepmother, and Aethelred became king. His coronation was the last action of the state in which Saint Dunstan took part. He addressed the young king in solemn warning, denouncing the bloody act whereby he had become king and prophesying the misfortunes that were shortly to fall on the realm. He then retired to Canterbury where he spent the remainder of his life. Thrice only did he emerge from this retreat: once in A.D. 980 when he joined Aelfhere of Mercia in the solemn translation of the sacred relics of King Edward the Martyr from their grave at Wareham to Shaftesbury; again in A.D. 984 when, in obedi- ence to a vision of Saint Andrew, he persuaded Aethelred to appoint Saint Alphege to Winchester in succession to Saint Athelwold; and lastly in A.D. 986, when he induced the king to desist from perse- cuting the see of Rochester. His life was now spent in long hours of prayer and attending the Divine services. He still worked for the spiritual and temporal improvement of his people, building and restoring churches, establishing schools, judging suits, defending the widow and orphan, promoting peace, enforcing respect for purity. He also practised his handicrafts, and corrected the books in the cathe- dral library. He encouraged scholars and was unwearied as a teacher of the boys in the school. There is a mention in the earliest biography, written by his friend, that shows us the old man sitting among the lads, whom he treated so gently, and telling them stories of his early
15 days and of his forebears. Long after his death children prayed to him for protection against harsher teachers. On the vigil of Ascension Day, A.D. 988, he was warned by an angelic vision that he had but three days to live. On the feast itself he celebrated the Divine Liturgy and preached three times to the people. In his last address he announced his impending death and bade them farewell. That afternoon he chose the spot for his tomb then took to his bed. His strength failed rapidly, and on Saturday morning (19th May), after receiving holy Unction and the Divine Mysteries, he gave up his soul as he uttered the words of thanksgiving: “He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: He hath given food to them that fear Him.” They laid him to rest in his cathedral and when that was burnt down in A.D. 1074, his relics were translated to the new church. At the Synod of Winchester in A.D. 1029, Saint Dunstan's feast was appointed to be held solemnly on 19th May, but his shrine, like so many others, was destroyed at the Reformation. Saint Ypomoni (Patience) the Righteous has two feast days, 13th March and 29th May. In the world she was named Helen Dragaš, and later as the wife of Manuel II Palaiologos was called: “Helen, in Christ God Augusta and Empress of the Romans, Palai- ologos.” She was the daughter of Constantine Dragaš, one of the many leaders and inheritors of the large Serbian kingdom of Stefan Dusan. She came from a royal and blessed genealogy. Many of her ancestors were Saints. Her upbringing, education, and formation were greatly influenced by the Byzantine ideal. Above and beyond this, she was raised within the family tradition of an unshakeable Orthodox faith. This faith guided and illumined her, and would inspire her life which would be full of sorrows and trials. She was about nineteen years old when she married ManuelII Palaiologos (1390), a few days before his becoming Emperor. The new life of Helen from the beginning mani- fested itself as a Golgotha. Helen was shown to be an outstanding person who garnered many great virtues and spiritual strength. She showed that she had a total sense of her position and circumstances. She loved the people. She was the Great Mother whom anyone could approach. She shared in the anxieties and concerns of her fearful nation and whatever she did was accompanied by prayer, with her meek, sweet and consoling words. What was briefly written about the Empress by George Gemistos-Plethon was very characteristic and eloquent:“This Queen with much humility and perseverance appeared to address the two ways of life. Neither at the time of testing was she swayed, nor when she was granted rest, but in each case she did what
16 was required. She joined together intelligence and bravery, more than any other woman. She was distinguished for her chastity. She was deeply righteous and did not know how to do evil to anyone. Instead we know that she did much good to many. With what other way can righteousness be shown in practice, other than to never do your own will or show evil towards anyone, but only show good to many?” She proved worthy of her philosophical and Christ-loving husband, Manuel, and to work next to him for thirty-five years, in accordance with their martyrdom, in other words, everything was held in agreement and harmony, co-spirits of Christ in holiness of struggles. They managed to honour virtue with words and deeds. To this blessed couple God granted eight children. From the six boys two ascended the Imperial throne, John VIII and Constantine XI. Theodore, Deme- trius and Thomas became leaders of Mystra, and Andronikos of Thes- salonica. The two girls, however, passed away at a young age. The mother who had so many children and who loved them so much, nurtured them with the faith and the sweet teaching of our Orthodox Church, taking them to holy shrines and sacred Monasteries of the Kingdom, and sought prayers for them by the holy ascetics and elders. She raised them “in the law of the Lord from youth”, and never “ceased with tears of prayer and love to instil the law in each one.”. With patience and persistence, with care and prayer she shaped their characters, and together gave them both “life” and the “good life.” In this way, she managed, among other things, to end ninety years of conflict between the members of the Imperial Family. Any differences of opinion or conflicts that occurred (after the death of Manuel) were overcome silently with the prestige of her motherly intervention and her prayer. Her love of the monasteries was exceptionial. There she felt rest, her soul would rest, and she drew strength and courage for what would follow. This she imparted to her whole family. Her husband, who ceded the throne to his first-born son John two months before his death, joined the Pantocrator Monastery in Constantinople, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Matthew. She, after the death of her husband became a nun (1425) in the Monastery of Lady Martha, with the name Ypomoni (Patience). And three of their children became monks, Theodore and Andronikos (Monk Akakios) in the Pantocrator Monastery, and Demetrius (Monk David) in Didymoteicho. Furthermore, when visiting her homeland, together with her father she built the Holy Monastery of Panagia Pamma- karistos in Poganovo near the city of Demetrovgrand in southeast Serbia. In Constantinople she was associated with the Holy Monastery
17 of the Precious Forerunner of Petra, where the holy relic of Saint Patapius the Righteous Wonderworker was kept, to whom Saint Ypomoni showed a special reverence. The Monastery was founded by the fellow ascetic of Saint Patapius in Egypt, Vara the Righteous. Ypomeni’s reverence towards Saint Patapius is shown by the fact that the iconographer of the cave of Saint Patapius on the Geraneia Mountain of Corinth considered it essential to depict her next to the body of the Saint. Saint Ypomoni was a bright and illumined person, endowed with many talents, which she “traded” with wisdom and prudence and gained much; she managed with goodwill, asceticism and endurance to reach a full measure of virtue. Gennadios Schol- arios, the first Œcumenical Patriarch after the Sack of Constantinople, says of her: “This blessed Queen! - when she was visited by someone wise, he would leave amazed at her unique wisdom. When she met some ascetic, he would leave after the meeting, shamed by his poor virtue and humbled by her virtue. When she met someone intelligent, he would be struck by her greater intelligence. When she would meet with a legislator, they became more careful. When she spoke with some lawyer, they believed that they had before them the Rule of Law in practice. When someone brave would meet her, they would feel defeated, amazed by her patience, wisdom and strength of character. When she was approached by some philanthropist, they were struck by her greater and perceivable feeling of philanthropy. When she met some friend devoted to amusement, they would gain wisdom, and coming to know their humility before her, would repent. When she met some a zealot of piety, they would gain greater zeal. Every one suffering, after meeting with her, received some relief of their pain. Every arrogant person berated his great self-love. And in general there was no one who came into contact with her and did not become better.” God granted her not to live through the last tragic moments of the Empire. He called her close to Him on 13 th March, 1450, having lived thirty-five years as Empress and twenty-five years as a humble nun. Her servant John Eugenikos, the brother of Saint Mark, Archbishop of Ephesus, wrote: "As for your eternal Lady Mother, everything as long as she lived was excellent: faith, works, generation, her way of life, her words and everything together was pure and worthy of divine honour, and as she lived as a partaker of divine Providence, thus she ended.” “In patience she possessed her soul.” The holy skull of Saint Ypomoni is treasured today at the Holy Monastery of Saint Patapios in Loutraki near Corinth. ❇❇❇❇❇❇❇
18 POINTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE “WHY are the Catholics united under the Vatican and the Orthodox are divided? Don’t you think that is why the Vatican is ruling?” -N.J., Woking. FIRST OF ALL, the Roman Catholics (remember we are THE Catholics-they just misuse the name) are no longer in any way united; among them are conservatives, traditionalists, feminists, worshippers who include (particularly) South American pagan rituals and statuettes, LGBT protagonists, liberals, some who deny Francis is the true Pope - the list is endless. And most even of the relatively “normal” RCs, that one would likely meet in our neighbourhood, do not hold to much of the doctrine that their Church preached sixty years ago. Their unity is very superficial, but actually fundamentally it always has been. If you look at the history of Rome and ours, you see different emphases taking over. The Church on earth, of course, needs worldly organisation and institutions in order to exist here, but her heart has always been set on the heavenly. The bond of unity is not in the organisation or the establishment, but in the Faith. This is why the Orthodox place so much stress on holding to the True Faith. In the West there was a shift, and the unity was based on the organisation-to its being centred in Rome. The fact that for centuries two versions of the Creed (with and without the filioque) have been used among those adhering to Rome bears witness to this. Perhaps this occurred because while in the Greek-speaking Christian world there grew up four Patriarchates, the Latin West only ever had one. This maybe gave it an eminence it did not deserve. Added to that we had the growth of false beliefs (the Petrine claims) and legends (St Peter as the first Pope, Saint Sylvester's Donation of Constantine), etc. The whole structure took on a life of its own, gained political power, etc. All that lasted well until about two generations ago, but (a bit like the British Empire) the mystique is still there. Such is their ostensible strength of unity. In the Eastern world, as I have said, our emphasis is on unity of Faith. Not only organisationally did the early Church have four Patriarchates and the independent Churches of Cyprus and Georgia, but as her mission field spread, local churches were founded. Eventually as nations grew in those mission fields, each nation was allowed to run its own administration, but the unity of Faith
19 remained. This held good until about the beginning of the last century. Now the Œcumenical Patriarchate leadership and that of the Moscow Patriarchate are leading themselves and others in various ways to follow the more worldly course that led to Rome's ruin from an Orthodox point of view. We see the growth of ecumenical theories, worldly establishment confused with being canonical,courting worldly power, the growth of a more rampant nationalism. All this leads to following a this-worldly polity which is the opposite of Orthodoxy. It is because the strength of our unity lies in the Faith, that our community left the ROCA fourteen years ago, because we saw they were following a course which was breaking unity of faith with all our forebears in the Orthodox Church. Orthodox unity is not confined to the present, or to this world, but embraces all those who have gone before us to their rest. “My kingdom is not of this world.” Our Lord Jesus Christ q8r AFTER-THOUGHT: In any case, are we called to rule? TheSonof Man did not come to be served, but to serve (Mt. 20:28), and his followers were told, not that they should be distinguished by their authority, butby this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35).
q8r “TELL me: When you start taking Communion once a year, do you really think that in forty days you have enough time to cleanse your sins for the whole of this period? And then, after a week, you again give in to what you did before? Tell me: if you, having recovered for forty days of prolonged illness, then again took up the same food that caused you illness, would you not have lost your previous work? Obviously so. If it is so with physical health, then the more so with the moral … All forty, and often not forty, you dedicate to the health of the soul and then think that you have commended God? I am not saying this to prevent you from atarting out communing once a year, but I want you to always go to the Holy Mysteries.” St John Chrysostom, + 407 A.D
20 NEWSfromtheRichmondDioceseoftheChurch of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece
DEATH OF H.R.H. PRINCE PHILIP, THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH THE DEATH ofH.R.H. Prince Philip and records of his outstanding achievements have naturally been widely recorded in the newspapers, magazines and media. We make mention of him here because he was also a benefactor of our small Brookwood community. On three separate occasions he permitted the chari- table trusts which he operated to make donations to us, one in the very early days when we were still heavily involved in the relics dispute. This in fact helped us immensely in dismissing one of the specious claims made by those who tried to halt the enshrinement of Saint Edward’s sacred relics. We shall therefore always remember him as a benefactor and we ask our readers to keep him in their prayers.
SAINT EDWARD’S FEAST KEPT IN RUSSIA THE SPRING FEAST of Saint Edward was this year celebrated by one of the Bishops of our Sister Church, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad,His Grace Bishop Amvrosii of Kolomna, inthe Holy Trinity Church. One of the faithful living in Moscow, Tatiana Golitsyn, who grew up in England, reports that, when she heard the Bishop was celebrating the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on that day, she reminded him it was the feast of the martyrdom of Saint Edward. He told her that if she could provide a service for the Saint he would use it, and he did so. She told us that when she arrived at the church, she found that other parishioners there had had printed an icon of St Edward from the internet (quite large) and framed it. It can be quite clearly seen on the report of the celebration on the Internetsobor website,
21 EPISCOPAL VISITS TO LONDON OVER the Great Feast of the Annunciation, His Grace Bishop Sofronie of Suceava visited London, staying for more than a week and serving at theParish of the Annunciation in Naphill, High Wycombe. Our Bishop,Ambrose of Methoni, paid a much shorter visit at the same time, and the two Bishops concelebrated the Divine Liturgy on the day of the Annunciation at the Convent in Brondesbury Park.Naturally, due to the covid virus restrictions, only limited numbers of people were able to attend these services, but the hierarchs showed their archpastoral love for their peoples in this country by making such pastoral visits at a difficult time. On the day after the feast, after accompanying Bishop Ambrose to the airport, Bishop Sofronie kindly paid our Brotherhood a short visit.
BURIALS AT SAINT EDWARD’S CEMETERY ON 30th March / 12th April, Ania Kasp was laid to rest in our cemetery after the funeral service had been chanted at theRussian Orthodox Cathedral, Ennismore Gardens,London. Arch- priests Maxim Nikolsky and Joseph Skinner accompanied the deceased to Brookwood and laid her to rest here. ON 7th / 20th April, Ioanna Veitch, a convert to Orthodoxy who died at the age of 108, and was Fr Niphon’s godmother, was laid to rest here. The funeral had been chanted at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Aghia Sophia in Bayswater,and was led by her spiritual father, Archimandrite Theonas,who accompanied her to the grave. Her executor was herself elderly at the time of Ioanna’s death and felt unable to undertake that duty, and so the Brotherhood undertook to make the funeral arrangements. We are grateful to two women in Australia, Theodoraand Stavrosia, who contributed £145 to our costs,and to Fr Theonas who brought us a plentiful supply of Commandaria wine for our Liturgies. ON 10th / 23rd April,Ludmila Moskaleva was laid to rest here after the funeral had been chanted at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London. Again Archpriest Joseph Skinner was the priest who served. May our Saviour grant rest with the saints to His departed handmaidens, Ania, Ioanna, and Ludmila, and grant comfort to those who mourn their passing.
22 VISITORS BESIDES individuals and couples who regularly ask to see the church now that they are taking their exercise in the cemetery, a group of a dozenSerbian Orthodox Christiansvisited us on Saturday 10th April, after attending a burial in the neighbouring Serbian section of the cemetery. They showed a lively interest in the church and spent about an hour with us.
THE DRIVEWAY THE driveway renovation project is now all but completed, with only a few minor things to attend to. The area around the mortuary building has been bordered with setts and tarmacked, and the driveway into the part of the cemetery which we are using, along the front of the monastery house, has also been set off with setts and tarmacked. Earlier it was little more than a track. Prior to this considerable work was done on improving the drainage system. Our thanks are due to Nicholas Gray of Grayscapeswho worked tirelessly in organising this and working on it. ❇ ❇❇❇❇❇❇ PRACTICAL TIP ALWAYS bear in mind, particularly those of you who are parents, godparents or have the responsibility of guiding others, that Orthodoxy does not work just as a garnish!Let us explain. Having the graves of Orthodox peoples from the numerous national and ethnic backgrounds represented in this country, we often meet their younger relatives and descendants. Many of these are only nominally Orthodox if at all, and many more are lapsed. But in speaking to them we realise time and time again that the poor souls were never instructed in the Faith, taught to pray, shown how to understand the services. They never had the blessing of joint family prayers, nor spiritual reading with their parents, nor were they given an impetus to search out the meaning of things. Any moral instruction was rudimentary and rarely linked to the Gospel teaching. So they were not really given any insight into the Kingdom into which
23 they had been baptised, nor any motivation to respond to the love of its King, our Saviour. More often they were schooled in a nostalgia for a country they had never known, or taught the importance of a language that their grandparents spoke, but which was not really useful in Alperton or wherever, except perhaps as a means of gaining another A-level. The real value of those languages (something in fact worth a king’s ransom!) - to search out the richness of the spiritual treasures in the cultures of their forebears was never opened to them. They were, of course, brought up to get on in the world, to go to university, to have a wide variety of sporting, leisure and social activities; to look after their health, to make a success of their life and enjoy it. Such things cannot and must not be totally denied and have their place. We are not Puritans. But when it came to the thing of paramount importance to them, their Faith and its riches, their hope of salvation, they were left only with a few customs, some genuinely Orthodox, others bordering on superstition (you must die holding a candle!), and sets of rules, again some genuine but some which probably defy any explanation (you must wear a suit in church!). All these things were just a garnish on top of the normal materialistic life of the unbelievers around us, and a very far cry from setting Jeru- salem -our church life - above all other, as at the head of one’s joy (Ps.136:8). Try to the very best of your ability to make sure you do not leave your children a like dud inheritance. hhhhhhh “IT is absolutely necessary that each Orthodox Christian have a knowledge of the content of his faith and its basic truths: the dogma of the Trinity, Divine Love, the Incarnation, the saving death and Resurrection of the Saviour, and the future destiny of the world and of mankind, etc. These questions are not something distant and insignificant; rather they are vital and important to us, for the whole meaning of life hangs upon their answers.” St Philaret the New Confessor, + 1985 A.D.
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