The Miracle of the Holy Fire - God's Encouragement to Christians following the rise of Islam

"Miracles come when they are needed, and it seems that the Holy Fire first came when it was needed most — during the time of the Islamic oppression of the Church, when the Christians suffering under the yoke of Muhammad most needed confirmation that their faith in the crucified and risen Christ was true." — Fr. Lawrence Farley

Today, May 2, 2019, the Holy Fire arrived at a wonderful parish I am closely connected to, by circumstance and by the heart. Alas, I could not travel to be with them to greet and receive the Holy Fire, brought all the way from Jerusalem, but it did spur me on to read up on the annual Miracle of the Holy Fire.

In doing so, I came across a typically wonderful article by Fr Lawrence Farley. It is his quote at the top of this post, and his observation is no less true today than it was when the Sword of Islam cut its wide and bloody swath across the Christian world, decimating churches and slaughtering and subjugating Christians across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, and even into Western Europe, the Balkans, Italy, and Russia.

Today, 80% of the countries where Christians suffer the worst persecution are Muslim majority and/or an Islamic dictatorship. Muslim persecution of Christians worldwide jumped almost 15% from 2017 to 2018, also according to Open Doors' World Watch List.

Christians in the West and in the USA and Canada are being increasingly pressured to acquiesce to the secular agenda. While open persecution of Christians in America has recently been highlighted by lawfare against Christian bakers and florists, outbursts of demonic hatred against Christians is encountered everywhere. Just recently, the peaceful Abbot Tryphon of Vashon Island was assaulted by a tormented soul who saw his cross and could not hold back his venom, and truly like a serpent, struck a potentially deadly sucker punch without any warning.

So, the Holy Fire remains with us, a visible annual miracle, a gift from God to bolster the faith of Christians the world over.

More sucker punches — and Muslim jihad terror attacks — are surely coming. Just ask the persecuted Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere.

But for now, let us give thanks for this powerful miracle.

What Good is the Holy Fire?

May 15, 2017 · Fr. Lawrence Farley, No Other Foundation

The so-called “Holy Fire” is the name given to the fire that appears on ends of the candles of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and others every Holy Saturday. The Patriarch, accompanied by a church crammed filled with others, awaits for the annual miracle every Holy Saturday. On that day the Patriarch strips himself of his holy robes and enters the Tomb of Christ with a bundle of unlit tapers, says certain prayers, and then awaits for his tapers to be miraculously lit from heaven. He is not disappointed: his tapers are miraculously lit every year and he emerges from the Tomb with the flame to the tumultuous shouting of everyone in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Pakistani Historian: 'Muslims Of The World... Have No Religious Basis To Rule Jerusalem'

"After the 'Conquest of Mecca,' Muslims were told to turn their faces toward Kaaba and away from Jerusalem. They have never faced their loyalty toward Jerusalem after that, for the last 1,400 years...  Muslims of the world, therefore, have no religious basis to rule Jerusalem. "

After Trump's Recognition Of Jerusalem As Israel's Capital, Pakistani Historian Mobarak Haidar Writes: 'Muslims Of The World... Have No Religious Basis To Rule Jerusalem'

MEMRI, Special Dispatch No. 7214, December 7, 2017:

After U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, on December 6, 2017, Mobarak Haidar (above), renowned Pakistani historian and author of multiple books, wrote the following on his Facebook page: [1]

"Jerusalem And Muslim Claims

"The Holy Koran spoke of Al-Aqsa Mosque when it was not a 'mosque' in the Islamic sense. It was a holy place because of the prophets of Israel, from Moses to Jesus. It was the holy spot of worship for Jews and Christians. Obviously, there were no Muslims in the city of Jerusalem till the era of Emir-ul-Momineen Umar ibn Khattab... The Prophet [Muhammad] and his followers prayed with their faces toward this Jewish-Christian holy temple because Kaaba (the present center of Islamic Hajj) was full of idols.

"After the 'Conquest of Mecca,' Muslims were told to turn their faces toward Kaaba and away from Jerusalem. They have never faced their loyalty toward Jerusalem after that, for the last 1,400 years. No Muslim ever went to pray in Jerusalem till it was conquered by the second caliph [Umar ibn Khattab], although there was no restriction on Muslims. They do not go there today because it was no longer their center.

Lenten Pop-Quiz #2: What Orthodox Saint condemned Islam as 'the abomination of desolation clearly foretold to us by the prophets'?

He also wrote of the Muslims: "Those God-fighters boast of prevailing over all, assiduously and unrestrainably imitating their leader, who is the devil..."

Hint: He was the author of the Life of St Mary of Egypt, and was Patriarch of Jerusalem during the First Wave of Islamic Jihad immediately after the death of Muhammad.

The Answer:  St Sophronius (commemorated March 11)

St Sophronius' descriptions of barbaric Muslim attacks on churches, monasteries, villages and fields, of their tearing down of the crosses and blaspheming the Name of Jesus Christ, give the lie to revisionist histories foisted today on our schoolchildren and in our universities that claim Islam advanced peacefully in its early years, spread by Muslim preachers and welcomed by local populations.

No, Sophronius and contemporaries also writing in the seventh century make clear that Islam spread by the sword, just as is commanded in the Koran:

Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth [i.e. Islam] among the people of the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Sura 9:29) 

Kill the mushrikun [unbelievers] wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. (Sura 9:5) 

I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes. (Sura 8:12) 

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the enemies of Allah and your enemies. (Sura 8:60)

St Sophronius set an eternal example for all Christians (but especially for clergy and bishops) by bravely confessing Jesus Christ and the True Faith during the horrific invasions by the bloodthirsty Arab Muslims in the late 630s following the death of Muhammad. His efforts to ensure peace and preserve the churches and shrines of the Holy City are recounted in this vignette from his Life:

"Toward the end of his life, St Sophronius and his flock lived through a two year siege of Jerusalem by the Moslems. Worn down by hunger, the Christians finally agreed to open the city gates, on the condition that the enemy spare the holy places. But this condition was not fulfilled, and St Sophronius died in grief over the desecration of the Christian holy places." (Source)

5 Middle East Churches That Could Cease to Exist If Islamic State Influence Continues to Spread

A high-level overview of five of the local Christian Church communions most severely threatened by the 21st-century resurgence of pure Islam. 

Coptic Icon of Jesus Christ, Pantocrator

The below article is a welcome contribution to the education of American Protestants and Evangelicals, some of whom do not consider Eastern Christians of any kind to be true Christians. This is also a great help for us in our daily prayers for those being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. 

At the same time, it must be noted that the thumbnail sketches in the Christian Post article below concerning non-Chalcedonian Christology do not do justice to the theology of these "Oriental" churches. Further reading for an expanded understanding of this issue is highly recommended.

Therefore, immediately below are links to related articles which explore in far greater depth the question over the "non-Chalcedonian" Christian Churches.

_______

THE NON-CHALCEDONIAN CHURCHES:

Regarding the division which occurred after the Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451, and recent efforts to examine anew the faith of the non-Chalcedonian churches, see the following:

• RECENT EFFORTS FOR UNITY BETWEEN THE TWO FAMILIES OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH - Coptic.net
• VARIOUS DOCUMENTS CONCERNING EASTERN ORTHODOX AND ORIENTAL ORTHODOX JOINT COMMISSION AND UNITY - Orthodox Joint Commission
• Beyond Dialogue: The Quest for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Unity Today - Rev. John Erickson, Dean, St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

The report at Coptic.net linked above begins with this statement:

Since 451, at the Council of Chalcedon,  there has been a division within the Orthopdox [sic] Church due to different Christological terminology. In recent times, members  of the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches  have met together coming to a clear understanding that both  families have always loyally maintained the same authentic Orthodox Christological faith, and the unbroken  continuity of  the apostolic tradition, though they may have used Christological terms in different ways. It is this common faith and continuous loyality [sic] to the apostolic tradition  that has been the basis of the conversations held over the last two decades towards unity and communion.

For a traditionalist Orthodox response to recent dialogues between Orthodox and non-Chalcedonian churches, see:

• Eastern Orthodoxy and "Oriental Orthodoxy" - Orthodox Christian Information Center

As for my own view of the non-Chalcedonian question, I give thanks to God for all things, even for our sufferings and for this new age of global Christian persecution, for it enables each one of us to confess Jesus Christ, and to prove our love for Him and our faith in Him. Regardless of semantic differences in the theological expression of our faith in Jesus Christ, we are united at the very least by a communion of blood, a communion of the Cross, a communion of martyrdom.

See also:

• What is an Assyrian Christian?
• What is an Armenian Christian?

_______

5 Middle East Churches That Could Cease to Exist If Islamic State Influence Continues to Spread
Christian Post via Pravmir — August 24, 2015

There are Christian churches throughout the Middle East that trace their roots back to the time of the apostles that could cease to exist if Islamic State and other radical Muslim groups continue to gain control of more territory in the region.

The Islamic State Caliphate: Darkness falls across the Middle
East, North Africa, Central Asia, and on into Europe.

Author George J. Marlin, who is also chairman of the Board of Aid to the Church in Need USA, recently released a book titled Christian Persecutions in the Middle East, which not only discusses the growing threat to believers in the region, but also provides the history of many of the churches that have existed in the Middle East since the time of the apostles that could now be facing extinction at the hands of Muslim extremists.

Listed below are five of those churches.

1. The Syrian Orthodox Church

The Syrian Orthodox Church came into its modern formation when Syrian Christians rejected decrees made by the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Western Christian Churches at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. The Council acknowledged that Christ has two natures, divine and human, which come together in one person.

(PHOTO: REUTERS/MAJED JABER. Jordanian Christian clerics hold a mass at the Syriac Orthodox Church in Amman, May 21, 2013.

In an attempt to hold onto their beliefs about Christ, which state that He is one nature of full humanity and full divinity, Syrian Christians regrouped under their own bishops and broke away from the established church.

The Syrian Orthodox Church traces its origins back to the church of Antioch found in the New Testament and considers St. Paul its first Bishop. The head of the Syrian Orthodox Church today is known as the “Patriarch of the God-protected City of Antioch and of all the Domain of the Apostolic Throne.” He is elected by fellow bishops and must be celibate. The patriarch resides in Damascus and the church has archdioceses in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Palestine.

Today, the Syrian Orthodox Church has 5 million members worldwide.

2. The Coptic Orthodox Church

The Coptic Orthodox Church — Coptic meaning Egyptian — traces its roots back to A.D. 42 when St. Mark the Apostle first brought Christianity to Egypt. Monophysitism, the belief that Christ has a single divine nature, first took root in Egypt and was embraced by the head of the church and patriarch of Alexandria, Dioscorus.

'Islamic State in Palestine' tells Christians to leave by Ramadan’s end or be killed

Many Palestinian Christians stand in solidarity with their Muslims neighbors, yet this report from East Jerusalem, together with threats against Christians throughout the Palestinian territories, make it clear that Islamic supremacism is overwhelming whatever tolerant attitudes local Muslims used to hold for their Christian neighbors.

See also: Muslim Persecution of Christians worsens in Israel & Palestinian Territories; Influence of Islamic State grows

A Chilling Message Was Sent to Christians from the ‘Islamic State in Palestine’

by Sharona Schwartz, The Blaze, June 28, 2015 (via Jihad Watch):

A group calling itself the “Islamic State in Palestine” spread fliers in east Jerusalem warning Christians who live there to brace themselves for “revenge,” an Israeli television station reported.

Israel’s Channel 10 television reported Thursday that it was the first time such a leaflet attributed to the Islamic State group was distributed threatening Christian residents of Jerusalem. The text of the message vowed to take “revenge” on “heretics.”

According to the Jewish Press, the flier threatened Christians that they would be killed if they did not leave by the end of the current Muslim holiday month of Ramadan.

St Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (March 11)

"Toward the end of his life, St Sophronius and his flock lived through a two year siege of Jerusalem by the Moslems. Worn down by hunger, the Christians finally agreed to open the city gates, on the condition that the enemy spare the holy places. But this condition was not fulfilled, and St Sophronius died in grief over the desecration of the Christian holy places." (OCA.org)

Sophronius made numerous references to Islam and Muslim atrocities against Christians in his writings and sermons. You can explore these and more in my earlier post, St Sophronius, Confessor and Defender of Orthodoxy during the First Islamic Jihad.  In my introductory comments, I note the following:

The importance of Sophronius' testimony cannot be overstated, as his references to Islam demonstrate the unbroken continuity between the ferocity and cruelty of Muhammad's first followers, and the bloodthirsty jihadists of today, who are striving to eradicate Christianity from the Middle East, and impose Islam upon the whole world, as commanded by their false prophet and their satanic Quran.

SAINT SOPHRONIUS, PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM Commemorated March 11 from The Prologue of Ochrid Online Sophronius was born in Damascus of distinguished parents. Having acquired worldly wisdom, he was, nevertheless, not satisfied but went to seek and acquire spiritual wisdom.  In the monastery [Lavra] of St. Theodosius, he found himself in the company of a monk, John Moschus, whom he choose for his teacher, and together with him traveled about and visited monasteries and those ascetics in Egypt who were practicing the life of asceticism. His watch word was, "Each day learn more about spiritual wisdom." All that they had learned they wrote down and later published two books under the title, "Spiritual Meadow."

Muslim leader in Israel: “Entire earth” will be “subordinate” to caliphate

Joins numerous Muslim world leaders and clerics in predicting Islam's ultimate victory over the entire world.  

via Robert Spencer,  Jihad Watch — October 26, 2014

Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself once said: “Have no doubt… Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world.” 

Sheik Ali Al-Faqir, former Jordanian minister of religious endowment, said this on Al-Aqsa TV on May 2, 2008: “We proclaim that we will conquer Rome, like Constantinople was conquered once…” 

Hamas MP and Islamic cleric Yunis Al-Astal said this, also on Al-Aqsa TV, on April 11, 2008: “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad.”

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most prominent and renowned imam in the world, in writing about “signs of the victory of Islam,” referred to a hadith: 

“The Prophet Muhammad was asked: ‘What city will be conquered first, Constantinople or Romiyya?’ He answered: ‘The city of Hirqil [i.e. the Byzantine emperor Heraclius] will be conquered first’ – that is, Constantinople”¦ Romiyya is the city called today ‘Rome,’ the capital of Italy. The city of Hirqil [that is, Constantinople] was conquered by the young 23-year-old Ottoman Muhammad bin Morad, known in history as Muhammad the Conqueror, in 1453. The other city, Romiyya, remains, and we hope and believe [that it too will be conquered]. This means that Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice – once from the South, from Andalusia, and a second time from the East, when it knocked several times on the door of Athens.”

_____

Israeli Islamist Leader Kamal Khatib: Jerusalem Will Be Caliphate Capital; PA TV Cuts Interview Off 

MEMRI, October 17, 2014:

In an interview with the official PA TV channel, Sheik Kamal Khatib, deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said: “Jerusalem will not be only the capital of the Palestinian state, but also the capital of the coming righteous Islamic caliphate.” After he repeated his views several times and said that “the entire Earth” would “become subordinate to the Islamic caliphate one day”, PA TV cut the interview short.

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on October 17, 2014.

Interviewer: Let us first watch what you said at the Al-Aqsa Mosque this week.

Kamal Khatib: I have said it before, and I say it again: Allah willing, Jerusalem will not be only the capital of the Palestinian state, but also the capital of the coming righteous Islamic caliphate…

Crowd member: Say: “Allah Akbar!”

Crowd: Allah Akbar!

'JERUSALEM' Omnimax Film: Observations from an Orthodox Christian Priest

"We rarely hear of the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. The Muslims did not inhabit Jerusalem peacefully or by way of invitation in the 7th century.  If the Crusades are always criticized for that very reason, we need to restore a sense of historical balance..."


'JERUSALEM' - The Omnimax Film

Observations by an Orthodox Christian Priest, followed by my comments.

October 20, 2014

(Source confidential and shall remain anonymous)

Visit the website for the film to view the trailer and find showtimes in your area.

...The commentary [of the film] was clearly made to be as non-controversial as possible. In fact, although paying a bit of "lip service" to the endless historical conflicts that have been so much a part of Jerusalem's history, the text of the commentary was committed to convincing us that Jews, Christians, and Muslims can live openly and peacefully in such close proximity.

Fair enough. In today's fractured and conflict-torn world, we should realize by now that profound differences of faith and practice need not undermine the essential qualities of mutual respect and tolerance. And one does not have to be a relativist to embrace such a perspective. 

The more that a believer is secure in his/her own faith, the more this could become a reality underlying human relationships. After all, we are not talking about winning a religious debate, but simply about living together peacefully. Fanaticism and aggressive non-tolerance of the "other" could serve as cover-up for a deeper insecurity, in which the "enemy" is anyone with a world-view challenging and/or shaking that of the intolerant believer. And enemies must be destroyed before they tempt "our people" into deviating from the group's beliefs. Again, I am simply raising this issue on the religious level - and not on a political level and the use or non-use of force...

And to abandon all political correctness, I must point out that we rarely hear of the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. The Muslims did not inhabit Jerusalem peacefully or by way of invitation in the 7th c. If the Crusades are always criticized for that very reason, we need to restore a sense of historical balance...

Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah: Christians are aware that they will be persecuted in this world

The title sounds Christocentric and authentic, but as one reads through the entire text, one finds this to be a deeply conflicted message, mixing Christian teachings with Islamic nationalistic statements such as this:

"...These countries are our countries, the land is our land, the holy places are our places, and we are a fundamental part of their civilization. It is also because they want to rob our countries and our people of their civilizational, religious, spiritual and cultural identity, including the culture of Muslim-Christian religious coexistence in its Eastern Orthodox dimension... 

"We must likewise work persistently to hold on to and defend our national and ecclesiastical rights, no matter the obstacles that face us, demanding that we compromise our legitimate right to establish the State of Palestine with its capital in Jerusalem and a revival in our national Orthodox church through the participation of the people of this country in managing the affairs of their church and preserving a living Christian presence in our Holy Land."

See the torment caused by Islam? How it distorts Christian thinking into believing Islam, Fatah and Hamas are partners to the Church?  The idea expressed above of "the culture of Muslim-Christian religious coexistence in its Eastern Orthodox dimension" is incoherent nonsense born of centuries of Christians living as third-class dhimmis under Islamic oppression. A spiritual osmosis has taken place, the people of Jesus now infected with the germ of jihad, the equating of religion with territory, of linking a national Orthodox church with Palestinian Statehood with a Jerusalem capitol, of Christians as victims defending their "rights."

The very Muslims whom Archimandrite Christophoros thinks are his thoughtful ("tafkiri") allies today in creating a "State of Palestine," will tomorrow join the "takfiri" Islamic State Caliphate (or its successor) in finishing the final cleansing of the Middle East of all Christians, per the command of the prophet of Islam himself, Muhammad, recorded in a 'sound' hadith:

"I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslims." (Sahih Muslim 4366)

But not all is bad! This is a message with much to commend it; so much is written and phrased so perfectly, yet portions of it startle us as completely anti-Christian. It is at best a minefield, which I fear will confuse the faithful who may come across it without any benefit of context.

In sharp contrast to Archimandrite Christophoros' call for syncretistic nation building, seizing Jerusalem, and establishing a Palestinian State in alliance with Hamas, recall the description of first century Christians as recounted in the Epistle to Diognetus:

They love all men though they are persecuted by all. They are put to death yet they are restored to life... They are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor they are glorified...  

They dwell in their own countries but simply as sojourners. As citizens they share in all things with others yet they endure all things as foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country and every land of their birth a land of strangers...

God help us to avoid the infinite traps and temptations being spread by the enemy of mankind!

Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah: Christians are aware that they will be persecuted in this world

Notes on Arab Orthodoxy via Pravmir — August 9, 2014

O Christians of the Middle East,

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).

When we look at what is happening in Syria, Iraq, Gaza [where Hamas is launching missiles at Israeli civilians from Orthodox churches] and many of the countries around us and the international silence accompanying it, which is more deadly than instruments of death and destruction, we are confronted with a single fact: the breakdown of the moral, ethical, spiritual and humanitarian order in our world. This is the catastrophe.

The Governor Pontius Pilate, who knew that Jesus had been unjustly handed over for death by the Jews, believed that by washing his hands before the people he would exculpate himself from the sin and crime of giving the Lord and Savior over to death. Today this Pilate-like thinking and behavior has spread and become an approach and an attitude (making an excuse of sin) as though a power that is satanic wants to replace light with darkness, truth with falsehood, religion with ignorance, humanity with bestiality, things divine with things satanic. However, beloved, no matter how much the darkness rules, falsehood and injustice spread, ignorance becomes general, the barbarity of killing and destruction grows and Satan rules the world through people whose consciences are darkened and whose hearts are filled with hate, no matter how much evil conquers, there is an end to all this history. As long as there are hearts that believe in God, that know the truth, and that live love, the resurrection is inevitably coming.

Islamic Conference in Italy: Al-Aqsa Mosque imam urges Muslim countries to destroy Israel

MEMRI, via Jihad Watch — April 27, 2014

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Al-Aqsa Mosque Imam Raed Al-Daan, in an Islamic Conference in Milan, Italy, which aired on Al-Jazeera Network, on April 27, 2014:

Raed Al-Danna: In Gaza, I see orphans who have sprouted wings. In Gaza, there are great and proud men, whose feet are firmly planted in the ground, who have realized that darkness and the Jewish state would vanish, and that the morning sun will rise on Palestine.

[…]

We will return to the sea of Jaffa, to the sands of Haifa, to the palm trees of Beit Shean, and to the hills of Lod and Ramla. We in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque await the legions of the conquerors. We await the armies from Tunisia, from Jordan, from Egypt, from Iraq, from the Maghreb, and from the Hijaz.

We await a Muslim leader, whose voice we yearn to hear, shouting to the liberating armies in the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard: You must say the afternoon prayer only in Safed, Haifa, or Jaffa. You must say the afternoon prayer only in Lod and Ramla.

Crowd member: Allah Abkar. All praise be to Allah.

St Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem

Confessor and Defender of Orthodoxy during the First Wave of Islamic Jihad

_______

CONTENTS

1. Introduction, by Ralph H. Sidway
2. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, References to Islam
3. Life of St Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
4. The Last Ancient Patriarch of Jerusalem: Saint Sophronius, by Robert Shaffern

_______

1. Introduction - The Continuity of Jihad, from Sophronius' Time to Our Own
by Ralph H. Sidway

Orthodox Christians are likely most familiar with St Sophronius through his Life of St Mary of Egypt, which is prescribed to be read in church in its entirety on Thursday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent, in conjunction with the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. But Patriarch Sophronius is no less important for his other spiritual and liturgical works, which are referenced in sections 3 and 4 below.

Sophronius lived during a time of horrific upheaval. His references to the first Islamic invasion of Palestine and Jerusalem of the latter 630s provides us with a trustworthy, eyewitness account of the merciless brutality of the Muslims (referred to in antiquity as "Saracens"), which we see again sweeping the world in our own day in Islam's renewed war against Christians. Note below Sophronius' reference to the establishment of mosques by the Muslims.

The Life of St Sophronius (section 3, below) relates his hope that surrendering Jerusalem would win clemency from the Muslims, and how that hope was dashed:

Toward the end of his life, St Sophronius and his flock lived through a two year siege of Jerusalem by the Moslems. Worn down by hunger, the Christians finally agreed to open the city gates, on the condition that the enemy spare the holy places. But this condition was not fulfilled, and St Sophronius died in grief over the desecration of the Christian holy places.

Current Headlines in the Counter-Jihad Section

Some of these won't make it to the mainstream media, so here you go, a sobering collection of stories to check out:

Muslim Brotherhood Delegates Skipped Airport Inspections - Breitbart News

New Jersey: Muslim freed from pipe at water treatment plant, faces criminal charges - Jihad Watch, with background on recent jihad threats against American water supplies.

He "purposely climbed a six-foot fence with three or four layers of barbed wire on top."

Benghazi timeline: Obama missed intel briefing five days in a row before jihad attack - Jihad Watch, with graphic comparing timeline of events in Banghazi with Obama's schedule.

The Benghazi Transcripts: Top Defense officials briefed Obama on ‘attack,’ not video or protest - FoxNews

NSA collects millions of text messages daily; DOJ forbids agents from singling out Muslims in counterterror investigations - Jihad Watch

This surveillance scandal arises out of our national bipartisan unwillingness to face the reality of Islamic jihad. Because we all agree that Islam is a religion of peace, we can't possibly address where the threat is really coming from, and monitor mosques or subject Muslims with Islamic supremacist ties to greater surveillance. Instead, we have to pretend that anyone and everyone is a potential terrorist, and surveil everyone. Our freedoms and privacy are now at risk because of our refusal to admit the truth about Islam.

Palestinian Authority calls for Jihad on Jerusalem - The Blaze, with video

The Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple

Perhaps this unique and mystical feast of the Virgin Mary might be a portal through which Muslims might come to know Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Because Muslims venerate Mary (Miriam), and retain awareness of the virgin birth of Jesus (Isa), they might be intrigued and drawn to learn the truth about Jesus and His Most Pure Mother, specifically, why the Virgin Birth is a sign of the divinity of Christ, as Isaiah says:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

As the Evangelist Matthew tells us in his gospel (1:23), Immanuel means "God with us," and the meaning is clear. God becomes incarnate, taking on human nature, in the person of Jesus.

Regarding the Feast of the Entrance of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, into the Temple, this excerpt from an article by a monk at St Tikhon's Monastery (published in the book, These Truths We Hold) conveys some of the depth and fulfillment contained therein:

The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (Nov. 21) 

Soon after the beginning of the Nativity Fast (Advent), the Holy Church celebrates the Feast of the Entrance of the Most-Holy Theotokos [Birthgiver of God] into the Temple. Here we encounter the holiness of Mary a small child separated from the world, brought to live in the Temple a life set apart, consecrated, and in a state of intimacy with God something that all of us are called to be.  

We also see in this Feast a comparison between the Temple of stone and Mary, the Living Temple, the Temple of the Savior. For she will bear God the Word, the God-Man, in her womb, thus showing herself to be a holier Temple than that at Jerusalem. It is the Living Temple, the instrument of the Incarnation, which sanctifies the Temple built of stone... 

How Historic Revisionism Justifies Islamic Terrorism

This is yet another example of one of the core aspects of Raymond Ibrahim's essential work, namely correcting the historical fallacies which have been crippling the West's understanding of Islam for over a century now and especially recently. 

Following Mr. Ibrahim's article I provide just one example from many of Orthodox chroniclers which disprove the politically-correct fantasy that seventh century Christians welcomed the Muslim invaders as 'liberators'.


How Historic Revisionism Justifies Islamic Terrorism
by Raymond Ibrahim — 10/30/2013

“Muslim freedom fighters” accompanies this picture appearing on a

UK Standard report on Syria, rehashing an old but false motif.

How important, really, is history to current affairs?  Do events from the 7th century—or, more importantly, how we understand them—have any influence on U.S. foreign policy today?

By way of answer, consider some parallels between academia’s portrayal of the historic Islamic jihads and the U.S. government’s and media’s portrayal of contemporary Islamic jihads.

While any objective appraisal of the 7th century Muslim conquests proves that they were just that—conquests, with all the bloodshed and rapine that that entails—the historical revisionism of modern academia, especially within Arab and Islamic studies departments, has led to some portrayals of the Muslim conquerors as “freedom-fighters” trying to “liberate” the Mideast from tyrants and autocrats. (Beginning to sound familiar?)

Today’s approach to teaching the history of the Muslim conquests of the 7th century is something as follows: Yes, the Mideast was Christian, but local Christians helped Arab Muslims invade and subjugate their countries in preference to Christian Byzantine rule, which was oppressive due to doctrinal disagreements over the nature of Christ.  Hence, the Muslim conquerors were actually “liberators.”

This perspective, as with many modern Western perspectives concerning Islam, is a product of modern day epistemic distortions, chief among them: 1) repackaged narratives of the “noble savage” myth—yes, 7th century Muslim invaders were coarse, but had elevated ideals, including a fierce love for freedom and religious tolerance in comparison to Christians of the time (not to mention now); and 2) entrenched political correction that seeks to whitewash the true history of Islam followed by the uncritical acceptance of Islamic apologetics, some of which border on the absurd.

Of course, before the Islamic “liberator” thesis had become mainstream, historians such as Alfred Butler, author of The Arab Conquest of Egypt, had this to say about it:

Pro-Morsi demonstration at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem: U.S., France, Britain to be destroyed, Rome to be conquered

The 'Religion of Peace' holding a rally in the City of Peace.  Lord have mercy...

Do scroll all the way to the bottom for the final punch line...

from MEMRI via Jihad Watch

There were also calls for the restoration of the caliphate. The caliphate is supposed to be the unitary state in which every Muslim is a citizen. In Sunni theology, only the caliph is authorized to wage offensive jihad -- which is one reason (but not the only reason) why in the current absence of a caliph all jihads are justified by endless grievance-mongering. All jihad is currently defensive, so the grievances have to be retailed.

This crowd also repeated the genocidal and anti-Semitic "Khaybar" war chant.

“Pro-Morsi Demonstration at Al-Aqsa Mosque: U.S., France, Britain to Be Destroyed, Rome to Be Conquered” 
from MEMRI, July 12:

Following are excerpts from a pro-Morsi demonstration held outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which was posted on the Internet on July 12, 2013:

Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May America be destroyed.

Crowd: Allah Akbar.

Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May France be destroyed.

Crowd: Allah Akbar. May France be destroyed.

Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May Rome be conquered.

Crowd: Allah Akbar. May Rome be conquered.

Russian Church in Bethany meets Muslim resistance

ROCOR, via Byzantine TX
For more photos, visit the ROCOR source.

This year, Orthodox Christians in Bethany, near Jerusalem, suffered serious tribulations: Palestinian Muslim organizations began to build illegally right on the property of the church. At first they began on the property of a Greek monastery, now on a Russian parcel containing a branch of Gethsemane Convent with a monastic community, girls’ school and orphanage. The intercession of Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem did not meet with success: the first floor of a commercial building on the Greek plot is already operational. The Palestinian authorities could not prevent its construction, though they issued an order prohibiting it. The builders warned: anyone who tried to destroy the building would not live to see it happen. Such threats in the Muslim world are not idle. The Palestinian Authority has a very definite attitude towards Christianity: conversion to Islam is welcomed and rewarded, conversion to Christianity earns death. Since the Palestinian Authority is not yet an independent Muslim sovereignty, Christians are not massacred by the family, as they are in Syria and Egypt, but illegal seizure of Christian property, be it Greek or Russian, is an ominous phenomenon. Only this year, this began in the outskirts of Jerusalem. Islamists who began to build on the property of a Greek Church were emulated by some who began to build around a Russian parcel by three of its neighbors, one of them building right on Russian-owned land. Not only are they arrogant, but they have financial backing as well. Without a doubt, the roof of one of these new four-story buildings will soon be crowned with a minaret, most likely on the land of the Russian Bethany Community. The system of to building mosques next to churches is an age-old tradition. We even see this at the tomb of Righteous Lazarus in Bethany: a mosque stands closer to it than either an Orthodox or Catholic church. The mosque was erected in the middle ages, but is constantly renovated. Pilgrims see the same thing in the city of Lydda, near the Church of St George the Victory-Bearer, and in Abu-Goshe near the Benedictine Monastery containing Byzantine frescoes from the 12th century. They saw the need to build mosques everywhere in order to entice local Christians: maybe it is better to worship there? As part of the response to the seizure of Orthodox land in Bethany, the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the Church Abroad, and Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, Overseer of the REM on behalf of its Synod, decided to build a new school building right next to the illegal Muslim structure, to prevent yet further illicit building, which would in fact mean the loss of this property to the Bethany Community for good. Funds are gradually being collected for this construction. The following is an interview with Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), Chief of the REM in Jerusalem of the Russian Church Abroad, taken by Deacon Alexander Zanemonets, teacher of Byzantine and Church history at various universities of the Holy Land, and Coordinator of the Russian Institute of Jerusalem ( zanemonets@yahoo.com ).