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| Icon of St Maria Skobtsova of Paris |
I wrote about OXI Day a few years ago here, and this year my eye was caught by this excellent post (below) by the Greek American Girl Blog, who presents one of the great examples of Christian bravery and witness of the twentieth century, Mother Maria of Paris, who also said "NO!" to Nazism, in daring and creative ways, which eventually led to her death in a Nazi concentration camp.
The purpose of Christians who warn against jihad is precisely the same, to say an emphatic and clear "NO!" to Islamic supremacism, jihad, murder and subjugation of non-Muslims, to Islam's misogynist culture, female genital mutilation, honor killings and the death penalty for apostasy.
Going further, we Orthodox Christians must be firm in our faith, and realize that simply by confessing Jesus Christ — by striving to be a faithful, devout disciple of the Son of God, by acquiring the Holy Spirit so as to have the Holy Trinity abiding in us, by partnering with the Lord to work towards the goal of theosis, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27) — we are saying the most powerful YES! to the True God, and the most powerful NO! to the false god Allah, the false prophet Muhammad, the false religion of Islam.
Islam, under commands in the Koran and taken from the example of Muhammad, has been waging theological and murderous jihad against Christians for 1400 years, and continues to do so. Islam denies Jesus Christ, offering a false Jesus named Isa. It denies that Jesus was crucified, thereby denying the resurrection. Islam denies the sublime creation and destiny of Mankind, fashioned by God's Word in God's own image. Islam is anti-Christian, anti-Spirit, anti-Human.
So, let us make the Sign of the Cross, say "YES!" to Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, and by the witness of our lives lived in Christ through the Holy Spirit, let us say "NO!" — OXI! — to the way of perdition, the lie, the death of Islam. Jesus is Light, "We have seen the True Light", there is nothing but darkness in Islam.
Mother Maria of Paris says “OXI!” to the Nazi Mass Murder Machine
Greek American Girl (via Pravoslavie), November 2, 2015
On the occasion of OXI Day, when we commemorate the occasion when a tiny, run down nation had the guts to stand up against the bullying of the Nazi/fascist juggernaut, I want to bring up another underdog who deserves some recognition. No, she isn’t Greek, although she is Orthodox Christian. She isn’t American either. She probably never even stepped foot in Greece. But she is a heroine. She displays the ideal of “philotimo” (or doing the honorable thing for the honorable thing’s sake). She too had the courage to say “NO” to the Nazi murder machine. For her sacrifices to her immigrant community and the poor and the stranger, and ultimately in her ultimate sacrifice of her life, she is recognized as a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. Her name is Maria Skobtsova or more simply Mother Maria of Paris.
I can’t summarize her entire life story in one short article as this would not do justice to the complexities of her thought and her being. (But you can get a more detailed account by reading Jim Forest’s bio of her at In Communion). Suffice it to say that she was a character; she, like Dorothy Day, her Catholic counterpart, believed that Christ took the guise of the poor, the wretched, the ill, and that instead of glorious towering temples, the Church could be found “in the streets.”
Here are some life notes:
