Christ is Risen! In TRUTH He is Risen!

The Incarnation of the Son of God, His crucifixion, death and burial, and His Resurrection on the Third Day, are true and actual historical events in God's plan of salvation for us. 

Islam hates God and Jesus Christ, and so denies the Christian Revelation and fights against Christians. This proves its antichrist spirit.

Glory to Thy Holy Resurrection!

We worship Thy Third Day Resurrection!

We confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and we stand in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the Islamic world who are being persecuted and killed by Muslims for their faith in Him. As the Lord Jesus teaches us:

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  

"Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  

"But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 

The Resurrection of Christ and the Rise of Christianity

Because the false prophet Muhammad and the false-god Allah in the Koran deny that Jesus Christ was crucified, deny the Resurrection of Christ, and deny that Christ is the Son of God, now is an ideal time, as we in the Orthodox Church celebrate Jesus' Bodily Resurrection from the Tomb, to defend the historical truth of these events. 

In proclaiming the Truth and defending the Orthodox Christian Faith, we note that Islam's bizarre fabrications about Jesus Christ reveal it as an antichrist religion, and are a strong proof against the 'Same God Heresy'.

Below is one of the finest articles on the Resurrection I have ever encountered.

To my Muslim readers, do not be deceived! Learn about the true Jesus and God's love for you, in the Orthodox Christian tradition, and "Come and see" what "Life in Christ" is all about! We are waiting for you with open arms!

Christ is Risen!

Indeed He is Risen!

_______

The Resurrection of Christ and the Rise of Christianity
by Fr. Steven C. Kostoff

The Myrrhbearing Women encounter the angel at the empty tomb: "Why do you seek the Living among the dead?" (MT 28:1-8, MK 16:1-8, LK 24:1-9, JN 20:1-2, 11-13)

Orthodox Christians believe that the New Testament Church and the Christian faith itself appeared at a particular point in history because the crucified Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead. The cause behind the emergence of the Church and the Christian Faith was not a crucified, dead and buried Jesus. Rather, that very crucified, dead and buried Jesus was revealed to be both Lord and Christ following His Resurrection “on the third day.” 

God vindicated the messianic claims of Jesus when He raised Jesus from the dead “according to the Scriptures.” Contemporary Orthodox Christians readily agree with the Apostle Paul’s insistence on the absolute centrality of the bodily resurrection of Christ as the foundation of Christian faith in Jesus: "If Christ is not raised, then your faith is in vain and our preaching is in vain” (1 Cor. 15). Among all Christians this has been an overwhelming consensus since the initial witness of the apostles to the Risen Lord.

But since the emergence of critical biblical scholarship within the last two centuries or so, we find Christian scholars and those influenced by them questioning, reinterpreting or openly denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus. This process may be more accelerated today, or simply more prominent and public in its expression. A vivid – if not lurid - expression of this skeptical approach to the resurrection claims of the first Christians can be found in the work of the New Testament scholar Dom Dominic Crossan. In his reconstruction of events, the body of the crucified Jesus was discarded in a shallow grave, there to suffer the further humiliation of becoming the food of ravenous dogs. That is also the kind of counter-claim that will attract a good deal of publicity. 

Christ is Risen! In TRUTH He is Risen!

The Incarnation of the Son of God, His crucifixion, death and burial, and His Resurrection on the Third Day, are true and actual historical events in God's plan of salvation for us. 

Islam hates God and Jesus Christ, and so denies the Christian Revelation and fights against Christians. This proves its antichrist spirit.

Glory to Thy Holy Resurrection!

We worship Thy Third Day Resurrection!

We confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and we stand in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the Islamic world who are being persecuted and killed by Muslims for their faith in Him. As the Lord Jesus teaches us:

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  

"Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  

"But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 

The Resurrection of Christ and the Rise of Christianity

Because the false prophet Muhammad and his Koran deny that Jesus Christ was crucified, deny the Resurrection of Christ, and deny that Christ is the Son of God, now is an ideal time, as we in the Orthodox Church celebrate Jesus' Bodily Resurrection from the Tomb, to defend the historical truth of these events. Below is one of the finest articles on the Resurrection I have ever encountered.

To my Muslim readers, do not be deceived! Learn about the true Jesus and God's love for you, in the Orthodox Christian tradition, and "Come and see" what "Life in Christ" is all about! We are waiting for you with open arms!

Christ is Risen!

Indeed He is Risen!

_______

The Resurrection of Christ and the Rise of Christianity
by Fr. Steven C. Kostoff

The Myrrhbearing Women encounter the angel at the empty tomb: "Why do you seek the Living among the dead?" (MT 28:1-8, MK 16:1-8, LK 24:1-9, JN 20:1-2, 11-13)

Orthodox Christians believe that the New Testament Church and the Christian faith itself appeared at a particular point in history because the crucified Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead. The cause behind the emergence of the Church and the Christian Faith was not a crucified, dead and buried Jesus. Rather, that very crucified, dead and buried Jesus was revealed to be both Lord and Christ following His Resurrection “on the third day.” 

God vindicated the messianic claims of Jesus when He raised Jesus from the dead “according to the Scriptures.” Contemporary Orthodox Christians readily agree with the Apostle Paul’s insistence on the absolute centrality of the bodily resurrection of Christ as the foundation of Christian faith in Jesus: "If Christ is not raised, then your faith is in vain and our preaching is in vain” (1 Cor. 15). Among all Christians this has been an overwhelming consensus since the initial witness of the apostles to the Risen Lord.

But since the emergence of critical biblical scholarship within the last two centuries or so, we find Christian scholars and those influenced by them questioning, reinterpreting or openly denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus. This process may be more accelerated today, or simply more prominent and public in its expression. A vivid – if not lurid - expression of this skeptical approach to the resurrection claims of the first Christians can be found in the work of the New Testament scholar Dom Dominic Crossan. In his reconstruction of events, the body of the crucified Jesus was discarded in a shallow grave, there to suffer the further humiliation of becoming the food of ravenous dogs. That is also the kind of counter-claim that will attract a good deal of publicity. 

Metropolitan Tikhon: 'The way of the Church is the way of sacrifice and martyrdom'

"We are here, in North America, called to be apostles and martyrs for Christ."

On July 20, the presiding hierarch of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, delivered a significant address to the OCA's 18th All-American Council in Atlanta, Georgia.

What would he say to this important gathering? Especially in our days of such turmoil, "men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth" (LK 21:26).

Thanks be to God, His Beatitude presented the message of the Cross and Resurrection. He wasted no time, but from the very beginning "launched out into the deep," renewing our calling as Orthodox Christians. In a manner of speaking, he "rebuked the raging sea," confronting it with calm strength founded upon the Rock. And from such a beginning, having secured his listeners' attention, he set forth his vision.

I recommend listening to the address while having the text before you, and following along. It is lengthy, about an hour and a quarter, but very worthwhile. Text, pdf and audio are available here.

Here are just a few key excerpts, followed by some remarks by Archimandrite Sergius, Abbot of St Tikhon of Zadonsk Monastery:

THE APOSTOLIC WORK OF THE CHURCH

ADDRESS OF THE METROPOLITAN TO THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

EIGHTEENTH ALL-AMERICAN COUNCIL

ATLANTA, GEORGIA — July 20, 2015 

[...] 

It is only through prayer, and the life that flows from prayer, and the virtues that are engendered by prayer, that we can reach our goal; and our goal is not the passing of resolutions or the compiling of minutes; our goal is not to debate issues or share our opinion; our goal is not to get to the end of this week or even to set the agenda for the next triennium. 

Our goal is to seek God above all, and to let this desire illumine our work together, so that we might make our own the words of Saint Herman of Alaska: 

“And I, a sinner, have tried to love God for more than forty years, and I cannot say that I perfectly love Him,” … “at least let us make a vow to ourselves, that from this day, from this hour, from this very moment, we shall strive above all else to love God and to fulfill His Holy Will!” 

THE WAY OF MARTYRDOM 

We gather in Council at a time when the world, as it is wont to be, is enshrouded in military conflict, economic hardship, civil war and persecution. Even if we remain somewhat shielded from these global realities in our own North American context, we nevertheless feel the weight of these worldwide struggles even as we wrestle with our own challenges in the economic, political, spiritual and moral spheres. 

Metropolitan Hilarion of ROCOR: 'The Resurrection of Christ is an Undoubted, Historical Fact'

Paschal Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, boldly proclaims the Risen Christ:

The Resurrection of Christ is an undoubted, historical fact confirmed precisely, reliably and fully by the Gospels, those unique first-century documents. 

More than 20 years after the Resurrection, the Apostle Paul bore witness of the risen Christ: “After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep” (Corinthians 15:6). 

This means that the majority of those witnesses, who with their own eyes beheld Christ, Who had risen on the third day, were still alive at that time, and were able to confirm the reality of that miracle to anyone who doubted it. Thanks to their life, struggles and preaching, Christianity spread throughout the whole world. 

During Bright Week, after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the Church daily invites us to join together in procession. The hymn “Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ” is chanted repeatedly in the church on those days. It summons us to enter into the world and proclaim the truth of this greatest of miracles, not so much, of course, in word as by good example, deeds and life, just as did those who beheld Christ with their own eyes...

Read the full Paschal Epistle of Metropolitan Hilarion at Pravmir.

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

Wishing all my readers a Radiant and Joyous Pascha!

Now all things are filled with light: heaven and earth, and the nethermost regions. So let all creation celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, whereby it is established.

~ The Paschal Canon

Metropolitan Tikhon speaks at NY memorial for 21 Coptic martyrs

Excerpts from His Beatitude's memorable address at the Memorial held on Thursday, February 19, 2015

OCA.org - February 20, 2015

There are those who would overcome the world with weapons of violence, but this is not our way. 

There are those who cling to death and to sin in order to bring about more death and more evil, but this is not our way. 

There are those who blame religion for tragedies such as the one we mourn today, but they are blind to the reality that true believers become such only when their hearts are purified of sin and their lives filled with the light of the Resurrection. 

Let us, who stand fast in our faith in Christ and His eternal victory, remember that He alone has trampled on death by His own voluntary death. 

Let us, who are filled with the hope of the resurrection, give glory to God for the martyric witness of the 21 souls who now witness to this victory. 

And let us, who each struggle in our own way to remain faithful to God, give example in our own lives of those things which we hold dear—Peace, rather than violence; love, rather than hate; and forgiveness, rather than revenge.

You may read the full text here.

AXIOS! Metropolitan Tikhon!

Russia has experienced a Spiritual Resurrection

"In Russia during the last 26 years, 26,000 churches have either been restored or opened, as well as 800 monasteries, filled with young monks and nuns... All this has taken place in the very same era which in the West some call post-Christian."

by Francis Phillips, Catholic Herald
via Pravoslavie — October 24, 2014

I have been reading a book about Russia: Dying Unneeded by Michelle Parsons. It is about the wartime and post-war generation of former Soviet citizens whose lives came to a halt when the USSR collapsed in 1991. The meaning and purpose of their lives had come from the state, from work, from surviving with stoical humour and resignation the problems that arose in daily life from the command economy. The author examines the dramatic mortality rate during the years 1990-1994, when state socialism suddenly ended, to be followed by, as Parsons puts it, “upheaval, disorder, decay, wildness and thievery”.

Overnight, a whole generation of Russians lost their jobs, their pensions and their security. Too old to retrain for new careers they started to experience the poverty and scarcity that they had known during the war and which they had thought was over for good. Men particularly, who had defined themselves through their work, started to drink heaving (not helped by often being paid in vodka rather than in money) and to suffer stress-related heart attacks. Suicides also increased. Women survived better because they simply continued to struggle, as they always, had, with providing for their family’s needs.

Parsons paints a grim picture of a society that had been led along by their secular faith in the Communist ideology, which then failed them spectacularly. Without inner spiritual resources and living for years under the official atheism of the Soviet system, their lives became meaningless. Although she briefly mentions the notion of the “Russian soul” she defines it in a patriotic and community sense – a people held together by suffering and sacrifice, especially in the wartime years when Russia lost 27 million people.

Gazing Into The Empty Tomb

by Fr. Steven Kostoff — Orthodox Christian Meditations
originally published April 24, 2012

CHRIST IS RISEN!

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise,

brighter than any royal chamber: 

Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain of our resurrection.

(Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

The “empty tomb” has been a point of endless discussion and debate among biblical scholars for quite some time now.  The issue is not simply one of whether or not the tomb of Jesus was indeed empty when the myrrhbearing women discovered it on “the first day of the week.”  And, if it was empty, then why was it empty?  Those are theological or “faith” questions and claims that determine the difference between “believers” and “non-believers” based on how one may answer those questions. Rather, some biblical scholars who study the New Testament evidence concerning the resurrection of Christ challenge the very reliability of the empty tomb narratives in the canonical Gospels.  These very scholars  even going so far as to claim these narratives are basically imaginative reconstructions, for apologetic purposes, composed by the evangelists.  In other words, the empty tomb narratives are not conveying to us an actual record of events; but they are actually later inventions that are used to strengthen the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.  This is often called “historicized theology.”

In responding to these skeptical charges, many excellent biblical scholars have carefully demonstrated the reliability of these narratives with detailed and sophisticated arguments that skillfully and convincingly defend the solid historical nature of these narratives.  The haunting simplicity of these narratives; the fact that they are “unadorned” with claims of fulfilled biblical prophecy or theological embellishment; the discovery of the empty tomb by women disciples whose testimony was not binding in first century Judaism; the fact that living disciples of Christ could have refuted any invented stories; the integrity of the evangelists(!).  All of these combine to strongly support the historicity of the empty tomb narratives. As Gerald O’Collins summarizing in his book, Believing in the Resurrection:

The more we detect such a simplicity that derives from the origins of Christianity, the less plausible we find the theory that the discovery of the empty tomb was not an historical event but merely a later creation, a fictional scenario coming from the evangelist Mark.  (p. 83)

The Appearances of the Risen Jesus

by Fr Steven Kostoff, Orthodox Christian Meditations
Originally published April 20, 2012.

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

On this Bright Friday, I would again like to turn to and draw from a current book I am reading – Believing in the Resurrection – by the biblical scholar Gerald O’Collins, renowned for his tireless commitment over the years of studying the resurrection of Christ in a nearly exhaustive manner.

 The third chapter of this most recent and admirable study is entitled “The Appearances of the Risen Jesus.” This chapter is meant to explore the reliability and meaning of the many appearances of the Risen Christ to various of His disciples. O’Collins also lists and critiques the usual objections to these appearances of Christ.

 For the moment, I would simply like to share his carefully constructed list of these appearances “to groups and individuals:”

• To “the twelve” (I COR. 15:3)
• To “the eleven and those with them” (LK. 24:33-49)
• To “those who came up with him [Jesus] from Galilee” (ACTS 13:31)
• To “the disciples” (JN. 20:19-23; MK. 16:7)
• To “all the apostles” (I COR. 15:7; obviously in Paul’s list a distinct and larger group than the Twelve)
• To Simon Peter and six others (JN. 21:1-14)
• To “more than five hundred brothers and sisters” (I COR. 15:6)
• To Cleopas and his companion (LK. 24:13-35)
• To Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” (MATT. 28:9-10)
• To Mary Magdalene (JN. 20:11-18; MK. 16:9-11)
• To Cephas/Peter (I COR. 15:5; MK. 16:7; LK. 24:34)
• To James (I COR. 15:7)
• To Saul/Paul (for example, I COR. 9:1; 15:8; ACTS 9:1-9) (p. 61)

What is quite interesting, is that when O’Collins addresses the skeptical counter-theories that attempt to discredit the testimony of these appearance of the Risen Lord, he makes the telling point that these skeptical theories invariably do not address the multiplicity and variety of these appearances. In other words, the “hallucinations” theory hardly takes into account the various persons involved; the various settings; and even the chronological factor (Paul comes a few years later than the Twelve).

The Historicity of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus

Based on Fr Steven Kostoff's recommendation below, I purchased and have read the book he cites in this essay, and found it a real help. We must continually deepen our faith even while striving to acquire new approaches and modes of expression with which to share this faith with others. For, after all, this is the Faith which the Apostles spread throughout the known world following Christ's Ascension and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is the Faith which has transformed the world!  CHRIST is RISEN!

The Historicity of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus
by Fr Steven Kostoff, Orthodox Christian Meditations
Originally published April 18, 2012

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

I always choose a good book or two about the Resurrection of Christ to read during the paschal season. The one that I have already started this week is by Gerald O’Collins, a Jesuit scholar, who has been carefully studying and writing about the resurrection for many years now. His newest book is entitled Believing in the Resurrection – The Meaning and Promise of the Risen Jesus. It promises to be an excellent book and a thorough study by a premiere biblical scholar. In addition to his own careful analysis of the biblical evidence, O’Collins also surveys and critiques the most significant works that have been published in the last ten years or so from scholars on the “resurrection question/debate” in the New Testament. The author has emerged over the years as one of the most renowned defenders of the historicity of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Any other conclusion for O’Collins is a betrayal of the evidence – and a betrayal of the Christian Gospel. As both a scholar and a man of Christian faith, he very steadily and thoroughly builds up an impressive case for that claim, and for the centrality and reliability of the New Testament data concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Yet, O’Collins goes beyond a defense of the historicity of the resurrection accounts, and wants to further elaborate on what the resurrection means for our own human destiny – a destiny that the New Testament reveals as the “resurrection of the dead” - and for the sacramental and ethical life of Christian believers. The risen Jesus is present, and this presence is confirmed and convincingly conveyed by the simultaneous presence of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the resurrection is first about Jesus; but then it is about us, His followers and disciples, and the relationship we create with Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, and the “life” that we have in His Name.

Hopefully, I will be able to share a few summaries of his rich biblical exegesis over the paschal season on these inter-related themes of such great importance for Christian faith. The Preface opens with an intriguing question:

Is Jesus merely a great but dead hero, or is he a risen, living presence? That troubling question of enormous significance has been around for two thousand years. (p. v)

'You Will Know Why You Are Alive'

"Let no temptation overcome you, let no darkness cloud your path, and no trial come upon you in which you do not immediately turn to Christ our All-merciful God, Who has trampled upon death and abolished the power of the devil. Remain in Christ's grace and He will guide you all to salvation. 

"Remember the end of our life, the never-setting day of Christ's Kingdom, and you will know why you are alive and for what you are striving. 

"Christ is Risen!"

~ Fr. Seraphim Rose (†1982)

CHRIST is RISEN!

TRULY HE is RISEN!

A Radiant and Joyous Pascha to all my readers and visitors! 

No matter how dark and terrifying the times, or the threats from the enemy, Christ has triumphed over the world, the grave and the devil.

He is the Way, leading us out from false and deceitful paths!
He is the Truth, dispelling all lies and falsehood!
He is the Life, raising us up from death and saving us from all our vain endeavors which do not save.
If we will but strive to follow Him, and obey Him, He rejoices to make us sharers in His Light, His Life, even His divinity.
His Light shines even unto the lowest hell, where He Himself descended to free the captives.
In Him we are established!

Christ is Risen!
Indeed He is Risen!

Fr. Stephen Freeman: The Demons of Our Time

Fr. Stephen makes here the same point I tried to express during my interview on Ancient Faith Today with Kevin Allen. Even though, as Fr. Stephen unflinchingly notes, "The bizarre extremism within radical Islam has all of the hallmarks of the demonic," yet the battle lines are not outside us, but within our own hearts. In the famous words of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts.

Because of this interior battle we all face, we must be aggressively repenting and working on exorcising our own inner demons, especially if we dare to confront the demonic forces arrayed against us from the dar al-Islam. Otherwise, we might become poisoned in our own hearts, and wind up perhaps "saving" our country, or church, or our little corner of the world, but losing our own soul (cf. MT 16:26). This may in fact be the devil's ultimate purpose in advancing militant Islam at this point in history: to snare as many Christian souls as he can by sowing in their hearts demonic seeds of anger, hatred, murder and retaliation. But we are not ignorant of his wiles, and by God's grace we can turn these challenges into crowns.

As Fr. Stephen concludes, 

Repentance... is the only way forward from the nightmare of our present demons. It is love that has grown cold. What we see in our present world is not the result of mistaken political decisions or failures of diplomacy. It is as Solzhenitsyn said – a battle within the heart of every human being. It is there that the demons must be defeated.

Put another way, in the words of Fr Seraphim Rose,

It is a law of the spiritual life that where there is Golgotha—if it is genuine suffering for Christ—there will be resurrection. This resurrection first of all occurs in human hearts, and we do not need to be too concerned what outward form it might take by God’s will... Our inward, spiritual resurrection is what we should be striving for, and the events in Russia give us hope that there will yet be a resurrection of true, suffering Christianity, not only in Russia, but wherever hearts have not become entirely frozen. But we must be ready for the suffering that must precede this...

Are we in the West ready for this? Golgotha does not mean the incidental sufferings we all go through in this life. It is something immense and deep, which cannot be relieved by taking an aspirin or going to a movie. It is what Russia has gone through and is now trying to communicate to us. Let us not be deaf to this message. By the prayers of all the New Martyrs, may God give us the strength to endure the trials coming upon us and to find in them the resurrection of our souls.

Fr. Seraphim Rose, The Orthodox Revival in Russia as an Inspiration for American Orthodoxy, The Orthodox Word #138, 1988, p. 51

The Demons of Our Time

by Fr. Stephen Freeman, Glory To God For All Things — 12/30/2013

In 1872, Dostoevsky published his novel, The Demons [Бесы]. It demonstrated in a microcosm, the insanity that lay within the revolutionary movements of 19th century Russia. That insanity broke upon the world in 1917 and has remained present with us, in one form or another, ever since. The madness that he describes takes place in a small town, away from the great capitals of Russia. It involves a relatively small cast of characters (at least for a Russian novel and revolution). There is love and intrigue. But mostly there is murder and mayhem. For the only revolutionary who succeeds is the one who fears nothing himself but creates and feeds on the fear of others.

It is interesting that great theories of economics and social justice do not form a part of this novel. Dostoevsky was no stranger to Russia’s radical movements and their political and economic theories: he spent a number of years in prison under the Tsar for having participated in one such group. But he does not make the theory out to be of much importance. He rightly recognized that the spirit of revolution is not about a struggle for a glorious future. Revolution is about the destruction of the present and the will to power. Hitler’s rise to power and Lenin’s rise to power both belong to differing ideologies. What they share in common are lies and murder.

Dostoevsky’s revolutionary sees the world as teetering on chaos. The old order is a road block, an encumbrance that stands in the way of progress and the forces of renewal. Every convention, every custom and practice of tradition is the enemy. The revolutionary has to be prepared to sweep everything aside for the sake of his cause. In Dostoevsky’s Russia, the Church was a primary conserving force. Its Orthodox practice was a shrine to Tradition and custom. Every aspect of life moved in obedience to the seasons of the Church. It is thus not surprising that the Church, God and the Christian view of the world were the primary targets of his drama.

But the title of Dostoevsky’s novel is even more to the point. Though he does not say so, the actors in the small “revolution” in the provinces, are only pawns. There is a larger game afoot, and that game is revealed in the title of the novel. The work of the demons is not an ancient conspiracy, a carefully-planned work that ultimately results in the enthronement of the anti-Christ. Demons do not seem to be driven towards the construction of great empires – that activity is particularly human.

The work of the demons (both in the novel and in the real world) is the work of destruction. Existence is the gift of God. All that we know as existing is His gift. Its order, laws, even “reasonableness,” are all reflective of God’s creative work. Non-existence, non-being is the drive of the wicked ones. Non-existence is not something that can be achieved by created beings, for existence is the gift of God and He alone sustains all things. Thus, the work of those in rebellion is to move things “towards” non-being. Lies, murder, destruction, disarray, deception, and the like are hallmarks of their work.

A Mournful Pascha - Copts and Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter under ominous threats

by Ralph H. Sidway

Orthodox Christians throughout the world celebrated Pascha, the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, on May 5, and will continue the festal joy through the Ascension of Christ, which falls on June 13 this year. 

For Coptic Christians and Orthodox believers in the Islamic world, this year’s Pascha was held under the dark cloud of severely escalating persecution from Muslim mobs and extremist groups, as well as from official Islamic government bodies. 

John Sanidopoulos of MYSTAGOGY blog has just completed the translation and posting (in six parts) of a Greek article titled, Pascha Under Turkish Domination. This is an immensely important survey of several hundred years of history, which incorporates many Greek Orthodox source texts, as well as observations by non-Greek diplomats and travelers, regarding the conditions of Christians subjugated under Turkish Muslim oppression.

Parts One through Three relate a relatively benevolent period of about two centuries of Turkish Muslim domination (dating from 1519 through late seventeenth centuries), when the Orthodox were allowed to celebrate Pascha with relative freedom. But the three day celebrations allowed during this era were notable primarily for the lifting of the usual oppressive restrictions against the Orthodox (called “the slaves” in the source text) codified in the dhimma contract. 

By the mid eighteenth century, however, severe oppression was again being inflicted upon the Christians especially during the Great Feasts by their Muslim overlords, with severe consequences if the restrictions were transgressed. It should be emphasized that these restrictions derive precisely from the Pact of Omar and the classic application of the dhimma contract, which subjects Christians to humiliating conditions under Islamic rule. 

Posted below is the second half of the article (parts four through six as found on Mystagogy). The final paragraph is especially sobering, as it relates how the Muslims deliberately scheduled executions of the Christians to coincide with the great feasts of the Church in order to demoralize the Orthodox believers. 

Readers of Raymond Ibrahim’s work and observers of current events in Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere in the Islamic world will recall mass killings and bombings being perpetrated or threatened precisely during great Christian feasts such as Christmas (see here and here), both to inflict maximum casualties, as well as to demoralize the Christian targets. This article therefore further demonstrates this consistent practice across centuries of Islamic jihad against Christians.

---

A Mournful, Silent Pascha

Let us see now how they celebrated Pascha after the privilege of the three-day uninhibited celebration of it was abolished in the Queen City.

A historical document of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which was discovered many years ago in the Sacred Monastery of Sinai and dates to around 1772, reveals how the Turkish conquerors acted to smother the religious sentiment of the slaves during their great feasts and especially during the days of Pascha. In order to destroy the enthusiasm, consistency and hope that the traditional celebration of Pascha gave the slaves, they now put into practice decrees of oppression and exclusion which were issued from time to time and established how they should dress and how the Romans should celebrate these days.

For Constantinople in particular, the administration of the Ottoman Porte invited the Ecumenical Patriarch and gave him strict orders and instructions for the celebration of Pascha by Orthodox Christians in Constantinople.

They commanded the Patriarch to bring to his flock the orders of the Porte which stated that Christians, during the days of Pascha, should be dressed in poor clothing and not bright formal dress, nor beautiful and colorful outfits. These were only allowed for the tyrannical masters and were "prohibited dress" for the slaves.

Christ's Resurrection Must Change Us

Here is a strong word for us as we continue to walk in the Light of Christ's Resurrection. I've emphasized two paragraphs below which drive home the message of Fr Alexei Uminsky, a very important message for our times...

Accepting Christ Along With His Wounds

Archpriest Alexei Uminsky   May 12th, 2013

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Christ is Risen!

We have gotten used to meeting one another with the main greeting in our lives: “Christ is Risen!” But what is the meaning of the Resurrection for each one of us? Obviously, it is the center of our Christian confession, because the essence of our faith lies in the fact that Christ is risen. All of church doctrine and Holy Tradition speaks of this. The Apostle Paul says that if Christ is not risen, then we are the most miserable people on earth, because then our faith is entirely meaningless.

For people who live outside the Church – and there are many such people in our country [Russia] – the most important day is New Year’s. Something happens on New Year’s Eve: the New Year arrives and perhaps brings something new with it… But for us the New Year is Pascha. This is indeed the beginning of a new year, a foretaste of the life of the age to come. For us, this day is the fulfillment of our Lenten labors, of our repentance, and of whatever we should have corrected and changed.

The joy and light of this day can long fill every one of us with the truly vital forces we so lack. Suddenly everything falls into place. Life has seemingly not changed – the same things happen – but suddenly everything becomes so clear, understandable, and easy. Certain problems that we had not known how to resolve, and had tortured us, suddenly stop worrying us so much. We still do not know how to resolve them, but for some reason we suddenly calm down. There are things that are unsolvable, and remain unsolvable, but in these days God’s presence in our life completely covers all the insolvability, despondency, and dead ends of our life.

But this is not yet all. This is not the most important thing that Christ’s luminous Resurrection shows us. Something should happen to us in these days that would make this known not only to ourselves, but to those around us. The tidings that Christ is risen cannot concern ourselves only. They cannot be only our little private matter, a joy for our parish or even our Church only. This is something bigger, something global. If Christ is risen, then our life should change on its own – and not only our life. Of course, our life should change first of all, but from every Great Lent, from every Pascha, our life should change so much that it affects someone, touches someone, truly surprise someone, enlightening him and compelling him to turn in our direction. The fruits of our labor and our great joy should extend to the world.

Here is today’s Gospel of Christ (JN 20:19-31): He comes to His disciples, as He came to us, and shows Himself to them in the fullness of His divine-human Resurrection, which they did not know before His Resurrection. He sits down with them, drinks wine, and eats fish and bread, showing them that He is not a spirit, but truly the God-Man, Who possesses eternal life. The joy of the Resurrection so grips the disciples that they are indeed ready to share it with others.

Thomas, who had not been with them, arrives. They say: “Christ is Risen!” And for some reason he does not believe… For some reason the word that Christ is risen does not mean anything to Thomas, who had known Christ as well as the other Apostles…

But we recall that not long ago, just a week before, these very same Apostles fled from Christ’s Cross and did not follow Him to the end. Nonetheless, Christ comes to them. He comforts them and gives them the Holy Spirit and the power to remit sins. They receive the signs of their priesthood, the first signs of true apostleship.

Then nothing happens. The Apostle Thomas will not believe what the Apostles are saying “until I myself make sure and see.” Indeed, if Christ is risen, then why are you sitting in the upper room behind closed doors, hiding for fear of the Jews? Why has nothing happened to you? Why are you still the same? Why, if Christ is risen, have you not become different?

We often perceive Christ’s Resurrection as something only joyful. Everything bad has gone away and only the good remains. Yes, joy. Yes, happiness. Yes, good cheer. Christ is Risen! Look at how good everything is! Does that mean that nothing terrible has happened?

But Thomas remembers. He knows how terrible this world is, how this world crucified Christ, how this world is also ready to crucify anyone else who follows Christ. The Apostles also remember this, which is why they are sitting behind closed doors. 

Our testimony about Christ means nothing to the world because nothing has happened to us; because, knowing the truth that Christ is risen, we continue to live according to the laws and elements of this world and to fear with the fear of this world, relying on this world’s foundations rather than on Christ. Then our testimony about Christ will not be taken seriously as a truth that we cherish, since along with this truth we also have other equally immutable truths on which we actually base our lives. And these truths testify to who we are.

For the sake of Thomas, Christ again comes to the disciples and tells him: “Put your fingers in My wounds.” Then Thomas sees the truth of the Resurrection in his own personal experience. Christ and His disciples show the ultimate meaning of His Resurrection: Christ is risen, but His wounds remain. Christ is risen, but His hands are pierced. Christ is risen, but there is a gaping wound in His side. Again He speaks these words to them: “Go, I send you.”

Where is He sending His disciples? To what is He sending His disciples? He is sending them on the very same path of the cross. He is sending them to follow Him. He is sending them to attain the same Resurrection, the same Pascha – and in the same way He did, through Golgotha. So if we, like the Apostle Thomas, accept Christ’s wounds along with His Resurrection; if we accept this pierced side with joy, then, I think, our word about Christ’s Resurrection, our word about life in Christ, will immediately take on both truth and power.

The Lord shows the Apostle Thomas His perforated hands and His pierced side, and we can no longer think that nothing has happened. We know that Christ is risen and we believe that He will never leave us. But the path onto which He is sending us is the same path by which a disciple follows His Teacher to the end. We know from the Acts of the Holy Apostles and the history of our Church what this apostolic path is, and we know how the Apostles proclaimed Christ by their life, their death, and their resurrection. Amen.

Source: Pravmir.com