Akathist to Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev

Akathist to Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev - 

Since his martyrdom the night of November 19, 2009, "the story of his life, teachings, and martyrdom has spread throughout the Orthodox Church, far beyond the bounds of his native Russia. Though he has yet to be formally glorified as a saint, popular veneration has produced a number of icons of him, and even an akathist.

"As witness to his growing veneration, the akathist presented below was originally written in Romanian, and only then translated into Russian. This English text was translated from the Russian version."

"Holy Hieromartyr Daniel, pray to God for us!"

Proceed to the Akathist...

New Priest-Martyr Nikolai Kotelnikov of Derbent, Dagestan

New Martyr Father Nikolai Kotelnikov of Derbent. A Muslim extremist slit his throat in church. He and his church guard were both murdered. Holy Martyr Fr Nikolai, pray to God for us!

PRIEST KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACKS ON CHURCHES IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA

Derbent, Republic of Dagestan, Russia, June 24, 2024, OrthoChristian.com

A priest who has been serving the Church since Soviet times received a martyric end in a terrorist attack against churches in Russia’s southern Dagestan Republic yesterday. 

Militants attacked two churches, a synagogue, and a traffic police post in the Dagestani cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, reports RIA-Novosti. 

Early on Sunday, a group of armed men opened fire on a church and synagogue in Derbent, while others attacked another church in Makhachkala. According to preliminary data, one priest, Archpriest Nikolai Kotelnikov, 66, a church guard, and six police officers were killed. Another 12 officers were injured. 

According to the Dagestan branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, six militants were killed. 

Fr. Nikolai served as a priest for 40 years, beginning in Soviet times. They slit Fr. Nikolai’s throat at Holy Protection Church in Derbent, then set it on fire. 

Fr. Nikolai is survived by his wife, three children, and grandchildren. 

The terrorists also killed the guard at the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Makhachkala. The guard, named Mikhail, sacrificed his own life, attempting to stop the terrorists. Though he died, he gave the worshipers enough time to barricade themselves safely inside. 

A terrorist attack also took place in Dagestan on Forgiveness Sunday in 2018, in which five women were killed.

Remembering New-Martyr Fr. Ragheed Ganni of Iraq

Here is a much needed reflection on one of the new 21st century Christian martyrs under the sword of Islam. Providing such contextual insight as the below paragraph, this article is very helpful in understanding how America's Middle East policy sometimes bears direct responsibility for Muslim persecution of Christians:

 

Father Ragheed knew very well what most Americans, even policymakers, did not: that Christians in the Muslim-majority Middle East are often seen as sympathetic to the West, and therefore untrustworthy; in a war, they might be regarded as fellow travelers or spies. The American invasion immediately imperiled Iraq’s Christians, who numbered over a million people in 2003. In the years that followed, many Iraqi Christians and other minorities sought asylum in the United States, the country whose invasion had given rise to their persecution. The Bush administration, however, denied Christian claims of persecution as unfounded. Many were turned away as a result. Thus it is to incur at once the enmity of one’s neighbors and the indifference of one’s liberators.

For more on this heroic confessor and witness for Christ, see my previous post here.

A Martyr In Iraq

Remembering Father Ragheed Ganni, who was murdered 15 years ago today in Iraq.

by Andrew Doran, The American Conservative

June 3, 2022

“A martyr, a saint, is always made by the design of God, for His love of men, to warn them and to lead them, to bring them back to His ways. A martyrdom is never the design of man; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom.” – T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

On an evening in March 2003, a dinner of Catholic priests, seminarians, and graduate theology students at the Irish College in Rome was interrupted with the announcement that the U.S. ground invasion of Iraq had begun. The few non-Irish present included Shena, an American woman, and Father Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean priest from Mosul, ancient Nineveh. Both were students at the Angelicum, a Dominican institute founded in the thirteenth century. All eyes turned to the stunned Fr. Ragheed, who said simply, “I have to return home.”

“It was my country at war with his,” says Shena, “which was awful.” Now a mother of six in America, she recalls Father Ragheed as “a lovely, peaceful man.” He would explain with care and patience the complexity of the region to outsiders, especially Americans. “It would have been easy, and perhaps good politics, for him to have remained silent about the Iraq War,” she says nearly two decades later. She recalls how he gently defended the traditional culture of the Muslim-majority Middle East, of which Westerners were frequently critical. It wasn’t his way to debate with brusqueness but to simply hold the ground he had staked out on behalf of his beliefs.

It would also have been easy for him to remain in Rome or to join the exodus of his people from Iraq. Instead, Father Ragheed chose to return to his home, Mosul, which would soon become one of the most perilous places in the world to be a Christian.

New Martyr Evgeny of Chechnya (+1996) commemorated on May 23

Hieromonk Joshua shared the following on his Facebook feed today, reminding us of this valiant Confessor of Christ, who refused to remove his Cross which he wore, and refused to deny Christ, preferring to die as a Witness (Martyr) for Jesus Christ, and thus inherit eternal life and a crown of glory.

For more on New Martyr Evgeny, see my earlier post here.

New Martyr Rasha Muklasha, killed by her son for converting to Christ

"Children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." (MT 10:21b-22)

"The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me." (JN 16:2b-3)

MARTYRDOM IN THE HOLY LAND: SON KILLS MOTHER FOR CONVERTING FROM ISLAM TO ORTHODOXY

OrthoChristian.com, September 28, 2021

A woman from Northern Israel was strangled to death by her own son last month for converting from Islam to Orthodox Christianity.

According to the indictment, the murder of 46-year-old Rasha Muklasha by her 27-year-old son Muad Hib was premeditated, with Hib arranging a meeting with her near Nazareth on August 5 with the intention of killing her and disposing of her remains, reports the Times of Israel.

Muklasha left her husband and severed ties with her five children in 2006, later converting to Orthodoxy. Having learned of the death of her ex-husband, she resumed contact with her children, but they were angered by her conversion.

Three sons and another relative were all arrested, and eventually enough evidence was gathered to pinpoint the middle brother as the main culprit, with the others being released, reports the Jerusalem Post.

After picking up his mother in his car, Hib “strangled the deceased with a rope or his hands, alone or with others, with the intention of causing her death,” the court documents said.

He then fled towards the Jordan River where he dug a pit and buried his mother’s body. Later that day, he rammed a police roadblock and was arrested after a brief chase.

The martyred Muklasha’s remains were found about a day later near a section of the Jordan River in northern Israel.

Martyrs of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery in Georgia (†1386)

On April 10 we commemorate two large groups of Georgian Orthodox martyrs under the sword of Islam: the Martyrs of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery (recounted below), who were burned alive by their Muslim tormentors in 1386, and the Six-Thousand Martyrs of Georgia (†1615).

Better known are the 100,000 Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi  (†1227), who refused to deny Christ and were beheaded, thus receiving their heavenly crowns.

Martyrs of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery in Georgia

Commemorated April 10 | OCA

In the 14th century, during the reign of King Bagrat V (1360-1394), Timur (Tamerlane) invaded Georgia seven times. His troops inflicted irreparable damage on the country, seizing centuries-old treasures and razing ancient churches and monasteries.

Timur’s armies ravaged Kartli, then took the king, queen, and the entire royal court captive and sent them to Karabakh (in present-day Azerbaijan). Later Timur attempted to entice King Bagrat to renounce the Christian Faith in exchange for permission to return to the throne and for the release of the other Georgian prisoners.

For some time Timur was unable to subjugate King Bagrat, but in the end, being powerless and isolated from his kinsmen, the king began to falter. He devised a sly scheme: to confess Islam before the enemy, but to remain a Christian at heart. Satisfied with King Bagrat’s decision to “convert to Islam,” Timur permitted the king to return to the throne of Kartli. At the request of King Bagrat, Timur sent twelve thousand troops with him to complete Georgia’s forcible conversion to Islam.

When they were approaching the village of Khunani in southeastern Georgia, Bagrat secretly informed his son Giorgi of everything that had happened and called upon him and his army to massacre the invaders. 

(VIDEO) Proto-Martyr Evgeny Rodionov (May 23)

On May 23 the Orthodox Church commemorates the New Martyr Evgeny Rodionov, who in 1996 was brutally tortured and murdered by Chechen Muslims for refusing to remove his cross.

Evgeny is one of the ProtoMartyrs under the sword of the false religion of Islam for the New Cloud of Witnesses of the 21st Century. His refusal to deny Christ is both a sign and an inspiration to us today.

Evgeny's martyrdom at the end of the 20th century was a sign of the newly emboldened ascendency of the foul religion of Muhammad, which has led to new waves of persecution of Christians throughout the world, and an ever growing choir of New Martyrs for Christ, slain by Muslims across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, America, and elsewhere.

Watch the video below, and learn more about Holy New Martyr Evgeny on our special resource page dedicated to him.

The Hundred Thousand Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi (+1227)

"The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded."

_______

This is one of the most compelling mass-martyrdom accounts in Christian history. Of course, the "Turkmen" referred to are the Muslim Turks, who during the thirteenth century were waging jihad to expand the dar al-Islam.

Notice the practice of beheading by the Muslims, used by the Islamic State today, following the example of Muhammad, who personally beheaded between 600 and 900 Jewish men and boys from the Quraiza tribe at Medina. (See The Life of Muhammad, by Ibn Ishaq, trans. A. Guillaume, New York, 1980, pp 463-464).

The Hundred Thousand Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi are commemorated by the Orthodox Church on October 31 (which is today, on the 'Old Calendar').

See also:

OCA - Lives of the Saints - 100,000 Martyrs of Tbilisi by the Mongols

_______

The Hundred Thousand Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi  (+1227)

from Lives of the Georgian Saints, by Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

St Herman of Alaska Press, Platina CA, 2006, pp 403-404.

From the book, 'Lives of the Georgian Saints'

In 1227 Sultan Jalal al-Din of Khwarazm and his army of Turkmen attacked Georgia. On the first day of the battle the Georgian army valorously warded off the invaders as they were approaching Tbilisi. That night, however, a group of Persians who were living in Tbilisi secretly opened the gates and summoned the enemy army into the city.

According to one manuscript in which this most terrible day in Georgian history was described: "Words are powerless to convey the destruction that the enemy wrought: tearing infants from their mothers' breasts, they beat their heads against the bridge, watching as their eyes dropped from their skulls...."

A river of blood flowed through the city. The Turkmen castrated young children, raped women, and stabbed mothers to death over their children's lifeless bodies. The whole city shuddered at the sound of wailing and lamentation. The river and streets of the city were filled with death.

The sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his vile throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of Sioni Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded.

Order the book from St Herman Press!

One hundred thousand Georgians sacrificed their lives to venerate the holy icons. One hundred thousand severed heads and headless bodies were carried by the bloody current down the Mtkvari River.

0 ye thousands of stars, the chosen people guarding the Georgian Church with your golden wings, intercede for us always before the face of God!

Remembering the Orthodox Holocaust

The Armenian Genocide is commemorated on April 24 each year, the Pontian Greek Genocide on May 19. Together with the Assyrians and other Christians under Ottoman rule, the combined total of Orthodox and Eastern Christians massacred by the Muslim Turks from 1894 to 1923 reached 3.6 million.

Still from the film 'Ravished Armenia', based on a survivor's eyewitness account.

While it is essential to remember the Armenian Genocide and to work to stop the Islamic genocide against Christians in the Middle East and Africa being committed today, we must recall that the term 'genocide' is a secular one.

As Christians we commemorate those killed not so much as 'genocide victims', but as Martyrs — Witnesses for Christ — for they were persecuted and killed by the Turkish Muslims primarily because they were Christians, who refused to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. As the Lord tells us, "You will be hated by all for My Name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (MT 10:22), and "The hour is coming when those who kill you will think they offer service to God" (JN 16:2).

Therefore, the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Martyrs from a hundred years ago are a sign for us today, who are living through a new age of mass Christian martyrdom, which may even result in the extinction of Christians from huge areas in the Middle East and Africa. They call out to us to be zealous and faithful to Jesus Christ to the end, for He has conquered the devil and death itself. They and all the New Martyrs of the 21st Century join to call us to deep repentance, and they admonish us to live fully the Christian life.

'Now one cannot be a half-hearted Christian, but only entirely or not at all.' 

~ Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (†1982) ~

For further reading:

May 19, Pontian Greek Genocide Remembrance Day - Records show a minimum 350,000 Pontian Greeks exterminated through systematic slaughter by Turkish troops, deportations involving death marches, starvation in labor and concentration camps, rapes and individual killings. Entire villages and cities were devastated, while thousands were forced to flee to neighboring countries.

The Orthodox Christian Holocaust: 1894 to the Present - The most significant Orthodox Christian resource on this subject, compiled by the Very Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes. Includes summaries of genocide against 3.6 million Armenians and Greeks by Turkish Muslims from 1894-1923.

Armenian Church canonizes victims of Ottoman genocide

Islam, via both Turkey and ISIS, threatens 5,000-year-old Assyrian culture with annihilation

Christian Genocide in the Middle East and Public Apathy in America

'Sacrificing and Sacrificed for the Faith' — Martyrdom a Hundred Years Ago and Today

Much more on my Armenian Genocide Resource Page...

New Martyr under the Sword of Islam, Arnaud Beltrame of France

By God's providence, even as Europe collapses before the onslaught of Islam, we are given an inspiring example of a believing Christian, in this case a French lieutenant-colonel gendarme who was also a practicing Catholic, who faithfully witnessed to his faith in Jesus Christ, even unto death. 

New Martyr Arnaud Beltrame shines especially through his self-sacrificial act of love, volunteering to take the place of a hostage being held by the murderous Muslim, laying down his life for another, adding Christian martyrdom to valiant heroism for his country.

See also:  Catholic Priest beheaded in France during Mass by Muslims linked to Islamic State

Arnaud Beltrame, Hero-Martyr Of France

Compiled from Rod Dreher's post at The American Conservative and a related article from Familie Chretienne:

France has produced a second martyr — the first was Father Jacques Hamel, slain at the altar while saying mass — in the contemporary battle against radical Islam. From Familie Chretienne, this news about Arnaud Beltrame, the French gendarme who willingly exchanged places with a hostage held by an ISIS militant. (Translated by Google.)

It turns out that the lieutenant-colonel was a practicing Catholic. The fact is that he did not hide his faith, and that he radiated it, he testified. We can say that his act of offering is consistent with what he believed. He went to the end of his service to the country and to the end of his testimony of faith. 

To believe is not only to adhere to a doctrine. It is first to love God and his neighbor, and to testify of his faith concretely in everyday life. In the happy or unhappy, even dramatic circumstances of our lives. The woman, to whom he offered to take his place to save her, took on a particular humanity. Arnaud Beltrame was suddenly close to her to take his place. The anonymous person who, suddenly, becomes close,

The Martyrdom of Bassem, killed by Muslims for having a tattoo of the Cross on his wrist

Each Christian Martyr in the Islamic world provides us with an opportunity to be shocked out of our pathetic Western sloth and ease, which is why Orthodox writers throughout the centuries have always compiled lives of martyrs to strengthen the faithful.

New-Martyr Bassem was described by a friend (see below) as follows:

“Bassem was a very good man... Honest, quiet, modest, a light-hearted person and close friend to me. From early childhood he loved the Church and he was a man of prayer and worship. He didn’t renounce the faith and didn’t deny his Lord Jesus Christ. He didn’t fear death. Actually, he didn’t die but has won the real life in Heaven...”

The Muslims who killed Bassem were acting on the dictates of the demon Allah as recorded in the Qur'an:

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) 

So, when you meet those who disbelieve, smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly on them... Thus you are ordered by Allah to continue in carrying out jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam. (Sura 47:4)

Bassem Herz Attalhah did not love his life more than Christ. Rather, he willingly and openly witnessed to his faith in Christ by having the sign of the Cross tattooed on his wrist, a pious tradition which many Coptic Orthodox Christians observe. Bassem did this despite living in a region and in an age when simply being a Christian is likely to mean martyrdom because of Islam's hatred for the Cross and the vast numbers of Muslims who strive to carry out the murderous and satanic teachings of their false god and false prophet.

One more thing: 

Each Christian martyred by a Muslim is another bloody testimonial that the "god" of Islam cannot possibly be the same as the True God. 

Christian leaders who insist on defending Islam against criticism and who assert the "Same God" heresy are betraying every Christian martyred by Muslims since the early 7th century up to today, and they are betraying Jesus Christ Himself, who warned:

"I have told you these things so that you will not fall away... The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God" (JN 16:1, 2). 

In the same discourse, the Lord very simply tells the reason why Muslims kill Christians:

"They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me" (JN 16:3).

In other words, they do these things because they know and worship a different god, a false god.

So what should Christian leaders do when Muslims kill Christians? 

The Christian response to Muslims murdering Christians can be summed up in four clear steps (with a fifth for those Christian bishops and priests able to undertake it):

1. Confirm whether the murdered Christian was practicing his/her faith in Christ, and did not deny Him at the moment of trial;
2. If so confirmed, immediately recognize them as a martyr, who was faithful to Jesus even to the laying down of their life, and immediately extol them as an example for the faithful;
3. Condemn Islam as a false religion of the spirit of Antichrist, instigated by the devil (following the examples of St Gregory Palamas, St Sophronius of Jerusalem, St John Damascene, New Martyr Fr Daniel Sysoev, and others);
4. Forgive the Muslim, while simultaneously issuing a challenge to any Muslims horrified by the wicked acts of their co-religionists to repent of their false religion, and come to know the True God, through Jesus Christ in the Orthodox Church, so that they may be saved;
5. Provide catechetical classes specifically for Muslims seeking to learn about Jesus Christ in the Orthodox Church, as did Fr Daniel Sysoev of Moscow.

We live an a new age of martyrdom. It is well past time for us to vigorously proclaim Jesus Christ, to honor the martyrs who confessed Him even unto death, and to honor the Lord by plainly and without "nuance" rebuking the evil false religion which preaches and practices murder. "By their fruits you shall know them."

Is that so hard to do? 

Egypt: Sinai militants pledge to ‘kill more Copts’ after murdering man over cross tattoo

World Watch Monitor, January 15, 2018:

New-Martyr Bassem Herz Attalhah

Militants belonging to the ‘State of Sinai’ group in Egypt have promised to “kill more Copts” after murdering a 27-year-old Coptic man because of the tattoo of a cross on his wrist.

Bassem Herz Attalhah, also known as Haythem Shehata, was on his way home from work in El-Arish, capital of North Sinai governorate, on Saturday evening (13 January), with his brother Osama and neighbour and friend Mohamed, when they were stopped by three armed men, aged between 23 and 25.

“We thought they were policemen because they weren’t masked… They were wearing black jackets,” Osama, 38, told World Watch Monitor. “They approached us and asked Bassem to show them the wrist of his right hand, and when they saw the tattoo of the cross, they asked him: ‘Are you Christian?’ Bassem answered ‘Yes, I am Christian’, and repeated that again in a loud voice.”

The men then asked Mohamed his name and made him show his wrist. When they saw he had no tattoo, he was allowed to leave.

Then they turned to Osama.

New Martyr Fr. Daniil Sysoev remembered with Paschal hymns in church where he was killed (with Videos)

"According to the now-annual tradition, Fr. Daniel’s memory was celebrated with a series of Divine services in the Church of St. Thomas and later at his grave... Notably, the panikhida was followed by the singing of the Paschal Stichera and the Paschal Troparion 'Christ is Risen!' which matched the feeling of triumph in Christ that pervaded the tiny church."

Fr. Daniil Sysoev remembered with Paschal hymns in church where he was killed

OrthoChristian.com, November 20, 2017:

The funeral of New Marty Fr Daniil Sysoev, November 2009.

The memory of Fr. Daniel Sysoev was celebrated and prayers were offered for the repose of his soul yesterday and today in the Church of the Apostle Thomas in south Moscow, which Fr. Daniel founded himself. The ever-memorable Priest Daniel was shot in his church late in the evening of November 19, 2009, and died in the hospital early the next morning.

Fr. Daniel is remembered for his fervent missionary work through which he brought many former Muslims, pagans, atheists, Protestants, and others to the faith. He received many death threats for his work but he fearlessly continued in his service to the Lord until a Muslim from a radical Caucasus-based group shot him in his church.

According to the now-annual tradition, Fr. Daniel’s memory was celebrated with a series of Divine services in the Church of St. Thomas and later at his grave. Vespers and Matins were celebrated yesterday evening at 5:00 followed by an abbreviated panikhida.

A full panikhida for the repose of Fr. Daniel’s soul was celebrated later at 11:00 with a packed church joining in the prayers. Among the celebrants were Fr. Daniel’s own father, Fr. Alexei Sysoev, Apostle Thomas rector Fr. Ioann Popadinets, and Hieromonk Athanasy (Deryugin) of Sretensky Monastery.

Notably, the panikhida was followed by the singing of the Paschal Stichera and the Paschal Troparion “Christ is Risen!” which matched the feeling of triumph in Christ that pervaded the tiny church.  View video here...

'When they kill me, don't cry for me, but pray for me.' - Remembrances of Fr. Daniel Sysoev

Here is a deeply inspiring reflection on the Holy and Righteous Confessor and New Martyr under the sword of Islam, Fr. Daniil Sysoev, who was hated by the Islamic community in Russia for debating them openly and converting scores of them to the Holy Orthodox Christian Faith.

Fr Daniil was shot and killed by a Muslim in his church in Moscow on November 19, 2009. In the years since, his legacy and witness only continues to grow, with his writings being translated into English and other languages, and his relics (portions of his priestly robe which he was wearing at the time of his martyrdom) spreading through the Orthodox world.

On the American secular feast of Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the powerful witness of this dynamic and fearless friend of Christ, who proved his love for the Lord with his very blood. May we be strengthened by his martyrdom and his intercessions, that we too may make the good confession, and not love our earthly lives more than Christ.

'When they kill me, don't cry for me, but pray for me.' - Remembrances of Fr. Daniel Sysoev

by Archimandrite Melchisedek (Artiukhin)

translated by Jesse Dominick, OrthoChristian.com, November 19, 2017:

Today is already eight years from the beginning of the eternal life of our dear brother and sincere pastor Fr. Daniel Sysoev!

A priest once wrote these words in his last book: “The best end, which only a Christian can imagine, is a martyric death.” These words were written by the murdered priest Daniel Sysoev. His Holiness the patriarch wrote in his message: “The Lord honored his faithful servant with a confessor’s and martyr’s death, and he now abides in the Synaxis of the saints among the righteous, in the Synaxis of spirits made perfect.” St. John Chrysostom once said, “It is not only death that makes martyrs, but the whole dispensation of life.”

But the whole dispensation of life.

St Jacob the Martyr of Lebanon - 'Refusing to accept the dark yoke of another god'

"God, not forgetting his saints, and being ever-benevolent to his people, especially knowing we need grace in these latter times," has revealed to the faithful a forgotten monastic confessor and witness, the Monk-Martyr Jacob of Hamatoura, Lebanon, sparking the revival of an ancient and long-ago devastated monastery.

In this Life, we see the example of an Orthodox Christian monastic who was pursued by Muslim invaders for witnessing to Christ by his holy life. They tried to convert him to Islam, but he refused to accept "the dark yoke of anther god." They then beheaded him and destroyed his monastery, burning his body and trying to eradicate all evidence that he had ever lived.

This happened six centuries ago. Sound familiar?

Now a new monastic brotherhood has revived the monastery and is openly venerating the great Martyr St Jacob! May the Lord protect them and multiply their efforts during these latter days! And may we all draw strength from their courage and the witness of all the holy martyrs, who refused to deny Jesus Christ and accept "the dark yoke of another god."

The Cedar of Lebanon: St Jacob the Martyr

by Fr. John Valadez, Death To The World, October 10, 2017:

As a cedar of Lebanon groweth without fear of martyrdom or death, thou didst become a victor O Father Jacob. Thou didst conquer death in thy body when by humility thou didst control the passions and when thou wast burnt like incense as a sacrifice. Intercede with Christ to grant us great mercy.

+Apolytikion in the Third Mode

The relics of the newly revealed martyr, St Jacob of Lebanon.

Above the Kadeesha River sits a pearl of ascetic struggle unworthy of the world. Burrowed in the caves of Mount Hamatoura exists the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos, overlooking a land that once flourished with monastic fervor. Until the late 90’s this monastery was in ruins, uninhabited, and forgotten since times of persecution and the unrelenting sword of Mamluk devastation. [1]

Geronda Panteleimon and the brotherhood at Hamatoura.

Geronda Panteleimon, who lived in obedience to Elder Isaac (Attalah) and the newly canonized St Paisius, received a visitation from a forgotten martyr who directed him to rebuild his monastery in Lebanon, Geronda Panteleimon’s homeland. This martyr is St Jacob of Hamatoura, whose desert dwelling is now re-inhabited and re-ignited, becoming an spiritual oasis for monks and all people who seek Truth.

More than Mercenaries: Russians Martyred by Muslims for refusing to deny Christ and embrace Islam

The Quran's commands in action: Islam's fourteen centuries of using the sword to try to force Christians to commit apostasy and deny Jesus Christ continues with the execution of two Russian soldiers.

The Quran explicitly commands Muslims to fight against and terrorize the unbelievers till they embrace Islam or “feel themselves subdued” as is seen in these verses:

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) 

So, when you meet those who disbelieve, smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly on them... Thus you are ordered by Allah to continue in carrying out jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam. (Sura 47:4)

This of course brings to mind the powerful witness of New Martyr Evgeny Rodionov of Chechnya, who, after being captured by Muslims, refused to remove his baptismal cross and deny Christ. He was faithful to the end, and is now widely venerated as a martyr and saint by Orthodox Christians all around the globe. I saw icons of him at a recent visit to a ROCOR parish in Atlanta.

As of now, we know very little about Roman Zabolotny and Grigory Surkanov, except that they refused to deny Jesus Christ, and chose to die as Orthodox Christians. In many lives of the Holy Neo-Martyrs under the Turkish Muslim yoke, we saw sometimes deeply flawed people who came to life in Christ when confronted with the choice of death or denying Him to live as a Muslim. Many were offered riches, comfort and women in addition to being threatened with death, and still confessed Jesus Christ. The reality of one's immanent death helps sharply reveal some depths of the mystery of the soul. 

May Roman's and Grigory's sins be consigned to oblivion, may their memory be eternal, and may they receive the crown of martyrdom for witnessing to their faith with their very lives. May we be inspired by these ordinary, yet valiant and extraordinary believers, who were faithful unto death. 

Still from ISIS video, showing Roman Vasilievich Zabolotny and Grigory Mikhailovich Surkanov

Russian mercenaries captured by ISIS ‘are executed after refusing to reject Christianity and become Muslim' 

by Will Stewart, MailOnline, October 6, 2017 

(thanks to Jihad Watch and Blazing Cat Fur):

Two Russian mercenaries reportedly captured by ISIS jihadists are feared to have been executed because they refused to read out a statement saying they rejected their Christian faith and had become Muslim.

Coming October 7: St Vladimir's Seminary Orthodox Education Day: 'Modern Martyrs'

While I am glad to see this focus on the New Martyrs of the 21st Century, organized by one of American Orthodoxy's most important institutions, and am very interested to explore the various materials, talks, and hoped-for reviews, there remains an enormous question looming over the event, an 'elephant in the room' if you will:

Will Islam be discussed?

And if so, will Islam's commands to wage jihad against Christians — especially those verses in the Quran explicitly cited by all Muslim persecutors of Christians, from ISIS to Boko Haram to "known wolf" jihadis in Europe and North America, to the "ordinary" Muslims in Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kosovo, Indonesia, etc. — be honestly and straightforwardly addressed?

Judging from the more thorough event description recently posted on the SVS and OCA websites and featured below, it appears Islam may only be mentioned in an oblique manner if at all, but I am hopeful the truth will be spoken.

Some may wholly reject the notion that Islam bears any responsibility for Muslims murdering Christians throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, etc. But what factual evidence could they present to support their claims? The Muslim jihadis themselves cite Islam's sacred texts in support of their actions. Even more to the point, there is ominous widespread support among Muslims — both in the Islamic wold and in the West — for ISIS and jihad (see here, here, here and here).

Others may ask, why is it at all important for Orthodox Christians to discuss whether Islam has anything to do with the global phenomenon of Muslim persecution for Christians.

Perhaps because the saints have always openly addressed the challenge from Islam:

VIDEO: Preparing for Martyrdom in our Apocalyptic Times, by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos

"The work of the Church is not exclusively to battle with heretics [and heresies - like Islam, and those who say Muslims worship the same True God as we do], but also to train the faithful so that at the appropriate moment they might become confessors of Christ and martyrs out of their love for Him..."

See also: Perfected by the Sword - The Way of Martyrdom in Our Times, by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos





Posted to YouTube by Nicodemos Hagiorite

American Christianity declines as Martyrs of the Middle East bear Powerful Witness to Christ

"Perhaps some today find Christianity irrelevant to their lives because they have never seriously encountered the Orthodox experience of Jesus Christ."

American Christianity declines as the Martyrs of the Middle East bear Powerful Witness to Christ

Homily for the Sunday After the Ascension in the Orthodox Church

by Fr Philip LeMasters, Pravoslavie, June 2, 2017:

A recent survey of Americans about religion is getting a lot of attention, especially because it shows that fewer people now identify themselves as Christians and more consider themselves unaffiliated with any religion. Perhaps at least part of the reason for these declines is that many people have not found something worth living and dying for in the churches with which they are familiar.

Their experience reflects the failure of so much Christianity in our culture to embody with integrity the good news that we celebrate during this season of the Ascension, which invites us to participate personally in the fulfillment of our humanity in the risen and ascended Savior. The Lord went up into heaven forty days after His resurrection. In Him, humanity and divinity are united in one Person; He rises into heaven as the God-Man. His Ascension shows that the Son shares in the glory that He had with the Father and the Holy Spirit before the creation of the world.

"The power of the risen and ascended Son of God continues in the Church, especially in the witness of the martyrs to this day who share in a victory that is not of this world."

And He brings us into that glory with Him. The Ascension is a brilliant icon of our salvation, for it makes clear that our Lord has raised us in all dimensions of our existence—not only from the tomb, not only from Hades—but into the eternal life of the Holy Trinity. In the ascended Christ, we truly become participants in God, partakers of the divine nature by grace even as we live and breathe in a world that so often forgets the One Who spoke it into existence.

Symposium and Services venerating today's Christian Martyrs under the Sword of Islam

St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary has announced a landmark event for its annual Orthodox Education Day, October 7, 2017:

MODERN MARTYRS

- Christians of the Middle East and North Africa -

Orthodox Education Day - October 7, 2017

• 10AM - Divine Liturgy
• Public Lectures, Children's Activities
• Coffee, Ethnic Food, Icon Display, Book Sale
• Akathist Service  to the New Martyrs
• Free Admission to SVS Grounds

Click to enlarge for event info.

We look forward with hope that this gathering truly honors the heroic New Martyrs and Confessors of Jesus Christ, who refuse to submit to or worship a false god and false prophet, but faithfully witness — even unto death — to Jesus Christ as Lord and God.  These 'Modern Martyrs' — men, women and children — are a powerful sign of faith and light in our age of lukewarmness, apostasy, darkness, and insanity.

Coptic Martyrs and their Forgiving Families - Seeds of the Church in Egypt

“When people see this attitude [of forgiveness] from Christians and the church, they ask themselves, ‘What kind of power is this?’” he said. “But with this witness we must also declare the message of Christ, which we are fulfilling—literally. We may not see the response immediately. But we will in the near future.”

The Lord's grace is present and real among the Coptic faithful, as they persevere through the valley of the shadow of death, bearing their heavy cross of mass martyrdom, following Christ to their own Golgotha. Their profound faith — and their forgiveness of their Muslim persecutors — may be planting seeds for a new Orthodox Christian harvest in Egypt. May it be so!

Forgiveness: Muslims Moved as Coptic Christians Do the Unimaginable

Amid ISIS attacks, faithful response inspires Egyptian society.

by Jayson Casper, ChristianityToday, April 20, 2017

Coffins are carried to the funeral of Egyptian Christians killed in Palm Sunday bombings. (Photo: Mohamed El-Shahed/AFP)

Twelve seconds of silence is an awkward eternity on television. Amr Adeeb, perhaps the most prominent talk show host in Egypt, leaned forward as he searched for a response.

“The Copts of Egypt … are made of … steel!” he finally uttered.

Moments earlier, Adeeb was watching a colleague in a simple home in Alexandria speak with the widow of Naseem Faheem, the guard at St. Mark’s Cathedral in the seaside Mediterranean city.

On Palm Sunday, the guard had redirected a suicide bomber through the perimeter metal detector, where the terrorist detonated. Likely the first to die in the blast, Faheem saved the lives of dozens inside the church.

“I’m not angry at the one who did this,” said his wife, children by her side. “I’m telling him, ‘May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you.’

“‘You put my husband in a place I couldn’t have dreamed of.’”

Stunned, Adeeb stammered about Copts bearing atrocities over hundreds of years, but couldn’t escape the central scandal.

“How great is this forgiveness you have!” his voice cracked. “If it were my father, I could never say this. But this is their faith and religious conviction.”

Millions marveled with him across the airwaves of Egypt.

So also did millions of Copts, recently rediscovering their ancient heritage, according to Ramez Atallah, president of the Bible Society of Egypt which subtitled and recirculated the satellite TV clip.

“In the history and culture of the Copts, there is much taught about martyrdom,” he told CT. “But until Libya, it was only in the textbooks—though deeply ingrained.”

The Islamic State in Libya kidnapped and beheaded 21 mostly Coptic Christians in February 2015. CT previously reported the message of forgiveness issued by their families and the witness it provided.

“Since then, there has been a paradigm shift,” said Atallah. “Our ancestors lived and believed this message, but we never had to.”