the angel of light 02/2009

8/14/2019 The Angel of Light 02/2009

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Iverskaya icon of Theotokos the most famous and respected of Slavonic people.

Iviron is the name of the monastery on Holy Mount Athos where the Iverskaya icon hasbeen since the 10th century. According to church history, this icon was of the type paintedby the Apostle and Evangelist Luke on a panel of the table at which, The Lord Jesus Christand His 12 apostles had their Last Supper. This icon is of the Hodegetria type from theGreek meaning Pointer of the Way and is usually depicted with the Christ Child in Herarms giving His blessing, but the Iverskaya icon has also some blood on Her cheek.

In the 9th century, a widow from Byzantium hid the icon in her house to

preserve this icon of Virgin Mary from destruction of iconoclasts, becausethat time, was a time of iconoclasm, and all icons were being lookedfor and then they were burned or broken. One day, soldiers burst intowith his sword. At that moment the blood began to flow from the cheekof The Holy Virgin Mary. The Soldiers-iconoclasts were very scared and Fearing that she would be caught, the widowtook the icon to the sea and after saying a prayer, she dropped it into

200 years later a monk from Athos found the icon in the sea and took it to the monastery.A copy was made and sent to Russia in 1648, where a chapel was built for it. Almost im-

mediately this copy became highly venerated because of many-many miracles which hadbeen attributed to it. This Holy Chapel is in the heart of Moscow (the capital of the RussiaFederation) between the Historical Museum and the building where the State Duma met be-fore the Revolution. It was always the most revered place of all Russian holy places Afterthe revolution of 1917, the chapel was razed, and opened again only in 1994. The feastmonks saw the holy icon, gliding in the sea water to them. Since then and up to now, forabout 11 centuries the Iverskaya icon of Theotokos has been in the monastery on HolyMount Athos and a lot of miracles have taken place all this time.

Prayerful dialogue. Litanies are an integral part of worship in the

Orthodox Church. They come in many different forms and bear several different

litanies that is difficult to ignore: all of them take the form of a dialogue between the

clergy, who preside at our divine services, and the people, who can be thought of as co-

celebrants. As in any good and healthy conversation, a few things are necessary. Foremost,

there must be at least two parties; one cannot engage in dialogue by oneself. Litanies are a

liturgical dialogue between the clergy and people. In order for this interaction to work ap-

propriately, this conversation must consist not only of the priest chanting petitions, but of the

people responding. In fact, a large portion of the Divine Liturgy involves dialogue betweenthe celebrating clergy and the people who have gathered in worship. Probably the most

poignant example of such a dialogue is the anaphora. The content of these prayers implies

and rest upon the very fact that the congregation is present and that it actively participates,

praying each petition as a single body. The celebrant exclaims, "Let us have our hearts on

ing. So, from the Great Litany at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy to the very end, when

ferent streams of dialogue between clergy and people, each affording us an opportunity to

unify as a community, as the Body of Christ.


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Saint Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan

On August 1, 1836, in the village of Beryoza, Smolensk District, a son was born into thefamily of a poor deacon named Dimitry Kasatkin. The child was baptized with the nameIvan. Who then could have imagined that Vanya Kasatkin would become the third Russian(after the Holy Princess Olga and Holy Prince Vladimir) to be glorified as a Saint Equal-to-

the-Apostles! When in 1860 the 24-year-old missionary set off for Japan, preaching theGospel in that country seemed absolutely inconceivable. According to Fr. Nicholas, "the

Japanese looked upon foreigners as animals and upon Christianity as an extremely evilchurch to which only frank evildoers and sorcerers could belong." Apparently the early

years of his mission served only to confirm that sad idea: after 8 years, the Russian mission-ary's flock in Japan consisted of a mere 12 people. Toward the end of his life, however,in Japan there were already 266 communities, with a bishop, an archbishop, 35 priests,116 preachers, and approximately 33,000 laypeople!.In 1855 Japan allowed the Russians to establish their first diplomatic mission, in Hako-date. In 1860 the Russian consul to Japan made a request of the Holy Synod to send apastor "who might be useful not only with his religious activities, but one who with his

scholarly efforts and his personal life would be capable of giving the Japanese and foreign-ers as well a good understanding of our clergy." That request was passed on to the Theo-logical Academy.Among its graduates was John Kasatkin.

tioned the rector to tonsure him a monk and appoint him to the Russian Consulate in Ja-pan. There was no objection to his request. In June 1860, he was tonsured with thename Nicholas. The very same month, he was ordained a hieromonk, and became a mo-nastic missionary. In July, the young hieromonk left for his assignment in the city of Hako-date, Japan. He later recollected, "I dreamed a lot about my Japan. I imagined it to belike a bride waiting for me with a floral bouquet in her hands. When news of Christflooded through its darkness, everything would be renewed. How disillusioning it was for

me to arrive in Japan and see something the complete opposite of what I had imagined! Iarrived, looked around, and saw that my bride was asleep, and was not even thinkingabout me."Since long past, Japanese had had a low opinion of everything foreign, and had heldfirmly to their own customs. Christian ethics were completely alien to the Japanese peo-ple. One can readily see that in the Samurai code: in the event of dishonor, the Samuraiwas obliged to committed suicide, to commit hara kiri. Of course, to them Christians wor-shiping Christ, One who had been crucified, seemed simply able. Even more so was theiraffirmation that this person, who had been condemned to a disgraceful death, was God!For 8 years, the young missionary studied Japan. Everything interested him - its language,its customs, and its moral code. In 1868 he spoke rudimentary Japanese, and acquired a

better understanding of Japan's history than did the Japanese themselves.Among the first Japanese to be converted to Orthodoxy by Fr. Nicholas was Sawabe. ThatSaul-turned-Paul was a Shinto priest who was held in universal respect lived in complete ma-terial contentment. He once happened to visit the Russian priest only to express his scornfor and hatred of the Christian Faith. He began his discussion with pointed ridicule, but inthe course of the talk became progressively more reflective. The next day Sawabe returned,and at the conclusion of the discussion asked to begin studying Christian teachings. Hebrought a brush and ink to the first lesson. Fr. Nicholas would relate the story of the OldTestament, and Sawabe would record it in kanji hieroglyphs. One year later, Sawabebrought his friend Dr. Sakai to see Fr. Nicholas. Another year later, another physician, Dr.Urano, joined them. Much later, during their Baptism (Fr. Nicholas was in no hurry to bap-


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baptize them, for he wanted to afford his disciples the opportunity to better learn and ac-cept the truths of that new Faith), they were given names of Apostles-Paul, James and

John. In 1870, Fr. Nicholas was appointed director of the newlyreestablished Japanese Orthodox Mission. In 1871, persecutionagainst the Christians began in that land. Paul Sawabe was incar-cerated along with another eight Orthodox believers. Over onehundred people were called in for questioning.Soon however, everything changed. The old anti-Christian direc-

tives were rescinded. Fr. Nicholas set about building churches andschools, and later, a religious school as well. He translated reli-gious service books into Japanese, and compiled a glossary oftheological terms. By then, there were already 4,000 believers.

John Sakai was ordained a deacon. Five years later, Nicholasbecame the first bishop of Tokyo, where he erected the CathedralChurch of Christ's Resurrection. The Russo-Japanese War be-gan. In an epistle to the Japanese Orthodox, Holy Hierarch

Nicholas wrote, "It pleased God to permit a rift between Russia and Japan. May His holy As a Russian patriot, he no longer served public Divine Services, at which

prayers for Japanese victory had to be offered.During the War, Fr. Nicholas was the only Russian at the Mission. He visited his compatri-ots who were prisoners of war, and did everything he could to assist them. Meanwhile,during the War, his Japanese flock grew ever larger. In 1905, 627 people were baptized!In 1906, the Holy Hierarch was rewarded for his ascetic labors by being raised to the rankof Archbishop. Despite this clear evidence that the higher ecclesiastical authorities werewell disposed toward him, he remained to the end of his days the image of absolute humil-ity, never extolling himself over anyone in any way. The following words are recorded inhis diary: "I bow down before glorious eldership, and reproach myself for my own, pettyinspiration to work, and even in that, only that little work, without regard to everything elsein the world. What poverty and narrowness of nature! I can see that I am of use only to

Japan, to an insignificant corner of the world."On February 1, 1912, in his 70th year, Holy Hierarch peacefully departed to the Lord. Hebecame the first European to be buried in the ancient cemetery of Tokyo.On April 10, 1970, the Russian Orthodox Church glorified the Holy Hierarch as aSaint. From his death to the present, St. Nicholas has been venerated in Japan as a greatrighteous one and prayerful intercessor before God. The Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo isalso known as "the church of St. Nicholas.-Special thanks from father George, Alona & KirillDear brothers and sisters!!! During the Christmas season, we got alot of Christmas gifts and cards and we thank all of you foryour love, attention and good wishes!

Orthodox Church devotes each day of week to special memory. (Monday to all angels, Tuesday- Saint JohnBaptist e.t.c.). And each Saturday Orthodox Christians remember all saints and all departed and pray abouttheir departed relatives. But besides daily prayers and Saturdays, Russian Orthodox Church has special days

several times year. They are called The Memorial Saturdays (All Souls Day). In Russia they are usu-ally called Parental Saturdays, because much time ago, Slavs called all their departed relatives parents.On these days, all Orthodox Christians visit special dead services in Churches and bring some food on theobitual table (Kanun), which are alms for memory of theirs departed relatives. From time immemorial, Slavonicpeople like and honour these days.


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Saint Cyril Equal of the Apostles, Teacher of the Slavs(originally named Constantine), and his older brother Methodius (April 6),were the sons of a Greek Drungarios (a military officer) named Leon, bornat Thessalonica, and a Slavic mother. Cyril and his brother were born innorthern Greece where both Greek and Slavonic languages were spoken.St Cyril received the finest of educations, and from the age of fourteen he

was raised with the son of the emperor. Later, he was ordained as a

priest. Upon his return to Constantinople, he worked as a librarian of the

cathedral church, and as a professor of philosophy. St Cyril successfully

held debates with iconoclast heretics and with Moslems.

Yearning for solitude, he went to Mount Olympos to his older brother Meth-odius, but his solitude lasted only a short while. Both brothers were sent bythe emperor Michael on a missionary journey to preach Christianity to theKhazars in the year 857. Along the way they stopped at Cherson and dis-covered the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement of Rome .Arriving at the territory of the Khazars, the holy brothers spoke with themabout the Christian Faith. Persuaded by the preaching of St Cyril, theKhazar prince together with all his people accepted Christianity. The grate-ful prince wanted to reward the preachers with rich presents, but they re-

fused this and instead asked the prince to free and send home with themall the Greek captives. St Cyril returned to Constantinople together with 200such captives set free. In the year 862 began the chief exploit of the holybrothers. At the request of Prince Rostislav, the emperor sent them to Mora-via to preach Christianity in the Slavic language. At that time there was nowritten language for the Slavic-speaking peoples of the Balkans and EasternEurope. In order to preserve the liturgy and provide written forms of theScriptures, Cyril and Methodius developed an alphabetic system to expressthe Slavonic languages in writing. This script became the basis of two al-phabets - one called "Glagolitic," for use by western Slavs and anothercalled "Cyrillic," in honor of this saint, used by the Eastern OrthodoxChurch. Sts Cyril and Methodius by a revelation from God compiled a Sla-vonic alphabet and translated the Gospel, Epistles, the Psalter and manyService books into the Slavonic language. They introduced divine services inSlavonic. The holy brothers were then summoned to Rome at the invitationof the Roman Pope. Pope Adrian received them with great honor, sincethey brought with them the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement. Sickly by na

ture and in poor health, St Cyril soon fell ill from his many labors, and after taking the schema,he died on February in the year 869 at the age of forty-two. Before his death, he expressed hiswish for his brother to continue the Christian enlightenment of the Slavs. St Cyril was buried in theRoman church of St Clement, whose own relics also rest there, brought to Italy from Cherson bythe Enlighteners of the Slavs.

The love of Scriptures and the desire to share them motivated Cyril and Methodius. Biblical textsare often the first books to be written down in a language, and the work of translating the Bible

often offers a culture its first use of written language. The spirit of Cyril and Methodius reminds usthat the work of God does not consist solely of one's personal relationship with God. It usuallyalso includes the calling of a whole people to live in a way that glorifies the Lord.

-Are you sinful?

-Yes, I am, Father. I'm too lazy.

-You should fight laziness.

-But I'm too lazy to fight it, Father!


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Schedule of Services

For February 2009

1 Sunday of Zacchaeus (33th after Pentecost, Tone 8) - Chipman - Orthodox V Annual Meeting

3 Tuesday Lodge (9:30 am) Auxillary(10:15 am)

8 Sunday (Tone 1) - Publican and Pharisee - Skaro

15 Sunday (Tone 2) - MEETING OF THE LORD, Prodigal Son - Mundare

22 Sunday (Tone 3) - Meatfare Sunday- Shishkovtzi

28 Saturday - PATRIARCHAL PARISHES MEETING - 10.30am - Chipman

Orthodox feasts (prazdniki)

in february

If you have any questions or proposals, please, Contact us:Priest Father George Sergeev 780-895-21-49Email: [email protected]. / PO Box 483 Lamont Alberta TOB 2R0

President Yakim Lopushinsky (780-895-26-67Secretary John Tkachuk 780-576-30-73Treasurer Fred Pewarchuk 780-895-21-59Or visit our websitewww.orthodoxfive.org

12 February - St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory Theologian and St. John Chrysostom

15 February - Meeting of the Lord (one of 12 High Orthodox Holidays)

16 February - St. Nicolas, archbishop ofJapan, Equal-to-the-Apostles.

21 FebruaryParental Saturday or All-Souls Day (in this day we remember about ourdeparted relatives and all departed orthodox people and pray about their souls)

23 28 February - Pancake week (week before Great Lent. All Slavonic people have a

25 February - Iverskaya icon of the Holy Virgin Mary

27 February- St. Cyril, apostle of Slavs

the angel of light 02/2009

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