Fourth Sunday of Great and Holy Lent

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Umm is anyone doing it this week? Do we have any new volunteers to post this from the ONT each week?

[尼古拉前执事]

I guess I will post the commentary anyway since tomorrow is Sunday and we like to have these up on the Tuesday before the readings ...

Fourth Sunday of Lent - By Prayer and Fasting
Mark 9:17-31
From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Mark
by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

14-18. And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed, and running to Him, saluted Him. And He asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto Thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit; and wheresoever it taketh hold of him, it teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and wasteth away: and I spake to Thy disciples that they should cast it out; and they could not. When He came to His disciples, that is, to the nine that had not gone up onto the mountain with Him, He saw that they were being questioned by the Pharisees. For the Pharisees had seized the opportunity of Jesus absence to attempt to turn the disciples away from the Lord. The multitude, however, suddenly caught sight of Him, and greeted Him. They had been longing to see Him, and now they caught sight of Him and greeted Him as if He had just returned from a long journey. Some say that even His appearance had become more beautiful from the light of the Transfiguration which drew the multitude towards Him to greet Him. A man in the crowd spoke in answer to the Lords question. This man was weak in faith, as even the Lord attests when He says, 0 faithless generation, and again, all things are possible to him that believeth. The man himself attests to his unbelief when he says, Help Thou mine unbelief. His complaints against the disciples clearly shows his unbelief. For he ought not to have accused them in front of everyone, but privately.

19-27. He answereth him, and saith, 0 faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him unto Me. And they brought him unto Him: and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tore him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And He asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Since a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and tore him much, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. The man who approached the Lord accused the disciples of not having the power to heal. But the Lord turns the blame onto him, all but saying, "It is your unbelief which is the cause of your sons not being healed." The Lord does not address only this man, but He directs this saying to all, reproaching all the Jews for their unbelief. For it is likely that many of the bystanders were also scandalized by the disciples inability to heal. The Lord shows that He welcomes death, when He says, How long shall I be with you? meaning, it is a torment to Me to live with you and your unbelief. But though He reproaches them, He grants the healing as well. He does not desire to heal the son as a show of His power, but rather He proceeds with great humility. See how He does not attribute the healing to His own power, but to the mans faith, when He says, All things are possible to him that believeth. As soon as He saw a crowd beginning to gather around, He rebuked the spirit, not wanting to heal in front of the multitude as though for show. When He rebuked the spirit and said, Come out of him, and enter no more into him, this suggests that because of the mans unbelief, the demon would have again entered into him if it had not been prevented by the Lords command. The Lord permits the spirit to rend the son, so that all might recognize the attack of the demon, and understand that it would have killed the man if it had not been held in check by the hand of God. A man is thrown by a demon into the fire of anger and desire, and into water, meaning, into the pounding surf of worldly cares. This demon is both mute and deaf. It is deaf, not wanting to hear the words of God; and it is mute, not able to teach others what ought to be taught. But if Jesus, Who is the Word of the Gospel, should take him by the hand, that is, strengthen his power to act, then that man will be freed from the demon. See how God first helps us, and then we ourselves are required to work. For the Evangelist says that Jesus lifted him up--this is the divine help--and he arose--this is the effort of the man himself to do good.

28-29.And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast it out? And He said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. The disciples were afraid they had lost the grace which the Lord had given them, and this was why they had not been able to cast out the demon. See that out of respect they approached the Lord privately. This kind--what kind? The kind which may make their abode in lunatics, or, in general, the whole race of demons, does not come out except through prayer and fasting. Both the one suffering, and the one about to heal, must fast. Both are necessary. Good sense dictates that the one suffering must fast. He must not only fast, but also pray; and he must not only pray, but also fast, for true prayer is rendered when it is yoked to fasting. When the one who prays is not weighed down by the effects of food, his prayer is not burdened and ascends easily.

30-31. And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it. For He taught His disciples, and said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after He is killed, He shall rise the third day. Whenever the Lord spoke of His passion on the cross, He would precede and follow His words with miracles, so that no one could think that He would suffer because He was powerless. And when He spoke sad words, such as, they shall kill Him, He would add words of joy, He shall rise the third day, teaching us that gladness always follows after grief, and that we should not anguish needlessly in our sorrows, but should hope for better things.

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March 8/21, 2004
Beloved Clergy and Parishioners in the Lord, Grace and Peace be with you.
 
THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE GREAT FAST
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 314]. Brethren:
     6  13God, having made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, swore by Himself, 14saying, "Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee [cf. Gen. 22:17]." 15And thus, after he patiently endured, he attained the promise. 16For men indeed swear by the greater, and the oath for confirmation is to them an end of all contradiction. 17Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, mediated by an oath, 18that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us, 19which we have as an anchor of th e soul, both sure and firm, and which entereth into "the inner space behind the veil [Lev. 16:2, 12, 15]," 20where Jesus entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.
 
COMMEMORATION OF SAINT JOHN OF THE LADDER
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 229]. Brethren:
     5  8Be walking as children of light- 9for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth- 10proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. 11And cease having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for all which is made manifest is light. 14Wherefore, He saith, "Rouse thyself, thou who sleepest, and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine on thee [cf. Is. 9:2, 26:19, 52:1, 60:1, 2]."
     15Be taking heed then how exactly ye walk, not as unwise ones, but as wise ones, 16redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17On this account cease becoming foolish, but become as ones understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18And cease being drunk with wine, in which is prodigality, but keep on being filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord.
 
SUNDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF THE GREAT FAST
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 40]. At that time:
     9  17A certain man came to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, "Teacher, I brought to Thee my son who hath a dumb spirit. 18"And wheresoever it overtaketh him, it rendeth him; and he foameth and gnasheth his teeth, and is withering away. And I spoke to Thy disciples that they should cast it out, and they did not have the strength." 19And He answereth and saith, "O unbelieving generation, until when shall I ! be with you? Until when shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." 20And they brought him to Him. And having seen Him, straightway the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and was rolling about foaming. 21And He asked his father, "How long a time is it since this hath happened to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22"And ofttimes it casteth him both into fire and into water, in order that it might destroy him. But if Thou art able to do! anything, have compassion upon us and h elp us." 23And Jesus said to him, "As to the 'if Thou art able,' if thou art able to believe, all things can be to the one who believeth." 24And straightway the father of the little child cried out with tears and was saying, "I believe, O Lord; help Thou mine unbelief." 25And after Jesus saw that a crowd was running together, He rebuked the spirit, the unclean one, saying to it, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him." 26And the spirit cried out and convulsed him much, and came out. And he became as if he were one dead, insomuch that many said, "He died." 27But Jesus took hold of his hand and raised him up, and he arose. 28And after He entered into a house, His disciples were questioning Hi! m privately, "Why were we not able to cast it out?" 29And He said to them, "This kind can come forth by nothing, except by prayer and fasting."
     30And having gone forth from that place, they were passing by through Galilee, and He was not willing that anyone should know it. 31For He was teaching His disciples and was saying to them, "The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and having been killed, He shall raise Himself the third day."
 
Commemoration of Saint John of the Ladder
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 10]. At that time:
For Gk. usage, see Mt. 4:23-5:13; for Sl. usage, see Mt. 4:25-5:13.
     4  23Jesus was going around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24And the report of Him went out into all Syria. And they brought to Him all those who were ill, constrained by various diseases and torments, and possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and He cured them. 25And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, a! nd Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judæa, and beyond the Jordan.
     5  1And seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying:
      3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
     4"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
     5"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
     6"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
     7"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
     8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
     9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
     10"Blessed are they who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
     11"Blessed are ye whenever they reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word against you falsely on account of Me.
     12"Be rejoicing and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
     13"Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should become insipid, with what shall it be salted? For it is no longer good for anything, except to be cast out and to be trampled underfoot by men."
 
     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.
    
     This week we commemorate Saint John of the Ladder. He can be considered as a general in the army of the monastics. The Church brings forth in the Holy Fast remembrance of monastics, both men and women, and therefore today Saint John of the Ladder is mentioned. He wrote a book called The Ladder of Divine Ascent, and the Church has identified him with this book, calling him "Saint John of the Ladder." This book contains thirty steps to spiritual perfection, corresponding with the thirty years of our Saviour before His ministry.

     This book is divinely inspired, and without question, a work of the Holy Spirit. It explains to us the true way to virtue and also the pitfalls of the evil one, all within the monastic context. Since monastics are a light for laypeople, then of course, this book is appropriate for both monastics and laypeople. Our goal as monastics is to fulfill our vows, to maintain ourselves with purity, with poverty, in obedience, with stability, and in renunciation of the world. The monastic makes these five vows, but it can be also said that these vows are necessary for laypeople also.

     The Gospel reading we heard today impresses upon us the importance of prayer and fasting. One may ask, where is prayer and fasting amongst these vows? The answer is that they are in all of them. None of these vows can be accomplished without prayer and fasting, but specifically when we vow to obey the commandments through our obedience, we are thereby obeying the Gospel, which tells us to pray and to fast, as we just heard. Prayer and fasting are a fire that burns the devils. It is a great weapon to rid ourselves of many temptations, and even the devil himself. It weakens his hold on us and frees us to work the virtues.

     We are engaged in these forty days in this great feat of virtue. Who else will maintain a fast for forty days to honor the Passion of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ? Only Orthodox Christians. Is this a novelty? No, the forty-day fast is from Apostolic times. Where do the other so-called Christian denominations stand on this Apostolic tradition? They have long ago dismissed any supreme act of virtue, such as abstaining from meat, fish, dairy, wine and olive oil. Why? For convenience and probably for the reason that since they are no longer part of the Church, they see no benefit in these "archaic" traditions, or they may call them traditions of men. But Christ says:

     15And Jesus said to them, "The sons of the bridechamber are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, are they? But days will come, whenever the bridegroom shall have been taken away from them, and then shall they fast."   [Mt. 9:15]
     How can this then be a tradition of men, when Christ Himself fasted forty days:
     "1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He hungered."   [Mt. 4:1,2]

     One may say that not only did He leave us an example, but also gave us a commandment to fast:

     16"And whenever ye are fasting, cease being as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they artificially disfigure their faces, in such a manner that they might appear to men fasting. Verily I say to you that they have their reward. 17"But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, 18"so that thou mightest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father Who is in secret; and thy Father, Who seeth in secret, shall reward! thee in the open."  [Mt. 6:16-18]

     And we heard in the Gospel today how it is necessary for us to fast, as part of a formula to be rid of evil spirits:

     21"But this kind goeth not out except by prayer and fasting."  [Mt. 17:21]
     And we hear the Evangelist praising Anna the Prophetess:
     37And she was a widow about eighty-four years, who departed not from the temple, and worshipped God with fastings and entreaties night and day.   [Lk. 2:37]
     We read in the Acts of the Holy Apostles also, how Cornelius, seeking God, supplicated Him through prayer and fasting:
     30And Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing…   [Acts 10:30]

     In the Acts of the Holy Apostles we read in many places how the Apostles with prayer and fasting ministered to the Church. Here is one:

     "And after they [the Apostles] ordained presbyters for them in every church, and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had believed."   [Acts 14:23]

     Saint Paul, counseling married couples, says:

     "Cease defrauding one another, unless by agreement for a time, that ye may devote time for fasting and for prayer; and come together again for the same that Satan may not be tempting you through your incontinence."   [1 Cor. 7:5]

     So we see many and various proofs from the Scriptures and from the teachings of the  Church that fasting is part of our life. This is the lot of Christians. Is this going to be the lot forever? No. This is the lot for us here on earth. In the Resurrection, Christ will grant us peace and joy, and all affliction and sorrow and pain will be taken away. Our self-inflicted affliction, sorrow and pain will be rewarded by Him Who is the Recompenser of our life. Indeed, in some lives of the Saints, we read that those who have beheld the recompense of the Resurrection have come back and told us that if they had known the reward for the afflictions in this life, they! would have wanted and wished that this present life would be filled with more sufferings so that the recompense would be greater.

     Let us end this discussion on fasting with the most beautiful words of the great Apostle Paul, the mouth of the Holy Spirit:

     "But in all things commending ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in straits, 5in blows, in imprisonments, in instabilities, in toils, in vigils, in FASTINGS, 6in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, 7in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness of the right hand and of the left, 8by glory and dishonor, by ill-fame and good fame; as deceivers and yet true; 9as unknown and well-known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not put to death; 10as ones sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but enriching many; as having nothing, and yet possessing all th! ings."  [2 Cor. 6:4-10]
    
Church / Monastery News:
 
     This past week, Father Dionysi and his family, with the help of parishioners, purchased a new home for himself and for the parish of Saint Basil of Kineshma.  His new address is:

          Father Dionysi & Matushka Christina McGowan
          Saint Basil of Kineshma Orthodox Church
          210 Cielo Vista St.
          Colorado Springs, CO  80911

     This piece of property has a separate two-car garage which will be converted into a very convenient church building.  We all congratulate Father Dionysi on this new purchase which we hope will benefit the Church in Colorado Springs greatly. 
 
     Vladyka will be going on a pastoral trip this week to Florida, and to Pennsylvania.  Please pray that he will have safe journeys.  He will be administering Holy Communion to our faithful in both states. 
 
Question Box:
 
     Q.  Is Father Gregory Louyre part of our Church?  I have heard that Father Gregory is not part of our Church because he has been dismissed by the Metropolitan because he refused to obey the directive of the Synod to refrain from engaging in theological debates on the internet which caused confusion among the faithful.  Then on the other hand, Olga, his disciple, is saying on the internet that he is part of our Church.  Which is it?

     A.  We have contacted Suzdal and talked to both Metropolitan Valentine and Archbishop Theodore about this.  Both said that he is not part of our Church in that he has been "discharged" to search for another jurisdiction.  We will try to get more information about this and get back with you.
 
Please pray for:
 
     Our Vladika Metropolitan Valentine.
     Father Savva, for his blood clot problems.
 
Crumbs from the trapeza table:
 
From The Ladder of Divine Ascent.
Step 3. On Exile or Pilgrimage
     1. Exile means that we leave forever everything in our own country that prevents us from reaching the goal of piety. Exile means modest manners, wisdom which remains unknown, prudence not recognized as such by most, a hidden life, an invisible intention, unseen meditation, desire for humiliation, longing for hardship, constant determination to love God, abundance of love, renunciation of vainglory, depth of silence.
     3. If every prophet goes unhonored in his own country, as the Lord says, then let us beware lest our exile should be for us the occasion of vainglory. For exile is separation from everything in order to keep the mind inseparable from God. Exile loves and produces continual weeping. An exile is a fugitive from every relationship with his own people and with strangers.
     4. In hastening to solitude and exile, do not wait for world-loving souls, because the thief comes unexpectedly. In trying to save the careless and the indolent along with themselves, many perish with them, because in the course of time the soul's fire goes out. As soon as the flame is burning within you, run; for you do not know when it will go out and leave you in darkness. Not all of us are required to save others. The divine Apostle says: 'Everyone of us shall give an account of himself to God.' And again he says: 'Thou therefore that teachest another, does thou not teach thyself?' This is like saying: I do not know whether we must all teach others; but we must most certainly teach ourselves.
     9. Run from places of sin as from the plague. For when fruit is not present, we have no frequent desire to eat it.
     10. Be on the look-out for this trick and while of the thieves. For they suggest to us that we need not separate ourselves from people in the world, and maintain that we shall receive a great reward if we can look upon women and still remain continent. We must not believe these suggestions, but rather the opposite.
     12. It is better to grieve our parents than the Lord. For He has created and saved us, but they have often ruined their loved ones and delivered them up to their doom.
     13. He is an exile who, having knowledge, sits like one of foreign speech amongst people of another tongue.
     14. It is not from hatred that we separate ourselves from our own people or places (God forbid!), but to avoid the harm which might come from them. In this, as in everything else, it is Christ who teaches us what is good for us. For it is clear that He often left His parents according to the flesh. And when He was told, 'Thy Mother and thy brethren are seeking for Thee,' our good Lord and Master at once showed us an example of dispassionate hatred when he said, 'My mother and My brethren are they who do the will of My Father Who is in Heaven.'
     16. Longing for God extinguishes longing for our parents. And so anyone who says he has both is deceiving himself. He should listen to Him Who says, 'No one can serve two lords.' 'I have not come,' says the Lord, 'to bring peace on earth (that is, love of parents for sons, and love of brothers for brothers who have resolved to serve Me), but war and a sword' in order to separate lovers of God from lovers of the world, the lovers of material things from lovers of spiritual things, the lovers of fame from the humble-minded. For strife and separation delight the Lord when they spring from love for Himself.
     23. Attachment to some particular relative or strangers is dangerous. Little by little it can entice us back to the world, and completely quench the fire of our compunction. It is impossible to look at the sky with one eye and at the earth with the other, and it is equally impossible for anyone not to expose his soul to danger who has not separated himself completely, both in thought and body, from his own relatives and from others.
 
     5:37. We must carefully consider whether our conscience has ceased to accuse us, not as a result of purity, but because it is immersed in evil. A sign of deliverance from our falls is the continual reckoning of ourselves as debtors.
 
Step 26.
     43. Talkativeness is born sometimes of gluttony, and sometimes of vainglory.
     26:31. Angels are a light for monks, and the monastic life is a light for all men. Therefore let monks strive to become a good example in everything, giving no occasion for stumbling in all their works and words. For if the light becomes darkness, how much darker will be that darkness, that is, those living in the world.
     26:141. He who wishes to present his body pure to Christ and to show Him a clean heart must carefully preserve chastity and freedom from anger, for without these our labor is quite useless.
     26:147. In times of despondency, never fail to bear in mind the Lord's commandment to Peter, to forgive a person who sins seventy times seven. For He Who gave this command to another will certainly Himself do far more. But when we are exalted, let us remember the saying: He who shall keep the whole spiritual law, and yet stumble in one passion, that is, fall into pride, has become guilty of all.
     26:156. God is not the cause or creator of evil, and those who say that certain passions are natural to the soul have been deceived, not knowing that we have turned the constituent properties of nature into passions. For instance, nature gives us the seed for childbearing, but we have perverted this for fornication. Nature provides us with the means of showing anger against the serpent, but we have used this against our neighbor. Nature inspires us to be jealous for the virtues, but we are jealous in evil. It is natural for the soul to desire glory, but the glory on high. It is natural to be arrogant, but against the demons. Joy is also natural to us, but a joy on account of the Lord and the welfare of our neighbor. Nature has given us resentment, but to be used against the enemies of the soul. We have received a desire for food, but not for profligacy.
     26:182. Men can cure the lustful, angels the guileful, but only God the proud.
     26:185. We should not be dismayed if we find that we are more passionate at the outset of our monastic life than we were in our life in the world. For we have to remove  the causes of sickness and then health will come to us. The beasts were there in hiding all the time, only they did not show themselves.
     26.125. In the case of those who malevolently dispute with us, whether unbelievers or heretics, we should desist after we have twice admonished them. But in the case of those who wish to learn the truth, let us never grow weary in well-doing. However we should use both opportunities according to the establishment of our own heart.
     26.12 Let no one plead his incapacity to fulfill the commandments of the Gospel, for there are souls who have gone even beyond the commandments. And you will certainly be convinced of what has been said by him who loved his neighbor more than himself and laid down his life for him, although he had not received this commandment from the Lord. (Footnote: Abba Leo of Cappadocia, who redeemed three captives…)
     26:67. Vice or passion is not originally planted in nature, for God is not the Creator of passions. But there are in us many natural virtues from Him, among which are certainly the following: mercy, for event the pagans are compassionate; love, for even dumb animals often weep at the loss of another; faith, for we all give birth to it of ourselves; hope, for we lend, and sail, and sow, looking to the gain. So if, as has been shown, love is a natural virtue in us, and is the bond and fulfillment of the law, then it follows that the virtues are not far from nature. And those who plead their inability to practice them ought to be ashamed.
 
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.
 
In Christ,
 
+Bishop Gregory, and those with me.

[хорист]

 
Question Box:
 
     Q.  Is Father Gregory Louyre part of our Church?  I have heard that Father Gregory is not part of our Church because he has been dismissed by the Metropolitan because he refused to obey the directive of the Synod to refrain from engaging in theological debates on the internet which caused confusion among the faithful.  Then on the other hand, Olga, his disciple, is saying on the internet that he is part of our Church.  Which is it?

     A.  We have contacted Suzdal and talked to both Metropolitan Valentine and Archbishop Theodore about this.  Both said that he is not part of our Church in that he has been "discharged" to search for another jurisdiction.  We will try to get more information about this and get back with you.
 
 

If you look at the website of his parish, St. Elizabeth's in SPb, http://st-elizabet.narod.ru/ there is no reference to his having been discharged. In fact, his sermons ("transcribed from recordings") continue to be posted there, including for the last few weeks of Lent. His sermon for the feast of St Xenia (6 Feb n.s.) was added to the site only today. Where, exactly, is he preaching his sermons if not at St. Elizabeth's? And when was he "discharged?"

Someone is being less than forthcoming with the facts.

[尼古拉前执事]

From what I understand, he or the parish owns the temple building and Fr. Gregory Lourie has refused to tell them that he has been booted from the Synod and continues to commemorate Metropolitan Valentine as if he was a member of ROAC.

[хорист]

From what I understand, he or the parish owns the temple building and Fr. Gregory Lourie has refused to tell them that he has been booted from the Synod and continues to commemorate Metropolitan Valentine as if he was a member of ROAC.

Call me a skeptic, but I find that very hard to believe. People in Russia use the net extensively, and it seems that announcements - especially those of a sensational nature - are out there seemingly even before they are made. No trace of anything on Fr. G's discharge! Furthermore, the SPb group around Fr. Gregory is too sophisticated to be hoodwinked in the way you describe. Finally, the parish is still linked to the official ROAC Russia site from the links page, http://www.roac.ru/links.htm. If I am told the page is not up-to-date, well, again I doubt that, because it has plenty of stuff on it about M. Valentine's case being dropped.

I think one of the problems between ROAC there and here is the language disconnect - which I suspect is intentional.

[尼古拉前执事]

They may have overlooked the links, after all they still have links to the old and now defunct St. Basil of Kineshma site too. But there was a new story about his being released. I would tend to disagree about the number of people online in Russia, especially older people. But perhaps you could take this to where it would be on topic at http://www.euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/vi ... hp?p=14333