June 23/July 6, 2003
Beloved Parishioners in the Lord, Rejoice!
Greetings in Christ from Dormition Skete. We hope and pray that you are all
well, advancing in the grace of God, day by day growing in love for God and
each other.
SUNDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK.
COMMEMORATION OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF THE TURKISH YOKE.
For the New-Martyrs of the Turkish Yoke
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 99].
Brethren:
8 28We know that to those who love God all things work together for good,
to those who are called according to purpose. 29For whom He foreknew, He
also foreordained to be conformable to the image of His Son, in order for
Him to be the firstborn among many brethren. 30But whom He foreordained,
these also He called; and whom He called, these also He justified; and whom
He justified, these also He glorified. 31What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He Who indeed spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring an accusation against the
elect of God? God is the One Who justifieth. 34Who is the one who
condemneth? Christ is the One Who died, but much more is He the One also Who
was raised, Who also is at the right of God, Who also intercedeth for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36Even as it hath been written: "For on account of Thee, we are being put to
death the whole day; we were counted as sheep of slaughter [Ps.
43(44):23(22)]." 37But in all these things we more than conquer through the
One Who loved us. 38For I have been persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
coming, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the New-Martyrs of the Turkish Yoke
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The
Lord said to His disciples, "Be taking heed of men:
21 12"For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you,
delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and
governors on account of My name; 13"but it shall prove to be a testimony for
you. 14"Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate
to make a defense; 15"for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all
those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. 16"And
ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and
brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. 17"And ye shall be hated
by all for My name's sake. 18"But a hair of your head in no wise shall
perish. 19"In your patience win your souls."
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today, beloved children of the Orthodox Faith, the Holy Church commemorates
the Sunday of the New-Martyrs under the Turkish Yoke. This is according to
the movable feasts of the Church since it is a commemoration on the third
Sunday after Pentecost. According to the Menaion Church Calendar, however,
today we also commemorate the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon, which delivered
the city of Moscow from the Moslem Tartar hordes who had encircled it. At
that time, Moscow was delivered through the prayers of the Virgin Mary, from
the army of the Turkish king, Ahmet, who was laying siege to Moscow with
twice as many troops as Prince Ivan Vasilievitch. When the battle was about
to commence an indescribable terror fell on the Tartars and they ran off in
confusion in all directions. All attributed this unexpected success to the
icon of the most holy Mother of God, for the whole people had begged her aid
for deliverance from the Tartars.
Because the Church has been adorned for so many hundreds of years by the
martyrdoms of countless righteous Orthodox Christians under Islam, the
Church makes special commemoration of them on this day. There is not one
Orthodox country that can say that they suffered more than any other country
under the debased and barbaric religion of Islam, for whatever country falls
under their tyranny is going to suffer tremendously until its inhabitants
all become Mohammedans. This is the purpose of the conquest by the Moslem
armies; it is the spread of their religion, which has always been spread by
what is called "the sword of the Prophet". When I talk about Islam and
Orthodoxy, I always wish to point out that Islam increases by the sword, but
Orthodoxy increases by the Gospel. Compare the Gospel of Christ to the sword
of the Prophet. One is peace, love, joy, etc., in the true God; the other is
jihad (war), hatred, vengeance, etc. in the false god of Islam, whom they
call Allah.
On May 29, 1453, the troops of the Moslem leader, Mohammed II, took the
great city of Constantinople. For more than 1000 years Orthodox Christians
had assumed that the Byzantine Christian Empire would stand until the Second
Coming of Christ. They had always called their city the "God-protected
City," and indeed, it had been protected by God until, of course, the
people, of their own will, abandoned God, or Orthodoxy, just as happened in
the Old Testament.
When the Emperors supported the heresy of Arianism, major parts of the
Empire were lost. When they supported Monophysitism and Monothelitism, again
major portions of the Empire were lost. When they originated and supported
the heresy of Iconoclasm, again major portions of the Empire were lost. Now
after the Empire had been weakened by these successive losses, you would
think that the Emperors would understand. You would think that they would
take their vows of upholding Orthodoxy very seriously. No. It did not
happen. The Emperor Constantine XI, following the example of his relative in
the Palaeologus dynasty, John VIII, started flirting now, with the heresy of
the West, that is, the Papal heresy of Rome. In fact, they, the wretched
ones, even signed a union with the Pope. What could one then expect other
than a disaster for the Empire? Well, the disaster came: in a very short
time, the Great City, the "Queen of Cities" fell. There was no stopping now
the Moslem barbarians from overrunning all of the Greek lands and their
neighbors.
Now the Queen of Cities became the capital of the Ottoman Empire, ruled by
these pagans, who viewed Christ and Christianity in general as the enemies
of Islam. In their violent hatred of Christianity, the Moslem Turks embarked
on a course of persecution designed to effectively by force to convert the
flock of Christ. Their strategy was no less cruel than that of atheist
communists in the Soviet Union; the parallels are striking. Most of the
churches of Constantinople were converted to mosques. Their movable icons
were destroyed and whole walls of inspiring and radiantly beautiful mosaics
were covered with paint or plaster. Crosses were torn off domes and broken
off the roofs of churches. The Moslems treated Christians as infidels and
their place in society was one of slaves and even 'war-booty'. Orthodox
Christians were required to pay an annual head tax, like cattle; to keep
one's head you had to pay the tax. To the Turks they were unbelievers, and
they had absolutely no rights of citizenship. They even had to wear
distinctive dress. They could not engage in missionary work of any kind; in
fact, it was a crime, punishable by death, to convert a Moslem to the
Christian Faith.
The aim of Orthodoxy in the Ottoman Empire became, simply, one of survival.
Little could the Greeks know in 1453, that the heavy "sword of the Prophet"
would weigh upon them not for a generation or two, but for five hundred
years, five long centuries of darkness and oppression. Other parts of the
Empire, however, such as the Arab Christians, from whom I am descended, had
to bear this oppression, not for five hundred years, but for twelve hundred
years, because Christian Syria and Lebanon had fallen to Islam back in the
8th century. But even under such ruinous circumstances, God did not allow
the light of Orthodoxy to be extinguished. It was kept alive through the
courageous confession of the New Martyrs of the Turkish Yoke.
We have given many examples throughout the year of the lives of the New
Martyrs under the Turkish Yoke. They have adorned the Church, and by their
blood is the Church sustained. Truly Orthodoxy is a Church of martyrs. How
glorious is Orthodoxy! When persecution arises upon the faithful, rather
than lose everything, they gain everything; rather than losing their
dignity, their Faith, their love for truth, their love of Orthodoxy, they
held fast in the face of inhuman torture. What did they gain? They gained
the life of unending joy and peace, that which eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, nor could it enter into the imagination of man, the good things which
Christ has prepared for those who love Him and do not deny Him. In time of
peace, however, the Orthodox faithful afflict themselves voluntarily through
fasting, through prayer, through feats of virtue, through a life of
chastity, etc. and in this way we become, in a small way, emulators of the
martyrs.
As you can see, we put out before us today all the icons of the New-Martyrs
under the Turks which we have in the church, and I was wondering which
New-Martyr, in his person, best exemplifies or represents all the
New-Martyrs under Islam? On Mount Athos, they have united three saints who
came from Athos and were martyred, and they use this trinity as an emblem of
all of the martyrs. They are Ss. Evthymios, Ignatios, and Akakios. They
would be biased towards these three, because not only did they come from
Mount Athos, but they came back there and their relics are preserved on the
Holy Mountain. But when I see the icon St. Cosmas of Aitolia, the great
wonderworker and prophet, who is called the equal-to-the-Apostles, why not
him? He was hanged by the Moslems for his preaching to the Christians. When
I see Ss. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene, I say: 'Why not them?' Why not St.
Seraphim of Phanarion? Who suffered more than this bishop? The Moslems
impaled him (vertically) and deliberately sought to avoid all vital organs
so that the torments and his life would last longer. They hung him on a
post, because he would not join their accursed religion and thereby save
himself in this world, so that he may suffer eternally in the next. Why not
St. Iakovos and his two disciples? Here this man was a clairvoyant
miracle-worker even before the face of these pagans. They revered him
because of this. Then one Moslem ruler asked him, 'What do you think about
our Prophet?' He answered them, not in some cunning words, like a diplomat
or an ecumenist. He did not say, 'Well, perhaps he was inspired by God', or
'Perhaps he may have been a prophet', or 'Perhaps he did something good in
his life..' No, he spoke the truth, because He was a man of truth. He was
not a hypocrite. He had the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth,
so he told the Moslem ruler: "Your Mohammed is not a prophet, but a
charlatan and a liar, the enemy of Christ our God and of our Faith. No one
man hath so angered God as Mohammed, and whosoever putteth his trust in him
and holdeth him to be a prophet shall be damned." This cut him to the heart,
and he reacted the way all Moslems react. You guessed it. 'Death to the
infidel.' But St. Iakovos and his disciples live in God, in Heaven, in the
Church, in our hearts, and his memory is eternal, and angels will glorify
him for eternity.
When we heard the readings last night in Vespers, how profound was the
first reading from Prophet Isaias that is stipulated to be read for martyrs.
"Thus saith the Lord: .before Me there was no other God, and after Me
there shall be none. I am God; and beside Me there is no Savior. I have
declared, and have saved; I have reproached, and there was no strange god
among you. Ye are My witnesses (martyrs, in Greek), and I am the Lord God,
even from the beginning: and there is none that can deliver out of My hands.
I will work, and who shall turn it back? Thus saith the Lord God Who
redeemeth you, the Holy One of Israel."
Christ says, through the Prophet Isaias: 'I will perform and who will turn
it back? Can you find anyone to fight against Me and prevail?' So God
requires that we love Him and confess Him; this is His requirement. Compare
this with love for a family member. Would we not die for our mother? For our
father? Should not our love for our Creator be more fervent? Of course, we
pray for peace, always. How many times in every Great Ectenia do we ask for
the peace from above, the peace of the whole world, that in peace we may
pray to the Lord, etc. But if it happens, by God's permission, that
temptation comes upon us, that peace is taken away from us, and we have to
choose between Christ and falsehood, which someone wishes to impose upon us
through violence, if that happens, I say, there is really no choice for us
other than what Christ requires, and that is, of course, to remain faithful,
as did the martyrs. For, my beloved faithful, He is God from the beginning
and we are in His hands and no one, neither man nor devil, can pluck us out,
as the Prophet Isaias says, and as Christ says in the Gospel. 27"The sheep,
those that are Mine, hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28
"And I give them eternal life, and in no wise shall they ever perish, and
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29"My Father, Who hath
given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out
of My Father's hand. 30"I and the Father are one." [Jn. 10:27-30] If God
requires it, there really is no choice for us, for He says, ".before Me
there was no other God, and after Me there shall be none." Remain faithful
in love for Me, and I will take you to Myself.
So, to recapitulate, this day honors the martyrs for Christ under Islam.
Indeed, the Moslems did not persecute only the Christians; they also
persecuted heretics, Jews and other pagans. But their main focus as the
enemies of Islam were the Orthodox Christians of the Byzantine Empire, the
Rûm, meaning the Romans. Jews, in fact, were persecuted, but only
intermittently. According to their own history books, they admitted that,
as a whole, the Jews were greatly benefited by the rise of Islam. In fact,
the Jews followed the conquerors to every nation, and the Moslems used the
Jews. The Jews were given many liberties under Islam, which they were
forbidden in Orthodox Byzantium. In Byzantium they were restricted. They
could not practice usury, or banking; they couldn't read the Talmud, they
couldn't serve in the army or have government positions, they could not own
Christian slaves, etc. All this was done away with under Islam.
I digress. We recently read a beautiful account of the Bulgarian martyrs
under Islam. When we hear these accounts, I think it is inevitable that we
imagine ourselves in the place of these holy New-martyrs. For example, we
read this account. What would we do in their position?
Close to the Bulgarian village of Zabârdo is the so-called Tsirikova
Church. Near the district of the Kabba, in the center of a large meadow, it
was to this small church that people went to pray. From the narration of
ninety-year-old Kalin Cherpokov, we learn that during the Islamization, a
Turkish chieftain, Deli Softa, went there with a huge horde of janissaries
(men who had been kidnapped from Christian families as infants and raised to
be fanatic Moslem soldiers). He surrounded the Church, where the residents
of the village of Staro Selo had gathered. He made them come out, emptied
before them two cartloads of turbans and fezzes (distinctive Moslem
headdress), and said: "Hey, kavours (infidels), choose now-either fezzes or
your heads...." Some did not withstand and took the fezzes; others, however,
refused to do so. The disobedient were captured and closed inside the
church, where they were slaughtered by the hordes of Deli Softa. The church
resounded with shrieks and cries. This sound, called "tsirikane" (Bulgarian
dialect for "uttering a sound like tsirik"), is where the name of this
district comes from.
Another beautiful account of a New-martyr from Bulgaria is the following:
In [the village of] Dolno Raikovo, there lived an old man [named] Smilyan
and his wife, Grandma Milyana. They had two children: Milyan and Militsa.
The Turks took away their son when he was just a boy, and sent him to
Tsarigrad, while their daughter grew up and became a famed beauty. One day,
many years later, Milyan came back as a Turkish hodja (Muslim religious
teacher), with a turban on his head, and went to his parents' house. But his
father would not usher him in, although they had wept for him many years.
But when his sister, Militsa, beheld him, she recognized him, embraced him,
started kissing him and uttering endearing sisterly words, arousing in him
brotherly affections and motherly love. And because of the combination of
both, his parents' reaction and his sister's affection, he was touched; his
heart broke and he said: "I now renounce the Turkish faith!" He kissed his
father, his mother, and the beautiful Militsa. All fear vanished from him,
and he was ready to give up his life by renouncing the Turkish faith. Milyan
took off his turban, trampled it flat, and went out of the house. This
stirring event was a great joy to the Christians and a deep grief for the
Turks. Infuriated, the Turks came the very next day, arrested Milyan, and
asked him if it was true that he had renounced Islam. He confirmed this.
Then they killed him with the most cruel torments in front of his father's
house. And they grabbed Militsa and took her to [the village of] Smilyan
(Smolyan) to make her a young Turkish kadîna (concubine). But what happened?
Many recalcitrant young men from the village gathered together, and headed
by old Smilyan, her father, caught up with Militsa, took her back from the
Turks' hands, killed them, and then fled into the woods, becoming
out-and-out haidouks.... ([Written in] the village of Goliamo Raikovo, May
9, 1633).
And what can we say about all the incidents that have happened in the much
suffering Serbian land? They also suffered greatly under the barbaric sword
of the 'prophet'. Finally, like all of the Balkan countries, after hundreds
of years of resistance, they threw off the Turkish yoke. Then, to our utter
shock, we see that after being rid of the Moslems, who would ride into
Serbian villages and forcibly convert Orthodox Christians to Islam, or kill
them if they refused, recently in the twentieth century, the Serbians beheld
Roman Catholic Ustashi do the same thing. If one did not convert to
Catholicism, villages would be exterminated. Led by the Vicar of the Pope,
Archbishop Stepanic, they came into Serbian villages and did exactly what
the Moslems did, only the atrocities of the Ustashi were documented, if you
can believe it, by photographs. My, what a world we live in.
It should be noted, when I say the rise of Islam and their conquering and
killing, it is not because they were attacked that they are a warring
religion; it is because their religion is a militant religion, paganistic in
all aspects. I believe America is coming slowly to understand what kind of
people we are dealing with. Even today on the news, we heard of an off duty
American soldier waiting in line to get a soda in Iraq. A Moslem came up to
him and put a pistol to his head and killed him. The killer disappeared in
the crowd, and of course, the crowd did not stop him. You see, Moslems
killing "infidels" is part of their religion. They are always on a jihad,
if they can get away with it.
In closing, we paraphrase here the following words from one of the lives of
the New-martyrs under Islam.
Where are those Moslems who once mocked and slaughtered the New Martyrs?
Where are the mighty of the earth? Where is the Ottoman lord? Where the
fearsome guards and Tartars who bound them and beat them and martyred them?
Where are their pampered bodies? Yes! They are dispelled as a morning mist.
The tombstone of forgetfulness has covered them. And in Jerusalem on high,
in the dwelling where are found the blessed souls of the saints who lived in
privation in this world so that they might pass through the narrow and
afflicted way that leadeth unto life, there rejoices also with them the
spirits of these much-suffering martyrs whom we remember today. They reposed
in the Lord and received the reward of the labors and toils and pains that
they endured for Christ, Whom they loved more than all the fleeting things
of this world. And now, wearing crowns in heaven, they rejoice with the
choirs of the saints and behold in glory the Prize-Bestower, our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. To Him be glory and dominion and worship unto the unending
ages. Amen
Monastery news:
Last week, workers came and set up forms to pour the foundation walls.
They completed their work, and could have poured on Wednesday, but they
inadvertently failed to communicate to the county inspection department to
ask for an inspection. The inspector then came on Thursday, only he came in
the afternoon, and the contractors could not order concrete in such a short
time. They could have received the twenty yards of concrete they needed for
the pour if they waited until 5:00 pm, when the trucks were free. They
decided not to wait four hours, and therefore ordered the concrete for a
Monday morning pour, as the Fourth of July weekend was more on their minds.
I was very disappointed, because I had scheduled the plumber and the
electrician, believing that the pour would be completed on Wednesday. What
do you think happened? I examined the position of the anchor bolts, which
the contractors had set. They had positioned sixty percent of the anchor
bolts in the forms. The other forty percent would be placed into the cement
immediately after the pour. Half of the anchor bolts that were positioned
in the forms were in the wrong place, and many of them as much as an inch
off. Father Peter and I spent all day Friday and half of Saturday
dismantling and repositioning the bolts. Some had to be redrilled, while
others had to be completely rebuilt. For your information, when someone
erects a metal building, the anchor bolts are crucial, and they must be
placed exactly as the manufacturer requires. One eighth of an inch is an
acceptable tolerance.
After we saw what had happened, we understood why God did not permit the
pour to be done on Wednesday or Thursday, or any day until we fixed the
errors. Please do not misunderstand. The company has a very good
reputation. They are reported to be the best in the county, but our
building is probably the most complicated structure they will ever see.
Normally, a metal building has only two beams for each section, whereas our
metal building has four beams for every section.
Upcoming events:
Wednesday is the Feast of the Tikhvin Icon of the Virgin Mary. This is a
very famous icon in Russia which flew in the air from Constantinople to
Russia, witnessed by many of the faithful. It is a very beautiful Byzantine
icon, with the distinctive feature that Christ is depicted sideways, with
the bottom of His sole of His right foot facing out. So many miracles have
been attributed to this icon that it was quickly adorned with a gold cover
and precious jewels. Because of the miracles, even copies were made, and
they became miracle-working icons also.
This Saturday is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and the Holy Apostle
Fast ends on Saturday. Note: One of the holy New-martyrs under the Turkish
Yoke was martyred because a Moslem wanted him to break the Fast of the Holy
Apostles, which he refused to do.
Crumbs from the Trapeza Table:
From the Prologue from Ochrid:
Why does the good Lord permit assaults and trials to fall on the true
Church, while heretics and pagans enjoy a delightful tranquility? 'Why?',
asks St John Chrysostom, and immediately gives the answer: 'That you should
recognize their weakness (that of the heretics and pagans) when they
disintegrate of themselves with no external pressure, and that you should
triumph in the power of the Faith which suffers misfortunes and yet
multiplies through its opponents.' 'Whether we quarrel with the pagans or
the wretched Jews, it is quite sufficient evidence of divine power that the
Faith which has been exposed to innumerable battles still holds the
victory', even though the entire world rises against it. St. Isaac the
Syrian says: 'The wondrous love of God for man can most easily be perceived
when a man is in such dire straits that his very hope is threatened. God
thus demonstrates His power of salvation, for a man never acknowledges the
power of God when he enjoys tranquility and freedom.'
Note: When Saint John Chrysostom spoke the above words, it was at about the
height of the Byzantine Empire, when Orthodoxy was held with the greatest
fervor.
In Christ,
+Bishop Gregory, and those with me.
Non-polemical ROAC stuff! This is good to see. 
They are probably especially helpful for those that for some good reason were forced to miss Divine Liturgy.