Flat earth fibbers falsely claim that Isaiah 40:22 somehow suggests the earth is flat, and not a globe. In doing so, they reveal that their approach and methodology to interpreting the Scriptures is Protestant, and in no way Orthodox.
An Orthodox Christian ought to humbly seek the interpretation of the Fathers, and not presume to privately interpret Scripture on his own, apart from the revealed tradition of the Church.
Since the Fathers of the Church knew the Scriptures better than we do, and were fully aware of verses such as Isaiah 40.22, and none of them proclaimed the earth to be flat, while a great many of them referred to the earth as a globe, then it is quite obvious that they simply did not interpret this verse in the manner that the flat earthers would have us do.
St. John Chrysostom (+407) - Commentary on Isaiah 40.22
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Zlatou ... -isajju/40
«Видишь ли, земля есть круг? Круг показывает круглую форму земли. Полезно знать и это, чтобы мы не соблазнялись баснями языческих философов, которые обыкновенно думают, что земля подобна ложбине, округлости, диску, блюду или чему-нибудь такому подобному. Слыша как пророк, говорит, что земля есть круг, ты не исследуй более.»
"Do you see, that the earth is a circle? The circle shows the round shape of the earth. It is useful to know this as well, lest we be beguiled by the fables of pagan philosophers, who commonly imagine that the earth resembles a hollow, a roundness, a disk, a platter, or something of that nature. Hearing how the prophet says that the earth is a circle, inquire no further."
St. John Chrysostom (+407) - Commentary on Isaiah 38:
святитель Иоанн Златоуст
Толкование на пророка Исайю
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Zlatou ... -isajju/38
«Смотри: дело совершается не на ровном месте, но на ступенях, где ясно виделась сила Совершающего чудеса. И это случилось на всем земном шаре. Никто когда-либо не видел и не слышал, чтобы совершилось чудо равное этому.»
"Behold: the deed is not wrought on level ground, but upon steps—where the power of the Miracle-Worker was clearly manifest. And this came to pass throughout the entire globe. [всем земном шаре]. No one has ever seen or heard of a miracle equal to this one."
Saint Proclus was the disciple of St. John Chrysostom, who ordained him to the diaconate and the priesthood.
Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (+446) - Praise to the Most Holy Theotokos
святитель Прокл, патриарх Константинопольский
Похвальное слово Пресвятой Богородице
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Prokl_Konsta ... TpnyOYv318
«Все празднества в честь святых досточудны, и уподобляются блистанию звезд. Как звезды, быв утверждены на небе в известном порядке, на известном расстоянии одна от другой, распознаются и освещают весь земной шар – одна и та же звезда видна и у Индейцев, не скрывается и от Скифов, сияет над землею и озаряет море, путеводствуя плавателей; и хотя всех их, по причине множества, имен мы не знаем, однако удивляемся их красоте и блеску: так и всякий святой.»
"All celebrations held in honor of the saints are wondrous, and may be likened to the radiance of the stars. Just as the stars—having been set in the heavens in a specific order and at specific distances from one another—are recognized and illuminate the entire globe [весь земной шар] (for the very same star is visible to the Indians and remains unhidden from the Scythians; it shines over the land and lights up the sea, guiding seafarers; and although, by reason of their multitude, we do not know the names of them all, we nonetheless marvel at their beauty and brilliance)—so, too, is every saint."
St. John the Exarch of Bulgaria (ca. 10th century) - Six Days (Шестоднев / Hexaemeron)
The same meaning is conveyed when God the Creator declared: "I have established its pillars"—referring to the all-encompassing forces of Divine Will and Thought, which sustain everything upon which the earth itself rests. This very concept is also embedded in the Book of Job, wherein it is proclaimed: "He hangs the earth upon nothing." By these words, the author demonstrates that the earth is suspended—hanging without any of its extremities resting upon any solid body—yet is upheld by God's providence and the Creator's thought. This same truth is echoed in the words of Isaiah: "He who encompasses the circle of the earth, and those who dwell therein are like grasshoppers." By designating it the "circle of the earth," he clearly implies that the earth possesses a spherical form [форму шара]—that it is round. It is for this reason that he likens its inhabitants to grasshoppers—a concept both glorious and wondrous.
«То же означает, когда Творец Бог сказал: «Я утвердил столпы ее», то есть имеются в виду всеохватывающие силы Божественного желания и мысли, которыми поддерживается все то, на что опирается и земля. Этот смысл заложен и в книге Иова, который говорит, изрекая: «Повесив землю ни на чем же». Этими словами он показывает, что земля подвешена и висит, не опираясь ни одной своей стороной конечною ни на какое плотное тело, но хранима Божьим поведением и мыслью Творца. Это же означает и слово Исайи, которое говорит: «Охватывающий собой круг земной и тех, кто живет на ней, как саранча». Назвав круг земной, он явно имеет в виду, что земля имеет форму шара, что она круглая. Поэтому и называет живущих на ней подобными саранче, что достославно и удивительно.»
Entire commentary here:
https://predanie.ru/book/121309-shestodnev/
A sphere looks like a circle from any or every angle. That would not be the case with a flat earth, for example, if the earth were shaped like a disc. It might look like a circle from above (just like a sphere does), but not from the sides!
So God, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah, rightly calls the spherical earth a circle, since a sphere appears as a circle from all angles and a flat earth does not!
Which is why the Fathers of the Orthodox Church understood and interpreted the shape of the earth to be a sphere or a globe.
St. Gregory of Nyssa (+395) - On the Soul and Resurrection:
"As, when the sun shines above the earth, the shadow is spread over its lower part, because its spherical shape makes it impossible for it to be clasped all round at one and the same time by the rays, and necessarily, on whatever side the sun's rays may fall on some particular point of the globe, if we follow a straight diameter, we shall find shadow upon the opposite point, and so, continuously, at the opposite end of the direct line of the rays shadow moves round that globe, keeping pace with the sun, so that equally in their turn both the upper half and the under half of the earth are in light and darkness..."
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Homiles on the Song of Songs
Homily 10
"Who does not know how the sun moves, how, starting from the east, it inclines toward the west, making its way through the south? Now since the earth is shaped like a sphere, as the experts in such matters tell us, it is strictly necessary that the side of the earth opposite to that illumined by the sun should be in darkness, cast into shadow by the interposed mass."
St. Jerome (+420) - Commentary on Jonah:
"That the sea covered Jonah's head, and descended to the ends of the mountains, and came even to the depths of the earth, by which the globe of the earth [terrae globus] is supported, as it were by bars and pillars, by the will of God, there is no doubt, of which it is also said elsewhere: I strengthened its pillars."
"quod ionae caput pelagus operuerit, et ad montium extrema descenderit, et uenerit usque ad profunda terrarum, quibus quasi uectibus et columnis dei uoluntate terrae globus sustentatur, nulli dubium est, de qua et alibi dicitur: ego confirmaui columnas eius."
Latin
https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasst ... nah--latin
Saint Jerome (+420)
Interpretation of the book of the prophet Isaiah
"But if we contract the hand, it becomes a fist: so that through the palm and the fist, we know the extent of the heavens and the globe of the earth." [globum terrae]
"Sin autem contrahamus manum, pugillus efficitur: ut per palmum et pugillum, extentos coelos et globum terrae noverimus."
https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Commenta ... onymus)/11
St. Bede the Venerable (+735)
On the Nature of Things (De natura rerum)
"CHAPTER 46. The earth is like a globe.
We say ‘the orb’ of the earth, not because it has the shape of a perfect orb, in view of so great a disparity of mountains and plains, but because, if all of its perpendicular lines were enclosed within a circumference, it would make the figure of a perfect orb. And therefore it happens that the stars of the northern region always appear to us, but never those of the southern region; and in turn these northern stars are not seen by those people, because they are blocked by the globe of the earth. The country of the Troglodytes and neighboring Egypt do not see the Great and Little Bear, nor does Italy see Canopus."
"CAPUT XLVI. Terram globo similem.
Orbem terrae dicimus, non quod absoluti orbis sit forma, in tanta montium camporumque disparilitate, sed cujus amplexus, si cuncta linearum comprehendantur ambitu, figuram absoluti orbis efficiat. Inde enim fit ut septentrionalis plagae sidera nobis semper appareant, meridianae nunquam; rursusque haec illis non cernantur, obstante globo terrarum. Septentriones non cernit Troglodytice, et confinis Aegyptus, nec Canopum Italia:"
Here is a link to the Latin:
https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/De_natura_rerum_(Beda)
Here one can read the translation into Russian:
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Beda_Dostopo ... chei/#0_29
«Глава 46. О том, что земля подобна шару
Когда мы говорим, что земля круглая, это не значит, что форма ее абсолютно круглая – ведь ее делает неправильной чередование гор и равнин; но если мы опояшем землю [в любом направлении], соединив [мысленно] линиями все [пункты одинаковой высоты], мы получим фигуру абсолютного круга. Именно поэтому нам всегда видны созвездия только северного полушария, а южного – никогда; и наоборот, наши созвездия не видны другим – мешает земной шар, Троглодит26 и сосед его Египтянин никогда не видят Семизвездия, зато Италия не знает Канопа; впрочем, обитаемая часть этого шара простирается с востока на запад почти в два раза дальше, чем с юга на север: и первому не подпускает близко жара, ко второму – мороз.»
St. Bede (+735) - The Reckoning of Time:
"But properly speaking, a day comprises 24 hours, that is, a circuit of the Sun lighting up the entire globe. [The Sun] always and everywhere carries the daylight around with itself, and it is believed to be borne aloft at night under the Earth by no less a space of air than it is by day above the Earth. This claim rests on the authority of much Christian as well as secular literature, but we need present the testimony of only one Father, Augustine. In the second book of questions on the Gospels, explaining the sum of the seventy-two disciples according to its figural meaning, he says, Just as the whole globe is traversed and lit up in 24 hours, so the mystery of the illumination of the globe through the Gospel of the Trinity is intimated by the 72 disciples."
St. Photius the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople (+893)
Bibliotheca or Myriobiblon
- [Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography]
"Read the book entitled the Book of Christians, an interpretation of the Octateuch. The author, who flourished in the reign of Justin, dedicates the work to a certain Pamphilus, It begins with the defence of certain ecclesiastical dogmas by evidence drawn from the Scriptures. The style is poor, and the arrangement hardly up to the ordinary standard. He relates much that is incredible from an historical point of view, so that he may fairly be regarded as a fabulist rather than a trustworthy authority. The views on which he lays special stress are: that neither the sky nor the earth is spherical, but that the former is a kind of vault, and the latter a rectangular plane, [twice as long as broad], to the ends of which the ends of the sky are united; that all the stars, with the help of the angels, are kept in motion; and other things of the same kind."
святитель Фотий, патриарх Константинопольский
Библиотека (Μυροβίβλιον)
Cod. 36 Косьма Индикоплов, Христианская топография
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Fotij_Konsta ... obiblion/6
Saint Simeon Metaphrastus (c. second half 10th century)
Life and deeds of Hilarion Gruzin
"The personality of Hilarion Gruzin in the Caucasus is one of those that reflected the spiritual potential of the peoples of this part of the globe." [земного шара]
«Личность Илариона Грузина на Кавказе одна из тех, которые отразили духовные возможности народов этой части земного шара.»
преподобный Симеон Метафраст
Житие и деяния Илариона Грузина
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Simeon_Metaf ... a-gruzina/
St. Neophytos of Cyprus (+1215)
Discourse on the Birth of the Savior
""That child is born to us" and is now lying in the manger, the One who holds in His hand the sphere of the earth [σφαίρα τῆς γῆς] and holds the whole creation divinely and comfortably."
«Ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν» καὶ εἶναι τώρα ξαπλωμένο στὴ φάτνη, αὐτὸς ὁ Ὁποῖος κρατεῖ στὸ χέρι του τὴ σφαίρα τῆς γῆς καὶ συγκρατεῖ θεοπρεπῶς καὶ ἀνέτως ὅλη τὴν κτίση.»
Entire discourse in Greek here:
https://immorfou.org.cy/%CE%BB%CF%8C%CE ... %B9%CE%BF/
St. Gregory Palamas (+1359)
One Hundred and Fifty Chapters
On Topics of Natural and Theological Science, the Moral and the Ascetic Life, Intended as a Purge for the Barlaamite Corruption
"The Hellene sages say that the heaven revolves by the nature of the World Soul and that it teaches justice and reason. What sort of justice? What reason? For if the heaven revolves not by its own nature but by the nature of what they call the World Soul, and if the World Soul belongs to the entire world, why does the earth not revolve too, and the water, and the air? But yet, although in their opinion the soul is ever-moving, by its own proper nature the earth is stationary with the water taking up the lower region; likewise the heaven too by its own nature is ever-moving in a circular motion, while occupying the upper region."
"And also, what trace of a rational soul do we see in this lowest sphere, I repeat, of the earth, or in the most proximate parts about it, namely, those of water and air, or even fire itself, for the World Soul belongs also to these?"
"Since the sphere of water is many times greater in magnitude than the earth, if it had been spread around the entire circumference of the earth so that both spheres (namely, earth and water) were drawn around one centre, the water would not allow the use of any part of the earth to land animals, for the water would cover all its ground area and extend in great measure beyond its entire surface. But since it does not encompass the entire surface of the earth (for the dry land of the region we inhabit is not covered), the sphere of water must necessarily be eccentric."
"Let the sphere of the earth [σφαίρα της γης] be a circle on the inside of which is written A, B, C, D; and around this let there be described, in place of the sphere of water, another circle coinciding along the surface with the upper tenth of the circle within it on which is inscribed E, F, G, H."
Chrysanthos Notaras, Patriarch of Jerusalem (1707–1731) was dubbed "the Astronomer," and an etching from his 1716 work Εισαγωγή εις τά Γεωγραφικά καί Σφαιρικά (Introduction to Geography and Globes), where he is shown grasping the globe of the earth.
Saint John of Tobolsk (Maximovich) (+1715)
Iliotropion, or Conformity with the Divine Will
святитель Иоанн Тобольский (Максимович)
Илиотропион, или сообразование человеческой воли с Божественной волейhttps://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Tobolskij/iliotropion/5
How many troubles and inconveniences I have suffered in life, yet I was saved: God has provided, so let us trust in God. But no one will have the boldness to trust in God until they are convinced that Providence watches over each of us. To ask: does Providence exist? is the question of the foolish, and we avoid it. Clement of Alexandria 154 rightly expressed this: "Some questions are unworthy of answer (due to their absurdity); such is the question of the existence of Divine Providence: for a mere survey of created things operating on the globe testifies that they were produced by an intelligent and wise Artist: they live and are sustained by His Divine Foreknowledge and Providence!"
Как много бед и неудобств потерпел я в жизни, но был спасен: Бог усмотрел, да уповаем на Бога, но никто не будет иметь дерзновения уповать на Бога, пока не будет убежден, что Провидение бодрствует над каждым из нас. Спрашивать: существует ли Провидение? – вопрос безумного, и мы от него устраняемся. Об этом Климент Александрийский154 справедливо выразился так: «Некоторые вопросы недостойны ответов (по их абсурдности); таков – вопрос о существовании Провидения Божия: ибо одно уже обозрение сотворенных вещей, действующих на земном шаре, свидетельствует, что они произведены Художником разумным и премудрым: живут и поддерживаются Его Божественным Предведением и Промыслом!»
Hieromartyr Kosmas Aitolos (+1779) Equal-to-the-Apostles, who lived long after Copernicus and Galileo, also held and taught the geocentric view and a spherical earth, which is clear in his First Teaching, where the saint says:
"This world is like an egg. And just as the yolk is in the center of the egg, so is the earth made by God to stand without touching any other place. And just as the egg white surrounds the yolk, so does the air the earth. And just as the shell encloses everything, so does the sky the earth, The sun, the moon, and the stars are attached to the sky. The earth is round and wherever the sun goes it becomes day; night is the shadow of the earth. Here it is night, somewhere else dawn - And just as there are people here on earth, there are some under the earth."
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (Sokolov) (+1783)
On the Truths of the Orthodox Christian Faith and the Church
What are the Apostles, and why are they so called?
The Apostles were such men, says His Eminence Amvrosius in his exposition of the Holy Scriptures. They were not only those who saw Christ risen from the dead and were chosen and called and taught by Him directly, but they were also endowed with the gift of the Spirit of God, with special tongues and miraculous power, being endowed with special authority to determine what Christians from the law of Moses should and must and must not do, and were sent by the Savior Himself to implant and establish the church throughout the entire globe. [всему земному шару] (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8).
святитель Тихон Задонский (Соколов)
Об истинах православно-Христовой веры и Церкви
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Tihon_Zadons ... -tserkvi/1
«Вопр. Что такое Апостолы? и почему они так именуются?
Отв. Апостолы были такие мужи, говорит преосвященный Амвросий в руководстве своем к чтению Св. Писания, которые не только Христа воскресшего созерцали и непосредственно Самим Им избраны и званы и научены: но и Богодухновения даром одарены, необычайными языков дарованиями и чудотворною силою исполнены; особенною властию облечены определять, что Христианам из закона Моисеева сохранять нужно и полезно, и что не нужно, и от Самого Спасителя к насаждению и утверждению по всему земному шару Церкви были посланы (Мф. 28:19; Деян. 1:8).»
Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (+1809)
Interpretation of the Seven Catholic Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude.
The renovation of creation.
"And some who have meditated on David's, "and renew the face of the earth" (Psalm 104), say that the whole sphere of the earth [σφαίρα της γης] will not be renewed to the depth of its centre, but only its face and surface. And its centre is to remain without renovation and alteration for the better."
«Μερικοί δε που στοχάσθηκαν εκείνο του Δαυίδ, «καὶ ἀνακαινιεῖς τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς» (Ψαλμ. ργ’ 30), λένε, ότι δεν θα ανακαινισθεί ολόκληρη η σφαίρα της γης μέχρι το βάθος του κέντρου της, αλλά μόνο το πρόσωπό και η επιφάνειας της. Το δε κέντρο της πρόκειται να μείνει χωρίς ανακαινισμό και αλλοίωση προς το καλύτερο.»
https://greekdownloads.wordpress.com/20 ... %B1%CE%AF/
St. Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Taurida (+1857)
About religion
B. On the relationship of Christianity to other religions
What is the relation of the Christian religion to other existing religions? Is this relationship a relationship of opposites or similarity? Neither the one nor the other in the strict sense, and separately, but partly - the opposite, partly the same. Let us use a comparison: Christianity in relation to other religions is the same as the light of noon for people living under the equator, in relation to the light of the sun for the inhabitants of other parts of the globe. The light is the same; the difference is only in degree.
«Б. Об отношении христианства к другим религиям
В каком отношении христианская религия к прочим существующим религиям? Есть ли это отношение – отношение противоположности или сходства? Ни то, ни другое в строгом смысле, и отдельно, а отчасти – противоположность, отчасти же сходство. Употребим сравнение: христианство по отношению к прочим религиям есть то же, что свет полуденный у людей, живущих под экватором, по отношению к свету солнечному у обитателей других частей земного шара. Свет один и тот же; различие только в степени.»
cвятитель Иннокентий, архиепископ Херсонский и Таврический
О религии
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Innokentij_H ... o-religii/
Saint Philaret of Chernigov (Gumilevsky) (+1866)
The Evangelist John's Teaching on the Word
Учение Евангелиста Иоанна о Слове
"Truly, the miracle of the Eucharist, which takes place in the Christian world every day in all corners of the globe, is the greatest miracle, before which the manna is insignificant, both in terms of beneficence and in the vastness of the effect of the new miracle."
«Подлинно чудо евхаристии, совершающееся в христианском мире каждый день во всех углах земного шара, есть чудо величайшее, пред которым манна является ничтожною, как по благотворности, так по обширности действия нового чуда.»
"After His resurrection, He sent the apostles to preach the gospel to the inhabitants of the entire globe (Matt. 24:14, 28:19; Lk. 24:47 ; Acts 1:2–8, 10:11) and accept them into a new, eternal covenant (Matt. 24:28; Luke 22:20). How many nations are now glorifying the name of Jesus!"
«По воскресении Своем послал Он апостолов проповедовать евангелие обитателям всего земного шара (Мф. 24:14, 28:19; Лк. 24:47; Деян. 1:2–8, 10:11) и принимать их в новый, вечный, завет (Мф. 24:28; Лк. 22:20). Сколько народов прославляет теперь имя Иисуса!»
святитель Филарет Черниговский (Гумилевский)
Учение Евангелиста Иоанна о Слове
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Filaret_Cher ... a-o-slove/
St. Philaret of Moscow (Drozdov) (+1867)
Interpretation of the Book of Genesis
"The description of the six-day creation in its proper sense does not extend to the spiritual world, for Moses, having spoken of the creation of the heavens and the earth, leaves these and deals with these. On the contrary, it is not limited to the terrestrial globe alone, because it mentions, among other things, the creation of the luminaries. Thus, the definite subject of this description is the visible world."
«Описание шестидневного творения в собственном смысле не распространяется на мир духовный, ибо Моисей, сказав о сотворении небес и земли, оставляет оные и занимается сею. Напротив того, не ограничивается оно и одним земным шаром, потому что упоминается между прочим и о сотворении светил. Итак, определенный предмет описания сего есть мир видимый.»
"Water, in its density and gravity, occupies the middle between air and earth, which is why it naturally had to embrace the surface of the globe. But the creative word collects it in one place (which is predominantly the ocean, which has visible or secret communication with all the waters of the globe) and, by various combinations of the solid parts of the earth's substance, raises dry land to the surface . Holy Scripture often glorifies this action as a miracle of creative power." (Job XXXVIII. 8-11 , Ps. XXXVII. 7).
«Вода по своей плотности и тяжести занимает средину между воздухом и землею, почему естественно долженствовала обымать поверхность земного шара. Но творческое слово собирает оную в одно место (которое преимущественно составляет океан, имеющий видимое или тайное сообщение со всеми водами земного шара) и по разнообразном совокуплении твердых частей земного вещества возводит на поверхность сушу. Св. Писание нередко прославляет сие действие, как чудо силы творческой.» (Иов. XXXVIII. 8–11. Пс. XXXVII. 7).
святитель Филарет Московский (Дроздов)
Толкование на Книгу Бытия
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Filaret_Mosk ... u-bytija/1
St. John of Kronstadt (+1908)
Diaries of Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
"Let's start with the earth: you see how big it is and how many every creature is on it - living and soulless. Looking at the earth in all directions, you notice that it seems to be flat; in fact, it is round like a ball: land surveyors have found this out as surely as possible, and we ourselves can be sure of this. You are often by the sea - look into the distance for departing ships or steam ships. At first you see the whole ship, but the farther it goes, the more the bottom of the ship is hidden from you, so that at last you see only the sails or one smoke from the steam ship, and finally this also disappears, as if the ship had sunk into a hole. Why does this happen? Because the earth is spherical. If at first glance it seems flat to us, it is because we are very small in comparison with the earth, and the earth is too large and, with its size, its sloping is imperceptible to us, insignificant ones. So, brethren, the earth is round."
«Начнем с земли: вы видите, как она велика и как на ней много всякой твари – живой и бездушной. Смотря на землю во все стороны, вы замечаете, что она как будто плоска; на самом же деле она кругла, как шар: землеописатели дознали это как нельзя вернее, да и мы сами можем в этом увериться. Вы бываете часто у моря – смотрите вдаль за отходящими кораблями или паровыми судами. Сначала вы видите все судно, но чем дальше оно уходит, тем больше сокрывается от вас низ судна, так что наконец вы видите только паруса или один дым от парового судна, а наконец и это исчезает, как будто бы судно опустилось в яму. Отчего это так бывает? Именно оттого, что земля шаровидна. Если же она кажется нам с первого взгляда плоскою, то это оттого, что мы в сравнении с землею очень малы, а земля – слишком велика и при величине ее покатость ее нам, ничтожным, незаметна. Итак, братия, земля кругла.»
Дневники Святого праведного Иоанна Кронштадтского
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Kronsh ... /dnevnik/2
St. Nicholas of Japan, Equal-to-the-Apostles (+1912)
Diaries. Volume I
"The people poured out of the Church, but how many people still pray here and there at the icons and venerate the icons—and how they pray! It can be seen that the person is completely immersed in prayer; passing, you are afraid to break this moment of his. Faith is alive in Rus'! Orthodoxy is alive and active - and a wide, royal path for him on the globe!"
«Народ хлынул из Церкви, но сколько еще осталось молящихся там и здесь у образов и прикладывающихся к образам, – и как молятся! Видно, что человек весь погружен в молитву; проходя, боишься нарушить эту его минуту. Жива вера на Руси! Живо и действенно Православие, – и широкий, царский путь ему на Земном шаре!»
равноапостольный Николай Японский (Касаткин)
Дневники. Том I
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikolaj_Japonskij/dnevniki/7
St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) (+1956) - Catechism:
"Q. By what means shall we fight against such a tendency of leveling?
A. First of all by profound knowledge of our own Orthodox Faith, by practicing it in daily life, and by sticking to it just as the scientists stick to the discovered fact that the earth is round as against those who still might think it to be flat."
St. John Maximovitch (+1966) frequently called the earth a globe. So did Archbishop Averky (+1979). So did Fr. Seraphim Rose (+1982). Met. Vitaly (+2006) also called the earth a globe.
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