18 May 2013. RIA-Novosti Infographics. The 17th Century Church Schism: How Did It Divide Believers?

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During the reign of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon Minin launched new studies of Russian sacred texts, comparing them with Greek models to identify discrepancies. The reform started with the convening of a Sobor in Moscow in 1654, which decided to bring the liturgical books in line with Greek manuscripts. The Great Moscow Sobor of 1666-67 approved new rites of worship and ranks. The authorities began a crackdown against the opponents of reform, which lasted for about two centuries. The Old Ritualists split at various times, the monarchy varied in its approach to them. At times, the government was lenient; at others, it was severe. Sometimes, the Belokrinitsky Old Ritualist hierarchy could serve legally at the Rogozhskoe Cemetery in Moscow, but at other periods, during the so-called “sealing of the altars”, the state forbade the Old Ritualists to serve the liturgy.

In 1800, some of the “priested” Old Ritualists sought rapprochement with the Holy Governing Synod, which established a special structure for the so-called Yedinoverie (“One-Faithers”, “Unionists”)… maintaining the pre-reform ritual, they submitted to the jurisdiction of the canonical Church, recognising that ritual differences don’t affect general dogmatic teaching. For example, in comparing the sign of the cross, although they used different constructions, both usages symbolise the unity of the three persons of the Holy Trinity and of Christ‘s dual divine-human nature. In 1905, Tsar St Nikolai Aleksandrovich issued a decree on religious tolerance, removing all civil restrictions on the rights of the Old Ritualists, and, in 1971, an MP Sobor adopted a resolution to lift the oaths and anathemas from the old rites.

12 February 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/history_infografika/20130212/922446392.html

Click here to read more on the Raskol

Orthodox Believers Celebrate Epiphany: God’s Grace for Body and Soul

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On 19 January, the Orthodox Church celebrates Epiphany… the day when St John the Baptist baptised Jesus Christ in the River Jordan. Epiphany is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of Orthodox Christianity. On this day, a ceremony sanctifying water takes place in every Orthodox church in Russia. However, tradition has it that on Epiphany Eve, all the water in the world, whether sanctified in a church or not, acquires a special miraculous quality. Immersing in water on Epiphany Eve purifies the soul and strengthens the body. Although it is usually rather cold in Russia on Epiphany, this doesn’t stop many Russians from paying tribute to the old tradition to immerse in water in an open-air hole on Epiphany Eve. Tens of thousands of Russians in the night from Friday to Saturday carried out the rite of a three-fold immersion in icy water as Orthodox believers celebrated Epiphany.

For this ceremony, ice-holes in the form of a cross are made on rivers, lakes, and ponds. In Russia, such an ice-hole is called a Iordan, in reference to River Jordan where Jesus was baptised. This year, formal immersions took place in 40 places in Moscow alone on Epiphany Eve, with one of them on Red Square. Usually, there aren’t many people on Red Square at 22.00… however, this night, the square was crowded. Because of the biting cold, whilst the priest was performing the ceremony of sanctifying the water in two large tanks, the water already covered with ice… but this didn’t stop many believers from plunging into it.

Pavel, a young man from Transnistria, hadn’t initially planned to spend the night in Moscow. Nevertheless, as circumstances landed him in the Russian capital, he decided to take part in Epiphany immersion in Moscow, as he always does in his home town, as he didn’t want to miss it, saying to our VOR correspondent, “For the last seven years, I’ve always immersed myself on Epiphany Eve. I don’t belong to a walrus club, for me, immersion on Epiphany is a matter of faith in Christ, not sport. Seven years ago, when I was in Siberia, friends persuaded me to immerse in the Ob River on Epiphany. Since then, I immerse on Epiphany every year… each time when I do it, I have a feeling of being born again. I’m not afraid of catching cold whilst immersing on Epiphany Eve… I believe that real faith makes a person strong enough to resist any cold”.

Those waiting to immerse have formed a long queue. If Pavel, as he said, has immersed on Epiphany Eve for the seventh time already, obviously, many people in the queue are taking part in this ceremony for the first time… one can distinguished them by the special look in their eyes. Tatyana Gavrilova said, “I learnt that Epiphany ceremonies were taking place on Red Square only an hour ago, and I immediately realised that I had to come here. This is the first time that I took part in this ceremony ever, and I feel myself a bit unprepared for this, I find it a little scary. I really hope that it’ll do me good. I haven’t prepared for this; I didn’t read any religious books to understand the essence of Christian sacraments well enough. Yet, I’m firmly convinced that Epiphany immersion is healthy both for body and soul”.

Besides Muscovites, one could see foreigners in this queue as well, although none of them dared to immerse in the water. They only came to watch Russians immerse in icy water on a cold night, hoping to learn more about the mysterious Russian soul. Emma from Istanbul said, “I’ve lived in Russia for two years, but this is the first time that I’ve come to this unusual event. I’ve heard that there’s a holiday in Russia when people immerse themselves in the water on a very cold night, but this is the first time that I’ll see it with my own eyes. This is very interesting, but I must confess that I’m not bold enough to do it myself!”

An ambulance stood nearby, but, fortunately, very few people needed help or first aid from either doctors or paramedics. Yet, it’s true that simple faith and enthusiasm help even not very well-prepared people not to catch cold or drown. Aleksei said, “This is the first time that I immersed on Epiphany, and it’s really an awesome indescribable experience! I feel great! It’s like being born again! People with whom I stood in the queue and who already immersed in the holy water said that that they’d like to do it again. I felt like all my sins were washed away. Now, I’ll do this every Epiphany! I thought about doing this for a long time, and I’m glad that I finally went out and did it”

Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, the First Hierarch of the Local Church of Moscow and all the Russias explained the essence of this holiday, “The Great Blessing of the Waters is evidence that we’ve opened the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven through the birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. By being baptised in the waters of River Jordan, God the Son sanctified not only the element of water, but the entire physical world as well. After God the Son’s incarnation on Earth, the entire physical world received the possibility to unite with God’s Nature. When we sanctify water in churches on Epiphany, water remains water. It doesn’t change its chemical structure; it doesn’t acquire new physical qualities, but it becomes full of divine grace. It acquires miraculous power which helps people overcome sickness, passions, and suffering, it helps them to change the world around us”.

Tradition tells us that the water sanctified in churches on Epiphany preserves its miraculous qualities till the next Epiphany. One may use it to bless a residential flat or an office. Some recommend that one should drink this water in small amounts every morning or every night before going to bed. However, the main thing one should do on Epiphany isn’t to go to church to get sanctified water or to immerse in an ice-hole, but to pray to God. After all, divine grace given to us through prayer is what allows holy water to heal people from any disease, physical or spiritual.

19 January 2013

Milena Faustova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_01_19/God-s-grace-for-body-and-soul/

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2013_01_19/Pravoslavnie-otmechajut-prazdnik-Kreshhenija-AUDIO-FOTO/

Click here for a VOR photo gallery on Epiphany

Click here for a RIA-Novosti photo gallery on Epiphany

Editor’s aside:

The babas take it in stride… the strong men’s teeth chatter… is God telling us something?

BMD

23 December 2012. The Konvertsy Want to Ally Us With THIS…

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On Fox News, Mike Huckabee blamed the Sandy Hook massacre on gays, atheists, and the “abortion pill”. He used the killings to promote his agenda, blaming it on gay people and scientists who promote evolution. Huckabee repeatedly blamed the forces of “secularism” for the massacre, from kids with iPhones to pharmacies that stock “abortion pills”. The konvertsy eat this sort of noxious pabulum up by the gross… and they want to infect the whole Church with it! Look… we have NOTHING in common with the Born-Agains. NOTHING. They have no Christian liturgy… they have no Christian choir of saints… they have no Christian Bible (they only use an expurgated version that leaves out what they don’t want to believe in)… they have no grounding, no apostolicity, no history, and no Creed. How can they be Christian? They aren’t… Our Lord Christ said that there would be those who’d call themselves Christians, but wouldn’t have the substance or ontological reality of Christianity. We have no need to “build bridges” to arrant heresy. The Church can have a salvific monologue with such people, but NEVER a dialogue, for that implies an equality that doesn’t exist. I’ll tell you what… let any Evangelical group trace a CONTINIOUS, UNBROKEN, and CLEAR line to the Apostolic Church, then, I’ll listen… but none have such. They all speak of an offensive and untrue “Falling Away” at the time of St Constantine the Great… they do, they truly do.

The fact that the konvertsy hobnob willingly and gleefully with such evident heretics means that their Orthodoxy is only skin-deep, and that we must put a stop to ordaining former Proddie clergy, as they’re the main carriers of the contagion (do note the distinction… converts who weren’t clergy aren’t as bad… they didn’t undergo a heretical heterodox formation). We are NOT Evangelicals with a “liturgical itch”… NO! We’re Christ’s Church… we’re the Big Tent… we go after ALL souls and have room for everyone… and, most of all, we don’t “testify”. If our lives aren’t a testimony, then, that’s a condemnation of our professions. I’ve noticed that most Born Agains believe in warfare in foreign parts, wanton use of overly-harsh imprisonment and capital punishment, blaming the poor for their predicament, and predatory Free Market buccaneering. I’d say that negates any claim of Christianity on their part.

Any contact with Evangelical groups is inadvisable at best and dangerous at worst. They’re fanatics; they insist on their heresy as truth. They have no Apostolic roots… ergo, they’re not Churches. Josiah Trenham should be defrocked immediately for his intimate schmoozing with Evangelical heretics and his espousing of their lunacies on his radio show (calling it The Arena is blasphemous in the extreme… Mr Trenham isn’t a St Ignaty Brianchininov, not by a long shot). We need to return to the modestly-sane and deliberately-sober policies of Leonty Turkevich and Anastassy Gribanovsky. We don’t need “bridges” to heresy… we do need bridges to Russian Orthodox Unity… do notice that the konvertsy don’t want that. I wonder why…

BMD

12 November 2012. “Ancient Faith (sic) Radio” To Broadcast “Edited” Version of OCA Sobor… Will Not Have Real-Time Live Feed

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Read this. It’s clear that the konvertsy aren’t going to offer a real-time live feed. They’re going to edit it before broadcast and only air “official” viewpoints. In short, for so-called “Ancient Faith (sic) Radio”, the fix is in. They’re being blatant about it, they admit, “Audios will be posted immediately editing and uploading to our site”… that is, nothing will be broadcast “as is”. In short, this is a “banana race” kids, and Lyonyo and Bobby are trying to hide the spit box from the track officials. However, you knew that already, didn’t you?

One wonders if all the “fixing” will hold… God willing, it won’t…

BMD

Update from the Grapevine:

I’m definitely not one to defend konvertsy, but Ancient Faith Radio also broadcast the 2008 and 2011 Sobors the same way (not a live feed), as well as one or two Antiochian Archdiocese conventions.  This is most definitely not something new.

In short, these jabronies have NEVER told the truth and nothing but the truth… nice…

BMD