16 December 2012. Maymon Chock Fulla Shit in Letter on Connecticut Massacre

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The following is for real… it’s not a goof. I wish that it were a goof. It proves to all that Mark Maymon’s an ungrounded loon and that he shouldn’t have charge of a rowboat, let alone anything substantial. Obviously, its Maymon’s dribbling, as I’ve seen Mel’s writing, and this dreck bears no resemblance to that. Look at it and be enlightened as to Maymon’s level of intelligence (all of Maymon’s grammatical errors and stylistic infelicities are intact for your appreciation)…

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

DIOCESE OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Right Rev Melchisedek Pleska, Bishop of Pittsburgh, Locum Tenens

Right Rev Mark Maymon, Bishop of Baltimore, Administrator

Friday 14 December 2012

Dear to God,

Christ is in our midst!

We’re greatly saddened to hear of the shootings in Connecticut on the morning of 14 December. As we listen time again of these tragedies, one would hope that we’d be moved to consider how fragile life truly is and to regain our focus on the Gospel message. Fr Alexander Schmemann, of blessed memory, states in his book on Great Lent, that the sin of all sins for many Christians is that we live our lives as though Christ did not come at all. Sadly, the current of our society leads to depersonalisation and simply seeing the other who is created in the image and likeness of God as a mere object. Let’s strive to focus more fully on the Gospel and the hope it offers by reaching out within our local communities to assist those in need, not only during the Holiday Season or simply in the face of tragedy, but as that which is expected of those who call themselves Christians. Let’s rise above mere donations to the poor, while keeping them at arm’s length. No! Let’s offer them the riches of our faith and bring them into our Churches. As we prepare to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity, let’s remember Christ came not only as the Saviour of the Jewish race, but the Saviour of the whole world… for everyone who bears a human face.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Asking your God-pleasing prayers, I remain yours in Christ,

Mark

Bishop of Baltimore

Administrator of the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania

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This disjointed rot is a disgrace. Firstly, you don’t say, “Christ is born” until the Church Christmas season, and that’s not upon us yet. Of course, Maymon’s a former RC who hasn’t converted in his heart-of-hearts, so, obviously, he gets many little things wrong, this being an example of that. However, this cavil is minor and a piffle in comparison to Maymon’s chief gaffe.

Not once did Maymon say, “I extend my sympathy to the families who suffered a loss, and I ask that everyone pray for the repose of the victims and the comfort of their families”. Where in the hell is this jabronie’s common decency and humanity? He doesn’t mention prayer at all. NOT ONCE. He maunders about ADS and about the poor, but he never says, “Let’s pray for the dead and let’s comfort the living”. That’s what a REAL bishop would say. That’s what an old-time Metropolia bishop would’ve said. That’s what an old-school ROCOR bishop would’ve said. “Let’s pray for the dead and let’s comfort the living”… now, that’s Orthodox to the bone, and since Maymon neglected it, it’s clear that he doesn’t have a clue as to what Orthodoxy’s all about.

I seem to notice that the konvertsy bishops are all clueless as to good-sense and practical morality. I’d point up that the present OCA Metropolitan is also a relatively-shallow convert, which leads me to believe that the OCA isn’t long for this world (relatively speaking… in historical terms, a decade isn’t long at all). Paffhausen’s a windy incompetent, Peterson’s a bilious incompetent, Maymon’s a dodgy incompetent, whilst Mollard’s a genial and smiling incompetent (and an expert at the glad hand to boot). God do spare us…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Sunday 16 December 2012

Albany NY

Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov: God, Not the State, Should Protect Believers’ Feelings

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On Friday, Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, superior of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow and the Executive Secretary of the MP Patriarchal Council for Culture, said in an interview that Russia doesn’t need laws to protect the feelings of religious believers, but the state should deploy its power to defend the country against what he called acts of spiritual terrorism, saying, “We need clear succinct laws in order to defend both religious and secular verities from malicious abuse, which, in my view, is nothing less than spiritual terrorism. In my opinion, believers’ feelings need no protection other than from the Lord Himself”.

Last week, Russian lawmakers submitted draft legislation calling for prison sentences of up to five years for individuals convicted of “insulting citizens’ religious beliefs and feelings”. The bill came in the wake of the imprisonment of three members of Pussy Riot for performing a “punk prayer” criticising President Vladimir Putin in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow in February. A court convicted Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Maria Alyokhina of aggravated hooliganism and sentenced them to two years in prison. The saga sparked international outrage, with foreign governments criticising the punishment as excessive, and music stars like Madonna and Paul McCartney publicly expressing their support for the three women.

Fr Tikhon, who spoke Friday after a presentation of the English-language version of his book Everyday Saints and Other Stories at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, conceded that the church might court similar provocations by taking a hard line against incidents like the Pussy Riot performance, observing, “Nevertheless, if these jokers are going around desecrating crosses and churches, dancing on altars, and defiling museums left and right, and everyone just shuts their mouths and thinks it’ll go away, that won’t work either”. Fr Tikhon suggested that Russia might consider implementing punishments similar to those in Israel, where anyone convicted of desecrating a holy place can face up to seven years in prison.

Fr Tikhon is widely rumoured to be Putin’s spiritual adviser, although he declined to comment when an audience member at Friday’s presentation asked about his relationship to “someone in the Kremlin”. He replied, “There’s no point in discussing rumours”. The release of Everyday Saints and Other Stories in the USA came amid celebrations of the fifth anniversary of the reconciliation of the MP and the ROCOR. The festivities include a 20-day, nine-city tour across the USA by the all-male Sretensky Monestary Choir, which performed two pieces at the presentation of Fr Tikhon’s book on Friday.

6 October 2012

Carl Schreck

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20121006/176435861.html

Editor’s Note:

Shame on the English translator… a more accurate reading of the title is Unholy Holiness… they “castrated” the title, depriving it of its full power and meaning. Holiness is usually “unholy”… that is, it doesn’t please the pietistic bastards who fancy themselves religious. In short, I’d wonder where else they “softened” and “dumbed down” the text to please the terminally-religious. Remember, to be “holy” means loving the truth… and poseurs (such as the First Families, SVS, and konvertsy) hate the truth (“You can’t say that! They’re such GOOD people!”). That means that you won’t find holiness amongst those screaming the loudest about it. Holiness is where it is… not where it’s bruited about. In fact, some of the worst perverters of the Faith… such as Arius, Avvakum Petrov, Aleksandr Vvedensky, Alexander Schmemann, and Gleb Podmoshensky (Fathausen was a drooling disciple of the last-named heretic)… fooled many with their smarmy pietism and patina of superficial religiosity. Holiness is REAL… that means that you’ll only see it if you look at the world for what it truly is… and most of us aren’t prepared to do that.

I wonder if Potapov was around for this shindig… he probably was, but the SVR probably warned Fr Tikhon of the fact that Potapov’s a Langley asset, so, he’ll be polite and non-committal around him. After all, I (and many others) know of Victor’s loud opinions prior to the reconciliation… and who signed his pay-cheque. Will the real Victor Potapov please stand up (shades of To Tell the Truth)? Never turn your back on his ilk… it’s not healthy (do remember Potapov’s tirade against a relative carried by the ROCOR official website).

BMD

The Hegira of the Manton Six: Zealotry Without Knowledge

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Our starting point is always wrong. Instead of beginning with ourselves, we always want to change others first and ourselves last. If everyone would begin first with themselves, then, there would be peace all around!

Elder Tadej Štrbulović of Vitovnica

Our Thoughts Determine our Lives

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Save your own soul, and thousands will be saved about you.

St Serafim Sarovsky

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By now, most of you have heard of the six monks who up and left St John of San Francisco Monastery in Manton CA because they disliked the pastoral dispensation that Meletios Webber gave an individual (note well who took them in… the rather questionable bunch at Platina… Podmoshensky‘s old haunt). Here’s what passed between a friend and me (I’m in italics):

That’s what I was alluding to in my latest post. Transgendered, ungendered, supergendered… it’s no one’s business. If the Church extends oikonomia, they should shut up or go to the bishop. It’s that simple.

I’d agree. Those monks who left are the bad guys in this latest.

The main actor in this little Kabuki play is one Martin Gardner. It’s another konvertsy melodrama (just like the Toll Houses and an obsession with homosexuals)… it’s turning out to be the same ol’, same ol’, kids. The only thing to say is, “Gad, sir, that ain’t Orthodox!” Virtually all Anglo-Saxon converts are addicted to akrivia of one sort or another, especially former Episkies. If a bishop or priest shows pastoral oikonomia towards anyone, they all crawl out of their dustbins and caterwaul about how the Church’s going to hell in a handbasket, and they “know” what they’re talking about, ‘cause they saw what happened to PECUSA. If they were to ask a real canonist like Alexander Lebedeff, he’d tell them, “Read the canons! It says, ‘or as the bishop shall prescribe’… that’s the Orthodox way!” Indeed, we drive the papists absolutely nutso at times…

But X agrees with us!

Yes, they do… it’s their opinion.

You mean that you don’t agree with it?!?

No… the Church doesn’t define it… it’s not central to salvation.

That’s the Orthodox way. Orthodoxy is fond of giving people the “second chance”… hell, it loves giving people “third” and “fourth chances” too. We’re willing to bend the rules, if it’s going to save a soul. Mind you, oikonomia does carry a “price tag”. Second marriages are “allowed”, not “blessed”. Someone married twice may not become a priest (as the Church recognises civil marriage, unlike the RCs, Matthew Tate has to be defrocked immediately, as he’s a divorced man). Homosexuals are not driven out of the Church (click here for the bio of Nikon Mironov, a gay bishop (who got into trouble for personality problems unrelated to his sexual orientation… however, do note that the Church doesn’t make an issue of his orientation as Mironov supports the public teaching of the Church))… all the former Episkies bloviating on “gays” are full of it and should shut up. The Church opposes homosexual propaganda and the notion that homosexuality and heterosexuality are equal.

That being said, HH said, “We respect all human choices, including those involving sexual orientation. However, we reserve the right to label sin as ‘sin’”. This isn’t what the extremist konvertsy want to hear. For instance, the late Patriarch Aleksei Rediger of Happy Memory gave Nikon Mironov a high Church decoration and HH gave him a panagia in 2010… for Nikon is a defender of traditional Church order and Tradition. He burned Schmemann’s books on a public bonfire; he can’t be all bad! Note well how the Church dealt with Nikon… they sent him to the Pskovo-Pechersky Lavra to do penance for his abuse of the laity in Yekaterinburg (at the Lavra, the late Elder Ioann Krestiankin (a real saint) dealt lovingly with him). Then, the Church authorities allowed Nikon to settle near Moscow; the Church made him the honorary rector of a parish (he was NOT deposed from the episcopate; my understanding is that he agreed not to serve publicly). Therefore, one can see that the Church just doesn’t kick homosexuals in the arse and abuse them, as the former Episkies do (that’s why I contend that very few of them are converted-in-fact).

In short, Martin Gardner and his five confrères are not only chock full of beans, they’re prime candidates for punishment, as they made public a private pastoral matter. I only deal with “public figures”, “public occurrences”, and “public matters”. Private pastoral matters are not for us to publicise. If you have a “problem” with the pastoral oikonomia extended by a priest or bishop, go to the ruling bishop. I know what an Old School ROCOR priest said many moons ago about giving communion to a gay person (it was LOUD, trust me)… (heavy Russian accent) “If you have problem with this, go talk to bishop!!” Need I say that the person making the complaint didn’t go to the bishop? Fancy that…

That’s the way it is in the real Church. It’s the salvation station for every nation… and it’s more compassionate than the zealots wish to admit.

NB:

The fact that Nikon Mironov is a “retired bishop” indicates that such a status is fully-canonical, and that those who question such a status aren’t in the mainstream of the Church. For instance, Nikolai Soraich is a “bishop”, so is Jerome Shaw, but neither are “ruling bishops” or “vicar bishops”, they’re “retired bishops”… kapish? They CAN serve as clergy, but they have NO authority (they CAN wear a mitre, but one doesn’t serve hierarchical liturgy when they’re present). To make a “grey” situation even “greyer”, in 2013, Nikon was made a vicar bishop of the Diocese of Perm, thus “unretiring” him (the MP HS said that he might become a ruling bishop again if he was a good boy)… confusing, but that’s Orthodoxy for ya! If you want consistency, join the papists…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 12 July 2012

Albany NY

11 July 2012. Lyonyo and Tosi Stonewalling All Requests for Information… Refuse to Give Any Details on “Resignation”

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Tosi and Lyonyo are stonewalling all requests for information, and their drooling lickspittle, Lil’ Mizz Ginny, just approves of it all. What’s interesting is that the First Family coup members haven’t only not released a coherent “narrative” to date, they’re apparently refusing to do so in future. Click here and here for the uninformative oca.org posts on the matter. Note Tosi’s arrogant and smarmy tone in his “announcement:

The facts of the Metropolitan’s decision are contained in his statement, which has been posted on the OCA website. At this time of transition, all of the Chancery’s efforts are directed at moving forward in faith and good order, ensuring that the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ is strengthened. As events may require, further information will be posted on the OCA website, which should be seen as the official source of information about the Church. We ask everyone’s prayers for the hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the OCA.

In other words, “All of you unwashed peasant motherfuckers have to pay, pray, and obey. We’re not going to tell you anything, and you don’t deserve to know anything. It’s all for us, and you can leave if you don’t like it”. Nothing was reported of the Tuesday night Holy Synod meeting… this is in marked contrast to the Centre which issues disclosure of what was discussed at Synod meetings and all zhurnaly (decisions) are publicising immediately for the believers to scrutinise. Of course, the militant atheist repression taught the Centre a thing or two… like being honest DOES work and decentralisation is the way to go. In short, one can see that the problem in the Church wasn’t Herman… it wasn’t JP. They were symptoms, not causes. There’s a culture of institutional secrecy in the OCA… Schmemann brought it in after Vladyki Leonty‘s death. You see, ADS was going to remake the OCA according to his Renovationist fancies, and SVS was going to be his vehicle. His motto was, “The believers be damned”, as the Church War and l’Affaire Mayfield pointed up. This attitude is still alive, especially amongst SVS grads (all of whom were contaminated to some extent or another with ADS’ notions).

A priest said this:

Bishops owe the people an explanation of WHY they unanimously demanded the resignation now, and not whenever. Nothing less just adds to the sense of drift and confusion.

Not only are the believers refusing to accept the plotters silence, neither are the grounded clergy. The putschists are in the deep kimchi, but there are going to be rosy reports from Lil’ Mizz Ginny until the very end. It has been five days since the “resignation”… and there’s no news of the the “resignation” on either Interfax or patriarchia.ru. As a Moscow source told me:

They lied to us before, and they’re probably lying to us, again.

There it is. No one believes the putschists, not here, not at the Centre. Expect things to be murkier in the immediate near term, and believe NOTHING that comes out of Syosset. After all, it’s the same ol’ cabal there, isn’t it?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Albany NY