The Monks at St Catherine Monastery in the Sinai are Well

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Χριστός Ανέστη! Christ is risen!

In response to all the friends who’ve written asking after our brothers, the monks in Sinai, glory to God, they’re all well. Draconian security measures are in force throughout the area, but pilgrims are still able to come and go. There are already many checkpoints on the paved roads leading to the monastery. They’ve been there decades, mainly to check ID’s, watch for narcotics, etc. Now, there’s added security, and the local Bedouin, who are fervent supporters of the monks, are assisting. As the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness doesn’t overcome it, may the joy of this week of peace and brightness remain untouched in the hearts of the faithful!

Αληθώς Ανέστη! He is risen, indeed!

21 April 2017

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ISIS Gunmen Attack Police Checkpoint Near Historic St Catherine Monastery in Egypt

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One of the world’s most important Christian sites came under attack. The Monastery of St Catherine (formally, the Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mt Sinai), built over 1,500 years ago, is one of Christianity’s holiest sites. Gunmen opened fire on an Egyptian police checkpoint near the monastery, killing one policeman and wounding four others. Then, the gunmen retreated; they didn’t reach the heavily-fortified monastery compound guarded by Egyptian police and security forces. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via its news agency.

The attack on the monastery comes just over a week after suicide bombers attacked two Coptic Orthodox churches in the Nile Delta city of Tanta and the coastal city of Alexandria, killing 45 people on Palm Sunday. According to officials, the gunmen fired from an elevated hilltop overlooking the police checkpoint just outside the monastery, which is located in a remote mountainous desert area in the South Sinai Governate, where, according to scripture, God spoke to the prophet Moses from a burning bush. The Greek Orthodox monastery was a popular destination, primarily for Orthodox Christian pilgrims, but Egypt closed off public access to it for security reasons in 2015, leaving only the monks and clergy inside the compound.

According to Orthodox Christian history, in the early 4th century, St Eleni, mother of St Konstantinos the Great, built the Chapel of the Burning Bush at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the miracle. The fortified walls were built around the chapel by the Roman Emperor Justinian (who also commissioned the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom of God (Agia Sofia/St Sophia)) starting in 527. Justinian’s workers completed the Church of the Transfiguration in the 560s, around the time of his death. In 2002, UNESCO declared the area around St Catherine Monastery a World Heritage Site because of Mt Sinai’s importance to three major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), the natural environment of the area, and the historic architecture and art at St Catherine Monastery.

18 April 2017

Pappas Post

http://www.pappaspost.com/isis-gunmen-attack-historic-st-catherine-greek-orthodox-monastery-egypt/

16 April 2017. You Don’t Become Holy by Fighting Evil

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The ungrounded think that holiness resides in “purity” and fighting evil. It doesn’t. No way; no how. Holiness consists in overcoming our human inclination to do wrong to others. In short, to “love our neighbour as ourselves”. Until you’ve mastered that, I’d advise you to be silent on others’ faults… and to stop complaining to the bishops about those you consider “unclean”. I think that there are more than a few “logs” in the eyes of the konvertsy out there, wouldn’t you say?

BMD

12 February 2017. The Church Is NOT Rightwing… Konvertsy Rants to the Contrary Notwithstanding

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Rod Dreher (and those of his ideological deformation) claim that the Church and the rightwing are soulmates… natural allies. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Look at the above image and be enlightened. The Church does NOT endorse, teach, or bless the evil spouted by Anglosphere “conservatives”. In particular, it condemns the Free Market that’s at the very centre of “conservative” “thought”. You may follow Archbishop Iakovos Koukouzis or you may follow Pat Buchanan, the author of the racist “Southern Strategy” and the arranger of Reagan’s visit to Bitburg (with its SS graves). Rod Dreher follows Pat Buchanan (and takes Buchanan’s money)… I follow Archbishop Iakovos.

Whom do you follow? You can’t follow both… they’re incompatible. Choose wisely…

BMD