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Beginning of Great Lent 2024

Archpastoral Message of
His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon

March 17, 2024

To the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, my beloved children in the Lord:

Christ is in our midst!

humility

I greet you at the outset of the Lenten fast, and I assure you of my prayers for you during this sacred season. I pray that the coming Forty Days will be a time of soul-saving struggle for all of you.

When a traveler sets out on a long and difficult journey, he endures the road by keeping his destination in mind. Similarly, at the beginning of the Fast, it is helpful for us to look forward, toward its end, towards our final destination. We look towards that destination so that we might properly direct our Lenten efforts, our prayer and fasting and almsgiving.

And what is the destination toward which the Lenten efforts are directed? What is the end of our journey?

We are going to see a king enthroned, to witness a ruler coming into his kingdom.

When the Lord took his seat in the place of judgment and Pilate stood before him, the Roman governor addressed the King of Glory with inquiries concerning the nature of his kingdom.

“Are you the King of the Jews?” (Jn. 18:33)

“So you are a king?” (Jn. 18:37)

The kingship of Christ was a stumbling block for Pilate then, and today, twenty centuries later, that same kingship remains a stumbling block for many. The Lord had already stated the matter plainly to his would-be judge: “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world” (Jn 18:36). But Pilate refused to understand. “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” he asked the Lord (Jn. 19:10).

In his willful ignorance, Pilate remained convinced that his earthly authority, delegated by the emperor, made him the judge over the Man who sat before him, when in fact, it was that Man who had taken his seat to pass judgment over the world. Pilate thought that he held the life of this Man in his hand, when in fact, it was that Man who held the life of the world in his palms, palms soon to be pierced by the nails of torment. Pilate believed himself to be an agent of the rule of law, when in fact, it was Christ the Law-giver who was making ready to “reign from the tree” (cf. Ps. 95:10).

In short, Pilate thought the earthly empire of Rome was the measure of all kingship, when in fact, the greatest kingship is the otherworldly reign of Jesus Christ.

Today, earthly states and the passing polities of this world continue to assert themselves through violence, warfare, the application of crude power. In this unsettled time, we are filled with sorrow and anxiety at the sharp increase in partisan political tensions, together with vitriol and factionalism, in the lands where the Orthodox Church in America sojourns. We are filled with sorrow and anxiety as we hear of wars and rumors of wars in Ukraine, the Holy Land, Armenia, Yemen, throughout the Middle East, in East Africa, in the Korean Peninsula. We are filled with sorrow and anxiety as we see our fellow Orthodox Christians persecuted, suffering, and endangered in Ukraine, in Russia, in Gaza. As our Lord tells us, these frightening circumstances are characteristic of the troubled age in which we live—“but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:6).

“The end is not yet,” but, as Orthodox Christians, we should be living for the end. We are called by Christ to live for the last things, for the kingdom that does not belong to this world of time. Thus, it is with acute sorrow that we observe today many Orthodox Christians manipulated by the false powers of this passing age. Confusing the temporal for the eternal, many have chosen the Pilate-like paths of violent aggression, apology for violence, and religious imperialism and nationalism.  As tragic as Pilate’s lack of vision was, it is all the more tragic when those who have been illumined by holy Baptism choose short-sighted ideologies that place their hope in a this-worldly future rather than in the eternity of Christ’s kingdom.

Witnessing this confusion, and this idolatrous embrace of ideology, I pray for those who have been deceived and led astray. Moreover, I see how, in certain places that present themselves as safe havens for the Faith, those who pray for peace are jailed and suffer as prisoners of conscience, and I pray for those who are persecuted. I see how, in other lands, the legitimate interests of the state, distorted by the passions of nationalism, have become a cause for the unjust treatment of Orthodox Christians who desire nothing other than fidelity to the holy Canons and Tradition of the Church, and I pray for those who are oppressed. I see how, in my own Church, political divisions have infiltrated many of our communities, and I pray that we all might resist the temptation of diabolical division along ideological lines, instead growing in unity of mind, striving together to put on the mind of Christ.

Even as we shun the temptation to place our hope in this fleeting world and its crumbling powers, we must be clear: Christ reigns even now, in the present. It is in the present that we encounter him who is named “I AM.” Although Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, nevertheless, Christians are called to become heirs of that kingdom even in this life. The kingdom is not found in a place or a time; it “is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God,” says the Lord, is within us and in our midst, in the midst of his disciples, in the midst of the Church (Lk. 17:21).

Christ’s rule is not postponed to the future age, but neither is it merely another earthly reign; it is the eternal reign of God already manifest in time among the people of God. This rule is revealed and made real whenever men proclaim the Name of Jesus Christ, not merely in word, but in deeds. Christ’s kingdom is love, mercy, and forgiveness; it is repentance, self-sacrifice, and virtue.

The champions of Christ’s kingdom, then, are not those who rise up to defend it from earthly attack. The Lord once rebuked Saint Peter for his mistaken recourse to a crude, material sword (Mt. 26: 52–4), and Saint Paul reminds us that, in our struggle, “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

The champions of Christ’s kingdom, rather, are those who bear witness to the Passion and Resurrection of the Savior by, in their flesh, completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions (Col. 1:24). These stalwart soldiers and knights of Christ are, in the first place, the holy martyrs—not those who kill in the Name of the Lord, but who die in the Name of the Lord. “Blessed are those who die in the Lord henceforth” (Rev. 14:13).

Many Christians today believe, and viscerally feel, that the kingdom of Christ is under attack. This is true. Satan is always going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. As Saint Paul indicates, there is a war underway. But that war is spiritual in nature; earthly swords will do no better than Saint Peter’s blade did when he turned it against Malchus. To seek to defend the kingdom of God with tanks and airplanes is to accept Pilate’s debased notion of kingship rather than embrace the exalted rule of Jesus Christ; using violence to establish a kingdom is the way of Herod, not of the tiny martyrs of Bethlehem. To believe that salvation depends on earthly rulers and regimes and favorable conditions for the faith is not the way of the martyrs, but the way of emperor-worship. In this regard, we must remember that many saints gave their lives rather than offer even a pinch of incense in worship of Caesar.

Of course, we desire that our earthly rulers provide us with a favorable situation for the propagation of the faith, for the peace and welfare of the churches of God, and we pray for this at the Divine Liturgy and the other holy services. Moreover, among the saints there is an entire rank of right-believing rulers. Indeed, from the time of Saints Boris and Gleb to the time of Saint Nicholas II and his royal family, there is sometimes significant overlap between the ranks of the right-believing rulers and the ranks of the martyrs and passion-bearers. Some of those rulers were effective; some were less effective. What they had in common was a fidelity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning in their own personal lives. The holy rulers were not those who sought earthly power; they are those who, presented with power, remained faithful to the Lord and turned their earthly power back over to his service as best as they could.

Thus, our way forward consists neither in vainly grasping after earthly power nor in capitulation to the dark spirit of the age, but in fidelity to the Gospel according to our circumstances. We must reject sin—through repentance, confession, and preaching to those who have ears to hear. We must strive for the kingdom—through worship, charity, and virtue. We must fight for the faith—against the old Adam, against the devil, and against the passions. We do not reject the world’s dark ideologies by embracing the vanity of external violence and power. Instead, we reject the world’s dark ideologies by putting sin to death in our flesh through the violence of the ascetic life and the grace-filled power of God in whom is our hope and trust.

As we speak of the violence of the ascetic life, I point us back towards our Lenten efforts. In the face of tragedy and conflict, it is characteristic for all manner of organizations and companies and parties and public figures to offer up their “thoughts and prayers.” However, as Orthodox Christians, we are invited truly to pray, truly to fast, to bear some small martyrdom, some small witness, in our bodies. By the grace of God, this ascetic struggle, this little martyrdom, connects us to the Lord, his saints, and all those who suffer innocently. During these Forty Days that Save Our Souls, I exhort all of you to make a genuine effort to fast for peace and to pray for those who suffer. Platitudes are not enough: real ascetic effort is required. This ascetic effort makes concrete the hope and trust that we place in the kingdom to come.

It is this hope in the coming kingdom and this trust in the Savior that gave the martyrs the power to accomplish the greatest feat of arms—willingly to die, and thereby to join in Christ’s conquest of the world, death, and the devil. May God give us all the strength and the courage necessary to follow the way of the martyrs and to reject the false paths of human violence, power, and pride.

To our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, who suffers with all the innocent sufferers and lives in the deaths of all the martyrs, be unending glory and adoration, together with his Father and his Most Holy Spirit, now and unto everlasting ages. Amen.

Sincerely yours in our Lord Jesus Christ,
With all the blessings of the Holy Forty Days,

+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

Below is a message from our Social Media Coordinator.

The human heart is in the most need especially of the healing touch of Jesus. Many don’t have in person contact with the fullness of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the form of a local Orthodox Church Parish with a full time Priest or even a Deacon for a reader service. Many Priests and Deacons work unrealistic bi-vocational hours to share the love of Jesus. We can bring relief. To learn more and possibly donate or to apply for relief as a Clergy go to www.ocmamerica.us … or simply donate below …

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Orthodox Missions Can Succeed Anywhere

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

Sub Deacon Michael Boyar is a member of the board of directors of Share the Faith, a pan Orthodox ministry that funds and promotes Orthodox missions. He evidently knows a lot about the topic of missions, because he saved the parish of SS Peter and Paul in Detroit MI from certain death. In a recent post, entitled Orthodox Parishes in Danger of Closure Can be Saved!, Sub Deacon Michael tells the story of turning around his parents’ urban Rust Belt parish that had fallen on hard times. The previous rector had chosen to renovate the old, dilapidated parish hall to the tune of over a half-million dollars. The parish had been in demographic decline for some time, so that 7K a month burden proved the breaking point. The rector retired abruptly, and people started to leave.

This one parish story vividly illustrates problems that all too commonly plague Orthodoxy in the United States. Urban decay has caused many parishes to lose their natural population base. As once thriving neighborhoods got poorer over the past few decades, many people who could afford it have chosen to move to better locations. That included many members of the local “ethnic” communities that had founded, and sustained, many “ethnic” urban Orthodox parishes. These urban Orthodox parishes thus found themselves in completely altered neighborhoods surrounded by people of new races and ethnicities. Unfortunately, quite a few could not cope. Too many parishes had no meaningful plan of evangelism to reach the newcomers around them.  Cursed with too many deaths and not enough baptisms, often combined with poor financial decisions, many older Orthodox parishes have found themselves on the road to closure.

Which is probably how this story of SS Peter and Paul would have ended, had not Sub Deacon Michael Boyar stepped in. We recommend reading the whole post, but below we provide analysis of some of the keys to his success that everyone interested in Orthodox Evangelism should consider.

1) Make a Plan

Sub Deacon Michael formulated a plan for how to save the parish. He undoubtedly understood that you get absolutely nowhere without a map to your destination.  While having a plan might seem like common sense, it really isn’t. In Church, we often hear things like, “God will provide” or “God will show us the way”, as we sit tight and keep failing at what we already failed at repeatedly. How is God supposed to inspire you, when you are not even searching for inspiration? God can perform miracles, but those who count on that as Plan A are often disappointed. Sub Deacon Michael made a plan. He came up with a way to get started, which opened the door for God to bless and guide his work going forward.

2) Getting Support at All Levels

Sub Deacon Michael took his plan and met with Archbishop JOB. He presented it to His Eminence, and got his blessing to take up the challenge. Any transformation plan is likely to be a long, hard road. Executive support is critical. Having the local bishop on his side, Sub Deacon then presented his plan to the parish itself at an offsite meeting. While there had to be much pain in that room, Sub Deacon Michael was able to get the parish enthusiastic about his plan. That also is essential to success.  Leaders can’t lead where the followers won’t follow.

3) Orthodox Spirituality Comes First

Sub Deacon’s plan had a lot of important elements, but the most critical one was providing as many services as possible. Here is how he phrased it:

We started our “New Attitude” in November, 2009 and continued with as many services as we could. If there was no priest available, we did a Reader’s Service – even on weekday Holy Days; and then enjoyed coffee and a special treat for coming to church.

So much to unpack in just two short sentences. Above all, Divine Services are essential, whether reader services or Divine Liturgies. A Barna Group survey found that 60% of young Christians fall away from the tradition that raised them.  Research (along with 2,000 of years of Orthodox experience) indicates that those who stay in Church, and those who seek to convert, usually have two experiences in common. They have been influenced by someone who took Orthodoxy seriously, and they have had a real spiritual experience of God. Divine Services, followed by time together as a parish, facilitates both of these crucial needs.

Do not forsake the Divine Services, even if a priest is not available.  Too many missions make this mistake. When a priest is not available, reader services are much better than letting the Temple sit empty. Mission parishes can survive, grow, and develop primarily off reader services. St. Brendan the Voyager in Bullhead City, Arizona survived and grew for over 5 years with only occasional clergy support. During that time, the mission acquired a rental location, and even hand-carved their own iconostasis. By the way, regularly having reader services also teaches the parishioners how to do them in their own homes / home chapels. That is a tremendous skill to have for multiple reasons, as Abbott Tryphon recently reminded us. Temples can be closed again, as they were during the height of COVID. We could face persecution, as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is currently suffering. But on the positive side, reader services at home open the door to inviting our neighbors into our prayer life. If you are successful in bringing in friends and family to home services, that might even lay the groundwork for future missions!

We face today an epidemic of loneliness and lack of real human contact. Having coffee and fellowship, even after weekday services when not everyone has very much time, is another chance for the Church to repair the damaging isolation our society is inflicting on her flock. People need each other. It is also a great opportunity for the spiritually mature to guide and influence those that are newer, or weaker, in their Christian Faith.

This focus on facilitating fellowship with God and fellow Christians, even by itself, could have produced a miraculous turn around in a parish such as SS Peter and Paul. But Sub Deacon Michael had even more plans.

4) You Can’t Get Enough Fellowship

Our need for fellowship with others, particularly other Christians, is not confined to coffee after services. Sub Deacon Michael intentionally set out to make the parish an integral part of not only his people’s lives, but also that of the surrounding community in which the most likely future converts were to be found:

The plan is actually simple: I believe that we all have Our Circles of Friends, including Our Neighbors, Our Work/School peers, Parent Clubs, Community Centers, Sports, Music, Hobbies, and of course, Our Family Groups; so to have our special circle of friends at Church is a slam dunk! As much as we need God and everything that Orthodoxy provides us, we need each other and to develop a social community of our Orthodox Family and Friends.

 

To give you an idea, in December, we concentrated on cleaning the temple thoroughly and decorating with as much color and lights as possible. The place looked amazing! We also wanted to do something special for the neighborhood, so we organized a special date for COOKIES WITH SANTA. We were lucky to have a Mexican gentleman to play our bi-lingual Santa Claus, for the many children (and adults) who came to visit him from the parish and the neighborhood. In January, we had “DINNER AND A SHOW” featuring our church school children’s YOLKA in performing the Nativity of our Lord, after they served dinner to all the folks who attended. In February, we started with a SOUPER BOWL brunch and contest, and again our Family Dinner on Valentine’s Day. In March, we had our annual BLINI BRUNCH on Forgiveness Sunday and a quite impressive RUMMAGE SALE (first one in several years). Everything was PASCHA IN APRIL, including teaching the art of PYSANKY and an exquisite dinner on Palm Sunday. People worked hard cleaning and decorating for the Holiest of Holy Days, and it showed! In May, we had our CHURCH SCHOOL GRADUATION (with announcements for the bigger kids), and a first class Dinner to celebrate.

What a lovely mix of activities and outreach to the neighborhood surrounding the parish! Sub Deacon Michael even thought of the need to use Spanish as a way to make neighborhood children and parents feel more welcome. Notice, as well, that there are some “ethnic” activities, but of the fun and inclusive variety. (Good food of any type brings people together!) The activities, however, follow the Church calendar and are never treated as substitutes for Orthodox Spirituality, but as complements to serve the needs of the whole person as made by God. The Sub Deacon is describing a warm, vibrant, welcoming place that people want come and be a part of.

There were a lot more activities, but let’s move on to the last important topic.

5) The Community Needs Your Help and You Need to Help the Community

The Epistle of James tells us in 2:26 that, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”  A Christian community should shine brightly as a place of help, a place of hope, a place of service to others.  Parishes that are closed in on themselves, focused only on their own problems, do not attract others to the Faith. Christians are called to service in this world, even as we work out our own salvation in fear and trembling. Sub Deacon Michael’s plan for SS Peter and Paul did not neglect the need for Christians to serve:

We also got involved with various organizations in the neighborhood (IE: Michigan Avenue Business Association, Southwest Detroit Business Association, City of Detroit Election Bureau, and by invitation of +JOB, I attended the first Urban Parish Summit in Cleveland, Ohio). We reactivated the Ladies Altar Guild, St Nicholas Men’s Club, and worked on plans for an updated Library and Bookstore.

People will not believe that Orthodoxy can make a difference in their lives, unless they first see it transform the already Orthodox. 

The statement below is from the current SS Peter and Paul Website, and perfectly reflects the life of service to which all Orthodox Christians are called:

The inner-city ministry adopts a model of the parish/church community purposefully wed to the outreach ministries in the immediate neighborhood. This assumes a church purposely planted in the inner city, or a repurposed existing congregation which then provides the Orthodox in the greater urban area an opportunity to “plant” and support an Urban Mission among the poor.

 

In either case, the “ecclesia,” the gathering together of the faithful mission congregation, carries an added dynamic and a wonderful dimension.

 

The inner city Mission Church has the same core vision as all Orthodox Churches. We are called together to participate in the divine life through the Sacramental & Liturgical life of the Church; we grow in our understanding of the Faith through Pastoral preaching, and teaching ; we learn to take up our cross daily and follow Christ through the living tradition of our disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We seek our salvation through repentance and reconciliation.

The inner city Mission Church has an added dynamic and wonderful dimension. It provides opportunity for Orthodox Christians to mature in their faith and love, to become more Christ like in sacrificial love through their focused mission to build Christ-centered community in the midst of poverty. From the kenosis (self-emptying love) of Christ’s Birth in the cave, through His ministry “having no place to lay His head” Jesus, the Son of Man, identified with the poor and was found in their midst.

While many Americans are writing-off our cities entirely, faithful Orthodox Christians are there serving the people in need of food, assistance, and most of all – Christ.

Conclusion

Needless to say, the parish started growing again and continues to survive. In fact, the parish is fundraising for a new kitchen and even had one of their own seminarians ordained to the holy Diaconate!

To support more Mission Church Parishes like these, click the link below…

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SUNDAY OF FORGIVENESS

This Sunday the Orthodox Church commemorates Forgiveness Sunday, the Sunday prior to the beginning of the Great Lent Period. It is marked by the Gospel reading with the Lord entreating us with the reminder that as we render forgiveness to others, so the Lord will forgive us of our own trespasses.This Sunday the Orthodox Church commemorates Forgiveness Sunday, the Sunday prior to the beginning of the Great Lent Period. It is marked by the Gospel reading with the Lord entreating us with the reminder that as we render forgiveness to others, so the Lord will forgive us of our own trespasses. The message of the Gospel isn’t a suggestion rather a commandment to us that as Orthodox Christians, our footprint in the world is left by our characteristic of loving our neighbors, our enemies, and forgiving others up to seventy times seven. It is a path of humility that He embodies for us, not one of winning at all costs over those who may have caused us harm understanding that we too fall short in the presence of Christ in His ultimate and voluntary sacrifice for us. God’s ultimate forgiveness of our straying and missing the mark over generations is sealed by our ability and will to forgive others. It is the starting point for our salvation. Services this Sunday are traditionally completed with the communal forgiveness right where everyone in the parish asks forgiveness of others. As we begin to reconcile with others, we begin to reconcile with God. 

Fr. Alexander Schmemann writes:

And because we make this discovery – and because this discovery is that of the Kingdom of God itself: the Kingdom of Peace and Love, of reconciliation with God and, in Him, with all that exists – we hear the hymns of that Feast, which once a year, “opens to us the doors of Paradise.” We know why we shall fast and pray, what we shall seek during the long Lenten pilgrimage. Forgiveness Sunday: the day on which we acquire the power to make our fasting – true fasting; our effort – true effort; our reconciliation with God – true reconciliation.

The Gospel also gives each of the faithful instructions on how to approach the Bright Sadness of Great Lent, teaching us not to fast in the open like the hypocrites as if to make it a means for attention, rather to do it in secret so your reward will be from your Father in Heavan. As everything that we do as Orthodox Christian, it is not for gain in the temporal world, rather for our Eternal Kingdom. To learn to love Christ, to become that which we were truly created to be. 

Let us slowly reel in our thoughts this week to the up coming season of Great Lent, truly immerse ourselves in the services, the passion of Christ, so that we can rise-up with Him on the Great Day of Pascha. Brothers and sisters, let us also understand the need for our missions as the ‘true classroom’ where we are taught these ‘lessons’ and the need to support, grow missions, and plant the seeds for new ones.

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SEEING THE SON OF MAN IN EVERY MAN

The reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew (25:31-46)

SEEING THE SON OF MAN IN EVERY MAN

 

The teachings of Our Lord, God and savior Jesus Christ are often quite difficult for us. In fact, it cannot be any other way since God is speaking to man. God is attempting to raise man from his earthly nature which makes him similar to the beasts, and He is trying to raise him to the level and stature which alone is God’s. We do not take lightly the idea that God desires to call us “sons and daughters.”

As the Church prepares us for the coming of the great and holy challenge, we are indeed challenged by the words of Christ. Sometimes this makes us uncomfortable. Why is God always challenging us? Why does God expect so much from us? Really, if we think about it, we should really be troubled if God didn’t challenge us and didn’t expect so much from us! In man made religion everything is geared towards the pleasure of those who are at the top. But in our Christian faith, everything presupposes that the one who is at the top is ready to become the least of all, even to die for all. As our Lord says “He who desires to become the greatest, must be the servant of all” and He also says “True love is to give ones life for his friends.”

In today’s gospel reading our lord challenges us, challenges every fiber of our being in fact. The challenge is how do we respond to those who are marginalized and struggling in our society? How do we respond to those who have dire needs? There are people in the world (and in our own communities) who are hungry, who are thirsty, who are strangers, who are naked, who are sick and who are in prison. No matter which of these situations we see others facing, we know that the person who is going through these afflictions is in need of help from somewhere. We are expecting help to come from God but my dear friends, God is expecting help to come from us!

It is not that helping others is just a nice thing to do, it is the rule by which each of us will be measured. It is true that the Lord is challenging us, but in His divine mercy He is also preparing us and warning us about the coming judgment and He is giving us a roadmap to His kingdom. The privilege of being a child of God is to do what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for all of humanity. He made the fallen state of humanity His burden. And by making us His burden, He entered into our struggles. In fact our Lord became all of these that are here mentioned. Our Lord was hungry and thirsty when He fasted. He was a stranger when He travelled from place to place. He was in prison on the night in which He was betrayed, or rather gave Himself up for the life of the world. He was naked and sick when He hung upon the tree of the cross and according to Isaiah the prophet “we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Is 53:4). So God understands what it is to suffer and to be associated with the downcast and downtrodden in society, and He wants us to also understand and to spring into action.

But He goes even further, He multiplies the blessing of serving the poor and the struggling. He tells us that when we do this we are not simply serving those who are struggling, we are in fact serving the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! What a Lord and Master we serve! He bows low to identify with the least of our brethren and then raises our service so that it will be counted as service to Him, the King of glory! So what more can the Son of God do to convince us to serve others? Let us go out of our way to help others during the coming season of Great Lent. You may be surprised to find that when you disconnect from the computers and televisions, there are many people who can use your help, right in your community.

Let us try hard to bring the love and mercy of God to them and there can be no doubt that God will see our love and mercy and will multiply this much, much more in our lives, both here and at the great and awesome judgement. Glory be to God forever AMEN.

Below are some thoughts from our SMM Coordinator ~

The healing touch of Jesus is what we all so desperately need, and so many don’t have that in person connection in the form of a Church Parish with a full time Priest, which is the full Gospel lived out in Orthodox Christianity. We are supporting local missional Church Parishes and their Priests who sometimes work unrealistic bivocational hours to share Jesus healing touch. We can bring relief so they can dedicate more time to ministry and their families. To come along side us and learn more and possibly donate or apply for relief as a Clergy (Priest or Deacon) go to our home page @  www.ocmamerica.us … There is no better time than now as the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. Pray to the God of the harvest that he might send workmen into the fields. Do not muzzle the oxen that treads out the grain. A workman is worthy of his wages. Bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse that your barns may be full so much that they cannot contain it. No amount is too small or too great. Be a cheerful giver as our Lord Jesus lays on your heart. Hurting hearts will not be able to thank you enough for the healing you bring them.

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Saints of Pskov Martyred by the Latins

March 4, 2024

St. Ioasaph of Snetogorsk Monastery and St. Basil of Mirozh Monastery (1299)

Saints of Pskov Martyred by the LatinsThe Holy Hieromartyrs Joasaph of Snetogorsk and Basil of Mirozh suffered under the Germans at two of the most ancient of the Pskov monasteries during the thirteenth century. Saint Basil directed the Savior-Transfiguration Mirozh monastery, founded in the year 1156 by Saint Niphon, Bishop of Novgorod (April 8), and by Saint Abraham of Mirozh (September 24).

Saint Joasaph was igumen (and according also to some Pskov Saints’ Lives, the founder) of the monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on Mount Snatna. The ascetics devoted much labor and concern to both the outer and inner welfare of the monasteries. In accord with the strict rule of cenobitic monastic life, introduced into his monastery by Saint Joasaph, the life of the monks was filled with prayer, abstinence and work. (Almost ninety years after the death of Saint Joasaph, his monastic Rule was reintroduced in the new monastic Rule of the Snetogorsk monastery by Archbishop Dionysius of Suzdal). The Snetogorsk monastery traced its origins from the efforts of Saint Euphrosynus of Pskov (May 15) and Saint Savva of Krypetsk (August 28).

Both these monasteries were outside the city walls and did not have any defenses. On March 4, 1299, the Germans fell upon Pskov and burned the Mirozh and Snetogorsk monasteries. During the burning of the churches, Saints Basil and Joasaph and the other monks endured an agonizing death. There was at that time much suffering in the city, and for the monks of other monasteries, and also for the women and children, but “through the prayers of the holy monk martyrs, the Lord preserved the fighting men.” Under the lead of the Pskov prince, Saint Dovmont-Timothy (May 20), they came out against the enemy and near the church of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, they defeated the invaders at the banks of the Pskova River.

Saints Basil and Joasaph were buried with their fellow ascetics beneath crypts at the churches of their monasteries. The venerable head and part of the relics of Saint Joasaph were preserved in the open in a special reliquary in the church of the Snetogorsk monastery. Holy Prince Dovmont “out of his rightful inheritance” built a stone church at the Snetogorsk monastery in place of the one that had burned, and he facilitated the restoration of monastic life at the ruined monasteries.

Soon after the martyric death of Saints Basil and Joasaph their churchly glorification took place at Pskov. On the manuscript Pskov Prologue of the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, they are listed on March 5. But in the Pskov Chronicle and old Pskov Synodikons (Saint lists), the day of the blessed death of the holy monk martyrs is given as March 4, and at present, this is the day of their commemoration. The Chronicle mentions the presbyter Joseph, and the Prologue mentions the presbyter Constantine as their fellow sufferers.

source: www.oca.org

Fr. Dn. Christopher Purdef