joypeacehope: I Have Now Proudly Graduated To The Level Of A Seasoned Tourist

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I Have Now Proudly Graduated To The Level Of A Seasoned Tourist

The Church of Mary Magdalene

Day Four:

...except for one problem; I lost my camera within a week of purchasing it. But, you know that really isn't a problem anymore in today's modern world of computers, for I can put together a complete photo album of my trip to the Holy Land simply by using, Google's image search engine. You may be asking yourself, "Why would I be proud to be a seasoned tourist?". Well, I will tell you why. I didn't get ripped off even one time today by a taxi cab drive, a professional tourist guide or a struggling gift shop owner.

Today was also a very special day. Why? Because, I visited the "Church of the Ascension" which is a Russian Orthodox Convent. The convent is built on the site where Christ ascended into heaven and there is also a chapel on the grounds which is built over the burial site of, St. John The Baptist. The Convent is located in the middle of an Arab neighborhood on the Mount of Olives and in order to get into the place, you have to ring a bell, which is mounted to a large steel door, which is hinged to a thick and high stone wall. The doorkeeper was an Arab who, I think lived in a little room next to the gate and it seemed that his only job was let in visitors, either through the big gate for cars or the little gate for people.

The grounds consist of about twenty stony acres of olive tree groves, grave sites, housing for monks and nuns, numerous chapels, a church built on the site of Christ's ascension and a very, very, tall bell tower, which can be seen from all over Jerusalem. As I entered the gate, I began walking through a long garden courtyard, towards the large church marking the site at which Christ ascended. The church was closed due to renovations, so I continued to stroll around the grounds until I came upon a spry, elderly monk who was sweeping pine needles off the dirt ground. As he looked up at me from a distance, he spoke in Russian and when I answered in English, he promptly switched gears, speaking English and told me he was from Pennsylvania. As we talked, I learned that he had spent twenty-two years on Mt Athos before being evicted from the Russian monastery by the present Patriarchate of Constantinople and that he had been in Jerusalem for the past twelve years. Before going to Mt. Athos, he had served with the St. John the Wonderworker in San Fransisco. After engaging for sometime in conversation, I offered to help him with his sweeping chore of which he was delighted to share with me. The task of cleaning the courtyard area was supposed to take him until lunch but since we finished early, he took time to show me where I could pick ripe figs from a tree just outside his cell. He then invited me into his cell where he offered me some kind of cactus fruit which was delicious as well. After feeding me a snack to last until lunch, he showed me around his cell and then unexpectedly gave me an icon of St. Seraphim. He generosity was overwhelming! This was most interesting because I had just finished reading a book about St. Seraphim on the flight over, I had just venerated St. Seraphim and his relics in the convent chapel and Father Seraphim was the name of the hiermonk offering me this precious gift. I had a strong sense that I should contemplate more on the teachings and life of St. Seraphim. Father Seraphim also had many words of wisdom to share with me as we worked. After having lunch with the nuns and monks at the convent I headed for my next destination, "The Tomb of the Great Prophets", which was in a cave, amongst thousands of grave sites located on the side of the Mount of Olives. Here I met yet another godly monk from France who was living at the other Russian Convent on Mount Olives. We sat at the entrance of the tomb of the prophet, Haggai and talked for about an hour. He had many precious words of wisdom to share with me and afterwards gave me a tour. Upon parting, he extended to me, an invitation to celebrate divine liturgy early Thursday morning at the, "Church of Mary Magdalene", which is one of the most beautiful churches in Jerusalem crowned with multiple, bright and glorious golden onion domes. As I walked back to my hostel, contemplating the events of the day, it seemed as though I had spent the day in the company of a host of heavenly angels, surrounded by God's mercy, grace and favor, all of which, I most of all, did not deserve. God is so good.

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"Anathema To Him Who Divides And To Him Who Confounds"

This statement was made by the most reverend bishops of the
Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. As the mind of God was, so the seven holy councils of the first 800 years of the church spoke, establishing and confirming the great doctrines of the Christian church universal which stand firm and solid to this day and will for all eternity. In ignorance most Protestants and Romanists today aren't even aware of Byzantine history and the glorious reign of the church during the first thousand years of history after the coming of the Blessed One. If you knew that to not embrace the decrees and canons of these councils put you in an anathematized condition, would you not repent and return to the 'true faith' of your fathers? "Do not move the ancient boundary stone", so it states in the Proverbs and what happens when we do? We will be prosecuted and thus shall it be for us who violate these ancient decrees and canons of the Holy Ecumenical Councils.

Icon Of The Descent Into Hades

Jesus Christ stands on the doors of Hades and breaks them open. The doors are in the form of a Cross to remind us that Jesus shattered these doors through the power of the Cross. Christ is pulling Adam and Eve out of Hades or Sheol, the place of death. Notice the limp hand of both Adam and Eve. The limp hand symbolizes that it is through Jesus' power that they are taken to heaven out of this place of death. It is Jesus' death and that alone that has conquered death. Left of Jesus we see John the Baptist preaching about the one who is to come to Hades to save them. John the Baptist is Jesus' forerunner even in Hades. Next to John the Baptist is King David and King Solomon. Right of Jesus we find Abel, the first saint of the Old Testament. This icon is also called the Icon of the Resurrection.

Biography of Saint Basil, Fool for Christ

Saint Basil the Blessed, was born in December 1468 on the portico of the Elokhov church outside Moscow. His parents were commoners and sent their son to be trained as a cobbler. During Basil's apprenticeship, the master cobbler happened to witness an occurrence, which showed him that his apprentice was not an ordinary young man. A merchant had brought grain to Moscow on a barge and came in to order boots, specifying that they be made in a particular way, since he would not pick them up for a year. After taking the order, Saint Basil began to weep and said, "I wish you would cancel the order, since you will never wear them." Confused, the master cobbler questioned his apprentice, and he explained that the man would not wear the boots, for he would soon die. After several days the prediction came true.

When he was sixteen, the saint arrived in Moscow and began to display what is called "Yurodivy" or foolishness for Christ. In the burning summer heat and in the freezing Russian winters, he walked barefoot through the streets of Moscow. His actions were strange, for instance, he would topple kalachi and kvas stands in the marketplace. Angry merchants would throttle and beat Saint Basil, but he welcomed the abuse with joy and he thanked God for it. Soon after it would be discovered that the kalachi was poorly cooked, and the kvas was badly prepared. The reputation of St Basil quickly grew. People saw him as a holy fool, a man of God, and a denouncer of wrong.

Another story tells of a merchant who wanted to build a stone church in Moscow, but its arches collapsed three times. The merchant turned to the saint for advice, and he pointed him toward Kiev. "Find John the Cripple," he said. "He will advise you how to construct the church." Traveling to Kiev, the merchant sought out John, who sat in a poor hut and rocked an empty cradle. "Whom do you rock?" asked the merchant. "I weep for my mother, who was made poor by my birth and upbringing." Only then did the merchant remember his own mother, whom he had thrown out of the house. Then it became clear to him why he was not able to build the church. Returning to Moscow, he brought his mother home, begged her forgiveness, and built the church.

Preaching mercy, Saint Basil helped those who were ashamed to ask for alms, but who were more in need of help than others. Once, he gave away a rich imperial present to a foreign merchant who had been left destitute. Although the man had eaten nothing for three days, he was not able to beg for food, since he wore fine clothing. The saint harshly condemned those who gave to the poor for selfish reasons, not out of compassion, but hoping for an easy way to attract God's blessings. St Basil also visited the taverns, where he tried to see goodness, even in people who others had given up as lost, and to strengthen and encourage them by kindness.
Once Saint Basil even reproached Tsar Ivan the Terrible, saying that during the divine services the Tsar was preoccupied with thoughts of building a palace in the Vorobiev hills.

St Basil died on August 2, 1557. His body was buried in the cemetery of Trinity church, where in 1554, In an early icon, St Basil is portrayed as old, with white hair curling at his ears, and a short, curly white beard. He is completely naked, and holds a handkerchief in his hand. The veneration of St Basil the Blessed was always so strong that the Trinity temple and the attached Protection church were renamed for him as the famous St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. The saint's chains, his relics, are preserved at the Moscow Spiritual Academy.

RUSSIAN ICON "GUARDIAN ANGEL"

"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." Matt. 18:10 " Although we can not see them with our bodily eyes, we can see them clearly with the eyes of faith. Are we really so poverty stricken in sensitivity and spiritual awareness that we do not wish to believe anything except the easily visible world? Are our hearts so occupied with worldly vainglory that they love nothing which does not pertain to wealth and temporary pleasure?" The Guardian Angel pg. 10

Icon of the Holy Archangel Michael, Captain Of The Angelic Host.

Saint John Chrysostom The Golden Mouthed

St. Gregory The Theologian

St. Gregory the Theologian, when barely thirty years old, won acclaim throughout the region as a mighty warrior in the fight against paganism and heresy. He headed the reorganisation of the Orthodox Church which had been torn asunder by the heresy of Arianism from within and by the harassment of pagans without. In the course of this holy work, he achieved distinction as an orator, traditionalist, and a crusader that earned him the title of "Theologian" despite the opposition of Maximos the Cynic, who had been set up against him by the bishop of Alexandria. He was the instrument of God in unifying the Church into a cohesive unit that could withstand any internal or external pressure.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil set Christian perfectionism as the goal of monastic life. The monks were to practice Christian virtues together, especially love; to practice obedience to a spiritual father; to practice chastity and poverty, and share the common goods of the monastery. After they achieved Christian perfection, they were allowed to come back to the world and help others to achieve Christian perfection. Thus, the monks had the mission of "social workers" as well. St. Basil's institutions, especially his Basileias, which was at the same time an orphanage, a "kitchen for the poor," and a school for the illiterate was in practice run by monks. This was St. Basil's way of utilizing the monastic movement to benefit the mission of the Church in the world.

Prayer of St. Ephram The Syrian 306-373

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, lust of power, meddling and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chasity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and to judge not my brother; For thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen. (The church historian, Sozomen credits Ephrem with having written over three million lines of hymns, poems, homilies and biblical commentary). His works are known only within Orthodoxy. "The greatest poet of the patristic age and, perhaps, the only theologian-poet to rank beside Dante." — Robert Murray.