ORTHODIXIE ... Southern, Orthodox, Convert, Etc.

There's an old joke that goes like this: A bunch of scientists created a huge machine capable of complex calculations and called it UNIVAC. Eager to test their invention, they asked it, "Is there a God?" The vacuum tubes hummed and the tape spools spun for several minutes. Finally, the machine spit out a little card, on which was written, "THERE IS NOW." On this day in 1951, the Remington Rand Corporation signed a contract to deliver the first UNIVAC computer to the U.S. Census Bureau ...

Stolen from The Writer's Almanac (3/31/11).

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As noted in the Endnotes of the book, We Came, We Saw, We Converted - The Lighter Side of Orthodoxy in America (concerning the chapter "Shut Up, Go Home, Pray More"):

The Not of This World Conference sponsored by Rose Hill College and TOUCHSTONE magazine — Aiken, South Carolina, May 1995 — was, hands down, the best theological gathering I have ever attended.

At that conference, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians gathered for what was billed as an "Ecumenical Conference of Traditional Christians". You can read about that event here.

These days, with all the issues surrounding HEALTH CARE, do "traditional Christians" agree on:

Stem Cell Therapy?

Abortion?

Euthanasia?

Organ Donation?

Infertility Treatments?

Eugenics?

Cloning?

Life Support?

Pain Management?

What determines the scope of "health care rationing"?

These and a host of other issues fall under the scope of BIOETHICS.

Given the current challenge -- and the challenge of the future -- all of us should be concerned and involved.

What are the issues? What is at stake? What (or WHO) determines our stance?



Health Care in a Secular Culture:
The Conscience of Physicians & Nurses at Risk

Join us in Houston during Bright Week -- just after Easter -- Friday, April 29h and Saturday, April 30th:


ORTHODOX: Dr H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr


PROTESTANT: Dr C. Ben Mitchell


ROMAN CATHOLIC: Dr Grattan T. Brown

Also, invited to Friday evening's banquet:


ROMAN CATHOLIC: Daniel Cardinal DiNardo


PROTESTANT: Dr. Robert B. Sloan, Jr.


ORTHODOX: Bishop Thomas

Schedule

Register NOW!

General registration is $50, Clergy registration is $30, Student registration is $30. Registration includes admission to a day-and-a-half conference of panels, breakouts, and discussions, including three plenary addresses.

Friday Banquet Dinner - $18; Saturday Boxed Lunch - $8

Co-sponsored by Houston Baptist University, Pope John Paul II Forum, University of St. Thomas, Orthodox Clergy Association of Southeast Texas, and Touchstone Magazine.
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A portion of this week's episode, already in progress:

Having gathered in front of the temple, we were at the point, per the service rubrics, where I turned toward the door with the hand blessing Cross in my hand and forcefully knocked on the door, saying:

Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in.

Nothing happened.

Realizing that much preparation had gone into this moment – that all the folks gathered behind me were expecting a great and festive service to commence …

I was, to say the least, disappointed and befuddled.

Those of you familiar with this custom during the service of Pascha will know the way this part of the celebration is supposed to go:

It’s a dialogue between the Priest and the Devil …

Priest: Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in.

Who is this King of Glory?

Priest: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in war. Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in.

Who is this King of Glory?

Priest: The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory.

And, being not just a little embarrassed, I thought, “Well, maybe louder …”

BANG, BANG, BANG!

Lift up your gates, O ye princes …

"Alright, alright … I’m coming, I’M COMING! I say!"

What the - ?

Breaking protocol, I tried to open the church door only to find it locked!

Embarrassed, I looked behind me to see: no one.

I was all by myself. Naturally, the wind started to blow.

I bent over to look through the keyhole, only to see that all the people who were supposed to be behind me were now gathered quietly inside the church – in their PAJAMAS!

HELL-O-o-o!

“I said I’m coming!” came the voice ...

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Through The Looking Glass by Kenneth Rougeau.
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Since I have a "bad habit" of giving copies of this book to those struggling to make Confession, and since it's "that time of year" ...
From a few years back:

Fr. Joseph:

I wanted to both congratulate you and personally thank you for the book you wrote. There are countless truths in love ... thank God, throughout the book. However, the message, over and over, to come to one’s senses, confess, receive forgiveness, and struggle to repent is overwhelming. But, even more so ... there is but one choice: Obedience. True blessing lies not in passions but in learning to surrender even our God-Given desires over to Him. Finally, that Struggle is good ... keeps me from feeling like a failure all the time and gives me Hope to carry on in the struggle.

Thanks again for ... writing such a life-saving and life-giving book; for as you said also: evil is nothing, God always creates, His nature and love cannot be denied ...
Thank God!

-- Sent via email from a layman.

More on DEFEATING SIN ...

Bishop BASIL & Fr Chad Hatfield

Constantine Shepherd, Youth Director

John Maddex of Ancient Faith

Fr Michael Dahulich, Dean of St Tikhon's Seminary

Ashley Kevorkian

Archimandrite Zacharias

Fr Josiah Trenham

You can order through the publisher at Regina Orthodox Press -- or, of course, at AMAZON.
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The Rt. Rev. John Abdallah, Dean of St George Cathedral in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, PA, the editor of The Word magazine, a professional counselor and an educator delivered a presentation -- "Good Grief - Going Through the (Healthy) Process of Grieving" -- at St George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Houston, on February 17, 2011. For nearly two decades Fr. John has led T.H.E.O.S. (They Help Each Other Spiritually), an international support group for widows and widowers.

Fr John's entire talk, including the Q&A is now available at:

Orthodox Houston Dot Com

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This from Wednesday, January 18, 2006:

Comments have been steadily flowing in from Vassula devotees since I put a moratorium on their comments on this blog. According to Sitemeter, her followers spend time googling blogs on the World Wide Web tracking down comments to comment upon. So, in an effort toward full disclosure, here's her site: True Life in God. Use your own discernment.

Another old post - here.

Now this from the Ecumenical Patriarchate March 16, 2011:


Announcement On Vassula Ryden By The Ecumenical Patriarchate

Fr. Thomas Zain, Dean of St. Nicholas Antiochian Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY, writes:

"The following is a decision taken by the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding Vassula Ryden and her organization 'True Life in God (TLIG).' As she has spoken in various cities around the North America (and all over the world) over the years and may have adversely influenced either some of our clergy or laity, we want it to be known that the Archdiocese endorses the following decision taken by the Church regarding her heretical teachings as well as the teachings of those who follow her. None of our clergy or laity should be involved with Vassula Ryden or her organization 'True Life in God.'"

The Orthodox Church, following strictly the shining example and teaching of the Holy Apostles, the teaching of the Fathers of the Church who have their succession, and the divinely-inspired decisions of the Ecumenical Synods, safeguards as a pearl of great price the faith of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church which the Christian plenitude experiences through their participation in the Sacraments and entire spiritual life of the divinely-founded ecclesiastical body.

Hence, whatever movement and improvised tension, personal or collective, in contempt or in breach of the dogmas of the Orthodox Christian faith and life in Christ within the Church as the only path for the salvation of our souls, all the more the self-proclaimed “supposedly charismatic” personality, is rejected always as an unacceptable innovation.

In this spirit, and for the beneficial protection of our pious Orthodox plenitude from dangerous spiritual confusion, who do not know well matters underlying the risk of delusion, rejects from the Mother Church Vasiliki Paraskevis Pentaki – Ryden, widely known as a “Vassula”, and her organization founded under the title “True Life In God” which rashly and frivolously proposes teachings based on the supposed “direct dialogue between her and the Founder of the Church Jesus Christ our Lord”, and those conquered by her and the supporters of “True Life In God”, which deviate arbitrarily from the God-given teaching of the Church, but also scandalize the Orthodox phronema of pious believers.

Hence, we call upon the proponents of these unacceptable innovations and the supporters who maintain them, who henceforth are not admitted to ecclesiastical communion, not only to not be involved in the pastoral work of the local Holy Metropolis, but also to not preach their novel teachings, to prevent the appropriate sanctions under the Holy Canons.

We express, lastly, the profound sorrow of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the acts of nine – fortunately few – clergy of the the Orthodox Church to be found at talks of the said “Vassula” and give to her a “certificate of Orthodoxy.”

At the Patriarchate, the 16th of March 2011

Of the Chief Secretariat of the Holy and Sacred Synod

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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It's the birthday of Flannery O'Connor [Savannah, Georgia (1925)] who wrote two novels and 32 short stories and who said: "I come from a family where the only emotion respectable to show is irritation. In some this tendency produces hives, in others literature, in me both." When she was six, she and a chicken that she taught to walk backward appeared on the news. She later said: "I was just there to assist the chicken but it was the high point in my life. Everything since has been anticlimax."

She said, "When we look at a good deal of serious modern fiction, and particularly Southern fiction, we find this quality about it that is generally described, in a pejorative sense, as grotesque. Of course, I have found that anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic. ... Whenever I'm asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one."

-- Stolen from The Writer's Almanac

Someone once told the Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor that it is more open-minded to think that the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is a great, wonderful, powerful symbol. Her response was, “If it’s a symbol, to hell with it.”
[Source]

Flannery O'Connor: “When I know what the laws of the flesh and the physical really are, then I will know what God is. We know them as we see them, not as God sees them. For me, it is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical. Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of these laws. I am always astonished at the emphasis the Church puts on the body. It is not the soul she says that will rise but the body, glorified… The resurrection of Christ seems the high point in the law of nature.”
[Source]

It's also, of course, the Great Feast of the Annunciation to the Theotokos (ns) -- where we celebrate the Archangel Gabriel's announcing to the Virgin Mary the Good News of our Salvation in Christ, her Son and God.

Happy Feast!

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Refashioned from 3/25/10.
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Click the above image to enlarge.

Here's the INFO and REGISTRATION.

NEW - Updated Schedule!

Co-sponsored by Houston Baptist University, Pope John Paul II Forum, University of St. Thomas, Orthodox Clergy Association of Southeast Texas, and TOUCHSTONE Magazine.

Hope to see you in Houston at the end of April!
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There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come of out of him, those are they that defile the man ([St.] Mark 7:15).

This and similar passages - for example, But meat commendeth us not unto God (I Cor. 8:8) - are usually cited by those who do not like to fast, supposing that they thereby sufficiently justify the fact that they do not fast according to the rule and custom of the Church.

Everyone who is faithful to the Church knows how invalid this excuse is. Fasting decrees that we abstain from some foods not because they are defiled, but because we can more conveniently refine our flesh by this abstinence - something crucial for inner progress. This meaning of the law of fasting is so essential that those who consider some foods to be defiled are numbered among the heretics.

For those who are not well-disposed to fasting it is better not to insist on this point, but on the point that fasting is not obligatory, although it is definitely the means for overcoming sinful urges and the strivings of the flesh. There is no way that they can resist on this point.

If inner progress is obligatory, then the means by which it is obtained is also obligatory, namely, fasting. Each person's conscience says this to him.

In order to soothe their conscience, they assert: I'll compensate for my omission of fasting in another way; or, fasting is harmful for me; or, I'll fast when I want to, but not during the established fasts.

However, the first excuse is inappropriate because no one has yet managed to cope with his flesh or to order his inner life properly without fasting.

The last excuse is also inappropriate, because the Church is one body, and to separate oneself from others within it means opposing its good order. One can remove oneself from the general customs of the Church only by leaving it; but, while someone is a member of it, he cannot say this or demand that.

The second excuse has a shade of validity. Indeed, among the limitations of fasting, the obligation is lifted from those upon whom fasting acts destructively, because the fast was established not to kill the body, but to mortify the passions.

But if one were to conscientiously count the true number of such people, it would be seen that they are so few that they do not even count.

Only one real reason remains - lack of desire. There is no point in arguing with this. You will not be brought to Paradise against your will.


FROM: St. Theophan the Recluse, Thoughts for Each Day of the Year According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God (Moscow/Platina, CA: Sretensky Monastery/St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2010), pp. 196-197.

Thanks to FWD from Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna; Image Source
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For those of you who are regulars to the Orthodixie Podcast, please forgive my recent absence and dearth of new episodes. I could offer multiple excuses but …

The truth is:

Ladies and Gentlemen, my microphone – “Big Mic” – took to cussing and, as you can imagine, this is not allowed on Ancient Faith Radio. So, obviously, I had to wait until I received a new microphone.

What’s that you say? You don’t believe that a microphone can cuss?

Hummph.

Although there are many words that could be substituted for Big Mic’s favorite bad word, on this episode I will use – in its stead – the word ***.

Oh, sorry – I meant the word:

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

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Here are some shots from last night's service ...


This year's annual Pan-Orthodox Vespers for the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was served in the new temple dedicated to St Basil the Great.


These icons, newly installed, were seen -- pre-install -- here.


Fr Anthony Baba (St Anthony) & Fr John Salem (St George) chant.


The clergy gathers for entrance into the altar ...


Dr Bill Attra directs the Pan-Orthodox St Romanos Chorale ...


The Procession ...


Me, watching my step ...


The Procession's first stop along the north wall of the temple ...


Having completed the litanies at the four corners of the temple, the clergy gather on the solea.




Views from the balcony.


Our guest, Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko preached boldly -- even triumphantly -- about humility, sacrifice, and witness.


Oh ... remember that crazed looking kid at the bottom of this post? I told you I'd make sure he was properly installed in church, presenting a different image. (Then again, it's still Basil in Greece, so to speak ... just a different shade of blue. :)
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JOHNSTOWN, PA - His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, 75, spiritual leader of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A., reposed in the Lord today, March 13, 2011 after waging a courageous battle with cancer.

All Diocesan Clergy and Faithful are asked at this time to remember the Newly Reposed +Metropolitan Nicholas as well as his brothers George and Michael and the entire Smisko Family in their prayers.

May Almighty God rest His Newly Departed Servant, Our God-Loving Metropolitan Nicholas in the Heavenly Mansions, where there is neither sickness, sorrow or pain, but Life Everlasting!

May His Memory Be Eternal!

A special webpage has been established to memorialize His Eminence and keep diocesan clergy and faithful updated -- HERE.

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It was on this day in 1876 that Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call. Bell's first successful telephone used a liquid transmitter: a diaphragm that caused a needle to vibrate in water, similar to the way sound waves vibrate in air. He spoke to his assistant, electrical designer Thomas Watson, who was in the next room. He said, "Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you." Later that day, he wrote an excited letter to his father. He wrote, "The day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid on to houses just like water and gas — and friends converse with each other without leaving home."

"Hello" is, of course, the standard greeting when most English-speaking people answer the phone, but this was not Bell's preferred greeting, and it was some time before the protocol was sorted out. In The First Telephone Book, author Ammon Shea tells us that Bell favored "Ahoy!" and stubbornly used it for the rest of his life. His competitor Thomas Edison, on the other hand, preferred "Hello." Shea posits that "hello" caught on in part due to the "How To" section in early phone books, which recommended "a hearty 'hulloa'" as a proper greeting. The phone book's recommended sign-off — "That is all!" — never took root.

The above was excerpted from today's issue of The Writer's Almanac.
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"That is all!"
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St George, Houston is the site of Saturday's Lenten Retreat titled

"Our Father…"

with Retreat Master:

Protopresbyter
Thomas Hopko

SCHEDULE

March 12, 2011
9:00 – Soul Saturday Liturgy
10:15 – Registration & Light Breakfast
10:45 – Session 1
12:00 – Coffee Break
12:15 – Session 2
1:30 – Lunch
2:30 - Session 3
3:30 – Question & Answer
4:00 – Great Vespers

$15 per person
$25 per couple
$5 per child, child care

Registration Deadline: TODAY!

Call the church office - 713-665-5252

Retreat hosted by St George Ladies Altar Society and The St John the Divine Adult Fellowship

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The following helpful hints are excerpted from an email from Matushka Elizabeth Perdomo (with gratitude).

After Forgiveness Sunday, which falls on March 6th this year, the Great Fast Begins.

From Monday, March 7th until AFTER the midnight services for Holy Pascha, no meat or dairy or egg products are eaten. A strictly VEGAN diet is adopted by Orthodox Christians throughout the world. That means grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, etc.

There are some exceptions to the rule during the Great Fast. For example, on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, Fish, Wine and Oil are Allowed. This is also true on April 17th, the Celebration of the Entrance into Jerusalem or Palm Sunday. Fish, Wine and Oil are again consumed.

Non-vertebrate sea food is allowed any day during the fast, except for during the "Strict Fast" days. That includes shrimp, scallops, clams, oysters, lobster, etc. So, if you need a special occasion dish or night out, or need a bit extra protein, try to go for seafood dishes!

The liturgical calendars from Church pretty well specify the fast days and the degree of fasting we strive to enter into. If you have questions, check your calendars!

Also: Nursing mothers, Pregnant Women, Young Children and those in Ill Health or who must take certain medications should adapt the fasting rule according to their particular needs. Dairy products are particularly recommended for young children, nursing mothers and pregnant women. Please do talk to [your priest / spiritual father] and receive a blessing and some guidance if you have any questions or special circumstances which would prevent you from following the fast. Having that "Blessing" can better bring you into the fullness of the season, even when one must adapt the fasting guidelines.

People often worry about children and fasting. Children learn by our examples and through our efforts. Dairy can always be added for young children, but other than that, they can easily learn to eat what we eat: Fasting Foods. The key is to make and serve well balanced meals, which can be done even with vegan food choices. It's a learning process - so, let's all learn! If one eats lunches or breakfasts at school, it can be more challenging. Still, children can try to make choices which more closely follow the fasting guidelines if they are taught to do so and to want to do so. But, the point is to try to do the best one can. Maybe peanut butter sandwiches, or even cheese pizza, or a tuna sub must be substituted now and then. But, it is better to try than not to even try at all. After all, why do we Fast? To grow closer to Christ! So, what's not to try for?

Also, when one is traveling, sometimes it is often not possible to keep the fast completely. However, even so, try to follow the fast as closely as possible. If one can not eat a vegan meal, try shrimp or other non-vertebrate seafood. Or, if none is available, try fish. Or eggs... Or dairy... Don't just go straight to steak just because you're not at home!

There are always situations which come up during the Great Fast. The FASTING is not the point of the fast; the REACHING and FOCUSING on Christ IS the Point. Fasting is our Tool; our Friend; our Aid in setting aside this time and really refocusing our lives. So, if something comes up, don't beat yourself up. Refocus, get back into the fast, and continue putting one step in front of the other.

Fasting can not and is not meant to stand alone either. It must be accompanied by its other two components: Prayer and Almsgiving. Remember to make time in your busy lives and attend as many of the special lenten services as possible during this precious season. Remember to give to the poor and needy - and not just your dollars, but your actions as well!

Matushka then points to the programs at her own parish, St George.

Recipes ... and more.

Matushka's friend Denise, who lives in Savannah, GA, also has a cooking blog which shares recipes throughout the fasting and other seasons. She is Italian American, so many of her excellent recipes reflect that background ... HERE.

ALSO ... a helpful Lenten resource page is offered HERE.

Image of a lenticular cloud taken from HERE.

Taken from a previous posting on Tuesday, February 26, 2008.
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Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece, a day of great celebration and traditions. Families take to the beach or countryside for picnics and kite-flying. Children make "Kyra Sarakosti," (Lady Lent), a paper doll with seven legs to represent the seven weeks of Lent. Every week, a leg is cut off to show how many weeks remain until Easter ...

More here.

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On this Sunday of Forgiveness, I beg you -- faithful readers, lurkers, and surfers -- to forgive my many sins, failings, and shortcomings. Prayers coveted and assured, for you and yours, as we prepare, during this holy season of the Great Fast, to meet the Lord in the Bright and Glorious Day of Resurrection (Pascha - April 24, 2011).

-- Unworthy Priest Joseph

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With all the fanfare [last year] surrounding the return of Jay Leno to The Tonight Show – and earlier, the drama around hosts and ratings, I was remembering my own visit to The Tonight Show, as a member of the studio audience, back when Johnny Carson was host.

I was a college kid selling Cable TV in Southern California – and a coworker’s mom just happened to be on the editorial staff of The Tonight Show. So, a friend and I got comp tickets, even a behind the scenes tour!

I, Ladies and Gentlemen, met The Tonight Show producer Freddie Decordova and Johnny’s sidekick, Ed McMahon!

Anyway …

The following episode from the Orthodixie Archives details my "second appearance" on The Tonight Show:


The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.
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Yesterday's regular meeting of the Orthodox Clergy Association of Southeast Texas was hosted by St Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church.

The following images were captured with my cell phone - click to enlarge.


St Basil's, having just completed a huge building project, is now in the icon installation phase. Cut-out images, ready for install, were laid out on the tiled floors throughout the temple.


Fr Anastasios Raptis, parish priest of St Basil's, is pictured above (to your left) showing Fr Anthony Baba, of St Anthony - Spring, the temple. (Fr Anthony and the faithful of St Anthony Church hope to move into their new church building on Palm Sunday.)


Those huge windows afforded a curious image of shade and light upon the new icons.


This year's Pan-Orthodox Vespers for the Triumph of Orthodoxy (which celebrates the 8th century restoration of the holy icons) will be held at St Basil Church with Fr Thomas Hopko as the guest preacher.


The service begins at 5:00PM -- with a reception to follow. Join us!


This image of the Annunciation -- with the peculiar shading and depth dimensions common to iconography AND the anticipated completion of scene omitted by my cell phone camera -- plays tricks on the eyes. If you look to the upper right corner the photo image does not look square!


Someday, this great dome will include the image of Christ the Righteous Judge.


The iconostasis -- and, to the left, the iconographer and crew.


"What one has most to work and struggle for in painting is to do the work with a great amount of labour and sweat in such a way that it may afterward appear, however much it was laboured upon, to have been done almost quickly and almost without any labour, and very easily, although it was not." (Michelangelo) Quote Source


At first glance, this image seems to have no place here, or anywhere for that matter! But it is a guy named Basil wearing a shirt that says Greece. (I'll make sure he's installed in church, too, so to speak ... presenting a different image.)


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