Monday, January 31, 2011

Between Jerusalem and Constantinople





During the early history of Christianity there was five cities became particularly important for the church: Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Rome.

Antioch was one of the first cities to be evangelised by Christian missionaries and there,  the followers of Christ  had acquired name of Christian (Acts 11:26).

 The church in Alexandria was, according to tradition, founded by Mark the Evangelist.

Constantinople,  the ancient city of Byzantium, became the capital of the new pro-Christian under Constantine  empire of Byzantium.

Jerusalem was at the heart of Christ's ministry and the place of his crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension.

 Rome is the martyrdom Place of  both St Paul and St. Peter under  the rule of Nero.
The word "Jerusalem" means "city of peace." thus Jerusalem is one of the most interesting cities in the world. It is always in the news. Jerusalem is a holy city for  religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity  and muslims, Jerusalem is known as the city of David  in which Solomon’s temple exist there, Jesus was crucified,  

Jerusalem has many titles that identify it as the ‘city of God’ (Psalms 46:4, Revelation 3:12), the city of Jehovah (Isaiah 60:14), the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:3), the mountain of Jehovah of hosts (Zechariah 8:3), the holy mountain of Jehovah (Isaiah 27:13) and Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 60:13). Generally the phrase "the holy mountain", refers to Jerusalem (Psalms 48:1, Isaiah 11:9, Daniel)
The book (Halley’s Bible Handbook / 655) refers:

 "Jewish Wars, in revolt against Rome, began A.D. 66. Titus with his Roman Army arrived before the walls of Jerusalem on the day of Passover, A.D. 70. Banks of earthwork were built, battering rams were placed, and the siege began. The Roman Army numbered 30,000; the Jewish Army, 24,000. The city was crowded with 600,000 visitors, according to Tacitus. After 5 months the walls were battered down, the Temple burned, and the city left ruined and desolate, except Herod's three great towers at the northwest corner, which were left standing as a memorial of the massive strength of the fortifications which Titus had demolished. 'The Roman Army moved down to Caesarea. Over 1,000,000 Jews were killed. 95,000 captives were taken, among them Josephus."

Thus, they consider that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel during the History and "all evidence  confirm that fact",  while strong aspiration of the others to occupation of  Jerusalem was a dream and still, specially Islam which was aware that the fall of Jerusalem constitute a victory for the their religion, therefore, in the year 637 A.D. Jerusalem fell to the followers of Islam, and it remained a muslim's city, except for a period of about 100 years during the Crusade Period, until 1917 when it returned under the control of Jews.

For Christians, during the history of patriarchs of Constantinople, the holy  see of Constantinople's patriarch has had a great spiritual prestige, as well as an authority over his political rivals.

Between the 8th and 11th centuries the  jurisdiction of patriarchate saw  a great spread over westwards from southern Italy, northwards into Russia.

In 1453 Constantinople fell under the Ottoman rule; where was the end of Constantinople and  the imperial lineage, where the last Byzantine emperor died in battle defending the city walls.

and  Constantinople, the Byzantine's capital, became under Ottoman Empire  the command of Sultan Mehmed II, that was in Tuesday, May 29, 1453.

 The final destruction of the Eastern Roman Empire, was  at  the  death of Constantine XI, the previous Byzantine emperor, but also the strategic conquest crucial for Ottoman rule over the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans. The city remained capital of the Ottoman Empire until the empire's dissolution in 1922, and was officially renamed Istanbul by the Turkish Republic in 1930.

The conquest of Constantinople and subsequent expansion into the Balkans was more than compensated of  their loss of islamic  possessions in Spain.


 Islamic world has a big coveted in Constantinople, since  the   time of the caliphate, after "Muhammad"  the Islamic Prophet, onwards to Islamic periods subsequent to the present day, has had a dream to conquer Byzantine Empire, represented  by  Orthodox  Church, where Orthodox Church considered an extension to Byzantine Empire.

In Europe, the fall of Constantinople was a tragic moment. Where Byzantines  was  represented the  Vanishing Roman Empire, which created the early  Europe, and  the  new  Rome "Constantinople" has had a direct influence on  legacy, political and social and legal practice of Europe  as  well  as  was  the  dream to  restoring Empire  of Europe..

Now patriarchate of Constantinople  is a prisoner of the Turks in Istanbul since the conquest by the Ottoman , So the Orthodox Patriarchs are prisoners in their own city. The situation is worse today because the Patriarchs of  Constantinople ,  accepted  the  Gregorian calendar,  which  meaning  they left the Orthodox line, so  they  became subject to the will of the Pope of Rome,  that led to the loss of historic orthodox strength, as  well  as  led to the loss of a lot of sacred tradition.


 


Editor: Rev.Spyridon Tanous
Orthodox Patristic Church- Sweden
www.christ-prayer.org

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Does the Orthodox Church is Byzantine?

                    




In response to the misconception from some who says that the Orthodox is not a Byzantine; and Byzantine a thing from the history,

I would to provide the fact that that through
a set of scientific researches confirmed  that  Byzantine is still and representative  in  Orthodox:


Definition
- First of all, the Byzantine is an adjective to the Orthodox Church;
- Orthodox Church, Orthodox Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Church, Eastern Orthodox derived from the Byzantine Church and adhering to Byzantine rites,

Historical Fact
John Chrysostom was Patriarch of Constantinople "Byzantine", where Patriarchate of Constantinople still alive until this moment which headed by Ecumenical Patriarch and Archbishop of Constantinople, the New Rome”, which indicates that the Byzantine is continuous, and this refutes the allegations that Byzantium is over, and stresses that the Orthodox is Byzantine.

Liturgy and Tradition
The existance  of  the  Holy tradition in the Orthodox  Church  goes back to the two  oldest Divine Liturgies in the  history  of  the  church:
The first one is to St. Basil the Great (379 A.D), Metropolitan of Caesarea in Cappadocia; where he  reformed the Liturgy of the Church, which called the Byzantine service,

Basil’s goal is the streamlining of the services to make them more cohesive and attractive to the faithful. He also worked to reform the clergy and improve the moral life of Christians.
The most important work attributed to him is the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil. He took as his basis the Liturgy of St. James, as well as some liturgical elements recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions.

Saint Basil's liturgy was continued by John Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople who wrote new "shorter" prayers for the Divine Liturgy, as well as other prayers. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is the most common form of the Liturgy used in the Orthodox Rite, and his Catechetical Homily is an important part of the Byzantine Paschal Vigil.
From here, all evidence indicates that there is no separation between the Orthodox and Byzantine; this confirms that the Byzantine is an Orthodox in all its components.
 

The prayers and liturgical service, used by most of the Eastern Churches, including Syriac, is taken from Byzantine liturgy, with some distortion.


Editor: Rev.Spyridon Tanous
Orthodox Patristic Church- Sweden
Ἐκκλησία τῶν Γ.Ο.Χ
www.christ-prayer.org

The Creed



The Creed



Editor: υπο-διάκονος. Camill Tannous
Orthodox Christianity for Theological Research and Patrimony of church
 www.christ-prayer.org

Monday, January 24, 2011

Divine Fire / St. Antonius the Great The message of eighteen

Divine Fire / St. Antonius the Great The message of eighteen



The strange thing that, now we are looking for Land and material things and the opposite of the teachings of the Fathers of Church, such as the letters of St. Antonius the Great  where he  focused on the essential that at first is to accept the fire of the Holy spirit,

also, we forgot that through the Baptism and the confirmation we get the mystery of the Holy Spirit full.

The message of eighteen; St. Antonius said:

 "Do not let the power of this shot taken from you, ask from your straight heart and you honestly accept him".

The new measures which has adopted in this time are strange,
are not compatible with the spirit of our Orthodox Church,


I am wondering if it is the new form and new modern of the Orthodox faith,
That our spiritual life grow according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers,
And what I heard in a few years ago does not apply to the teachings of the saints.


The fire according to St. Antonius is the mystery of the life, and the bases of all  methods which lead to Jesus;
"If there is a lack of this fire will become ( the person) like bird that disarmament it's wing".


St. Antonius the Great focused on that the Satanic wars directed against this fire of divine;
 " Do not let the power of this fire taken away from you because many wars of the devil directed against you  Because of this fire of the Lord given you in order to deprive you".



Editor: υπο-διάκονος. Camill Tannous
Orthodox Christianity for Theological Research and Patrimony of church www.christ-prayer.org

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'



Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'

You, my Brothers in the suffering, ye the servants of our Lord do not be worry if you get persecute because you will be blessed,


of course the cost is high, specially when the hate come from the church and the fathers of the church,
remember what Jesus said :
                       “all men will hate you because of me”(Mat 10:22)
and do not forget what Jesus said:
                   “who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mat 10:22)
Remember that you will be send to the harvest:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Luke (10:1-3)

  So,  remember that Additional to the twelve disciples, there were others as well. After the Twelve returned Jesus appointed seventy-two more followers to minister. He didn’t send them out alone, he sent them in pairs. Nor did he expect them to work in their own strength. Their first instruction was to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. As Jesus described their ministry to them, they were being sent as lambs into a pack of wolves.
So do not be worry Jesus said: “do not be afraid..” (Mat 10:28).

My brothers the servants if the Fathers hate you and persecuted you, I ask you to do according to Jesus what said
                                “Pray for those who persecute you!”


O’ Fathers of the church, do not forget what Jesus said to you :
                                              “Feed my lambs”


and
                               "Do not judge or you too will be judged” (Mat 7:1)


O’ Fathers, remember always the following verses:

(Mat 23:13-16)
13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.


15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

16Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

O'  fathers of the church
remember ye are to collect the workers to the harvest,  nor to reject and persecute  who come to work for the Lord harvest.


Written by
+ the Sufferer in the Lord
Editor: υπο-διάκονος. Camill Tannous
Orthodox Christianity for Theological Research and Patrimony of church
 www.christ-prayer.org

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Manuscript from Library of St. Catherine Monastery.

Manuscript from Library of St. Catherine Monastery.

                                        Copy of Manuscript

Manuscript from the era of Mohammed the Prophet of Islam

the big question is

Why Islam deal against the teachings of Islam Muhammad Prophet of Islam?
According to Manuscript from the era of Mohammed the Prophet of Islam, Existing in the library of St. Catherine Monastery and it was stamped by Mohammed himself,
According to the teachings of Islam gave the Messenger of Allah  era security of the Christians in which secure them for their lives, property and the sale of which is known as Baaladp of the Prophet and the saved image from library of St. Catherine Monastery.

the Covenant had Written by Ali bin Abi Talib  in his own hand in the Mosque of the Prophet of Allaah and the Covenant had been Testified by the Companions of the Messenger of Allah , including Abu Bakr ibn Abi dipper, Omar bin al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali bin Abi Talib , Abdullah bin Masood, Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, Al-Zubair bin Awam


we are the christians want to get answers from Alazhar.

Issue under research by Deacon Camill Tannous/ www.christ-prayer.org
Orthodox Christianity for  Theological Research and Patrimony of church

Great is the acts of faith

Glory to our Lord
From a small store-front was rented monthly, they had established a small Parish,

"Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, had humble beginnings. We began in 1995 in the rector’s house adjacent to our current Church location and conducted Divine Services there for a small time. A year or so later, a small store-front was rented monthly, and the Divine Liturgy was served for the first time. The parish began taking roots and little by little, our memberships grew"
it is the Glory, that they had started like the coming of our Lord "Born in a barn"
Great is the acts of faith

http://saintnicholasroc.org/about-us-2/

Favorite Quotations

 


"I am the way, the truth, and the life." Jesus


"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light shall we see light."  Great Doxology of the Orthodox Church.


"It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" Galatians 2:20


"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:7-8


"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Gal. 5:22


"Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice." Philipp. 4:4


"From this day forth, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all and to fulfill his holy will." - St Herman of Alaska


"The Christian imperative is to proclaim, manifest, and announce the good news of Jesus Christ so that men may come to know Him and Love Him." A. Schmemann


"The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." Roman 13:12


"The ladder leading to the Kingdom is concealed within you, that is, in your soul. Wash yourself from sin and you will see the rungs of the ladder by which you can ascend thither" St Isaac the Syrian


"Custom without truth is but the antiquity of error" - St. Cyprian
"A heart as sound as a bell" - Shakespeare

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" Churchill


"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix


"No matter what happens now I won't be afraid Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen." Radiohead


"Ich war stärker als er" [I was stronger than he] - Natascha Kampusch


"Experience is a good teacher, but she sends in terrific bills." Minna Antrim


"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke


"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field" Niels Bohr


"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold ..." Yeats


"No man is an island, entire of itself ... If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less ... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..." John Donne

"Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice." Philipp. 4:4

"From this day forth, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all and to fulfill his holy will." - St Herman of Alaska

"The Christian imperative is to proclaim, manifest, and announce the good news of Jesus Christ so that men may come to know Him and Love Him."

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." Roman 13:12

"The ladder leading to the Kingdom is concealed within you, that is, in your soul. Wash yourself from sin and you will see the rungs of the ladder by which you can ascend thither" - St Isaac the Syrian

"Custom without truth is but the antiquity of error" - St. Cyprian

"A heart as sound as a bell" – Shakespeare.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" Churchill

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

"No matter what happens now I won't be afraid Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen." Radiohead

"Ich war stärker als er" [I was stronger than he] - Natascha Kampusch

"Experience is a good teacher, but she sends in terrific bills." Minna Antrim

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke

"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field" Niels Bohr

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold ..." Yeats

"No man is an island, entire of itself ... If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less ... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..." John Donne"Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice." Philipp. 4:4


"From this day forth, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all and to fulfill his holy will." - St Herman of Alaska


"The Christian imperative is to proclaim, manifest, and announce the good news of Jesus Christ so that men may come to know Him and Love Him."

 Editor: Rev.Spyridon Tanous
Orthodox Patristic Church- Sweden
Ἐκκλησία τῶν Γ.Ο.Χ
www.christ-prayer.org

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Jesus Prayer / the Power In the Name



" Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."






The Jesus Prayer  composed from the two declarations:
 1-The first one came  from the faith, declaration and the acknowledging in the divine nature of Christ.
2-The second is the recognition of unrighteousness. And therefore it an asking for mercy, It’s an acronym for Mercy Psalm, Psalm 50.
In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector stated in (Luke 18:10-14).
Jesus refer to the prayer of the man which was a tax collector,((Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.)), Jesus said: "This man went home justified before God”, where his prayer was acceptable
Also, we could referring to Jesus Prayer, through (Luke 18:38) when the blind man had called for Jesus “Jesus, Son of David, have a mercy on me",  as result to this Prayer, The bible says “Immediately he received his sight" The God's response was quick and direct. So, as a result of this prayer, the eyes of the blind men had been opened





 
Jesus Christ - the Power In the Name
The Jesus Prayer's power comes from the use of our Lord's Name, Jesus Christ, and Son of God. Through declaring of our faith in Jesus Christ the son of the Father and the Second Hypostasis in the Holy Trinity
The prayer begins with the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And according to the book of Acts “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)


The power in the prayer comes from  the Lord’s name. In simple form we declare confession our faith in Jesus Christ as our God and Lord.

Saint Theophanous the Recluse emphasizes the importance of this prayer when he says, “Only with the help of this prayer can the necessary order of the soul be firmly maintained…” (Art of Prayer, p 92)
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov 6 says, “By the power of the name of Jesus the mind is freed from doubt, indecision and hesitation, the will is strengthened and correctness is given to zeal and other properties of the soul.” (On the Prayer of Jesus. p 25)
He is saying that as when we engage in this prayer the mind is freed from its confusion caused by the attack of numerous thoughts that distract us from God. As the mind is tamed though our repeated repetition of this prayer, the mind is brought under control through God’s grace so that we can use our rational faculties to direct our bodies in an appropriate way allowing us to act in a manner that is consistent with the teaching of Jesus

Editor: διάκονος. Camill Tannous
 Orthodox Christianity for Theological Research and Patrimony of church
 www.christ-prayer.org