31/01/2012

GREECE, Secrets of the Past (Gr Subs) | Full Documentary

Program of Holy Services for February 2012


Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of New Zealand
Holy Church of the Dormition of Virgin Mary, Christchurch
Program of Holy Services for February 2012
 

2 Thursday       The Presentation of Our Lord and Savior in the Temple, Gabriel the New Martyr of Constantinople ,Jordan the New Martyr
Matins & Divine Liturgy 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

5 Sunday         Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today, Agatha the Martyr, Polyeuktos, Partriarch Of Constantinople
Matins & Divine Liturgy 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

9 Thursday     Leavetaking of the Presentation of Our Lord and Savior in the Temple, Nicephoros the Martyr of Antioch
Service of Supplication to the Mother of God 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. 

12 Sunday       Sunday of Prodigal Son. Meletios, Archbishop of Antioch. Antonius, Archbishop of Constantinople
Matins & Divine Liturgy 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

16  Thursday  Pamphilios the Martyr & his Companions.
Flavianos, Patriarch of Constantinople
Service of Supplication to the Mother of God 10:30 – 11:45 a.m.

18 Saturday    Saturday of Souls.  Leo the Great, Pope of Rome. Agapetus the Confessor, Bishop of Sinai
Matins, Divine Liturgy & memorials 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.     

19 Sunday       Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday) Philemon & Archippos, Apostles of the 70. Philothea the Righteous Martyr of Athens
Matins & Divine Liturgy 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

23 Thursday   Polycarp the Holy Martyr & Bishop of Smyrna. Proterios, Archbishop of Alexandria
Service of Supplication to the Mother of God 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. 

26  Sunday      Forgiveness Sunday. Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza. Photini the Samaritan Woman & her martyred sisters: Anatole, Phota, Photis, Paraskevi, & Kyriaki
Matins & Divine Liturgy 9:00 – 11:45 a.m.

27 Monday     First Monday in Lent. Prokopios the Confessor of Decapolis. Raphael of Brooklyn
Great Compline 6:00 – 7:30 pm       

29 Wednesday            Righteous John Cassian the Confessor
9th Hour, vespers and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts 9:00 – 12:00 am           

I wish you to have a nice and blessed month!


Hello,rejoy!
I wish you to have a nice and blessed month!
February has just appeared
                            with Christ's Love
Rev. Am.

30/01/2012

The Symbol of Faith of Orthodox Christians (Nicene Creed)


 I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets; In One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I Confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come, Amen.

27/01/2012

Prayer in Honor of Christ's Passion

I give you glory, O Christ, because you, the Only-begotten, the Lord of all, underwent the death of the Cross to free my sinful soul from the bonds of sin. What shall I give to you, O Lord, in return for all this kindness?
Glory to you, O Lord, for your love, for your mercy, for your patience....
Glory to you, for forgiving us all our sins, for coming to save our souls, for your incarnation in the Virgin's womb.
Glory to you, for your bonds, for receiving the cut of the lash, for accepting mockery.
Glory to you, for your crucifixion, for your burial, for your resurrection.
Glory to you, for your resurrection, for being preached to men, for being taken up heaven.
Glory to you who sit at the Father's right hand and will return in glory.
Glory to you for willing that the sinner be saved through your great mercy and compassion.

St Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Poet and Doctor

23/01/2012

Daily readings from scriptures January 2012


1 Col 2:812 Lk 2:2021,4052
2 Heb 5:4‐10 Jn 3:1‐15
3 2Ti 4:5‐8 Mk 1:1‐8
4 Acts 10:44‐11:10 Jn 1:18‐28
5 1Co 9:19‐27 Lk 3:1‐18
6 Gen 1:1‐13; Exod 14:15‐29; Exod 15:22‐16:1 (E)
Titus 2:11‐14;3:4‐7 Mt 3:13‐17
7 Acts 19:1‐8 Jn 1:29‐34
8 Eph 4:713 Mt 4:1217
9 2Ti 2:1‐10 Mk 1:9‐15
10 Eph 4:7‐13 Lk 3:19‐22
11 Heb 13:7‐16 Mt 11:27‐30
12 Acts 18:22‐28 Jn 10:39‐42
13 Heb 10:32‐38 Lk 12:32‐40
14 Heb 6:10‐17 Mt 4:1‐11
15 Col 3:411 Lk 17:1219
16 Acts 12:1‐11 Jn 21:15‐25
17 Heb 13:17‐21 Lk 6:17‐23
18 Heb 13:7‐16 Mt 5:14‐19
19 Gal 5:22‐6:2 Mt 22:2‐14
20 2Co 4:6‐15 Lk 6:17‐23
21 Php 1:12‐20 Lk 12:8‐12
22 1Ti 4:915 Lk 19:110
23 Php 3:20‐4:3 Mk 2:23‐3:2
24 Gal 5:22‐6:2 Mt 22:35‐46
25 Heb 7:26‐8:2 Jn 10:9‐16
26 2Co 1:21‐2:4 Mt 25:14‐30
27 Heb 7:26‐8:2 Jn 10:9‐16
28 Gal 5:22‐6:2 Lk 6:17‐23
29 2Co 6:167:1 Mt 15:2128
30 Heb 13:7‐16 Mt 5:14‐19
31 1Co 12:27‐13:8 Mt 10:1,5‐8

18/01/2012

Do you profess yourself a Christian?


 Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. 


Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area.

When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to him self, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.'

Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.'

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, 'here, you gave me too much change’

 The driver, with a smile, replied, 'Aren't you the new preacher in town?'

 'Yes' he replied.

 'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.'

 When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.'

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read.

This is a  really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test!

Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself
 'Christian.'

*          Watch your thoughts; they become words.

*        Watch your words; they become actions.

*          Watch your actions; they become habits.

*         Watch your habits; they become character.

*         Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.



I'm glad a friend forwarded this to me as a reminder. So, I choose to forward it to you - my friend. God bless you; I hope you are having a wonderful day!


Stay FAITHFUL and Be GRATEFUL!

Do you speak English ?

"The genesis of classical drama was not symptomatic. Aneuphoria of charismatic and talented protagonists showed fantastic scenes of historic episodes. The prologue, the theme and the epilogue, comprised the trilogy of drama while synthesis, analysis and synopsis characterized the phraseology of the text. The syntax and phraseology used by scholars, academicians and philosophers in their rhetoric, had many grammatical idioms and idiosyncrasies.

The protagonists periodically used pseudonyms. Anonymity was a syndrome that characterized the theatrical atmosphere.
The panoramic fantasy, the mystique, the melody, the aesthetics, the use of the cosmetic epithets are characteristics of drama.
Eventhrough the theaters were physically gigantic, there was noneed for microphones because the architecture and the acoustics would echo isometrically and crystal - clear. Many epistomologists of physics, aerodynamics, acoustics, electronics, electromagnetics can not analyze - explain the ideal and isometric acoustics of Hellenic theaters even today.

There were many categories of drama: classical drama, melodrama, satiric, epic, comedy, etc. The syndrome of xenophobia or dyslexia was overcome by the pathos of the actors who practiced methodically and emphatically. Acrobatics were also euphoric. There was a plethora of anecdotal themes, with which the acrobats would electrify the ecstatic audience with scenes from mythical and historical episodes.

Some theatric episodes were characterized as scandalous and blasphemous. Pornography, bigamy, hemophilia, nymphomania, polyandry, polygamy and heterosexuality were dramatized in a pedagogical way so the mysticism about them would not cause phobia or anathema or taken as anomaly but through logic, dialogue and analysis skepticism and the pathetic or cryptic mystery behind them would be dispelled.

It is historically and chronologically proven that theater emphasized pedagogy, idealism and harmony. Paradoxically it also energized patriotism a phenomenon that symbolized ethnically character and phenomenal heroism."

17/01/2012

A Prayer by St Dimitri of Rostov


Open, O doors and bolts of my heart that Christ the King of Glory may enter!
Enter, O my Light and enlighten my darkness;
enter, O my Life, and resurrect my deadness;
enter, O my Physician and heal my wounds;
enter, O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins;
ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of Thy love;
enter, O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin;
sit on the throne of my heart and alone reign in me,
O Thou, my King and Lord.

The Divine Gift of Kindness. (Two Choices)

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make  contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team
who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions
so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
 
AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.
The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.
If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.
We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'
So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

16/01/2012

From conception to birth (visualization)










Anagrams


Someone out there
must be "deadly" at Scrabble.
(Wait till you see the last one)!  


PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER
 
ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER
 
DESPERATION:  
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT
 
THE EYES: 
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE
 
GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE
 
THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS
 
DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME
 
ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY
 
ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
 
SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S
 
A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
I'M A DOT IN PLACE
 
THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE
 
ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE
 
AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:
 
MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

15/01/2012

What are the differences between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism?


By Father Michael Azkoul

This question has been asked many times. Most Orthodox, in attempting to distinguish between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, usually mention the Pope or Purgatory, sometimes the filioque. Historically, the differences, however, are far more numerous and quite profound.

Also, in modern times, since Vatican II of thirty years ago, that major, if not tragic attempt, to "update" Roman Catholicism (e.g., the revision of canon law), the differences between Orthodoxy and the followers of the Pope have widened.

In our present discussion, however, the concern will be those differences which have grown since Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism separated almost a thousand years ago.

1. Faith and Reason

Following the Holy Fathers, Orthodoxy uses science and philosophy to defend and explain her Faith. Unlike Roman Catholicism, she does not build on the results of philosophy and science. The Church does not seek to reconcile faith and reason. She makes no effort to prove by logic or science what Christ gave His followers to believe. If physics or biology or chemistry or philosophy lends support to the teachings of the Church, she does not refuse them. However, Orthodoxy is not intimidated by man's intellectual accomplishments. She does not bow to them and change the Christian Faith to make it consistent with the results of human thought and science.

St. Basil the Great advised young monks to use Greek philosophy as a bee uses the flower. Take only the "honey," ---- the truth --- which God has planted in the world to prepare men for the Coming of the Lord.

For example, the Greeks had a doctrine of the Logos. The Gospel of John opens, "In the beginning was the Word (Logos, in Greek). For the pagans, the Logos was not God, as He is for Christians; rather he is a principle, a power or force by which "God: formed and governs the world. The Fathers pointed to the similarity between the Logos or Word of the Bible and the Logos of Greek philosophy as a sign of Providence. The difference between them, they attributed to the sinfulness of men and the weakness of the human intellect. They remembered the words of the Apostle Paul, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col. 2: 8).

Roman Catholicism, on the other hand, places a high value on human reason. Its history shows the consequence of that trust. For example, in the Latin Middle Ages, the 13th century, the theologian-philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, joined "Christianity" with the philosophy of Aristotle. From that period til now, the Latins have never wavered in their respect for human wisdom; and it has radically altered the theology, mysteries and institutions of the Christian religion.

2. The Development of Doctrine

The Orthodox Church does not endorse the view that the teachings of Christ have changed from time to time; rather that Christianity has remained unaltered from the moment that the Lord delivered the Faith to the Apostles (Matt. 28: 18-20). She affirms that "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3) is now what it was in the beginning. Orthodox of the twentieth century believe precisely what was believed by Orthodox of the first, the fifth, the tenth, the fifteenth centuries.

To be sure, Orthodoxy recognizes external changes (e.g., vestments of clergy, monastic habits, new feasts, canons of ecumenical and regional councils, etc.), but nothing has been added or subtracted from her Faith. The external changes have a single purpose: To express that Faith under new circumstances. For example, the Bible and divine Services were translated from Hebrew and Greek into the language of new lands; or new religious customs arose to express the ethnic sensibilities of the converted peoples, etc.; nevertheless, their has always been "one faith, one Lord, one baptism" (Eph. 4: 4).

The fundamental witness to the Christian Tradition is the holy Scriptures; and the supreme expositors of the Scriptures are the divinely inspired Fathers of the Church, whether the Greek Fathers or Latin Fathers, Syriac Fathers or Slavic Fathers. Their place in the Orthodox religion cannot be challenged. Their authority cannot be superseded, altered or ignored.

On the other hand, Roman Catholicism, unable to show a continuity of faith and in order to justify new doctrine, erected in the last century, a theory of "doctrinal development."

Following the philosophical spirit of the time (and the lead of Cardinal Henry Newman), Roman Catholic theologians began to define and teach the idea that Christ only gave us an "original deposit" of faith, a "seed," which grew and matured through the centuries. The Holy Spirit, they said, amplified the Christian Faith as the Church moved into new circumstances and acquired other needs.

Consequently, Roman Catholicism, pictures its theology as growing in stages, to higher and more clearly defined levels of knowledge. The teachings of the Fathers, as important as they are, belong to a stage or level below the theology of the Latin Middle Ages (Scholasticism), and that theology lower than the new ideas which have come after it, such as Vatican II.

All the stages are useful, all are resources; and the theologian may appeal to the Fathers, for example, but they may also be contradicted by something else, something higher or newer.

On this basis, theories such as the dogmas of "papal infallibility" and "the immaculate conception" of the Virgin Mary (about which we will say more) are justifiably presented to the Faithful as necessary to their salvation.

In any case, the truth of these dogmas have always belonged to the Christian Tradition. They have been present from the beginning of that Tradition as "hints," seeds that only waited for the right time to bloom.

3. God

13/01/2012

I was born alive during a saline abortion


Gianna Jessen (b. April 6, 1977, Los Angeles, California) is a Christian recording artist and pro-life activist who was born alive during a saline abortion.
Watch the video




I am adopted and my biological mother was 17 and so was my biological father. She was seven and a half months pregnant when she decided to go to the Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider and they counseled her to have a late term saline abortion, which is a saline solution and it is injected into the mother’s womb, baby gulps the solution and it burns the baby inside and out and then she is to deliver a dead baby within 24 hours.




And to everyone’s great shock and surprise I did not arrive dead but alive on April the 6th, 1977, in a Los-Angeles county abortion clinics.
What’s fantastic about this, about the perfect timing of my  arrival is that the abortionist was not on duty yet, so he was not even given an opportunity to continue on with his plans for my life which was death.
And I know that I’m in a government building, in a beautiful one, it is, and I love your country as well as my own.
But I know in the age that we live it is not at all politically correct to say the name of Jesus Christ in the places like this, to bring Him into these sorts of meetings, because His name can make people terribly uncomfortable.
But I did not survive so I could make everyone comfortable.
I survived so I could stir the things up with that.
And I have a great time doing it.
And so I was delivered alive as I have already said, after 18 hours.
I should be blind, I should be burnt, I should be dead, and I am not.
You know what is fantastic of indication, is the fact that the abortionist had to sign my birth certificate.
So I know who he is.
And it also says for any skeptics listening on my medical record “born during saline abortion”.
Ha! They did not win.
I’ve done some research on the man performing the abortion on me, and his clinics are the largest chain of clinics in the United States of America and they gross 70 million dollars a year.
I’ve read him say, I’ve read some call from him, that’s some point, several years ago, and he said
I have aborted over a million babies and I consider it my passion.
I tell you these things because listen ladies and gentlemen, we are entering in an interesting battle, whether we realize it or not in this world.
It is a battle between life and death.
What side are you on?

10/01/2012

Five tips for a woman....

  1. It is important that a man helps you around the house and has a job.

2. It is important that a man makes you laugh.


3. It is important to find a man you can count on! And doesn't lie to you.

4. It is important that a man loves you and spoils you.

5. It is important that these four men don't know each other.


Foot Note:

One saggy boob said to the other saggy boob:
'If we don't
 get some support soon, people will think we're nuts.'

It's BEAUTIFUL WOMAN MONTH & TAG YOU'RE IT!


Did you know that it's Beautiful Women Month?   Well, it is and that means you !!! I'm supposed to send this to FIVE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, and you are one of them !!! Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her 'beauty tips.'


For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.  
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people
               For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.  
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.  
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

If you share this with another woman, something good will happen . . You will boost another woman's self esteem, and she will know that you care about her.

02/01/2012

The Candles and Their Symbolism

Lit candles and Icon lamps (lampadas) have a special symbolic meaning in the Christian Church, and no Christian service can be held without them. In the Old Testament, when the first temple of God was built on earth the Tabernacle services were held in it with lamps as the Lord Himself had ordained (Ex. 40:5, 25). Following the example of the Old Testament Church, the lighting of candles and of lampadas was without fail included in the New Testament Church's services.
The Acts of the Apostles mentions the lighting of lamps during the services in the time of the Apostles. Thus, in Troas, where Christ's followers used to gather on the first day of the week (Sunday) to break bread, that is, to celebrate the Eucharist, there were many lights in the upper chamber (Acts 20:8). This reference to the large number of lamps signifies that they were not used simply for lighting, but for their spiritual significance.

Saint Ahmed (3 May)

On May 3, 1682 Ahmed, the secretary to the Deutardare, the one called Patsourounis, was martyred in Constantinople. His martyrdom was written by an anonymous person.

From the New Martyrologion of Saint Nicodemos

He (Ahmed) had a Russian slave woman with whom he had relations. However, he would allow her to go to the church of the Christians on feast days. Seeing as he sensed a pleasant fragrance emanating from her mouth every time she returned from Church, he asked her what she ate to smell this way. She told him that she ate prosphora and drank holy water. Having heard this, he summoned a priest of the Great Church and told him to prepare a space for him to go there when the Patriarch officiated. And when this had been done – oh what a miracle! When the Patriarch blessed the people, rays would emanate from the trikerion and from his fingers and fall on the heads of all the Christians, but not his. As soon as he saw this wonder, he called for the priest and was baptized a Christian, and for a long time he was a secret Christian. However, at a meeting where the nobles were discussing who was the most powerful, they asked him, and he shouted as loud as he could, “The faith of the Christians has the greatest power of all.” He then confessed himself to be a Christian and having preached with courage the testimony of the mystery of the incarnate Christ, he received the blessed end of martyrdom.
Source: Synaxarion Neomartyron (Book of the New Martyrs)
Publication: Orthodox Kypseli