"All Roads Lead to Rome"

 "ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME" is a well-known saying. It is thought that it was said for Rome, the capital of Italy.

But what is meant is Rome, "Nouva", that is, "New Rome", that is, "Constantinople", that is, "Istanbul".

Byzantine Emperor Constantine the Great (272-337) set out to make Byzantium, where only five thousand people lived, the capital of the Roman Empire and to create a new city in 324, and started by dividing the seven-hilled city into 14 regions.

 

A large palace (Imperial Palace), Senate Palace, Hagia Irene Church, Church of the Holy Apostles (today there is Fatih Mosque), Hagia Sophia (it starts but cannot be finished), a hippodrome with a capacity of 33 thousand people, an aqueduct, a square decorated with statues bearing its name (Çemberlitaş), a square is built in the name of his mother Augusteum and the city is decorated with ancient works of art brought from all over the country.

 

In order to protect the city, the old city walls were demolished and the Constantine Walls, of which no traces remain today, were built. In addition, starting in front of Hagia Sophia, a large boulevard (today's Divanyolu Street) opens with the name "Oak".

 

After six years of activity, a magnificent and modern city emerges. With a great ceremony on Monday, May 11, 330, Byzantium became the Capital of the Roman Empire and the city was named Nuova Roma (New Rome) by the decision of the Senate. It is celebrated with great ceremonies.

When we go back two years, that is, during the construction, one day, the chief architect Leontius says to Emperor Constantine:

  - Your Majesty! We have reserved the area of ​​the Church of the Holy Apostles for the residence of relatives of the imperial family, senators and dignitaries. The area reserved for the public is between the small port and the big port. Both the small port and the large port are reserved for traders and sailors. In the following years, the settlement will continue in its own medium. However, I must make one more point. In our opinion, Byzantium should be made the center of the world. First of all, there is a stone called "Million", which is still preserved in Jerusalem and considered sacred because it was touched by Jesus. It would be appropriate to bring this stone and place it in front of the ruined temple (there was no Hagia Sophia at that time). The place where the stone is located should be counted as (0/Zero) point in the world and all distances should be measured from this point. If this happens, an office will be built right next to the stone. The job of this office will be to sell applicants maps showing the distance and routes from that point. To give an example, the passengers and caravans going from Byzantium to Antiochia (Antakya) will come from here and buy maps and will know how to go to Antiochia (Antakya), by which road and in how many days. In addition, accommodation places will be marked on the roads. Thus Byzantium will become the center of the world...

Indeed, that's exactly what happens.

The million stone is brought from Jerusalem.

It is placed opposite Hagia Sophia.

Until 1453, the place where that stone was found is now the (0/Zero) point in the world.

For this reason, the phrase "All Roads Lead to Rome" was used for Nouva Roma (New Rome), that is, Constantinople, that is, Istanbul.

- Radi Dikici (Bizans İmparatorluğu Tarihi/History of the Byzantine Empire)

By:http://apantaortodoxias.blogspot.com/2022/06/all-roads-lead-to-rome.html

Advice for parents from elder Porfyrios

 Today we put before you the words of one of the most inspiring elders of our times. The late Elder Porphyrios was a monk from Mt Athos who, for health reasons, had to leave Mt Athos, and ended up living in the heart of Athens for most of his life. In 1926, and at the age of twenty, he was ordained a priest by the Archbishop of Sinai, Porphyrios III, who gave him the name Porphyrios. At the age of twenty-two he became a confessor and spiritual father. Due to his extreme humility and obedience he received early the gift of spiritual discernment i.e. a type of clairvoyance. Below we provide his invaluable and insightful advice to parents on parenting issues.

 What saves and makes for good children is the life of the parents in the home. The parents need to devote themselves to the love of God. They need to become saints in their relation to their children through their mildness, patience and love. They need to make a new start every day, with a fresh outlook, renewed enthusiasm and love for their children. And the joy that will come to them, the holiness that will visit them, will shower grace on their children. Generally the parents are to blame for the bad behaviour of the children. And their behaviour is not improved by reprimands, disciplining, or strictness. If the parents do not pursue a life of holiness and if they don’t engage in spiritual struggle, they make great mistakes and transmit the faults they have within them. If the par­ents do not live a holy life and do not display love towards each other, the devil torments the parents with the reactions of the children. Love, har­mony and understanding between the parents are what are required for the children. This provides a great sense of security and certainty.

The behaviour of the children is directly related to the state of the parents. When the children are hurt by the bad behaviour of the parents towards each other, they lose the strength and desire to progress in their lives. Their lives are constructed shoddily and the edifice of their soul is in constant danger of collapsing. Let me give you two examples.

Father’s Love Letter

 My Child,

 

You may not know me, but I know everything about you.

Psalm 139:1

 

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.

Psalm 139:2

 

I am familiar with all your ways.

Psalm 139:3

 

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.

Matthew 10:29-31

 

For you were made in my image.

Genesis 1:27

 

In me you live and move and have your being.

Acts 17:28

 

For you are my offspring.

Acts 17:28

 

I knew you even before you were conceived.

Jeremiah 1:4-5

 

I chose you when I planned creation.

Ephesians 1:11-12

 

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book.

Psalm 139:15-16

 

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live.

Acts 17:26

 

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:14

 

I knit you together in your mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13

 

And brought you forth on the day you were born.

Psalm 71:6

 

I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me.

John 8:41-44

 

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love.

1 John 4:16

 

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.

1 John 3:1

 

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father.

1 John 3:1

 

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.

Matthew 7:11

 

For I am the perfect father.

Matthew 5:48

 

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.

James 1:17

 

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.

Matthew 6:31-33

 

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

 

Because I love you with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31:3

 

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore.

Psalms 139:17-18

 

And I rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

 

I will never stop doing good to you.

Jeremiah 32:40

 

For you are my treasured possession.

Exodus 19:5

 

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul.

Jeremiah 32:41

 

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.

Jeremiah 33:3

 

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me.

Deuteronomy 4:29

 

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

 

For it is I who gave you those desires.

Philippians 2:13

 

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine.

Ephesians 3:20

 

For I am your greatest encourager.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

 

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

 

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you.

Psalm 34:18

 

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart.

Isaiah 40:11

 

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes.

Revelation 21:3-4

 

And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.

Revelation 21:3-4

 

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus.

John 17:23

 

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.

John 17:26

 

He is the exact representation of my being.

Hebrews 1:3

 

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you.

Romans 8:31

 

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

 

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

 

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you.

1 John 4:10

 

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love.

Romans 8:31-32

 

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me.

1 John 2:23

 

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again.

Romans 8:38-39

 

Come home and I’ll throw the biggest Feast Heaven has ever seen.

Luke 15:7

 

I have always been Father, and will always be Father.

Ephesians 3:14-15

 

My question is… Will you be my child?

John 1:12-13

 

I am waiting for you.

Luke 15:11-32

 

Love, Your Father

Almighty God

Twenty-four hours with St. Amphilochios

 1.Cultivate the Jesus Prayer and a time will come when your heart will leap with joy, just as it does when you are about to see a person who you love very much.

2.Do not neglect evening prayer. Pray with eagerness like those who are going to a feast. They are awake and feel joy alone. Thus, since you are going to speak with your Bridegroom, do not listen when the Tempter tells you various things in order to hinder you, because you know there is someone who cares for you.

3.-“Elder, how must we picture Christ?”

-“We must always bring Christ to mind with love. We could be holding the photograph of someone in our hands, but since we do not know them, we do not love him, we are not moved. Whereas, when we pick up a photograph of our mother, our soul immediately leaps and cries out with love.

4.A person can be raised up above the earth by two wings, one is simplicity and the other is purity of heart. You must be simple in your actions and pure in your thoughts and feelings. With a pure heart you’ll seek God and with simplicity you’ll find Him and be glad. A pure heart passes through Heavens gate with ease.

5.Self-denial must be cultivated with discernment, otherwise we reach the point of suicide.

6.We are on the high seas of life, sometimes there are storms and at other times calm. God’s grace does not leave us. Else, we would have sunk, if he had not held us up.

7. The saints always look to the other life. It is the grace of the remembrance of death.

8. God guards us from temptation. He does not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. He allows everything for our good.

9. When spirituality increases, even sleep will have been fought off.

10. Prayer is grace. God gives it when zeal and humility exist.

11.Fight the Hater of Good, who envies you, bravely suffer whatever befalls you with fortitude, patience and faith.

12.Do not allow your soul’s enemy to wage war against you. He appears in sheep’s clothing, supposedly wanting your soul’s benefit.

13.Trust in the Lord always and he will nourish you in time of hunger. … Spiritual bonds become unbreakable when they come across a child-like spirit, innocence and sanctity.

14.With a good word for your neighbour, supporting him, you buy paradise.

15.Repentance must occur, not from fear of punishment but because we have sinned before God. Sweeten your thoughts with words of consolation and hope. Warm your words with the warmth of your love towards your Bridegroom and remember His Passion, which he underwent for you, so that you would remain firm, devoted and humble. Give your whole self completely over to the protecting veil of the Panagia.

16.Love giving hospitality, my child, for it opens the gates of Paradise. In this you also offer hospitality to angels. “Entertain strangers so that you won’t be a stranger to God.”

17.The saints submitted to whatever God sent them, with childlike simplicity, “That’s the way You want it. Let Your will be done.”

18.Hospitality… the greatest of virtues. It draws the grace of the Holy Spirit towards us. In every stranger’s face, my child, I see Christ himself.

19.Sorrow is pleasing to God, in as much as it doesn’t take away our courage to fight.

20.It is necessary and beneficial for a general self-examination to take place from time to time, remembering all former sins. … Our deeds, dear sister, will not save us; God’s infinite mercy will.

21.Leave all your concerns to the hands of God. Ask for whatever you want, like a child asking from its father. … Prayer is a gift from God. Always ask with hope.

 The nunnery of  Evangelismos “The Annunciation to the Mother of the Beloved One” was built in 1613 from a Cretan monk of the Monastery, named Nikiforos. It is southwest of Chora. It consists of the temple of the Evangelistria (Our Lady of the Annunciation) of the side chapel of St. Luke and from a three-floored fortified tower with the side chapel of St. Antonio. The foundation of the monastery is dated from 1936, from the monk Amphilochios Makris, a great spiritual figure. He worked hard for the foundation and the development of the nunnery. The icons in the church date back to the 15th, 16th and 17th century. The sisterhood is home to over 40 nuns who apart from praying, occupy themselves with social welfare, gardening, beekeeping and Byzantine embroidery called the”spitha” (spark). The same stitch was used to make embroidery for aristocratic Byzantine families from the time of Hosios Christodoulos.

Spiritual Counsels and Sayings Translated by Marina Robb.

http://apantaortodoxias.blogspot.com/2021/07/twenty-four-hours-with-st-amphilochios.html

My children, I don’t want Paradise without you.

 My children, I don’t want Paradise without you. Whoever plants a tree, plants hope, peace, and love and has the blessings of God. Consider all people to be greater than yourself, though they may have many weaknesses. Don’t act with hardness, but always think that each person has the same destination as we do. Through the grace of God I consider all people to be saintly and greater than myself.

St Amphilochios of Patmos

                 Somebody said:

Without trees

Without trees, there is no shade.

Without trees, no icons are made.

Without trees, no barbecue for heat.

Without trees, there is no fruit to eat.

Without trees, there is no home for birds.

Without trees, no paper for these words.