New Martyr Basil (Nassar)

Holy New Martyr Basil pray to God for us!

From the blog Mystagogy:

On January 25, 2012 Greek Orthodox Hieromonk Basilios Nassar was shot by an armed terrorist group in Hama, Syria on the second day of heavy fighting there. Fr. Basilios was at the Metropolis when he was informed by a phone call that a parishioner of his was shot and needed assistance. The Patriarchate of Antioch has reported that the 30-year-old priest was shot while giving medical aid to the wounded man who was previously shot. Fr. Basilios was shot in the chest and in the right armpit. Immediately another priest, Fr. Panteleimon Isa, who was with him dragged his bloody body to a nearby building to save him, but the martyr for Christ Father Basilios was dead within 30 minutes from hemorrhaging. His funeral took place today, January 26th, in the Church of Saint George in Hama. The blessed Father Basilios, known in the world as Mazin, was born in 1982 in the village of Kfarmpo in Hama and was a graduate of the Theological School of Balamand. He was also a teacher of Byzantine Music in the school Saint Kosmas the Melodist which he founded in the Metropolis.

A New Ruthenian Metropolitan

Today Pope Benedict announced that Bishop William (Skurla) of the Eparchy of Passaic has been appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Pittsburgh. May God grant Metropolitan Elect William many blessed years in his service.

I hope and pray that our new Metropolitan will lead the Byzantine Catholic Church into a new spring time of renewal and evangelization.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette 

Pope Benedict XVI has named an experienced Byzantine Catholic bishop as the new Byzantine metropolitan archbishop of Pittsburgh.

Archbishop-elect William Skurla, 55, of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, NJ, will be enthroned April 18 at 2 p.m. in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Munhall.

Prior to his 2007 appointment to Passaic he had spent five years as bishop of the Eparchy of Van Nuys, Calif.

The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh is the only self-governing Eastern Catholic Church in the United States, and is directly under the authority of the pope rather than a patriarch in the Eastern Europe or the Middle East. Eastern Catholics are loyal to the pope, but their worship and church law closely resemble that of the Eastern Orthodox churches.

The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh had this brief biography of Metropolitan-Elect William

Metropolitan Archbishop-elect William Charles Skurla, D.D. was born in Duluth, Minn. June 1, 1956, son of the late John and Mavis Skurla. He attended Catholic and public elementary schools and graduated in 1974 from Chisholm High School, Chisholm, Minn.

Bishop William attended Deerfield Academy Post-Graduate program in Deerfield, Mass.1974-75 and then attended Columbia University in New York City, graduating with a concentration in Philosophy in 1981. Following this, he then studied at Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, Pa., receiving Master of Divinity (1986) and Master of Theology (1987) degrees.

Discerning a call to serve the Lord in a special way, William Skurla entered the Byzantine Franciscan community in Sybertsville, Pa. in 1981 and was solemnly professed in 1985. Bishop Michael Dudick ordained him to the diaconate in 1986 and to the priesthood in 1987 at St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Freeland , Pa. In 1996, having received and accepted his dispensation from solemn vows as a member of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), he was incardinated into the Eparchy of Van Nuys, where he served as Pastoral Administrator at St. Melany Byzantine Catholic Church in Tucson, Ariz. from 1993 until 2002.

Archbishop-elect William was ordained to the Episcopacy and enthroned as the Third Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys (now the Eparchy of Phoenix) on April 23, 2002 in Phoenix, Ariz. In December 2007 he was appointed Fourth Bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic (N.J.) and was enthroned at St. Michael Cathedral in Passaic on Jan. 29, 2008.

The Episcopal chairperson of the Intereparchial Vocations Commission (IEVC) and Intereparchial Youth Commission for the Metropolitan Church , Bishop William was a member of the Committee on the Laity with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He currently serves as a member of the USCCB Administrative Committee, Priority and Plans Committee, and National Advisory Committee.

Metropolitan Archbishop-elect William was appointed fifth Metropolitan of the Byzantine Catholic Ruthenian Church in America by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 19, 2012. His enthronement will take place on April 18.

Axios! Axios! Axios!

Axios!

My father was ordained a deacon for the Reformed Episcopal church on Sunday, January 15, 2012. It was a wonderful experience for me to see my father’s ordination. Though Anglicanism and Eastern Christianity have significant  differences it was still a joy to see my father kneel for the laying on of hands by his bishop.

So, in honor of his ordination and all deacons, of which I pray to one day join their ranks, I present this amazing YouTube clip. This shows an ancient practice, mostly practiced still on the Holy Mountain of Athos, showing the Deacons holding the Zions.

What are the Zions? From a forum post on Byzcath forum by Protodeacon David of St. Elias in Brampton, Canada

In August of 1981, I attended Pontifical Divine Liturgy in Theophany Cathedral, Moscow. The celebrant was Patriarch Pimen. At the censing prior to the transfer of the gifts, two hierodeacons vested similarly as the hierodeacons in the video posted above but without the double oraria, censed with zions. Being curious about this custom, I asked the Patriarchal Archdeacon Stephan to explain this practice. He told me that a few years previous, this custom had been observed on Mt. Athos and the patriarch had decided to implement it at Patriarchal Divine Liturgy in Moscow. To the best of my knowledge at present this practice has not spread beyond the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy at the censing prior to the Great Entrance.

Abbot Basil Pennington, OCSO mentions in his text “O, Holy Mountain” two hierodeacons censing with zions at polyeleos during Matins. The book is not at hand so I cannot cite the page.

What exactly is the zion? As speculated above either a container for the reserved sacrament (most likely) or a box for incense. The ones I saw in Moscow had no container within and did not open up.

It is a delight to see deacons censing with such care and grace!

A unique tradition indeed!

New Year Spiritual Goals

One of the cool things about the turning of the calendar year (in my mind the Church new year in September is more vital to Byzantine Christians) is making goals or resolutions.  So in this spirit  I have decided to set some spiritual goals for myself for this upcoming year.

1- Read Sacred Scripture from start to finish in a year.  This is going to be a great challenge but a rewarding one. Thanks to the Orthodox Study bible and also the publisher Thomas Nelson who provide a daily reading schedule. If my wife and I follow it, as we plan to do, we will read the entire Sacred Scriptures in a year. There are four readings a day, one from the Old Testament, one from Psalms, one from Proverbs, and one from the New Testament.

2- Fast better.  Every one wants to lose weight after the holidays (and I am not saying that I don’t because I do) but how many Eastern Christians want to fast better? I for one struggle to fast. Even when I eat foods that are approved for the fast period I still eat to much of it. So my goal is to observe the fasts better and to limit the intake of fast friendly foods.

3- Pray in the morning. This is the hardest thing for me to do. Countless times I have made the resolution to offer prayer in the morning. But in the battle between the snooze button and morning prayer it is the snooze button running away with the contest.

These are just a few goals for 2012. Of course the goal is Theosis but this is a life-long process that requires working on the little things of daily picking up of ones cross.

Ruthenian Divine Liturgy in Rome

A group of Pilgrims from the Eparchy of Mukachevo, led by Bishop Milan, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Pontifical Russian College in Rome. It is a beautiful service and shows the Church breathing with both lungs. The Divine Liturgy, the heart and sole of the Byzantine Church, being served in the Holy city of Rome.

The Pontifical Russian College is where Blessed Theodore (Romhza) studied theology and was ordained a Greek Catholic priest. In the Eparchy of Mukachevo this year is dedicated to the memory of Blessed Theodore.

Eucharistic Adoration and the Christian East

Couldn’t agree more!

From the blog Eastern Catholic Spiritual Renewal 

A response to recent comment from the post Eucharistic Adoration( has no place in the East)

I know a Byzantine Catholic priest who was very concerned when some of his parishioners started going to a Roman Catholic church for a spiritual formation class. Not that learning is a bad thing but he did not believe that they were fully looking into their own tradition for spiritual formation. He said he would have to tell them to stop if he found out they were going to Eucharist Adoration. Why would he say such a thing?
First of all, when it comes to spiritual formation the Byzantine tradition is very different from the Latin tradition. So much so that it says in the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (23) “By divine providence it has come about that various churches, established in various places by the apostles and their successors, have in the course of time coalesced into several groups, organically united, which, preserving the unity of faith and the unique divine constitution of the universal Church, enjoy their own discipline,their own liturgical usage, and their own theological and spiritual heritage.” Our spiritual heritage that we receive in our churches does not come about simply by geographical origin but by the fact of divine providence. Consequently, we are under divine obligation to preserve and perpetuate what God gave us, even when it might be very different from our sister churches.
Based on this I would respond first to your comment that Christians of the Byzantine tradition are called to perpetuate the spiritual tradition and theological vision of their Eastern Fathers. Eucharistic Adoration as it is done in the Roman Catholic church is a reflection of the theological vision of the Latin tradition. This does not mean that we are without our own version of the practice. For example the liturgy of the presanctified. Also, just because we have our version does not mean that they are the same. What we do as “adoration” is a theological manifestation of how we received our tradition.
You mentioned in your comment that the practice of adoration is neither east or west. This statement is only partially accurate. Eucharistic Adoration is a universal concept in the church but by “divine providence” has been given the diverse expression that accords to each tradition. On the other hand, there really is no such things as spiritual property rights. Many saints of the East were fond of Latin practices but I might point out they practiced them in a way that nourished their traditions theological vision. This primarily is what I try to address in the post you commented on and in my blog. The fact is as Byzantine Catholic Christians we are called to renew the traditions of our Fathers and not replace them with the popular Latinizations of our day.
For all practical purposes, it’s not an issue of what’s East or West but rather the need to be true to who we are. Someone like St. John Chrysostom or St. Symeon should be able to recognize our churches as ones that shared the same traditions. In some cases the “Byzantine” tradition which they received and passed down is non-existent in some of our churches. In fact, this is one of the greatest stumbling blocks for church unity because many Eastern Orthodox look at our churches and can’t recognize anything Byzantine. The call to be true to our tradition is really a struggle that Eastern Catholics must face or else continue to be as what we are called “roman Catholics with byzantine clothes on”.
As far as your comment concerning “theology being important but ignoring the devotional life of the people” this understanding is far from an Byzantine understanding of theology. Theology and devotional life in the byzantine tradition are one and the same. How we live and practice reflects our vision and understanding of God and there is no way to separate them. I know there is a saying that in the west they learn first and then believe and in the east we believe first then learn. In some respects you will find in a study of the theological traditions of the Latin west and Byzantine east that this saying is right on. For us Byzantine Christians there can be no real knowledge of God unless we repent because knowledge is experience. Consequently, our tradition is sometimes referred to as “mystical”. This title comes from the idea that our spirituality is highly monastic. From this point we see that any theology or theologians proper called are tied to an experience of God rather then something or someone assonated with a university.
This brings me to my last point. You said the Divine Liturgy has no quite time. Such a statement could only come from a failed catechesis. Every practice in the byzantine tradition, especially the liturgy, is to lead us into hesychia “stillness”. Based on this the Divine Liturgy is not noise but in fact what we will be doing for all eternity. Our tradition of Hesychasm which is the very essence of our spiritual tradition is not a part where there a quite time and then there other times for noise. I know in the Latin tradition such compartmentalization is used to categorize such things but not in our tradition. Through the Divine Liturgy we learn hesychia and become vessels of the Divine nature. In addition, every part of our life we learn to discover the stillness of Jesus Christ through ongoing repentance.
What we need to realize is just how harmful Eucharistic adoration of the Latin tradition has been to our Byzantine churches that have adopted it. Its unfortunate, that many of our liturgies have become nonexistent. So much so that Byzantine Catholics in order to fully celebrate the tradition of their fathers must go outside of their parishes to Orthodox churches just to celebrate vespers. One byzantine Catholic priest pointed out that the reason why many won’t come to our traditional byzantine liturgical celebrations is because there is no communion or Eucharistic adoration. I mention this because the Latin traditions, such as Latin Eucharist adoration, have not in any way have been beneficial to our tradition. We have lost what the liturgy means and need to return to our roots. So I say again with full confidence that the Eucharistic Adoration of the Roman Catholic church has no place in our Byzantine church.

The comment i address can be found with other (here)

Russian Greek Catholic Priest Ordained

A priest was ordained to serve the Russian Greek Catholic Church. The Bishop who ordained the priest was Bishop Milan of the Eparchy of Mukachevo. The new Priest, Fr. Pavel (Paul) is one of 20 Greek Catholic Priests in Russia.

The Russian Greek Catholic Church, also know as Russian Orthodox Church united with Rome is a small Greek Catholic Church. The first Russian Greek Catholic priest was Fr. Nicholas Tolstoy. Fr. Nicholas was an Orthodox priest and was received into communion with Rome in 1893. The most famous Russian Greek Catholic priest was Blessed Hieromartyr Leonid (Feodorov) a martyr for Christian unity under the Communist. Currently there is no hierarchy for the Russian Church because of Ecumenical concerns. In the United States there are a handful of Russian Catholic parishes.

Many years and Axios to Fr. Pavel and his family!

Can’t forget the Pope’s message for the feast of the Nativity!

‎”Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light.” -Pope Benedict XVI

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Have a wonderful feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ! Below is the Patriarchal Christmas message from his All Holiness Bartholomew I of Constantinople. 

+ B A R T H O L O M E W

By the Mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church
Grace, Peace and Mercy from our Savior Born in Bethlehem

“Christ is born again and the Angels sing once more:
‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among all.’ “
(Luke 2.14-15)

Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord,

The angels chant these three majestic proclamations and yet the great majority of human beings, although celebrating the feast of Christmas, cannot perceive the significance of the angelic song, instead asking themselves whether God is truly glorified today or why God should even be glorified; where can one discern on earth the peace that is announced, and why should contemporary humanity live with good will?

It is because, in reality, most people do not glorify God – either in their deeds or through their words. Many of them doubt the very existence of God and God’s presence in their lives. There are also many people that attribute responsibility to God for the misfortunate occurrences in their lives. However, those who grumble against God err profoundly, since evil does not derive from Him. On the contrary, the loving incarnation of the divine Son and Word, together with the consequent events of His Crucifixion and Resurrection, reshape the human person to its former beauty, granting eternal life and the peace that surpasses all understanding, while rendering human beings co-heirs of the heavenly kingdom. This act of divine condescension, though embracing the ultimate humiliation, is in itself capable of glorifying humanity. Thus, even if many people fail to glorify God in their hearts, nevertheless glory is rendered – by all creation and all things that take place among humans – unto Him who dwells in the highest. We too, then, gratefully cry out with the Angels, “Glory to God in the highest,” for the immensity of His works and the incomprehensibility of His love for us.

Yet people also query the second angelic proclamation: “And on earth peace.” How can we speak of peace on earth when almost half of the planet finds itself either in the act of or in preparation for war? The sweet tone of the angelic proclamation regarding “peace on earth” is of course primarily a divine pledge that, if people adhere to the way indicated by the new-born Child, they will acquire internal peace and peaceful coexistence. But, alas, most people are moved and drawn by the cymbals of war, ignoring the sound of the pledge for peace on earth. We are not referring here to those who passionately support the use of weapons, but especially to those who transform gentle competition to unequal conflict, seeking the annihilation of any opposition. In this respect, war is experienced as reality among members of rival social groups and parties of all kinds – whether racial, political, partisan, financial, ideological, religious, athletic or any other kind, where the intense mindset of members is converted into militant rather than peaceful. However, this does not refute the truth proclaimed by the Angels, that – through the Nativity of Christ and the acceptance of His teachings – peace will indeed prevail on earth. Christ came bearing peace; and if His peace does not prevail in the world, then responsibility lies with those who fail to accept and embrace this peace, not with the God who grants it.

Since this is the stance of contemporary humanity in light of the peace offered by God, it is hardly surprising that good will is rare among people. The good intention of God toward humanity is assured, just as the favorable consequences of divine love are in principle apparent for all human beings and particularly tangible for all those who accept the angelic proclamations in practice. By contrast, for those who reject these proclamations and are given to exploiting and abusing others, the consequences are experienced as a crisis of stress and anxiety, as a crisis of economy and meaning, and finally as existential uncertainty.

Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord,

All the proclamations of the Angels during the birth of the Lord are realities that exist and are experienced today in fullness by those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Divine-Human Savior of the world. Let us begin from this year to live Christmas in a way that pleases God, the giver of all good things, so that we might experience in our hearts the transcendent peace and the loving good will of God toward us. Let us render ourselves as loving human beings in our relationship to God and other people, becoming sharing persons rather than selfish individuals. Let us remove the masks that estrange and divide us from God and His human image, our fellow human being. And let us fulfill our destiny in the likeness of God by practicing our faith in Him. Let us, too, proclaim the angelic song to humankind, which is suffering terribly and cannot discover Peace and Good Will through its conventional ways. The only way of overcoming war and all forms of crisis, such as the financial one that plagues our world, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who assured us that His is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Therefore, we glorify God in the highest and Jesus Christ who condescended to dwell among us. And we proclaim with the Angels that Peace is accessible and truly exists on earth and within our hearts because we have been reconciled to God through His good will to assume flesh by His birth in the manger.

So let us experience the joy of the Nativity of Jesus Christ and the foretaste of all the benefits announced by the threefold proclamation of the Angels. Amen.

At the Phanar, Christmas 2011

+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant for all before God

What helps and what hurts my repentance?

St. Isaac of Syria

A certain patristic quote has really stuck with me. It is from the writings of St. Isaac the Syrian. St. Isaac said

This life has been given to you for repentance. Do not waste it on other things.

This has little pearl of wisdom has really struck a chord with me. If you think about it, St. Isaac sums up our whole Christian life in two sentences. Our life, as Christians,  should be spent in repentance before our loving God.

I am trying to make the theme of this quote - repentance – the central theme of my life.  (this will be hard since I am a fallen human being)  The more and more I see America falling away from traditional values and move more and more towards secularism the more and more I find myself wanting to live a life of repentance and peace. I am trying to prioritize all things around this idea – repentance.

St. Isaac says all things else are a waste of time. So, what helps me with repentance? And what hurts my repentance? A good example of something that helps me with repentance is my marriage. Marriage requires dying to one self and helps the Christian towards repentance and deification (or Theosis).

A few good examples  of things that hurt repentance are Facebook and politics. Both can lead us away from pray, fasting, using our time wisely. They can lead to gossip, slander, pride, and envy. Not good for a Christian on the road to the Kingdom of Heaven.

So my goal is to gradually grow in repentance through my vocation as a husband and to start weaning myself off Facebook and other things that lead me away from repentance.

I pray that the Lord grants me a life of peace and repentance. Without the Grace of the Holy Trinity, I would not be able to accomplish, or even start on  such a path. Salvation requires a synergy between God and man. We must say yes to God daily and work with the Grace he gives us. God wants to save all of us but it requires us to come to God, since God will never force us. This is our struggle, to every day repent and say yes to the Divine. A good way of saying yes is to dedicate our life to repentance of our sins and weed out all that takes us away from it.