Mon Feb 20, 2012
Forgiveness Sunday (the Sunday before Holy and Great Lent)
Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann on Forgiveness Sunday
Introduction to the DRE/OCA 1975-1982 Forgiveness Sunday Vespers.
http://www.schmemann.org/byhim/forgivenesssunday.html
In the Orthodox Church, the last Sunday before Great Lent – the day on which, at Vespers, Lent is liturgically announced and inaugurated – is called Forgiveness Sunday. On the morning of that Sunday, at the Divine Liturgy, we hear the words of Christ:
"If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses..." (Mark 6:14-15)
Then after Vespers – after hearing the announcement of Lent in the Great Prokeimenon: "Turn not away Thy face from Thy child for I am afflicted! Hear me speedily! Draw near unto my soul and deliver it!", after making our entrance into Lenten worship, with its special memories, with the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, with its prostrations – we ask forgiveness from each other, we perform the rite of forgiveness and reconciliation. And as we approach each other with words of reconciliation, the choir intones the Paschal hymns, filling the church with the anticipation of Paschal joy.
What is the meaning of this rite? Why is it that the Church wants us to begin Lenten season with forgiveness and reconciliation? These questions are in order because for too many people Lent means primarily, and almost exclusively, a change of diet, the compliance with ecclesiastical regulations concerning fasting. They understand fasting as an end in itself, as a "good deed" required by God and carrying in itself its merit and its reward. But, the Church spares no effort in revealing to us that fasting is but a means, one among many, towards a higher goal: the spiritual renewal of man, his return to God, true repentance and, therefore, true reconciliation. The Church spares no effort in warning us against a hypocritical and pharisaic fasting, against the reduction of religion to mere external obligations. As a Lenten hymn says:
In vain do you rejoice in no eating, O soul!
For you abstain from food,
But from passions you are not purified.
If you persevere in sin, you will perform a useless fast.
Now, forgiveness stands at the very center of Christian faith and of Christian life because Christianity itself is, above all, the religion of forgiveness. God forgives us, and His forgiveness is in Christ, His Son, Whom He sends to us, so that by sharing in His humanity we may share in His love and be truly reconciled with God. Indeed, Christianity has no other content but love. And it is primarily the renewal of that love, a return to it, a growth in it, that we seek in Great Lent, in fasting and prayer, in the entire spirit and the entire effort of that season. Thus, truly forgiveness is both the beginning of, and the proper condition for the Lenten season.
One may ask, however: Why should I perform this rite when I have no "enemies"? Why should I ask forgiveness from people who have done nothing to me, and whom I hardly know? To ask these questions, is to misunderstand the Orthodox teaching concerning forgiveness. It is true, that open enmity, personal hatred, real animosity may be absent from our life, though if we experience them, it may be easier for us to repent, for these feelings openly contradict Divine commandments. But, the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them -- in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being "polite" and "friendly" we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize – be it only for one minute – that our entire relationship to other men is wrong, makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual "recognition" which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world.
On that unique evening, listening to the joyful Paschal hymns we are called to make a spiritual discovery: to taste of another mode of life and relationship with people, of life whose essence is love. We can discover that always and everywhere Christ, the Divine Love Himself, stands in the midst of us, transforming our mutual alienation into brotherhood. As l advance towards the other, as the other comes to me – we begin to realize that it is Christ Who brings us together by His love for both of us.
And because we make this discovery – and because this discovery is that of the Kingdom of God itself: the Kingdom of Peace and Love, of reconciliation with God and, in Him, with all that exists – we hear the hymns of that Feast, which once a year, "opens to us the doors of Paradise." We know why we shall fast and pray, what we shall seek during the long Lenten pilgrimage. Forgiveness Sunday: the day on which we acquire the power to make our fasting – true fasting; our effort – true effort; our reconciliation with God – true reconciliation.
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Tue Feb 14, 2012
Commentary of St. John Chrysostom on Matthew 25 (Gospel reading for Meatfare Sunday / Sunday of the Last Judgment)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf110.iii.LXXV.htm
"And do not account the saying to be rash. For the Lord is loving to man, and the gift cometh of His goodness. It is rash to have a mouth like the devil, to have a tongue resembling that of an evil demon, especially for him that partakes of such mysteries, and communicates of the very flesh of the Lord. Reflecting then on these things, become like Him, to the utmost of thy power. No longer then will the devil be able so much as to look thee in the face, when thou art become such a one as this. For indeed he recognizes the image of the King, he knows the weapons of Christ, whereby he was worsted. And what are these? Gentleness and meekness. For when on the mountain Christ overthrew and laid low the devil who was assaulting him, it was not by making it known that He was Christ, but He entrapped him by these sayings, He took him by gentleness, he turned him to flight by meekness. Thou also must do this; shouldest thou see a man become a devil, and coming against thee, even so do thou likewise overcome. Christ gave thee also power to become like Him, so far as thy ability extends. Be not afraid at hearing this. The fear is not to be like Him. Speak then after His manner, and thou art become in this respect such as He, so far as it is possible for one who is a man to become so.
Wherefore greater is he that thus speaks, than he that prophecies. For this is entirely a gift, but in the other is also thy labor and toil. Teach thy soul to frame thee a mouth like to Christ’s mouth. For it can create such things, if it will; it knows the art, if it be not remiss. And how is such a mouth made? one may ask. By what kind of colorings? by what kind of material? By no colorings, indeed, or material; but by virtue only, and meekness, and humility.
Let us see also how a devil’s mouth is made; that we may never frame that. How then is it made? By curses, by insults, by envy, by perjury. For when any one speaks his words, he takes his tongue. What kind of excuse then shall we have; or rather, what manner of punishment shall we not undergo; when this our tongue, wherewith we are allowed to taste of the Lord’s flesh, when this, I say, we overlook, speaking the devil’s words?
Let us not overlook it, but let us use all diligence, in order to train it to imitate its Lord. For if we train it to this, it will place us with great confidence at Christ’s judgment seat. Unless any one know how to speak thus, the judge will not so much as hear him. For like as when the judge chances to be a Roman, he will not hear the defense of one who knows not how to speak thus; so likewise Christ, unless thou speak after His fashion, will not hear thee, nor give heed.
Let us learn therefore to speak in such wise as our Judge is wont to hear; let it be our endeavor to imitate that tongue. And shouldest thou fall into grief, take heed lest the tyranny of despondency pervert thy tongue, but that thou speak like Christ. For He too mourned for Lazarus and Judas. Shouldest thou fall into fear, seek again to speak even as He. For He Himself fell into fear for thy sake, with regard to His manhood. the other sheep, that He might indicate the unfruitfulness of the one, for no fruit will come from kids; and the great profit from the other, for indeed from sheep great is the profit, as well from the milk, as from the wool, and from the young, of all which things the kid is destitute.
But while the brutes have from nature their unfruitfulness, and fruitfulness, these have it from choice, wherefore some are punished, and the others crowned. And He doth not punish them, until He hath pleaded with them; wherefore also, when He hath put them in their place, He mentions the charges against them. And they speak with meekness, but they have no advantage from it now; and very reasonably, because they passed by a work so much to be desired. For indeed the prophets are everywhere saying this, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice,” and the lawgiver by all means urged them to this, both by words, and by works; and nature herself taught it.
But mark them, how they are destitute not of one or two things only, but of all. For not only did they fail to feed the hungry, or clothe the naked; but not even did they visit the sick, which was an easier thing.
And mark how easy are His injunctions. He said not, “I was in prison, and ye set me free; I was sick, and ye raised me up again;” but, “ye visited me,” and, “ye came unto me.” And neither in hunger is the thing commanded grievous. For no costly table did He seek, but what is needful only, and His necessary food, and He sought in a suppliant’s garb, so that all things were enough to bring punishment on them; the easiness of the request, for it was bread; the pitiable character of Him that requesteth, for He was poor; the sympathy of nature, for He was a man; the desirableness of the promise, for He promised a kingdom; the fearfulness of the punishment, for He threatened hell. The dignity of the one receiving, for it was God, who was receiving by the poor; the surpassing nature of the honor, that He vouchsafed to condescend so far; His just claim for what they bestowed, for of His own was He receiving. But against all these things covetousness once for all blinded them that were seized by it; and this though so great a threat was set against it.
For further back also He saith, that they who receive not such as these shall suffer more grievous things than Sodom; and here He saith, “Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me.”
What sayest Thou? they are Thy brethren; and how dost Thou call them least. Why, for this reason they are brethren, because they are lowly, because they are poor, because they are outcast. For such doth He most invite to brotherhood, the unknown, the contemptible, not meaning by these the monks only, and them that have occupied the mountains, but every believer; though he be a secular person, yet if he be hungry, and famishing, and naked, and a stranger, His will is he should have the benefit of all this care. For baptism renders a man a brother, and the partaking of the divine mysteries.
Then, in order that thou mayest see in another way also the justice of the sentence, He first praises them that have done right, and saith, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat,” and all that follows.
For that they may not say, we had it not, He condemns them by their fellow-servants; like as the virgins by the virgins, and the servant that was drunken and gluttonous by the faithful servant, and him that buried his talent, by them that brought the two, and each one of them that continue in sin, by them that have done right.
And this comparison is sometimes made in the case of an equal, as here, and in the instance of the virgins, sometimes of him that hath advantage, as when he said, “The men of Nineveh shall rise up and shall condemn this generation, because they believed at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here;” and, “The queen of the south shall condemn this generation, because she came to hear the wisdom of Solomon;” and of an equal again, “They shall be your judges;” and again of one at advantage, “Know ye not, that we shall judge angels, how much more things that pertain to this life?”
And here, however, it is of an equal; for he compares rich with rich, and poor with poor. And not in this way only doth He show the sentence justly passed, by their fellow-servants having done what was right when in the same circumstances, but also by their not being obedient so much as in these things in which poverty was no hindrance; as, for instance, in giving drink to the thirsty, in looking upon him that is in bonds, in visiting the sick. And when He had commended them that had done right, He shows how great was originally His bond of love towards them. For, “Come,” saith He, “ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” To how many good things is this same equivalent, to be blessed, and blessed of the Father? And wherefore were they counted worthy of such great honors? What is the cause? “I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink;” and what follows.
Of what honor, of what blessedness are these words? And He said not, Take, but, “Inherit,” as one’s own, as your Father’s, as yours, as due to you from the first. For, before you were, saith He, these things had been prepared, and made ready for you, forasmuch as I knew you would be such as you are.
And in return for what do they receive such things? For the covering of a roof, for a garment, for bread, for cold water, for visiting, for going into the prison. For indeed in every case it is for what is needed; and sometimes not even for that. For surely, as I have said, the sick and he that is in bonds seeks not for this only, but the one to be loosed, the other to be delivered from his infirmity. But He, being gracious, requires only what is within our power, or rather even less than what is within our power, leaving to us to exert our generosity in doing more.
But to the others He saith, “Depart from me, ye cursed,” (no longer of the Father; for not He laid the curse upon them, but their own works), “into the everlasting fire, prepared,” not for you, but “for the devil and his angels.” For concerning the kingdom indeed, when He had said, “Come, inherit the kingdom,” He added, “prepared for you before the foundation of the world;” but concerning the fire, no longer so, but, “prepared for the devil.” I, saith He, prepared the kingdom for you, but the fire no more for you, but “for the devil and his angels;” but since ye cast yourselves therein, impute it to yourselves. And not in this way only, but by what follows also, like as though He were excusing Himself to them, He sets forth the causes.
“For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat.” For though He that came to thee had been thine enemy, were not His sufferings enough to have overcome and subdued even the merciless? hunger, and cold, and bonds, and nakedness, and sickness, and to wander everywhere houseless? These things are sufficient even to destroy enmity. But ye did not these things even to a friend, being at once friend, and benefactor, and Lord. Though it be a dog we see hungry, often we are overcome; and though we behold a wild beast, we are subdued; but seeing the Lord, art thou not subdued? And wherein are these things worthy of defense?
For if it were this only, were it not sufficient for a recompense? (I speak not of hearing such a voice, in the presence of the world, from Him that sitteth on the Father’s throne, and of obtaining the kingdom), but were not the very doing it sufficient for a reward? But now even in the presence of the world, and at the appearing of that unspeakable glory, He proclaims and crowns thee, and acknowledges thee as His sustainer and host, and is not ashamed of saying such things, that He may make the crown brighter for thee.
So for this cause, while the one are punished justly, the others are crowned by grace. For though they had done ten thousand things, the munificence were of grace, that in return for services so small and cheap, such a heaven, and a kingdom, and so great honor, should be given them."
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Tue Feb 07, 2012
On the Parable of the Prodigal Son
by
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Sermon 108.
I hear one of the holy prophets trying to win unto repentance those who are far from God, and saying, "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God: for you have become weak in your iniquity. Take with you words, and return to the Lord our God." What sort of words then did he, under the influence of the Spirit, command them to take with them? Or were they not such as become those who wish to repent; such namely, as would appease God, Who is gentle, and loves mercy. For He even said by one of the holy prophets, "Return you returning children, and I will heal your breaches." And yet again by the voice of Ezekiel, "Return you altogether from your wickednesses, O house of Israel. Cast away from you all your iniquities which you have committed, that they be not to you for a punishment of iniquity. For I have no pleasure in the death of the sinner, as that he should turn from his evil way and live." And the same truth Christ here also teaches us, by this most beautifully composed parable, which I will now to the best of my ability endeavor to discuss, briefly gathering up its broad statements, and explaining and defending the ideas which it contains.
It is the opinion then of some, that by the two sons are signified the holy angels, and we the dwellers upon earth: and that the elder one, who lived soberly, represents the company of the holy angels, while the younger and profligate son is the human race. And there are some among us who give it a different explanation, arguing that by the elder and well conducted son is signified Israel after the flesh: while by the other, whose choice it was to live in the lust of pleasures, and who removed far from his father, is depicted the company of the Gentiles. With these explanations I do not agree: but I would have him who loves instruction, search after that which is true and unobjectionable. What then I say is as follows, "giving occasions to the wise, and to the just offering knowledge," as Scripture commands: for they will examine for a fitting meaning the explanations proposed to them. If then we refer the upright son to the person of the holy angels, we do not find him speaking such words as become them, nor sharing their feelings towards repentant sinners, who turn from an impure life to that conduct which is worthy of admiration. For the Savior of all and Lord says, that "there is joy in heaven before the holy angels over one sinner that repents." But the son, who is described to us in the present parable as being acceptable unto his father, and leading a blameless life, is represented as being angry, and as even having proceeded so far in his unloving sentiments as to find fault with his father for his natural affection for him who was saved. "For he would not, it says, go into the house," being vexed at the reception of the penitent almost before he had come to his senses, and because there had even been slain the calf in his honour, and his father had made for him a feast. But this, as I said, is at variance with the feelings of the holy angels: for they rejoice and praise God when they see the inhabitants of the earth being saved. For so when the Son submitted to be born in the flesh of a woman at Bethlehem, they carried the joyful news to the shepherds, saying, "Fear you not: for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people, that there is born to you today in the city of David a Savior Who is Christ the Lord." And crowning with lauds and praises Him Who was born, they said, "Glory to God in the highest, and upon earth peace, and among men good will."
But if any one say, that Israel according to the flesh is meant by the virtuous and sober son, we are again prevented from assenting to this opinion by the fact, that in no way whatsoever is it fitting to say of Israel that he chose a blameless life. For throughout the whole of the inspired Scripture, so to say, we may see them accused of being rebels and disobedient. For they were told by the voice of Jeremiah, "What fault have your fathers found in Me, that they have wandered far from Me, and have gone after vanities, and become vain?" And in similar terms God somewhere spoke by the voice of Isaiah, "This people draws near unto Me; with their lips they honor Me, but their heart is very far from Me: but in vain do they fear Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." And how then can any one apply to those who are thus blamed the words used in the parable of the virtuous and sober son? For he said, "Lo! all these years do I serve you, and never have I transgressed your commandment." But they would not have been blamed for their mode of life, had it not been that transgressing the divine commandments, they betook themselves to a careless and polluted mode of life.
And yet again, for I think it right to mention this also, some would refer to the person of our Savior that fatted calf which the father killed when his son was called unto conversion. But how then could the virtuous son, who is described as wise and prudent, and constant in his duty, and whom some even refer to the person of the holy angels, treat it as a reason for anger and vexation that the calf was slain? For one can find no proof of the powers above being grieved when Christ endured death in the flesh, and, so to speak, was slain in our behalf. Rather they rejoiced, as I said, in seeing the world saved by His holy blood. And what reason too had the virtuous son for saying "you never gave me a kid." For what blessing is wanting to the holy angels, inasmuch as the Lord of all has bestowed upon them with bounteous hand a plentiful supply of spiritual gifts? Or of what sacrifice stood they in need as regards their own state? For there was no necessity for the Emmanuel to suffer also in their behalf. But if any one imagine, as I have already said before, that the carnal Israel is meant by the virtuous and sober son, how can he say with truth "you never gave me a kid?" For whether we call it calf or kid, Christ is to be understood as the sacrifice offered for sin. But He was sacrificed, not for the Gentiles only, but that He might also redeem Israel, who by reason of his frequent transgression of the law had brought upon himself great blame. And the wise Paul bears witness to this, saying, "For this reason Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His blood, suffered outside the gate."
What then is the object of the parable? Let us examine the occasion which led to it; for so we shall learn the truth. The blessed Luke therefore had himself said a little before of Christ the Savior of us all, "And all the publicans and sinners drew near unto Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured saying, This man receives sinners and eats " with them." As therefore the Pharisees and Scribes made this outcry at His gentleness and love to man, and wickedly and impiously blamed Him for receiving and teaching men whose lives were impure, Christ very necessarily set before them the present parable, to show them clearly this very thing, that the God of all requires even him who is thoroughly steadfast, and firm, and who knows how to live holily, and has attained to the highest praise for sobriety of conduct, to be earnest in following His will, so that when any are called unto repentance, even if they be men highly blamable, he must rejoice rather, and not give way to an unloving vexation on their account.
For we also sometimes experience something of this sort. For some there are who live a perfectly honorable and consistent life, practicing every kind of virtuous action, and abstaining from every thing disapproved by the law of God, and crowning themselves with perfect praises in the sight of God and of men: while another is perhaps weak and trodden down, and humbled unto every kind of wickedness, guilty of base deeds, loving impurity, given to covetousness, and stained with all evil. And yet such a one often in old age turns unto God, and asks the forgiveness of his former offences: he prays for mercy, and putting away from him his readiness to fall into sin, sets his affection on virtuous deeds. Or even perhaps when about to close his mortal life, he is admitted to divine baptism, and puts away his offences, God being merciful unto him. And perhaps sometimes persons are indignant at this, and even say, 'This man, who has been guilty of such and such actions, and has spoken such and such words, has not paid unto the judge the retribution of his conduct, but has been counted worthy of a grace thus noble and admirable: he has been inscribed among the sons of God, and honored with the glory of the saints.' Such complaints men sometimes give utterance too from an empty narrowness of mind, not conforming to the purpose of the universal Father. For He greatly rejoices when He sees those who were lost obtaining salvation, and raises them up again to that which they were in the beginning, giving them the dress of freedom, and adorning them with the chief robe, and putting a ring upon their hand, even the orderly behavior which is pleasing to God and suitable to the free.
It is our duty, therefore, to conform ourselves to that which God wills: for He heals those who are sick; He raises those who are fallen; He gives a helping hand to those who have stumbled; He brings back him who has wandered; He forms anew unto a praiseworthy and blameless life those who were wallowing in the mire of sin; He seeks those who were lost; He raises as from the dead those who had suffered the spiritual death. Let us also rejoice: let us, in company with the holy angels, praise Him as being good, and loving unto men; as gentle, and not remembering evil. For if such is our state of mind, Christ will receive us, by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever, Amen.
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Sun Jan 29, 2012
Food for Thought for Great and Holy Lent 2012
http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html
“Do not be irritated either with those who sin or those who offend; do not have a passion for noticing every sin in your neighbor, and for judging him, as we are in the habit of doing. Everyone shall give an answer to God for himself. Everyone has a conscience; everyone hears God's Word, and knows God's Will either from books or from conversation with other people. Especially do not look with evil intention upon the sins of your elders, which do not regard you; ‘to his own master he standeth or falleth.’ Correct your own sins, amend your own life.”
(St. John of Kronstadt)
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Tue Jan 24, 2012
Sayings of St. John Chrysostom in Preparation for Holy and Great Lent 2012
http://www.sprint.net.au/~corners/Nov02/StJohnChrysostom.htm
Although it be with truth that you speak evil, this is also a crime.
You are a man, and yet you spit the venom of a poisonous serpent. You are a man and yet you become like a raging beast. You have been given a mouth not to wound but to heal.
Enter into the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed again to enter the Church, be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent.
When partaking of the Eucharist you bury your teeth in Christ’s flesh and drink of the same blood that came from His side … He did not say, “This is the symbol of my body … of my blood,” but “This is my body and blood.”
Even if others make war against us, it is right for us to remain in peace.
Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead.
The primary goal in the education of children is to teach, and to give the example of a virtuous life.
“Why,” you ask, do we see evil doers thriving and healthy and enjoying great prosperity? Let us weep for them, because their not having to suffer in this world is a guarantee of greater punishment in the next! To show this, St. Paul said, “But when we are judged, we are being chastised by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with this world.” Afflictions here are a form of reproof, while this in the other world are a form of punishment for those who were evil in their lives.
I would like to have a voice strong enough to make myself heard from the four corners of the world. I would climb the ugliest mountain in the universe and I would cry out to all men, “save, save your soul!”
The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole like and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger, avoiding all gossip, lying and swearing. To abstain from these things – herein lies the true value of the fast.
Sins that are easiest to amend bring the greatest punishment. Anger is a strong fire, consuming all things its path; it wastes the body and corrupts the body, and renders a man base and odious to look upon. And if it were possible for the angry man to see himself at the time of his anger he would not need any other admonition, for there is nothing less pleasing than an angry countenance. Anger is an intoxicant and more wretched than God does not insist or desire that we should mourn in agony of heart: Rather, it is His wish that out of love for Him we should rejoice with laughter in our soul. Take away sin, and tears become superfluous; where there is no bruising, no ointment is required. Before the fall, Adam shed no tears and in the same way there will be no more tears after the resurrection from the dead, when sin has been destroyed. For pain, sorrow and lamentation will then have fled away.
After death no unrepentant person can escape the consequences of his sins, but just as prisoners are led out of their cell bound in chains and brought before the court, so are all souls when they depart hence; they bring with themselves their chains of sins before the dread judgement seat.
Lift up and stretch out your hands, not to heaven, but to the poor; for if you stretch forth your hands to the poor, you have reached the summit of heaven, but if you lift up your hands in prayer without sharing with the poor, it is worth nothing.
Every family should have a room where Christ is welcome in the person of the hungry and thirsty stranger.
Let none fear death, for the death of the Saviour has set us free. Christ is risen and the demons have fallen. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice.
The belief in stars is a foolish disbelief against God’s omnipotence and creativity, for God is subjected to the star’s power.
In ancient times, many Christians received the Holy Mysteries at random and without discrimination, especially on the day of their institution (ie Holy Thursday). Seeing the great harm that comes from careless reception of Communion, the Fathers have set aside forty days (of Lent) for prayer, listening to God’s word and attending services, in order that after proper purification of our heart by prayer, fasting, almsgiving, night-vigils and confession, we may receive Holy Communion with a clear conscience as many times as possible.
What the Lord did not endure on the Cross (the breaking of His legs), He submits to now in His sacrifice for His love for you. He permits Himself to be broken into pieces that all may be filled. What is in the chalice is the same as that which flowed from Christ’s side. What is the Bread? Christ’s Body. Not only ought we to see the Lord, we ought to take Him and unite ourselves with Him in the closest union.
It is folly to abstain all day long from food, but fail to abstain from sin and selfishness.
Let your prayer be completely simple for both the Publican and the Prodigal Son were reconciled to God by a single phrase.
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Tue Jan 17, 2012
Self-examination by St. Maximos the Confessor
http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html
“He who busies himself with the sins of others, or judges his brother on suspicion, has not yet even begun to repent or to examine himself so as to discover his own sins...”
“God, Who is by nature good and dispassionate, loves all men equally as His handiwork. But He glorifies the virtuous man because in his will he is united to God. At the same time, in His goodness he is merciful to the sinner and by chastising him in this life brings him back to the path of virtue. Similarly, a man of good and dispassionate judgment also loves all men equally. He loves the virtuous man because of his nature and the probity of his intention; and he loves the sinner, too, because of his nature and because in his compassion he pities him for foolishly stumbling in darkness.”
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Tue Jan 10, 2012
Timeline of Church History (continued)
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Timeline_of_Church_History
Communist era (1917-1991)
• 1917 Bolshevik Revolution throws Church of Russia into chaos, effectively stranding the fledgling Russian Orthodox mission in America; restoration of Moscow Patriarchate with Tikhon as patriarch; Church of Georgia's autocephaly restored de facto by political chaos in Russia.
• 1917-40 Persecution of the Orthodox Church in Russia begins, with 130,000 priests arrested, 95,000 of whom were executed by firing squad.
• 1918 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia murdered together with his wife Alexandra and children.
• 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish War; a million refugees flee to Greece joining half a million Greeks who had fled earlier; Pontic Greek Genocide eliminates the Christian population of Trebizond.
• 1920 Death of Nektarios of Aegina; publication of Encyclical Letters by Constantinople on Christian unity and on the Ecumenical Movement.
• 1921 Constantinople renounces all claims to jurisdiction in any part of Africa, with Alexandrian primate thenceforth known as Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa; Greek Archdiocese of America formed ; Abp. Tikhon (Belavin) elected Patriarch of Moscow; Gorazd (Pavlik) consecrated as bishop for Western Rite Diocese of Moravia and Silesia; an all-Ukrainian Synod is called in Kyiv and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) (as yet unrecognized) is declared independent from the Moscow Patriarchate (MP).
• 1922 Church of Albania declares autocephaly from Constantinople; formation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; Solovetsky Monastery converted by Lenin's decree to the "Solovki Special Purpose Camp", one of the earliest forced-labor camps of the Gulag where 75 bishops died, along with tens of thousands of laity; the predominatly Christian city of Smyrna is destroyed, ending 1900 years of Christian civilization.
• 1923 Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia granted autonomy by Church of Constantinople; Treaty of Lausanne affirmed the international status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with Turkey guaranteeing respect and the Patriarchate’s full protection.
• 1924 Church of Constantinople recognizes autocephaly of Church of Poland.
• 1925 Church of Romania becomes a patriarchate; first Africans in sub-Saharan Africa baptized in Tanganyika by Fr. Nikodemos Sarikas; death of Tikhon of Moscow.
• 1926 Polish Catholic National Church received as a Western Rite diocese in Poland of Church of Russia under Bp. Alexis of Grodno; John Maximovitch tonsured by ROCOR Metr. Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev.
• 1927 Bishops of Russian church in America authorize formation of American Orthodox Catholic Church, including a Western Rite missionary outreach.
• 1929 Kingdom of Italy and Papacy ratify Lateran Treaty, recognizing sovereignty of Papacy within the new state of the Vatican City.
• 1931 Reception of Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe into the Ecumenical Patriarchate, led by Metr. Eulogius (Georgievsky) of Paris.
• 1932 Daniel William Alexander travels to Uganda to meet Reuben Spartas, establishing African Orthodox Church there.
• 1933 Church of Greece bans Freemasonry.
• 1934 Daniel William Alexander travels to Kenya, establishing African Orthodox Church led by Arthur Gathuna; episcopal consecration of John Maximovitch.
• 1935 Critical edition of Septuagint published in Gottingen Germany by Alfred Rahlfs at the Septuaginta-Unternehmens (Institute); Old Calendar schism when three bishops declared their separation from the official Church of Greece stating that the calendar change was a schismatic act.
• 1935-40 Italian forces occupy Ethiopia and begin intermittent persecutions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
• 1936 Ukase of Moscow Patriarchate establishes Western Orthodox Church in France using Western Rite.
• 1936-37 Many Russian Orthodox Clerics die in Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.
• 1937 Church of Constantinople recognizes autocephaly of Church of Albania.
• 1938 Death of Silouan the Athonite; American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese founded, when a group of 37 Carpatho-Russian Eastern Catholic parishes, under the leadership of Fr. Orestes Chornock, were received into the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1941 Martyrdom of Gorazd (Pavlik) of Prague by Nazis.
• 1941-45 Croatian Ustasa terrorists kill 500,000 Orthodox Serbs, expel 250,000 and force 250,000 to convert to Catholicism.
• 1943 Church of Russia recognizes autocephaly of Church of Georgia; first constitution of the African Orthodox Church in East Africa signed by Reuben Spartas and Arthur Gathuna; Joseph Stalin meets with hierarchs of Russian Orthodox Church to establish a "patriotic union," granting concessions to the church, including the gathering of the holy synod and the election of Sergius I as patriarch of Moscow.
• 1943-44 Hundreds of Orthodox priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church eliminated, tortured and drowned by Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists - Ukrainian Rebel Army, aided by Uniate Metr. Josyf Slipyj who was a spiritual leader of Nazi military units that were later condemned by the Nuremberg tribunal, and who was imprisoned by Soviet authorities for aiding the UPA.
• 1944 Fr. Evgraph (Kovalevsky) completes restoration of Liturgy of St. Germaine de Paris.
• 1945 Church of Bulgaria's autocephaly generally recognized; library of early Christian texts discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt; Soviet Union annexes Czechoslovakia; Church of Russia claims jurisdiction over the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
• 1945-90 Persecution of the Orthodox Church in Albania.
• 1946 Reuben Spartas of the African Orthodox Church visits Alexandria; Holy Synod of the Church of Alexandria officially recognizes and accepts the African Greek Orthodox Church in Kenya and Uganda; state-sponsored synod is held at Lviv, Ukraine in March, which officially dissolves the Union of Brest-Litovsk and integrates the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church into the Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet authorities arresting resisters or deporting them to Siberia.
• 1947 Death of Alexei Kabalyiuk, who played a major role in reviving Orthodoxy in Transcarpathia in the early 20th century.
• 1948 Church of Russia re-grants autocephaly to the Church of Poland (after having revoked it in the aftermath of World War II); World Council of Churches is founded; Council of Moscow is held on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the independence of the Russian Church from Constantinople, with representatives of the local Orthodox Churches rejecting all participation in the World Council of Churches.
• 1949 Soviet authorities revoke the Union of Uzhhorod of 1646, creating the Orthodox Eparchy of Mukachiv-Uzhhorod, under the Patriarch of Moscow.
• 1950 Pope Pius XII proclaims the Bodily Assumption of the Virgin Mary as a dogma.
• 1951 Church of Russia grants autocephaly to the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; 1500th anniversary celebration of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
• 1952-60 With the Mau-Mau Movement in Kenya (British East Africa Protectorate), the Orthodox Church is banished by the Colonial Government.
• 1953 Metr. Antony (Bashir) accepts three Western Rite parishes into Syrian Metropolitanate in America.
• 1957 Church of Russia grants autonomy to Church of China.
• 1958 Patriarch of Antioch adopts provisions of Russian synods of 1879 and 1907 for use by Western Rite in America; Western Orthodox Church of France comes under Abp. John Maximovitch, who authorizes the use of the restored Gallican rite.
• 1959 Abp. Anastasios (Yannoulatos) of Albania establishes inter-Orthodox mission agency Porefthentes to revive the church's mission activities; autocephaly granted to the Church of Ethiopia by Coptic Pope Cyril VI (Atta) of Alexandria.
• 1961 Creation of Western Rite Vicariate in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America; death of Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) of Simferopol and Crimea; consecration of first Orthodox Church in Uganda; first Pan-Orthodox Conference in Rhodes.
• 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council held in Rome, initiating major liturgical and theological reforms for the Roman Catholic Church, including restriction of ancient Tridentine Mass and introduction of the Novus Ordo.
• 1963 Second Pan-Orthodox Conference in Rhodes; 1000th anniversary celebration of founding of Mount Athos.
• 1964 Meeting of Pope Paul VI of Rome and Patr. Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople in Jerusalem; third Pan-Orthodox Conference in Rhodes; Synaxis of the Saints of Rostov established by resolution of His Holiness Patriarch Alexis I and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• 1965 Pope Paul VI of Rome and Patriarch Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople mutually nullify the excommunications of 1054.
• 1966 The Cultural Revolution almost totally destroyed the young Chinese Orthodox Church.
• 1967 Church of Macedonia unilaterally declares its autocephaly, making it independent of the Church of Serbia (as yet unrecognized); Albania is declared an atheist state, closing all religious institutions and forbiding any religious practices.
• 1968 Visit to Patriarchate of Alexandria by Vatican representatives; fourth Pan-Orthodox Conference in Chambesy, Switzerland.
• 1970 Russian-American Metropolia reconciles with Church of Russia and is granted autocephaly, renamed as the Orthodox Church in America, returning control of Church of Japan to Moscow, which grants it autonomy; Abp. Makarios III (Mouskos) of Cyprus baptizes 10,000 into the Orthodox Church in Kenya.
• 1971 Halki Seminary closed by Turkish authorities.
• 1975 Division in the Antiochian church in North America overcome by the uniting of the two Antiochian archdioceses into one by Metr. Philip (Saliba) of New York and Abp. Michael (Shaheen) of Toledo; Joint Commission of Orthodox and Old Catholic theologians is established.
• 1976 First Pre-Synodal Pan-Orthodox Conference at Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambesy, Switzerland.
• 1979 Pope John Paul II visits Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1979 Joint Commission of Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches for Theological Dialogue established by Pope John Paul II and Patr. Demetrius I (Papadopoulos) of Constantinople.
• 1981 Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission meets for the first time in Espoo, Finland.
• 1982 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission publishes in Munich first official common document, "The Mystery of the Church and of the Eucharist in Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity"; second Pre-Synodal Pan-Orthodox Conference in Chambesy, Switzerland.
• 1985 Founding of Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) as Greek Archdiocesan Mission Center; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Divine Revelation."
• 1986 Third Pre-Synodal Pan-Orthodox Conference in Chambesy, Switzerland.
• 1987 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission issues common document "Faith, Sacraments and the Unity of the Church"; visit by Patr. Demetrius I (Papadopoulos) of Constantinople to Vatican.
• 1987 Group of twenty parishes of the Evangelical Orthodox Church, originally formed by former Campus Crusade for Christ leaders Peter Gillquist and Jon Braun, are received into Antiochian Archdiocese in US, becoming the Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues the statement "Scripture and Tradition."
• 1988 1000th anniversary of Orthodoxy in Russia; Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission publishes common document "The Sacrament of Order in the Sacramental Structure of the Church"; Indonesian Muslim convert to Orthodoxy Fr. Daniel Byantoro begins his mission in Indonesia, sparking the rebirth of Orthodoxy there.
• 1989 Church of Constantinople recognizes autocephaly of the Church of Georgia; Elder Ephraim begins founding Athonite-style monasteries in North America; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "The Canon and the Inspiration of the Holy Scripture"; glorification in Russia of Tikhon of Moscow; Uniate Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church legalized, with Greek Catholics beginning seizure of property from Russian Orthodox Church, which they claimed as theirs prior to the synod of 1946.
• 1990 Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) self-proclaims its independance from the UAOC (both groups unrecognized).
Post-Communist era (1991-Present)
• 1991 Representatives of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches meet in Chambesy, Switzerland, discussing relations with World Council of Churches.
• 1992 Synaxis of primates of Orthodox churches in Constantinople.
• 1993 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Theological Commission meets in Balamand, Lebanon, issuing common document "Uniatism: Method of Union of the Past, and Present. Search for Full Communion" (the "Balamand document"); Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "The Ecumenical Councils."
• 1993 Church of Cyprus condemns Freemasonry; Orthodox Study Bible: New Testament and Psalms published; Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church becomes autocephalous.
• 1994 Ligonier Meeting in Western Pennsylvania at Antiochian Village held by the majority of Orthodox hierarchs in North America votes to do away with the notion of Orthodox Christians in America being a "diaspora".
• 1995 Patr. Bartholomew I visits Vatican; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Understanding of Salvation in the Light of the Ecumenical Councils"; Pope John Paul II issues encyclical Orientale Lumen, encouraging reunion between East and West.
• 1996 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America reorganized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, dividing the administration of the two continents into four parts.
• 1998 Church of Constantinople, not recognizing Russia's right to issue a tomos of autocephaly in 1951, issues its own tomos for the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; Thessaloniki Summit held to discuss Orthodox participation in WCC; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Salvation: Grace, Justification and Synergy."
• 1999 Numerous Serbian Orthodox sites in Kosovo and Metohia destroyed and desecrated during NATO peacekeeping presence.
• 2000 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Theological Commission meets in Baltimore, discusses text on "The Ecclesiological and Canonical Implications of Uniatism," but is suspended; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Word and Sacraments (Mysteria) in the Life of the Church".
• 2001 Pope John Paul II of Rome apologizes to Orthodox Church for Fourth Crusade; Chalcedonian and Non-Chalcedonian Patriarchates of Alexandria agree to mutually recognize baptisms and marriages performed in each other's churches.
• 2002 Patr. Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople and Pope John Paul II co-sign Venice Declaration of Environmental Ethics; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Mysteria/Sacraments as Means of Salvation."
• 2003 Orthodox Churches in Europe commemorated the 550th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople in May; Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America granted "self-rule" (similar but not identical to autonomy) by Church of Antioch; Coptic priest Fr. Zakaria Botros begins his television and internet mission to Muslims in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and western countries, resulting in thousands of conversions.
• 2004 Pope John Paul II returns relics of John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian to Church of Constantinople; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission statement "Baptism and Chrismation as Sacraments of Initiation into the Church."
• 2006 Pope Benedict XVI visits Ecumenical Patriarchate, drawing criticism from Mount Athos; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens visits Vatican; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "The Holy Eucharist in the Life of the Church."
• 2007 Restoration of full communion between Moscow Patriarchate and ROCOR; synod of over 50 bishops of the Church of Ukraine announce that the UOC-MP is "an autonomous, historical part of the Russian Orthodox Church"; Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission meets in Ravenna, Italy, 10th plenary, led by co-presidents Cardinal Walter Kasper and Metr. John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, agreeing upon a joint document consisting of 46 articles providing an ecclesiastical road map in discussing union; Russian delegation walks out of Ravenna talks in protest of presence of Estonian delegation (EP).
• 2008 Orthodox Study Bible (with Septuagint) published; Pan-Orthodox meeting in Constantinople in October of the Primates of the fourteen Orthodox Churches, signing a document calling for inter-orthodox unity and collaboration and "the continuation of preparations for the Holy and Great Council".
• 2009 The 4th Pan-Orthodox pre-conciliar consultation was held in Chambésy on June 6-13; Death of popular Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, July 1.
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Timeline of Church History
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Timeline_of_Church_History
• ca. 27 BC - AD 180 Pax Romana.
• ca. 4 BC Christ is born in Bethlehem; 14,000 Holy Innocents slain in Bethlehem.
• ca. 25-26 Death of Joseph the Betrothed.
• ca. 28 John the Baptist begins ministry.
• ca. 28-30 Three year ministry of Jesus Christ.
• ca. 30 Martyrdom of Stephen the deacon, first Christian martyr.
• 30 Conversion of Apostle Paul.
Apostolic era (33-100)
• ca. 30-33 Holy Spirit descends on the day of Pentecost.
• 34 Apostle Peter founds See of Antioch.
• 35 Name Christian first used in Antioch.
• 37 Joseph of Arimathea travels to Britain and lands in Glastonbury.
• 40 Apostle Barnabas sent from Jerusalem to Antioch.
• ca. 42 Apostle Paul's ecstasy to the third heaven (2 Cor.12:2-4).
• ca. 46-48 Apostle Paul's first missionary journey, with Apostle Barnabas.
• 49 Apostolic Council of Jerusalem rules that Gentiles do not have to become Jews before becoming Christians.
• ca. 49-52 Apostle Paul's second missionary journey, with Apostle Silas.
• 50 Apostle Matthew finishes the Gospel of Matthew in Aramaic.
• 52 Apostle Thomas arrives in Kerala, introducing Christianity to India.
• ca. 53-57 Apostle Paul's third missionary journey (Acts 18:23 - 21:16).
• ca. 59-62 Apostle Paul's fourth missionary journey, voyage to Rome.
• 62 Martyrdom of Apostle James the Just; crucifixion of Apostle Andrew in Patras.
• 63 Aristobulus consecrated as first bishop of Britain.
• 64-68 First of ten major persecutions of the early Church, under Emperor Nero.
• 66 Flight of the Christian community in Jerusalem to Pella and other places in the Decapolis, and Antioch.
• 67 Martyrdom of Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome; Apostle Linus elected first bishop of Rome.
• 69 Ignatius of Antioch consecrated bishop of Antioch.
• 70 Apostle Mark writes Gospel; Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Romans; expulsion of Christians from synagogues.
• 71 Apostle Mark introduces Christianity to Egypt.
• 80 Gospel of Luke written by the Apostle Luke; Titus dedicates Colosseum, site of the martyrdom of many early Christians.
• ca. 80-90 Didache written.
• 85 Acts of the Apostles written by Apostle Luke.
• 90 Council of Jamnia (Javneh) marks final separation and distinction between the Jewish and Christian communities, including rejection of the Septuagint widely then in use among the Hellenized Jewish diaspora.
• 95 Apostle John writes Book of Revelation.
• ca. 90-96 Persecution of Christians under Emperor Domitian (2nd).
• 96 Gospel of John written by Apostle John.
• ca. 100 Emergence of Christian Catacombs.
• 100 Death of Apostle John.
Ante-Nicene era (100-325)
• 107 Martyrdom of Ignatius of Antioch; death of Apostle Symeon.
• 108-124 Persecution under Emperor Trajan, continuing under Emepror Hadrian (3rd).
• 120 Beginning of time of the Apologists: Justin Martyr, Aristides, Tatian, Athenagoras of Athens, Theophilus, Minucius Felix, Tertullian and Quadratus.
• 124 Apostles Quadratus and Aristides present Christian apologies to Emperor Hadrian at Athens.
• 128 Aquila's Greek translation of the Old Testament.
• 130 Conversion of Justin Martyr.
• 132 Jews, led by Bar Kochba, whom some identify as the Messiah, revolt against Rome.
• 135 Christmas instituted as a feast day in Rome.
• 136 Emperor Hadrian crushes Jewish resistance, forbids Jews from returning Jerusalem, and changes city name to Aelia Capitolina; first recorded use of title Pope for the bishop of Rome by Pope Hyginus.
• 144 Excommunication of Marcion.
• 150 Justin Martyr describes Divine Liturgy.
• 155 Martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna.
• 156 Beginning of Montanism.
• 165 Martyrdom of Justin.
• 166 Pope Soter inaugurates in Rome a separate annual feast for Pascha, in addition to the weekly Sunday celebrations of the Resurrection, which is also held on a Sunday, in contrast to the Quartodecimans.
• ca. 175 Tatian's Diatessaron harmonizes the four canonical gospels into single narrative.
• 177-180 Persection under Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180) (4th).
• 180 Irenaeus of Lyons writes Against Heresies; Dyfan first martyr in British Isles.
• 180-192 Theodotion's Greek translation of the Old Testament.
• 193-211 Symmachus' Greek translation of the Old Testament.
• 197 Quartodeciman controversy.
• 200 Martyrdom of Irenaeus of Lyons.
• 202 Emperor Septimus Severus issues edict against Christianity and Judaism; Martyrdom of Haralampus of Magnesia.
• 202-210 Persecution under Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) (5th).
• 206 King Abgar IX converts Edessa to Christianity.
• ca. 209 Martyrdom of Alban in Britain.
• 210 Hippolytus of Rome, bishop and martyr and last of Greek-speaking fathers in Rome, writes Refutation of All Heresies (Philosophumena), and Apostolic Tradition.
• 215 Conversion of Tertullian to Montanism.
• 225 Death of Tertullian.
• ca. 225-250 Didascalia Apostolorum written.
• 227 Origen begins Commentary on Genesis, completes work on First Principles.
• 235-238 Persecution under Emperor Maximinus Thrax (6th); martyrdom of St. Hippolytus of Rome.
• 238 During reigns of Gordian and Philip the Arab Church preaches openly and increasingly attracts well-educated converts.
• ca. 240 Origen produces Hexapla.
• 244 Plotinus founds Neoplatonist school in Rome in opposition to Church.
• 246 Paul of Thebes becomes in Egypt first Christian hermit.
• 247 Rome celebrates thousandth anniversary, witnessing a period of increased persecution of Christians.
• 248 Origen writes Against Celsus that the Roman Empire was ordained by God.
• 249-251 Persecution under Emperor Decius (7th).
• 257-260 Persecution under Emperor Valerian (253-260) (8th).
• 258 Martyrdom of Cyprian of Carthage.
• 260 Paul of Samosata begins preaching against the divinity of Christ; Synod in Rome condemns Sabellianism and Subordinationism.
• 264 Excommunication of Paul of Samosata.
• 265 Homoousios used for first time by Modalist Monarchians of Cyrene.
• 274-275 Persecution under Emperor Aurelian (9th).
• 270 Death of Gregory Thaumaturgus; Porphyry of Tyre writes Against the Christians.
• 284 Diocletian becomes Roman emperor, persecutes Church and martyrs an estimated one million Christians; martyrdom of Cosmas and Damian, Andrew Stratelates ("the General") and 2,593 soldiers with him in Cilicia.
• 285 Anthony the Great flees to desert.
• 300 Christian population reaches about 6,200,000, or 10.5% of the population of the Roman Empire.
• 301 Gregory the Enlightener converts King Tiridates I of Armenia to the Christian faith.
• 302 20,000 Martyrs burned at Nicomedia.
• 303 Outbreak of the Great Persecution (303-311) (10th); martyrdom of George the Trophy-bearer.
• ca. 305-311 Lactantius writes Divinae Institutiones.
• ca. 306 Synod of Elvira requires clerical celibacy and sets severe disciplinary penalties for apostasy and adultery, becoming the pattern in the West.
• 308 Pope Marcellus opposes leniency for Christians who lapsed under persecution.
• 310 Armenia becomes first Christian nation; persecution of Christians under Persian King Shapur II (310-379).
• 311 Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in his part of the Roman Empire; Donatist rebellion in Carthage.
• 312 Vision and conversion of Constantine the Great; defeat of Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, making Constantine Emperor of the West; martyrdom of Lucian of Antioch.
• 313 Edict of Milan issued by Constantine the Great and co-emperor Licinius, officially declaring religious freedom in the Roman Empire.
• 314 Council of Ancyra held; Council of Arles condemns Donatism.
• 315 Council of Neo-Caesaria held.
• 318 Publication of On the Incarnation by Athanasius the Great; beginnings of Arian Controversy.
• 318 Pachomius the Great organizes a community of ascetics at Tabennis in Egypt, founding cenobitic monasticism.
• 320 Expulsion of Arius by Alexander of Alexandria; martyrdom of Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
• 320-21 Licinius' measures against Christians in the East enforced.
• 321 Constantine declares Sunday a holiday in honor of the Resurrection.
• 323 Constantine the Great builds church on the site of the martyrdom of Peter in Rome.
• 324 Constantine defeats Licinius and becomes sole emperor.
Nicene era (325-451)
• 325 First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea, condemning Arianism, setting the Paschalion, and issuing the first version of the Nicene Creed, also establishing the supremacy of honor of the Apostolic Sees as Rome, followed by Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
• 326 Discovery of the True Cross by the Empress Helena; King Miraeus of Georgia becomes Christian.
• 328 Athanasius the Great becomes bishop of Alexandria.
• 329 Athanasius ordains Frumentius (Abba Selama) to priesthood and commissions him to evangelize Ethiopia.
• 330 Byzantium refounded as Constantinople / New Rome, Christian capital of the Roman Empire, and is dedicated to the Theotokos by Emperor Constantine; Amoun and Macarius the Great found monasteries in the Egyptian desert.
• 336-338 Athanasius the Great goes into exile in Treves, telling Europeans about the monastic rule of Pachomius the Great, awakening interest in monasticism in Europe.
• 337 Death of Constantine.
• 340 Conversion of Wulfila to Arianism.
• 341 Council of Antioch held; Emperor Constans bans pagan sacrifices and magic rituals under penalty of death.
• 345 Death of Nicholas of Myra.
• 348 Death of Pachomius the Great and Spyridon of Trimythous.
• 350 Ninian establishes the church Candida Casa at Whithorn in Galloway, Scotland, beginning the missionary effort to the Picts.
• 351 Apparition of the Cross over Jerusalem.
• 355 Death of Nino of Cappadocia.
• 356 Death of Anthony the Great.
• 357 Council of Sirmium issues Blasphemy of Sirmium.
• 358 Basil the Great founds monastery of Annesos in Pontus, the model for Eastern monasticism.
• 359 Councils of Seleucia and Rimini.
• 360 Martin of Tours founds first French monastery at Liguge; first church of Hagia Sophia inaugurated by Emperor Constantius II.
• 362 Antiochian schism (362-414).
• 361-63 Julian the Apostate becomes Roman emperor and attempts to restore paganism.
• 363 Emperor Jovian reestablishes Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.
• 364 Council of Laodicea held.
• 367 Athanasius of Alexandria writes Paschal letter, listing for the first time the canon of the New Testament; death of Hilary of Poitiers.
• 373 Death of Athanasius the Great and Ephrem the Syrian.
• 374 Election of Ambrose as bishop of Milan.
• 375 Basil the Great writes On the Holy Spirit.
• 376 Visigoths convert to Arian Christianity.
• 379 Death of Basil the Great; Emperor Gratian's rescript Ordinariorum Sententias extends power of Bishop of Rome by allowing him authority over bishops within his own jurisdiction.
• 380 Christianity established as the official faith of the Roman Empire by Emperor Theodosius the Great; Council of Saragossa condemns Priscillianism.
• 381 Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, condemning Macedonianism/Pneumatomachianism and Apollinarianism, declaring the divinity of the Holy Spirit, confirming the previous Ecumenical Council, and completing the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed; Council of Aquileia led by Ambrose of Milan deposes Arian bishops.
• 382 Pope Siricius of Rome first to bear title Pontifex Maximus.
• 383 Death of Frumentius of Axum, bishop of Axum and Apostle to Ethiopia.
• 384 Council of Bordeaux condemns Priscillian.
• 385 Death of Gregory of Nyssa.
• 386 Death of Cyril of Jerusalem.
• 387 Augustine baptized by Ambrose of Milan.
• 391 Death of Gregory the Theologian.
• 391-92 Closing of all non-Christian temples in the Empire; Theodosius the Great ends pagan Eleusinian Mysteries by decree and causes surviving pagan sacrifices at Alexandria and Rome to cease.
• 392 Death of Macarius the Great.
• 393 Council of Hippo publishes Biblical canon; Emperor Theodosius bans Olympic Games as a pagan festival.
• 394 Epiphanius of Salamis attacks teachings of Origen as heretical; Council of Constantinople held; Donatist Council of Bagai in Africa held.
• 395 Augustine becomes bishop of Hippo in North Africa; placing of the cincture of the Theotokos in the Church of the Virgin in Halkoprateia-Constantinople.
• 395 Re-division of Empire with death of Emperor Theodosius the Great.
• 397 Council of Carthage publishes Biblical canon; death of Martin of Tours and Ambrose of Milan.
• 398 John Chrysostom becomes Archbishop of Constantinople.
• ca. 398 Martyrdom of 10,000 Fathers of the Scetis by Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria.
• 399 Anastasius of Rome and other bishops condemn doctrine of Origen.
• 401 Augustine of Hippo writes Confessions; Pope Innocent I of Rome supports John Chrysostom and condemns pelagianism.
• 402 Porphyry of Gaza obtains imperial decree ordering closing of pagan temples in Gaza.
• 403 Abduction of Patrick to Irelande; visit of Victricius of Rouen to Britain; Synod of the Oak held near Chalcedon, deposing and exiling John Chrysostom.
• 404 Martyrdom of Telemachus, resulting in Emperor Honorius' edict banning gladiator fights.
• 405 Translation of Holy Scriptures into Latin as the Vulgate by Jerome.
• 407 Death of John Chrysostom in exile.
• 410 Fall of Rome to the Visigoths under Alaric I; escape of Patrick back to Britain; Emperor Honorius tells Britain to attend to its own affairs, effectively removing the Roman presence.
• 410 Council of Seleucia declares Mesopotamian Nestorian bishops independent of Orthodox bishops.
• 411 Pelagius condemned at council in Carthage; Rabbula becomes bishop of Edessa.
• 412 Cyril succeeds his uncle Theophilus as Pope of Alexandria; Honorius outlaws Donatism; Bishops Lazarus of Aix-en-Provence and Herod of Arles expelled from sees on a charge of Manichaeism; Alexandrian Creation Era date finalized at 25 March, 5493 BC.
• 414 Resolution of Antiochian division.
• 415 Pelagius cleared at synod in Jerusalem and a provincial synod in Diospolis (Lydda); John Cassian founds convent at Marseilles.
• 416 Councils in Carthage and Milevis condemn Pelagius and convince Pope Innocent I of Rome to excommunicate him.
• 418 Foundation of the Arian Visigothic Kingdom, as Emperor Honorius rewards Visigoth federates by giving them land in Gallia Aquitania on which to settle.
• 418-24 Council in Carthage anathematizes Pelagianism by way of endorsing Augustinian anthropology.
• 426 Augustine of Hippo writes The City of God.
• 428 Nestorius becomes patriarch of Constantinople.
• 429 Pope Celestine I dispatches prominent Gallo-Roman Bishops Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to Britain as missionary bishops and to combat the Pelagian heresy; death of Sisoes the Great.
• 430 Peter the Iberian founds Georgian monastery near Bethlehem.
• 431 Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus, condemning Nestorianism and Pelagianism, confirming the use of the term Theotokos to refer to the Virgin Mary, and confirming autocephaly of Church of Cyprus; Pope Celestine sends Palladius to Ireland.
• 432 Return of Patrick to Ireland to begin missionary work; death of Ninian, Apostle to the Picts.
• 433 Formulary of Peace completes work of Third Ecumenical Council by reconciling Cyril of Alexandria with John of Antioch.
• 435 Death of John Cassian and Acacius of Melitene; Nestorius exiled by imperial edict to a monastery in a Sahara oasis.
• 438 Codex Theodosianus published.
• 439 Carthage falls to Vandals.
• 444 Death of Cyril of Alexandria; Pope Leo the Great abolishes Gallican vicariate.
• 445 Founding of monastery at Armagh in northern Ireland; Emperor Valentinian III issues decree recognizing primacy of the bishop of Rome.
• 447 Earthquake in Constantinople, when a boy was lifted up to heaven and heard the Trisagion.
• 449 Robber Synod of Ephesus, presided over by Dioscorus of Alexandria, with an order from the emperor to acquit Eutyches the Monophysite.
• 450 First monasteries established in Wales; death of Peter Chrysologus.
Byzantine era (451-843)
• 451 Fourth Ecumenical Council meets at Chalcedon, condemning Eutychianism and Monophysitism, affirming doctrine of two perfect and indivisible but distinct natures in Christ, and recognizing Church of Jerusalem as patriarchate.
• 452 Proterios of Alexandria convenes synod in Alexandria to reconcile Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians; second finding of the Head of John the Forerunner.
• 457 Victorius of Aquitania computes new Paschalion; first coronation of Byzantine Emperor by patriarch of Constantinople.
• 459 Death of Symeon the Stylite.
• 461 Death of Leo the Great and Patrick of Ireland.
• 462 Indiction moved to September 1; Studion Monastery founded.
• 466 Church of Antioch elevates bishop of Mtskheta to rank of Catholicos of Kartli, rendering the Church of Georgia autocephalous; death of Shenouda the Great, abbott of White Monastery in Egypt, considered the founder of Coptic Christianity.
• ca. 471 Patr. Acacius of Constantinople first called Oikoumenikos ("Ecumenical").
• 473 Death of Euthymius the Great.
• 475 Emperor Basiliscus issues letter to bishops of empire, supporting Monophysitism.
• 477 Timothy Aelurus of Alexandria exiles Chalcedonian bishops from Egypt.
• 482 Byzantine emperor Zeno I issues Henoticon.
• 484 Acacian Schism.
• 484 Founding of Mar Sabbas Monastery by Sabbas the Sanctified; Synod of Beth Lapat in Persia declares Nestorianism as official theology of Assyrian Church of the East, effectively separating the Assyrian church from the Byzantine church.
• 489 Emperor Zeno I closes Nestorian academy in Edessa, which was then transferred under Sassanian Persian auspices to Nisibis, becoming the spiritual center of the Assyrian Church of the East.
• 490 Brigid of Kildaire founds monastery of Kildare in Ireland.
• 494 Pope Gelasius I of Rome delineates relationship between Church and state in his letter Duo sunt, written to Emperor Anastasius I.
• 496 Remigius of Rheims baptizes Franks into Orthodox Christianity.
• ca. 500 Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite writes The Mystical Theology.
• 506 Church of Armenia separates from Chalcedonian Orthodoxy.
• 507 Clovis I defeats the Arian Visigoths at Battle of Vouillé near Poitiers, ending their power in Gaul.
• 518 Severus of Antioch deposed by Emperor Justin I for Monophysitism; Patr. John II of Constantinople is addressed as Oikoumenikos Patriarches ("Ecumenical Patriarch").
• 519 Eastern and Western churches reconciled with end of Acacian Schism.
• 521 Birth of Columba of Iona.
• 527 Dionysius Exiguus calculates the date of birth of Jesus incorrectly; foundation of St. Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai peninsula by Justinian the Great.
• 529 Pagan University of Athens closed and replaced by Christian university in Constantinople; Benedict of Nursia founds monastery of Monte Cassino and codifies Western monasticism; Council of Orange condemns Pelagianism; death of Theodosius the Great.
• 529-534 Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis issued.
• 530 Brendan the Navigator lands in Newfoundland, Canada, establishing a short-lived community of Irish monks.
• 532 Justinian the Great orders building of Hagia Sophia; death of Sabbas the Sanctified.
• 533 Mercurius elected Pope of Rome and takes the name of John II, first pope to change name upon election.
• 534 Roman Empire destroys the Arian kingdom of Vandals.
• 536 Mennas of Constantinople summons a synod anathematizing Severus of Antioch.
• 537 Construction of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople completed.
• 538 Emperor Justinian the Great, via deportations and force, manages to get all five patriarchates offcially into communion.
• 539 Ravenna becomes exarchate of Byzantine Empire.
• 541 Jacob Baradeus organizes the Non-Chalcedonian Church in western Syria (the "Jacobites"), which spreads to Armenia and Egypt.
• 543 Doctrine of apokatastasis condemned by Synod of Constantinople.
• 544 Jacob Baradeus consecrates Sergius of Tella as bishop of Antioch, opening the lasting schism between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Chalcedonian Church of Antioch; founding of the monastery at Clonmacnoise in Ireland by Ciaran.
• 545 David of Wales moves primatial see of Britain from Caerleon to Menevia (St. Davids's).
• 546 Columba founds monastery of Derry in Ireland.
• 547 David of Wales does obeisance to the Patriarch of Jerusalem.
• 553 Fifth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in an attempt to reconcile Chalcedonians with non-Chalcedonians— Three Chapters of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa are condemned for their Nestorianism, and Origen and his writings are also condemned.
• 553 Bishops of Aquileia, Milan, Venetia and the Istrian peninsula in Italy all refuse to condemn the Three Chapters, causing Schism of the Three Chapters in those areas, leading to independence of Patriarch of Venice from Patriarch of Aquileia; Ostrogoth kingdom conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.
• 554 Church of Armenia officially breaks with West in 554, during the second Council of Dvin where the dyophysite formula of Chalcedon was rejected.
• 556 Columba founds monastery of Durrow in Ireland; death of Roman the Melodist.
• 557 Brendan the Navigator founds monastery at Clonfert, Ireland.
• 563 Columba arrives on Iona and establishes monastery there, founding mission to the Picts.
• 569 Final schism between Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians in Egypt; David of Wales holds Synod of Victoria to re-assert anti-Pelagian decrees of Brefi.
• 576 Dual hierarchy henceforth in Alexandria, Chalcedonian (Greek) and Monophysite (Coptic).
• 577 Patr. John III Scholasticus is responible for the first collection of Canon Law, the Nomocanon, of the Orthodox Church.
• 579 400 Martyrs slain by Lombards in Sicily.
• 580 Monte Cassino sacked by Lombards, sending its monks fleeing to Rome; Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkans and Greece.
• 587 Visigoth King Reccared renounces Arianism in favor of Orthodoxy.
• 589 Council of Toledo adds Filioque to Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in an attempt to combat Arianism.
• 590 Columbanus founds monasteries in France.
• 593 Anastasius the Sinaite restored as Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.
• 596 Gregory the Dialogist sends Augustine along with forty other monks to southern Britain to convert pagans.
• 597 Death of Columba of Iona.
• 598 Glastonbury Abbey founded.
• ca. 600 The Ladder of Divine Ascent written by John Climacus; Gregory the Dialogist inspires development of Gregorian Chant through his liturgical reforms.
• 601 Augustine of Canterbury converts King Ethelbert of Kent and establishes see of Canterbury.
• 602 Augustine of Canterbury meets with Welsh bishops to bring them under Canterbury.
• 604 Mellitus becomes first bishop of London and founds first St. Paul's Cathedral; death of Gregory the Dialogist.
• 605 Death of Augustine of Canterbury.
• 610 Heraclius changes official language of the Empire from Latin to Greek, already the lingua franca of the vast majority of the population.
• 612 Holy Sponge and Holy Lance brought to Constantinople from Palestine.
• 614 Persians sack Jerusalem under Chosroes II of Persia; Church of the Holy Sepulchre damaged by fire, True Cross captured, and over 65,000 Christians in Jerusalem massacred.
• 615 Death of Columbanus in Italy.
• 617 Persian Army conquers Chalcedon after a long siege.
• 626 Akathist Hymn to the Virgin Mary written.
• 627 Emperor Heraclius defeats Sassanid Persians at Battle of Nineveh, recovering True Cross and breaking Sassanid power.
• 630 Second Elevation of the Holy Cross.
• 633 Death of Modestus of Jerusalem.
• 635 Founding of Lindisfarne Monastery by Aidan; Cynegils, king of Wessex, converts to Christianity.
• 636 Capture of Jerusalem by Muslim Arabs after Battle of Yarmuk.
• 640 Muslim conquest of Syria; Battle of Heliopolis between Arab Muslim armies and Byzantium opens door for Muslim conquest of Byzantine Exarchate of Africa.
• 641 Capture of Alexandria by Muslim Arabs.
• 642 Muslim conquest of Egypt.
• 646 Alexandria recaptured by Muslim Arabs after Byzantine attempt to retake Egypt fails, ending nearly ten centuries of Greco-Roman civilization in Egypt.
• 648 Pope Theodore I of Rome excommunicates patriarch Paul II of Constantinople.
• 649 Arabs invade and conquer Cyprus.
• 650 Final defeat of Arianism as Lombards convert to Orthodoxy.
• 653 Pope Martin the Confessor arrested on orders of Byzantine Emperor Constans II.
• 654 Invasion of Rhodes by Arabs.
• 655 Martyrdom of Martin the Confessor.
• 657 Founding of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, England.
• 662 Death of Maximus the Confessor.
• 663 Emperor Constans II is last Eastern emperor to set foot in Rome; Constans II declares Pope of Rome to have no jurisdiction over Archbishop of Ravenna, since that city was the seat of the exarch, his immediate representative.
• 664 Synod of Whitby held in northern England, adopting Roman calendar and tonsures in Northumbria; Ionian monk Wilfrid appointed as Archbishop of York.
• 669-78 First Arab siege of Constantinople; at Battle of Syllaeum Arab fleet destroyed by Byzantines through use of Greek Fire, ending immediate Arab threat to eastern Europe.
• 670 Composition of Caedmon's Hymn by Caedmon of Whitby.
• 672 First Synod of Hertford called by Theodore of Tarsus, adopting of ten decrees paralleling the canons of the Council of Chalcedon.
• 673 Second Council of Hatfield upholds Orthodoxy against Monothelitism.
• 680-681 Sixth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, condemning Monothelitism and affirming Christology of Maximus the Confessor, affirming that Christ has both a human will and a divine will; Patr. Sergius I of Constantinople and Pope Honorius of Rome are both explicitly anathematized for their support of Monothelitism.
• 682 Foundation of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey in England.
• 685 First monastics come to Mount Athos; death of Anastasius of Sinai.
• 685 John Maron elected first Maronite patriarch, founding the Maronite Catholic Church, which embraced Monothelitism, rejected the teaching of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, and separated from the Orthodox Church.
• 687 Destruction of Whitby Abbey by Danish Vikings; death of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne.
• 688 Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik sign treaty neutralizing Cyprus.
• ca. 690 Witenagamot of England forbids church appeals to Rome.
• 691 Dome of the Rock completed in Jerusalem.
• 692 Quinisext Council (also called the Penthekte Council or Council in Trullo) held in Constantinople, issuing canons completing the work of the Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils, and declaring the Church of Jerusalem to be a patriarchate.
• 694 Byzantine army of Justinian II defeated by Maronites, who became fully independent.
• 697 Council of Birr accepts Roman Paschalion for northern Ireland; at this synod, Adomnán of Iona promulgates his Cáin Adomnáin.
• 698 Muslim conquest of Carthage; at Synod of Aquileia, bishops of the diocese of Aquileia end the Schism of the Three Chapters and return to communion with Rome.
• ca. 700 Death of Isaac of Syria.
• 707 Death of John Maron.
• 710 Pope Constantine makes last papal visit to Constantinople before 1967.
• 712 Death of Andrew of Crete.
• ca. 715 Lindisfarne Gospels produced in Northumbria (Northern England).
• 715 Grand Mosque of Damascus built over the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist; Al-Aqsa Mosque constructed over site of Church of St. Mary of Justinian; Pictish King Nechtan invites Northumbrian clergy to establish Christianity amongst the Picts.
• 716 Monastery at Iona conforms to Roman liturgical usage; Boniface's first missionary journey to Frisia.
• 717 Pictish king Nechtan expels monks from Iona.
• 717-18 Second Arab siege of Constantinople.
• 719 Nubian Christians transfer allegiance from Chalcedonian church to Coptic church.
• 723 Boniface fells Thor's Oak near Fritzlar.
• 726 Iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian starts campaign against icons.
• 730 Leo the Isaurian orders destruction of all icons, beginning the First Iconoclastic Period.
• 731 Bede completes Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
• 732 Muslim invasion of Europe stopped by Franks at Battle of Tours, establishing a balance of power between Western Europe, Islam and the Byzantine Empire.
• 733 Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian withdraws the Balkans, Sicily and Calabria from the jurisdiction of the Pope in response to Pope Gregory III of Rome's support of a revolt in Italy against iconoclasm.
• 734 Egbert becomes bishop of York, founding a library and making the city a renowned centre of learning.
• 735 Death of Bede; See of York achieves archepiscopal status.
• 739 Emperor Leo III (717-41) publishes his Ecloga , designed to introduce Christian principle into law; death of Willibrord.
• 742 After a forty-year vacancy, Stephen IV becomes Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, at the suggestion of Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.
• 747 Witenagamot of England again forbids appeals to the Roman Pope; Council of Clovesho I adopts Roman calendar, observance of the feasts of Gregory the Great and Augustine of Canterbury, and adopts the Rogation Days.
• 749 Death of John of Damascus.
• 750 Donation of Constantine accepted as a legitimate document, used by Pope Stephen II to prove territorial and jurisdictional claims.
• 751 Lombard king Aistulf captures Ravenna and the Romagna, ending Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna.
• 752 Death of Pope Zacharias of Rome.
• 754 Iconoclastic Council held in Constantinople under the authority of Emperor Constantine V Copronymus, condemning icons and declaring itself to be the Seventh Ecumenical Council; Constantine begins dissolution of monasteries.
• 754 Death of Boniface.
• 756 Donation of Pepin cedes lands including Ravenna that became basis of Papal States.
• 768 Wales adopts Orthodox Paschalion and other decrees of the Synod of Whitby at teaching of Elfoddw of Gwynedd.
• 769 Pope Stephen III of Rome holds a council changing papal election procedure and confirming veneration of icons.
• 772 Charlemagne starts fighting Saxons and Frisians; Saxony is subdued and converted to Christianity.
• 781 King Charlemagne of the Franks summons Alcuin of York to head palace school at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) to inspire revival of education in Europe.
• 785 Synod of Cealchythe erects the Archbishopric of Lichfield.
• 787 Seventh Ecumenical Council held in Nicea, condemning iconoclasm and affirming veneration of icons; two councils held in England, one in the north at Pincanhale, and the other in the south at Chelsea, reaffirming the faith of the first Six Ecumenical Councils (the decrees of the Seventh having not yet been received), and establishing a third archbishopric at Lichfield.
• 792 Synod of Regensburg condemned Adoptionism.
• 793 Sack of Lindisfarne Priory, beginning Viking attacks on England.
• 794 Charlemagne convenes council in Frankfurt-in-Main, rejecting decrees of Seventh Ecumenical Council and inserting Filioque into Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
• 800 Charlemagne crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Leo III of Rome on Christmas day, marking the break of Frankish civilization away from the Orthodox Christian Roman Empire; Book of Kells produced in Ireland.
• 800 Ambassadors of Caliph Harunu al-Rashid give keys to the Holy Sepulchre to Charlemagne, acknowledging some Frankish control over the interests of Christians in Jerusalem ; establishment of the Western Rite Monastery of Saint Mary in Jerusalem.
• 801 Controversy in Jerusalem over Frankish pilgrims using Filioque.
• 803 Council of Clovesho II abolishes archbishopric of Lichfield, restoring the pattern of the two metropolitan archbishoprics (Canterbury and York) which had prevailed before 787, and requires the use of the Western Rite amongst the English speaking peoples.
• 810 Pope Leo III bans use of Filioque.
• 814 Conflict between Emperor Leo V and Patr. Nicephorus over iconoclasm; Leo deposes Nicephorus, Nicephorus excommunicates Leo.
• 826 Ansgar arrives in Denmark and begins preaching; King Harald Klak of Denmark converts to Christianity.
• 828 Death of Patr. Nicephorus I of Constantinople.
• ca. 829-842 Icon of the Panagia Portaitissa appears on Mount Athos near Iviron Monastery.
• 836 Death of Theodore the Studite.
Late Byzantine era (843-1054)
• 843 Triumph of Orthodoxy occurs on first Sunday of Great Lent, restoring icons to churches.
• 850 Third Finding of the head of John the Forerunner.
• 852 Ansgar founds churches at Hedeby and Ribe in Denmark.
• 858 Photius the Great becomes patriarch of Constantinople.
• ca. 860 Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate.
• 861 Cyril and Methodius depart from Constantinople to missionize the Slavs; Council of Constantinople attended by 318 fathers and presided over by papal legates confirms Photius the Great as patriarch and passes 17 canons.
• 862 Rastislav of Moravia converts to Christianity.
• 863 First translations of Biblical and liturgical texts into Church Slavonic by Cyril and Methodius.
• 863 Venetians steal relics of Apostle Mark from Alexandria.
• 864 Baptism of Prince Boris of Bulgaria; Synaxis of the Theotokos in Miasena in memory of the return of her icon.
• 865 Bulgaria under Khan Boris I converts to Orthodox Christianity.
• 866 Vikings raid and capture York in England.
• 867 Council in Constantinople held, presided over by Photius, which anathematizes Pope Nicholas I of Rome for his attacks on work of Greek missionaries in Bulgaria and use by papal missionaries of Filioque; Pope Nicholas dies before hearing news of excommunication; Basil the Macedonian has Emperor Michael III murdered and usurps Imperial throne, reinstating Ignatius as patriarch of Constantinople.
• 867 Death of Kassiani, Greek-Byzantine poet and hymnographer, who composed the Hymn of Kassiani, chanted during Holy Week on Holy Wednesday.
• 869-870 Robber Council of 869-870 held, deposing Photius the Great from the Constantinopolitan see and putting the rival claimant Ignatius on the throne, declaring itself to be the "Eighth Ecumenical Council."
• 870 Conversion of Serbia; death of Rastislav of Moravia; martyrdom of Edmund, King of East Anglia.
• 877 Death of Ignatius of Constantinople, who appoints Photius to succeed him.
• 878 King Alfred the Great of Wessex defeats Vikings; the Treaty of Wedmore divides England between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes (the Danelaw).
• 879-880 Eighth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople attended by 383 fathers passing 3 canons, confirms Photius as Patriarch of Constantinople, anathematizes additions to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and declares that the prerogatives and jurisdiction of the Roman pope and the Constantinopolitan patriarch are essentially equal; the council is reluctantly accepted by Pope John VIII of Rome.
• 885 Mount Athos gains political autonomy.
• 885 Death of Methodius.
• 886 Glagolitic alphabet, (now called Old Church Slavonic) adopted in Bulgarian Empire; St Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, captures London from the Danes.
• 910 Benedictine Abbey of Cluny founded in France.
• 899 Death of Alfred the Great.
• 911 Holy Protection of the Virgin Mary.
• 912 Normans become Christian; Nicholas I Mysticus becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.
• 927 Church of Bulgaria recognized as autocephalous by Constantinople.
• 931 Abbott Odo of Cluny reforms monasteries in Aquitaine, northern France, and Italy, starting the Cluniac Reform movement within the Benedictine order, focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art and caring for the poor.
• 935 Martyrdom of Wenceslas, prince of the Czechs.
• 944 City of Edessa recovered by Byzantine army, including Icon Not Made By Hands.
• 945 Dunstan becomes Abbot of Glastonbury.
• 957 Olga of Kiev baptized in Constantinople.
• 960 Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas re-captures Crete for Byzantines; Dunstan becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, reforming monasteries and enforcing rule of Benedict.
• 962 Denmark becomes Christian nation with baptism of King Harald Blaatand ("Bluetooth"); Holy Roman Empire formed, with Pope John XII crowning Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor.
• 963 Athanasius of Athos establishes first major monastery on Mount Athos, the Great Lavra.
• 965 Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas gains Cyprus completely for the Byzantines.
• 969 Death of Olga of Kiev; Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas captures Antioch and Aleppo from Arabs.
• 972 Emperor John I Tzimiskes grants Mount Athos its first charter (Typikon).
• 973 Moravia assigned to the Diocese of Prague, putting the West Slavic tribes under jurisdiction of German church.
• 975 Emperor John I Tzimiskes in a Syrian campaign takes Emesa, Baalbek, Damascus, Tiberias, Nazareth, Caesarea, Sidon, Beirut, Byblos and Tripoli, but fails to take Jerusalem.
• 978 Death of King Edward the Martyr.
• 980 Revelation of the Axion Estin (the hymn "It Is Truly Meet"), with the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.
• 980-5 The Western Rite Monastery of Amalfion is founded on Mount Athos.
• 987 Sixth Rus-Byzantine War, where Vladimir of Kiev dispatches troops to the Byzantine Empire to assist Emperor Basil II with an internal revolt, agreeing to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith.
• 988 'Baptism of Rus' begins with the conversion of Vladimir of Kiev who is baptized at Chersonesos, the birthplace of the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches; Vladimir marries Anna, sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II.
• 992 Death of Michael, first Metropolitan of Kiev.
• 995 Olaf of Norway proclaims Norway to be a Christian kingdom.
• 1000 Conversion of Greenland and Iceland.
• 1008 Conversion of Sweden.
• 1009 Patr. Sergius II of Constantinople removes name of Pope Sergius IV of Rome from diptychs of Constantinople, because the pope had written a letter to the patriarch including the Filioque.
• 1009 Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, founder of the Druze.
• 1012 Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah issues oppressive decrees against Jews and Christians including the destruction of all Christian and Jewish houses of worship.
• 1014 Filioque used for first time in Rome by Pope Benedict VIII at coronation of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1015 Death of Vladimir of Kiev.
• 1017 Danish king Canute converts to Christianity.
• 1022 Death of Simeon the New Theologian.
• 1027 Frankish protectorate over Christian interests in Jerusalem is replaced by a Byzantine protectorate, which begin reconstruction of Holy Sepulchre.
• 1034 Patriarch Alexius I Studites writes the first complete Studite Typikon, for a monastery he established near Constantinople; this was the Typikon introduced into the Rus' lands by Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.
• 1036 Byzantine Emperor Michael IV makes a truce with the Caliph of Egypt to allow rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Byzantine masons; Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Emperor sent to protect pilgrims.
• 1043 Edward the Confessor crowned King of England at Winchester Cathedral.
• 1045-50 Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Novgorod built, the oldest Orthodox church building in Russia, executed in an architectural style more austere than the Byzantine, reminiscent of the Romanesque.
• 1048 Re-consecration of Holy Sepulchre.
• 1051 Monastery of the Kiev Caves founded.
Post-Roman Schism (1054-1453)
• 1054 Cardinal Humbert excommunicates Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, a major centerpoint in the formation of the Great Schism between East and West; First Letter of Michael Cerularius to Peter of Antioch.
• 1059 Errors of Berengar of Tours condemned in Rome; term transubstantiation begins to come in to use, ascribed to Peter Damian.
• 1064 Seljuk Turks storm Anatolia taking Caesarea and Ani, conquering Armenia.
• 1066 Normans invade England flying banner of Pope of Rome, defeating King Harold of England at Battle of Hastings.
• 1066-1171 Beginning reformation of English church and society to align with Latin continental ecclesiology and politics.
• 1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, beginning Islamification of Asia Minor; Norman princes led by Robert Guiscard capture Bari, the last Byzantine stronghold in Italy, bringing to an end over five centuries of Byzantine rule in the south.
• 1073 Hildebrand becomes Pope Gregory VII and launches the Gregorian reforms (celibacy of the clergy, primacy of papacy over empire, right of Pope to depose emperors); Seljuk Turks conquer Ankara.
• 1074 Death of Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.
• 1075 Dictatus Papae document advances Papal supremacy.
• 1077 The Seljuk Turks capture Jerusalem and kill 3,000 citizens; Seljuks capture Nicea.
• 1084 Antioch is captured by the Seljuk Turks.
• 1088 Founding of monastery of John the Theologian on Patmos; election of Pope Urban II, a prominent member of the Cluniac Reform movement .
• 1095 Launching of the First Crusade.
• 1098 Anselm of Canterbury completes Cur Deus homo, marking a radical divergence of Western theology of the atonement from that of the East.
• 1098 Crusaders capture Antioch.
• 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem founding the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and other crusader states known collectively as "Outremer."
• 1108 Death of Nicetas of Kiev Caves, Bishop of Novgorod.
• ca. 1131-45 Coptic Pope of Alexandria Gabriel II initiates addition of Arabic as a liturgical language with his Arabic translation of the Liturgy.
• 1144 Second Crusade; Muslims take Christian stronghold of Edessa.
• 1149 Crusaders begin to renovate Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Romanesque style, adding a bell tower.
• 1159 John of Salisbury authors Policraticus, a treatise on government drawing from the Bible, the Codex Justinianus, and arguing for Divine Right of Kings.
• 1170 Miracle of the weeping icon of the Theotokos "of the Sign" at Novgorod; Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland; city of Dublin captured by the Roman Catholic Normans.
• 1176 Sultanate of Rum defeats Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Myriokephalon, marking end of Byzantine attempts to recover Anatolian plateau; Al-Adil I, Muslim ruler of Egypt, suppresses a revolt by Christian Copts in city of Qift, hanging nearly 3,000 of them.
• 1180 Last formal acceptance of Latins to communion at an Orthodox altar in Antioch.
• 1182 Maronites, who assisted the Crusaders during the Crusades, reaffirm their affiliation with Rome in 1182; dedication of Monreale Cathedral in Sicily, containing the largest cycle of Byzantine mosaics extant in Italy.
• 1186 Byzantine Empire recognizes independence of Bulgaria and Serbia.
• 1187 Saladin retakes Jerusalem after destroying crusader army at Battle of Hattin, and returns Christian holy places to Orthodox Church.
• 1189 Third Crusade led by King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England, King Philip Augustus II of France, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
• ca. 1189 Ethiopian Emperor Gebre Mesqel Lalibela orders construction of Lalibela.
• 1204 Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople, laying waste to the city and stealing many relics and other items; Great Schism generally regarded as having been completed by this act; Theodore I Lascaris establishes the Empire of Nicaea.
• ca.1207 Stephen Langton divides the Bible into the defined modern chapters in use today.
• ca.1220 English Bp. Richard Le Poore is said to have been responsible for the final form of the "Use of Sarum", which had the sterling reputation of being the best liturgy anywhere in the West.
• 1228 Sixth Crusade results in 10-year treaty starting in 1229 between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Egyptian sultan; Jerusalem ceded to Franks, along with a narrow corridor to the coast, as well as Nazareth, Sidon, Jaffa and Bethlehem.
• 1231 Papal Inquisition initiated by Pope Gregory IX, charged with suppressing heresy.
• 1235 Death of Sava of Serbia.
• 1237 Golden Horde begin subjugation of Russia.
• 1240 Mongols sack Kiev; Prince Alexander Nevsky defeats Swedish army at Battle of the Neva.
• 1242 Alexander Nevsky's Novgorodian force defeats Teutonic Knights in Battle of Lake Peipus, a major defeat for the Catholic crusaders.
• 1244 Jerusalem conquered and razed by Khwarezmian mercenaries (Oghuz Turks) serving under the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt Salih Ayyub, triggering Seventh Crusade.
• 1247 Ayyubids conquer Jerusalem, driving out the Khwarezmian Turks.
• 1258 Michael VIII Palaiologos seizes the throne of the Nicaean Empire, founding the last Roman (Byzantine) dynasty, beginning reconquest of Greek peninsula from Latins.
• 1259 Byzantines defeat Latin Principality of Achaea at the Battle of Pelagonia, marking the beginning of the Byzantine recovery of Greece.
• ca. 1259-80 Martyrdom by Latins of monks of Iveron Monastery.
• 1260 Subjugation of Church of Cyprus to the Roman Catholic Church.
• 1261 End of Latin occupation of Constantinople and restoration of Orthodox patriarchs; Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos makes Mystras seat of the new Despotate of Morea, where a Byzantine renaissance occurred.
• 1268 Egyptian Mamelukes capture Antioch.
• 1269 Orthodox patriarch returns to Antioch after a 171-year exile and usurpation by Latin patriarch.
• 1274 Second Council of Lyons held, proclaiming union between the Orthodox East and the Roman Catholic West, but generally unaccepted in the East.
• 1275 Unionist Patriarch of Constantinople John XI Beccus elected to replace Patriarch Joseph I Galesiotes, who opposed Council of Lyons; 26 martyrs of Zographou monastery on Mt. Athos, martyred by the Latins.
• ca. 1280 Kebra Nagast ("Book of the Glory of Kings") compiled, a repository of Ethiopian national and religious feelings.
• 1281 Pope Martin IV authorizes a Crusade against the newly re-established Byzantine Empire in Constantinople, excommunicating Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and the Greeks and renouncing the union of 1274; French and Venetian expeditions set out toward Constantinople but are forced to turn back in the following year due to the Sicilian Vespers.
• 1291 Fall of Acre; end of crusading in Holy Land.
• 1298 Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Pope Gregory I are named collectively as the first Great Doctors of the Western Church.
• 1302 Papal Bull Unam Sanctum issued by Pope Boniface VIII proclaims Papal supremacy.
• 1326 Metr. Peter moves his see from Kiev to Vladimir and then to Moscow.
• 1332 Amda Syon, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces, allowing for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas.
• 1336 Meteora in Greece established as a center of Orthodox monasticism.
• 1338 Gregory Palamas writes Triads in Defense of the Holy Hesychasts, defending the Orthodox practice of hesychast spirituality and the use of the Jesus Prayer.
• 1340 Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra founded by Sergius of Radonezh.
• 1341-51 Three sessions of the Ninth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, affirming hesychastic theology of Gregory Palamas and condemning rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of Calabria.
• 1342 Patriarchate of Antioch transferred to Damascus under Ignatius II.
• 1349 Prince Stephen Dushan of Serbia assumes the title of Tsar (Caesar); principality of Galicia (Halitsh) comes under Polish control.
• 1354 Ottoman Turks make first settlement in Europe at Gallipoli.
• 1359 Death of Gregory Palamas.
• 1360 Death of John Koukouzelis the Hymnographer.
• 1379 Western Great Schism ensues, including simultaneous reign of three Popes of Rome.
• ca. 1380 English Church reformer John Wyclif writes that the true faith is preserved only in the East, "among the Greeks."
• 1382-95 First English Bible translated by John Wyclif.
• 1383 Stephen of Perm, missionary to Zyrians, consecrated bishop; appearance of Theotokos of Tikhvin icon.
• 1385 Kreva Agreement provides for conversion of Lithuanian nobles and all pagan Lithuanians to Roman Catholicism, joining Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Kingdom of Poland through a dynastic union.
• 1387 Lithuania converts to Roman Catholicism, while most Ruthenian lands (Belarus and Ukraine) remain Orthodox.
• 1389 Serbs defeated by Ottoman Turks of Sultan Murad I at the battle of Kosovo Polje; death of Lazar, prince of Serbia.
• 1390 Ottomans take Philadelphia, last significant Byzantine enclave in Anatolia.
• 1391-98 Ottoman Turks unsuccessfully besiege Constantinople for the first time.
• 1410 Iconographer Andrei Rublev paints his most famous icon depicting the three angels who appeared to Abraham and Sarah, the angels being considered a type of the Holy Trinity.
• 1414-18 Council of Constance in Roman Catholic Church represents high point for Conciliar Movement over authority of pope.
• 1417 End of Western Great Schism at the Council of Constance.
• 1418 Latin monk Thomas à Kempis authors The Imitation of Christ.
• 1422 Second unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Constantinople.
• 1423-24 Council of Siena in the Roman Catholic Church was the high point of conciliarism, emphasizing the leadership of the bishops gathered in council, but the conciliarism expressed there was later branded as a heresy.
• 1439 Ecclesiastical reunion with West attempted at Council of Florence, where only Mark of Ephesus refuses to capitulate to demands of delegates from Rome.
• 1440-41 Encyclical Letter of Mark of Ephesus.
• 1444 Donation of Constantine proved forgery.
• 1448 Church of Russia unilaterally declares its independence from the Church of Constantinople.
• 1452 Unification of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches in Hagia Sophia on West's terms, when Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, under pressure from Rome, allows the union to be proclaimed.
• 1453 Constantinople falls to invasion of the Ottoman Turks, ending Roman Empire; Hagia Sophia turned into a mosque; martyrdom of Constantine XI Palaiologos, last of the Byzantine Emperors; many Greek scholars escape to the West with books that become translated into Latin, triggering the Renaissance.
Post-Imperial era (1453-1821)
• 1455 Gutenberg makes first printed Bible.
• 1455-56 Confession of Faith by Patr. Gennadius of Constantinople.
• 1456-1587 Byzantine Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1492 Millennialist movements in Moscow, due to end of church calendar (year 7,000, according to the Byzantine Date of Creation).
• 1503 Possessor and Non-Possessor controversy.
• 1516 Desiderius Erasmus publishes "Textus Receptus" of New Testament on the basis of six late manuscripts of the Byzantine text-type.
• 1517 Maximus the Greek invited to Russia to translate Greek service books and correct Russian ones; Ottomans conquer Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria.
• 1526 Non-Possessors attack Tsar Vassily III for divorcing his wife and are driven underground.
• 1529 First Ottoman Siege of Vienna, marking Ottoman Empire's apex and end of Ottoman expansion in central Europe.
• 1551 Council of the Hundred Chapters in Russia.
• 1555 Abp. Gurian begins mission to Kazan.
• 1557 Death of Basil the Blessed.
• 1568 Pope Pius V recognizes four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Athanasius.
• 1569 Union of Lublin unites Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, placing the Ruthenian Orthodox lands of Belarus, and modern Ukraine under direct Roman Catholic rule.
• 1571 Restoration of Church of Cyprus to Orthodox rule.
• 1573-81 Correspondence of Patr. Jeremias II of Constantinople with Lutherans.
• 1575 Church of Constantinople grants autonomy to Church of Sinai.
• 1582 Institution of the Gregorian Calendar by Pope Gregory XIII.
• 1583 Sigillion of 1583 issued against Gregorian Calendar by council convened in Constantinople.
• 1587-Present. The relatively modest Church of St George in the Phanar district of Istanbul becomes the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1589 Autocephaly and canonical territory of Church of Russia recognized, as Patr. Jeremias II of Constantinople raises Metr. Job of Moscow to the rank of Patriarch of Moscow and of All Russia.
• 1596 Union of Brest-Litovsk, several million Ukrainian and Byelorussian Orthodox Christians, living under Polish rule, leave the Church of Constantinople and recognize the Pope of Rome, without giving up their Byzantine liturgy and customs, creating the Uniate church.
• ca. 1600-1700 Conversion of Albania to Islam mainly through discriminatory tax system, the Djize.
• 1625 Confession of Faith by Metrophanes Kritopoulos written.
• 1627 Pope Cyril Lucaris of Alexandria presents Codex Alexandrinus to King Charles I of England for safe keeping.
• 1633 Ethiopian emperor Fasilides expels Jesuits and other Roman Catholic missionaries from Ethiopia.
• 1642 Council of Jassy (Iaþi) revises Peter Mogila's confession to remove overtly Roman Catholic theology and confirms canonicity of certain deuterocanonical books.
• 1646 Union of Uzhhorod joins 63 Ruthenian Orthodox priests from the Carpathian Mountains to Roman Catholic Church on terms similar to Union of Brest.
• 1652-1658 Patriarch Nikon of Moscow revises liturgical books to bring them into conformity with the Greek liturgical customs, leading to mass excommunication and schism of dissenters, who become known as Old Believers.
• 1672 Synod of Jerusalem convened by Patr. Dositheos Notaras, refuting article by article the Calvinistic confession of Cyril Lucaris, defining Orthodoxy relative to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, and defining the Orthodox Biblical canon; acts of this council are later signed by all five patriarchates (including Russia).
• 1682 The Sabaite Typikon was published in its final form in Russia; from 1682 to 1888 the Greek and Russian Churches shared a common Typikon.
• 1685-87 The Slavic Greek Latin Academy is organized as the first higher education establishment in Moscow, under the guidance of two Greek brothers, Joannicus and Sophronius Likhud, on the premises of the Zaikonospassky Monastery with over 70 students.
• 1685 Orthodoxy introduced in Beijing by Church of Russia.
• 1698 Consecration of the first Orthodox Church in China, in the name of Sophia (Divine Wisdom), when Emperor Kangxi ordered a Buddhist temple to be cleared for Russian inhabitants in Beijing.
• 1700 The Creation Era calendar in Russia, in use since AD 988 was changed to the Julian Calendar by Peter the Great; Peter the Great published an Ukase on June 18th that made a resounding appeal for the propagation of the faith in Siberia and China.
• 1700-02 Submission of the dioceses of Lemberg (Lviv) and Luzk (Lutsk) in the Galician area of Ukraine to Roman Catholic Church completes Union of Brest-Litovsk, so that two-thirds of the Orthodox in western Ukraine had become Greek Catholic.
• 1715 Metr. Arsenios of Thebaid sent to England by Pope Samuel of Alexandria to negotiate with Non-Juror Anglican bishops.
• 1715-1956 Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in China.
• 1716-25 Correspondence of Ecumenical Patriarch and Russian Czar with English Non-Jurors.
• 1721 Czar Peter I of Russia replaces Russian patriarchate with a ruling holy synod.
• 1724 Melkite schism, in which many faithful from the Church of Antioch become Uniates.
• 1728 The Ecumenical Patriarchate formally replaced the Creation Era (AM) calendar with the Christian Era (AD).
• 1731 Death of Innocent of Irkutsk.
• 1754 Hesychast Renaissance begins with the Kollyvades Movement.
• 1755 Synod of Constantinople declares Roman Catholic baptism invalid and ordered baptism of converts from Roman Catholicism.
• 1756 Sigillion of 1756 issued against the Gregorian Calendar by Patr. Cyril V of Constantinople.
• 1767 Ottoman Empire legally divides Church of the Holy Sepulchre among claimants.
• 1767-1815 Suppression of the Jesuits in Roman Catholic countries, subsequently finding refuge in Orthodox nations, particularly in Russia.
• 1768 Jews are massacred during riots in Russia-occupied Poland.
• ca. 1770 About 1,200 Kiev region Uniate churches return to Orthodoxy under political pressure from Russia.
• 1774 Russia and Ottoman Empire sign treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji, bringing Russia for the first time into the Mediterranean as the acknowledged protector of Orthodox Christians.
• 1779 Death of Kosmas Aitolos.
• 1782 First publication of Philokalia; autonomy of Church of Sinai confirmed by Church of Constantinople.
• 1793-95 Over 2,300 Uniate churches became Orthodox under Tsarina Catherine the Great.
• 1794 Missionaries, including Herman of Alaska, arrive at Kodiak Island, bringing Orthodoxy to Russian Alaska; death of Paisius Velichkovsky of Moldova and Mt. Athos.
• 1796 Nicodemus the Hagiorite publishes Unseen Warfare in Venice.
• 1798 Patriarch Anthimios of Jerusalem contended that the Ottoman Empire was part of the Divine Dispensation granted by God to protect Orthodoxy from the taint of Roman Catholicism and of Western secularism and irreligion.
• 1800 The Rudder published and printed in Athens.
• 1805 Death of Makarius of Corinth, a central figure in the Kollyvades movement.
• 1811 Autocephaly of the Church of Georgia revoked by the Russian imperial state after Georgia's annexation, making it subject to the Church of Russia.
• 1819 Council at Constantinople endorses views of Kollyvades fathers.
Modern era (1821-1917)
• 1821 Metr. Germanos of Patra declares Greek independence on Day of Annunciation (March 25), also Kyriopascha; martyrdom of Patr. Gregory V of Constantinople, Abp. Kyprianos of Cyprus, and Abp. Gerasimos of Crete in retaliation.
• ca. 1830 Slavophile movement begins in Russia.
• 1831 Return of 3,000,000 Uniates with the Orthodox Church at Vilnius in 1831.
• 1832 Church of Serbia becomes de facto autocephalous.
• 1833 Church of Greece declares autocephaly, making it independent of the Constantinople; death of Seraphim of Sarov.
• 1839 Synod of Polotsk abolishes Union of Brest-Litovsk in all areas under Russian rule as Greek Catholic dioceses in Lithuania and Belarus re-enter the Orthodox Church.
• 1848 Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs sent by the primates and synods of the four ancient patriarchates of the Orthodox Church, condemning the Filioque as heresy, declaring the Roman Catholic Church to be heretical, schismatic, and in apostasy, repudiating Ultramontanism and referring to the Photian Council of 879-880 as the "Eighth Ecumenical Council."
• 1850 Church of Constantinople recognizes autocephaly of Church of Greece.
• 1851 Translation into English of Septuagint by Lancelot C. L. Brenton; Ottoman Empire recognizes France as supreme Christian authority in Holy Land and grants it possession of the Church of the Nativity.
• 1852 Ottoman Empire makes division of Church of the Holy Sepulchre permanent.
• 1853-56 Crimean War fought between Russia and the Ottoman Empire together with Britain and France, beginning over which church would be recognized as the "sovereign authority" of the Christian faith in the Holy Land.
• 1854 Immaculate Conception declared dogma by Roman Catholic Church.
• 1859 Constantin von Tischendorf discovers Codex Sinaiticus at St. Catherine's Monastery.
• 1860 Death of Alexei Khomiakov, co-founder of the Slavophile movement.
• 1864 First Orthodox parish established on American soil in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Greeks; death of Jacob Netsvetov.
• 1865 Church of Romania declares its independence from the Church of Constantinople.
• 1869 Russian synod authorizes corrected text of Western Rite liturgy and Benedictine offices.
• 1870 Papal Infallibility declared Roman Catholic dogma necessary for salvation by First Vatican Council.
• 1871 Nikolai Kasatkin establishes Orthodox mission in Japan.
• 1872 Council in Jerusalem declares phyletism to be heresy; Church of Bulgaria gains de facto autocephaly by a decree of the Sultan.
• 1875 Uniate diocese of Chelm in Poland incorporated into Russian Orthodox Church under Alexander II, with all of the local Uniates converted to Orthodoxy.
• 1876 Theophan the Recluse begins issuing a translation of the Philokalia in Russian.
• 1879 Church of Constantinople recognizes autocephaly of Church of Serbia; death of Innocent of Alaska.
• 1882 Synod of Constantinople gives conditional approval to use of Roman liturgy and Benedictine offices; Mitrophan Ji becomes the first Chinese ordained a priest in the Church of China.
• 1885 Church of Constantinople recognizes autocephaly of Church of Romania; English Revised Version published; Archbishop of Canterbury officially removes all of Apocrypha from King James Bible.
• 1888 Typikon of the Great Church of Christ is published with revised church services, prepared by Protopsaltis George Violakis, issued with the approval and blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch, while the Sabaite (monastic) Typikon continues to be used in Russia.
• 1889 Federation of Old Catholic Churches, not in communion with Rome, at the Union of Utrecht.
• ca. 1890 Unseen Warfare further revised by Theophan the Recluse.
• 1891 Death of Ambrose of Optina.
• 1895 Reply of Synod of Constantinople to Pope Leo XIII.
• 1898 Last ethnically Greek patriarch of Antioch deposed; Western Rite diocese organized in Czechoslovakia by Church of Russia.
• 1899 Restoration of Arabs to the Patriarchal throne of Antioch.
• 1900 Martyrdom of Orthodox Christians in Chinese Boxer Rebellion (Yihetuan Movement).
• 1901 "Evangelakia" riots in Athens Greece in November, over translations of New Testament into Demotic (Modern) Greek, resulting in fall of both government and Metropolitan of Athens.
• 1904 Ecumenical Patriarchate publishes the "Patriarchal" Text of the Greek New Testament, based on about twenty Byzantine manuscripts; petition to Russian synod by Abp. Tikhon (Belavin), Bp. Raphael (Hawaweeny), and Fr. John Kochurov to permit adaption of services taken from Anglican Book of Common Prayer for use by Orthodox people.
• 1905 Death of Apostolos Makrakis; Tsar Nicholas Romanov's decree on freedom of religion results in about 250,000 Ruthenians returning to Uniatism; seat of Russian Orthodox bishop in America moved from San Francisco to New York, as immigration from Eastern Europe and the reception of ex-Uniates shifts the balance of Orthodox population to eastern North America.
• 1907 Archim. Eusebius Matthopoulos founds Zoe Brotherhood; Commission on Anglican and Old Catholic Affairs of Russian synod reports in favor of adaptation of services from Book of Common Prayer and sets out criteria.
• 1908 Fr. Nikodemos Sarikas sent to Johannesburg, Transvaal, by Ecumenical Patriarchate as first Orthodox priest there, leaving after a short time for German East Africa (later Tanzania) because of the opposition of Johannesburg Greeks to mission among Africans.
• 1908 Death of John of Kronstadt.
• 1912 Death of Nicholas of Japan.
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Tue Jan 03, 2012
Feast of the Holy Theophany of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ (January 6)
http://www.goarch.org/special/listen_learn_share/epiphany
Introduction
The Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on January 6. The Feast commemorates the Baptism of Christ and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity. At the Baptism of Christ, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—were made manifest. Thus, the name ofthe Feast is Epiphany, meaning manifestation, or Theophany, meaning manifestation of God.
Biblical Story
The Biblical story of the Baptism of Christ is recorded in all four of the Gospels: Matthew 3, Mark 1:1-9, Luke 3:21-22, and John 1:31-34.
John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus and the one chosen by God to proclaim His coming, was preaching in the wilderness and was baptizing all who would respond to his message calling for repentance. As he was doing this, John was directing the people toward the one who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11).
The Scriptures tell us that Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. Initially, John would not do this, saying that Jesus should baptize him. Jesus said to John, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness (3:15). John consented and baptized Jesus.
When Jesus came up from the water, the heavens opened suddenly, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. The Bible records that the Spirit descended like a dove and alighted on him. When this happened, a voice came from heaven and said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” This was the voice of God the Father.
Christ’s baptism in the Jordan was “theophany,” a manifestation of God to the world, because it was the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. It was also a “theophany” in that the world was granted a revelation of the Holy Trinity. All three Persons were made manifest together: the Father testified from on high to the divine Sonship of Jesus; the Son received His Father’s testimony; and the Spirit was seen in the form of a dove, descending from the Father and resting upon the Son.
The theme of “manifestation” or “revelation” is also expressed in Scripture with the symbolism of light. In the hymn of the Feast we sing, “Christ has appeared and enlightened the world.” Thus, January 6 is also known as the Feast of Lights. The Church celebrates on this day the illumination of the world by the light of Christ.
The Orthodox Celebration of the Feast of Epiphany
The celebration of this Feast of our Lord begins on January 5, a day known as the Forefeast of Theophany. Depending on the day of the week, this could be an evening service with Vespers followed by the Liturgy of Saint Basil or a morning service with Matins and the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Following the service on January 5, the service of the Blessing of the Waters is conducted. Prior to the evening or morning service the Royal Hours with the Typika are said.
On January 6, the day of the Feast, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is conducted preceded by Matins and followed by the second Blessing of the Waters.
The Blessing of the Waters is conducted in the church; however in many places throughout the world services are conducted near open bodies of water. As a sign of blessing as Christ blessed the Jordan, holy water is poured into the body of water. An associated tradition has been the tossing of a cross into the water to be retrieved by divers.
The holy water from the church is given to the faithful to consume and to use in blessing their homes. In the weeks following the Feast, clergy visit the homes of parishioners and conduct a service of blessing using the holy water that was blessed on the Feast of Theophany.
Scripture readings for the Feast are the following: At the Vespers/Divine Liturgy on January 5: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27; Luke 3:1-18. At the Divine Liturgy on January 6: Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7; Matthew 3:13-17.
Hymns of the Feast
Apolytikion: (First Tone)
Lord, when You were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father gave witness to You, calling You Beloved; and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the certainty of His words. Glory to You, Christ our God, who appeared and enlightened the world.
Kontakion: (Fourth Tone)
Today You appeared to the world, and Your light, O Lord, has left its mark upon us as in fuller understanding we sing to You: “You came, You were made manifest, the unapproachable light.”
Resources
The Festal Menaion. Translated by Mother Mary (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1969) pp. 55-59.
The Incarnate God: The Feasts of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, Catherine Aslanoff, editor and Paul Meyendorff, translator (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1995).
Festival Icons for the Christian Year by John Baggley (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2000).
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Tue Dec 27, 2011
Discourse on the Day of the Baptism of Christ
by
St John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople
http://www.orthodox.net/theophany/theophany-chrysostom.html
We shall now say something about the present feast. Many celebrate the feast days and know their designations, but the cause for which they were established they know not. Thus concerning this, that the present feast is called Theophany -- everyone knows; but what this is -- Theophany, and whether it be one thing or another, they know not. And this is shameful -- every year to celebrate the feast day and not know its reason.
First of all therefore, it is necessary to say that there is not one Theophany, but two: the one actual, which already has occurred, and the second in future, which will happen with glory at the end of the world. About this one and about the other you will hear today from Paul, who in conversing with Titus, speaks thus about the present: "The grace of God hath revealed itself, having saved all mankind, decreeing, that we reject iniquity and worldly desires, and dwell in the present age in prudence and in righteousness and piety" -- and about the future: "awaiting the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Tit 2:11-13). And a prophet speaks thus about this latter: "the sun shalt turn to darkness, and the moon to blood at first, then shalt come the great and illuminating Day of the Lord" (Joel 2:31).
Why is not that day, on which the Lord was born, considered Theophany -- but rather this day on which He was baptized? This present day it is, on which He was baptized and sanctified the nature of water. Because on this day all, having obtained the waters, do carry it home and keep it all year, since today the waters are sanctified; and an obvious phenomenon occurs: these waters in their essence do not spoil with the passage of time, but obtained today, for one whole year and often for two or three years, they remain unharmed and fresh, and afterwards for a long time do not stop being water, just as that obtained from the fountains.
Why then is this day called Theophany? Because Christ made Himself known to all -- not then when He was born -- but then when He was baptized. Until this time He was not known to the people. And that the people did not know Him, Who He was, listen about this to John the Baptist, who says: "Amidst you standeth, Him Whom ye know not of" (Jn.1:26). And is it surprising that others did not know Him, when even the Baptist did not know Him until that day? "And I -- said he -- knew Him not: but He that did send me to baptize with water, about This One did tell unto me: over Him that shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, This One it is Who baptizeth in the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 1:33).
Thus from this it is evident, that -- there are two Theophanies, and why Christ comes at baptism and on whichever baptism He comes, about this it is necessary to say: it is therefore necessary to know both the one and equally the other. And first it is necessary to speak your love about the latter, so that we might learn about the former.
There was a Jewish baptism, which cleansed from bodily impurities, but not to remove sins. Thus, whoever committed adultery, or decided on thievery, or who did some other kind of misdeed, it did not free him from guilt. But whoever touched the bones of the dead, whoever tasted food forbidden by the law, whoever approached from contamination, whoever consorted with lepers -- that one washed, and until evening was impure, and then cleansed. "Let one wash his body in pure water -- it says in the Scriptures, -- and he will be unclean until evening, and then he will be clean" (Lev 15:5, 22:4). This was not truly of sins or impurities, but since the Jews lacked perfection, then God, accomplishing it by means of this greater piety, prepared them by their beginnings for a precise observance of important things. Thus, Jewish cleansings did not free from sins, but only from bodily impurities. Not so with ours: it is far more sublime and it manifests a great grace, whereby it sets free from sin, it cleanses the spirit and bestows the gifts of the Spirit.
And the baptism of John was far more sublime than the Jewish, but less so than ours: it was like a bridge between both baptisms, leading across itself from the first to the last. Wherefore John did not give guidance for observance of bodily purifications, but together with them he exhorted and advised to be converted from vice to good deeds and to trust in the hope of salvation and the accomplishing of good deeds, rather than in different washings and purifications by water. John did not say: wash your clothes, wash your body, and ye will be pure, but what? -- "bear ye fruits worthy of repentance" (Mt 3:8).
Since it was more than of the Jews, but less than ours: the baptism of John did not impart the Holy Spirit and it did not grant forgiveness by grace: it gave the commandment to repent, but it was powerless to absolve sins. Wherefore John did also say: "I baptize you with water...That One however will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Mt 3:11). Obviously, he did not baptize with the Spirit. But what does this mean: "with the Holy Spirit and with fire?" Call to mind that day, on which for the Apostles "there appeared disparate tongues like fire, and sat over each one of them" (Acts 2:3).
And that the baptism of John did not impart the Spirit and remission of sins is evident from the following: Paul "found certain disciples, and said to them: received ye the Holy Spirit since ye have believed? They said to him: but furthermore whether it be of the Holy Spirit, we shall hear. He said to them: into what were ye baptized? They answered: into the baptism of John. Paul then said: John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance," -- repentance, but not remission of sins; for whom did he baptize? "Having proclaimed to the people, that they should believe in the One coming after him, namely, Christ Jesus. Having heard this, they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus: and Paul laying his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them" (Acts 19:1-6).
Do you see, how incomplete was the baptism of John? If the one were not incomplete, would then Paul have baptized them again, and placed his hands on them; having performed also the second, he shew the superiority of the apostolic Baptism and that the baptism of John was far less than his. Thus, from this we recognize the difference of the baptisms.
Now it is necessary to say, for whom was Christ baptized and by which baptism? Neither the former the Jewish, nor the last -- ours. Whence hath He need for remission of sins, how is this possible for Him, Who hath not any sins? "Of sin, -- it says in the Scriptures, -- worked He not, nor was there deceit found in His mouth" (1 Pet 2:22); and further, "who of you convicteth Me of Sin?" (Jn 8:46). And His flesh was privy to the Holy Spirit; how might this be possible, when it in the beginning was fashioned by the Holy Spirit? And so, if His flesh was privy to the Holy Spirit, and He was not subject to sins, then for whom was He baptized?
But first of all it is necessary for us to recognize, by which baptism He was baptized, and then it will be clear for us. By which baptism indeed was He baptized? -- Not the Jewish, nor ours, nor John's.
For whom, since thou from thine own aspect of baptism dost perceive, that He was baptized not by reason of sin and not having need of the gift of the Spirit; therefore, as we have demonstrated, this baptism was alien to the one and to the other. Hence it is evident, that He came to Jordan not for the forgiveness of sins and not for receiving the gifts of the Spirit.
But so that some from those present then should not think, that He came for repentance like others, listen to how John precluded this. What he then spoke to the others then was: "Bear ye fruits worthy of repentance"; but listen what he said to Him: "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and Thou art come to me?" (Mt 3:8, 14). With these words he demonstrated, that Christ came to him not through that need with which people came, and that He was so far from the need to be baptized for this reason -- so much more sublime and perfectly purer than Baptism itself.
For whom was He baptized, if this was done not for repentance, nor for the remission of sins, nor for receiving the gifts of the Spirit? Through the other two reasons, of which about the one the disciple speaks, and about the other He Himself spoke to John. Which reason of this baptism did John declare? Namely, that Christ should become known to the people, as Paul also mentions: "John therefore baptized with the baptism of repentance, so that through him they should believe on Him that cometh" (Acts 19:4); this was the consequence of the baptism. If John had gone to the home of each and, standing at the door, had spoken out for Christ and said: "He is the Son of God," such a testimony would have been suspicious, and this deed would have been extremely perplexing. So too, if he in advocating Christ had gone into the synagogues and witnessed to Him, this testimony of his might be suspiciously fabricated. But when all the people thronged out from all the cities to Jordan and remained on the banks of the river, and when He Himself came to be baptised and received the testimony of the Father by a voice from above and by the coming-upon of the Spirit in the form of a dove, then the testimony of John about Him was made beyond all questioning. And since he said: "and I knew Him not" (Jn 1:31), his testimony put forth is trustworthy.
They were kindred after the flesh between themselves "wherefore Elizabeth, thy kinswoman, hath also conceived a son" -- said the Angel to Mary about the mother of John (Lk. 1: 36); if however the mothers were relatives, then obviously so also were the children. Thus, since they were kinsmen -- in order that it should not seem that John would testify concerning Christ because of kinship, the grace of the Spirit organized it such, that John spent all his early years in the wilderness, so that it should not seem that John had declared his testimony out of friendship or some similar reason. But John, as he was instructed of God, thus also announced about Him, wherein also he did say: "and I knew Him not." From whence didst thou find out? "He having sent me that sayeth to baptize with water, That One did tell me" What did He tell thee? "Over Him thou shalt see the Spirit descending, like to a dove, and abiding over Him, That One is baptized by the Holy Spirit" (Jn 1:32-33). Dost thou see, that the Holy Spirit did not descend as in a first time then coming down upon Him, but in order to point out that preached by His inspiration -- as though by a finger, it pointed Him out to all. For this reason He came to baptism.
And there is a second reason, about which He Himself spoke -- what exactly is it? When John said: "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and Thou art come to me?" -- He answered thus: "stay now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill every righteousness" (Mt 3:14-15). Dost thou see the meekness of the servant? Dost thou see the humility of the Master? What does He mean: "to fulfill every righteousness?" By righteousness is meant the fulfillment of all the commandments, as is said: "both were righteous, walking faultlessly in the commandments of the Lord" (Lk 1:6). Since fulfilling this righteousness was necessary for all people -- but no one of them kept it or fulfilled it -- Christ came then and fulfilled this righteousness.
And what righteousness is there, someone will say, in being baptized? Obedience for a prophet was righteous. As Christ was circumcised, offered sacrifice, kept the sabbath and observed the Jewish feasts, so also He added this remaining thing, that He was obedient to having been baptized by a prophet. It was the will of God then, that all should be baptized -- about which listen, as John speaks: "He having sent me to baptize with water" (Jn 1:33); so also Christ: "the publicans and the people do justify God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; the Pharisees and the lawyers reject the counsel of God concerning themselves, not having been baptized by him" (Lk 7:29-30). Thus, if obedience to God constitutes righteousness, and God sent John to baptize the nation, then Christ has also fulfilled this along with all the other commandments.
Consider, that the commandments of the law is the main point of the two denarii: this -- debt, which our race has needed to pay; but we did not pay it, and we, falling under such an accusation, are embraced by death. Christ came, and finding us afflicted by it -- He paid the debt, fulfilled the necessary and seized from it those, who were not able to pay. Wherefore He does not say: "it is necessary for us to do this or that," but rather "to fulfill every righteousness." "It is for Me, being the Master, -- says He, -- proper to make payment for the needy." Such was the reason for His baptism -- wherefore they should see, that He had fulfilled all the law -- both this reason and also that, about which was spoken of before.
Wherefore also the Spirit did descend as a dove: because where there is reconciliation with God -- there also is the dove. So also in the ark of Noah the dove did bring the branch of olive -- a sign of God's love of mankind and of the cessation of the flood. And now in the form of a dove, and not in a body -- this particularly deserves to be noted -- the Spirit descended, announcing the universal mercy of God and showing with it, that the spiritual man needs to be gentle, simple and innocent, as Christ also says: "Except ye be converted and become as children, ye shalt not enter into the Heavenly Kingdom" (Mt 18:3). But that ark, after the cessation of the flood, remained upon the earth; this ark, after the cessation of wrath, is taken to heaven, and now this Immaculate and Imperishable Body is situated at the right hand of the Father.
Having made mention about the Body of the Lord, I shall also say a little about this, and then the conclusion of the talk. Many now will approach the Holy Table on the occasion of the feast. But some approach not with trembling, but shoving, hitting others, blazing with anger, shouting, cursing, roughing it up with their fellows with great confusion. What, tell me, art thou troubled by, my fellow? What disturbeth thee? Do urgent affairs, for certain, summon thee? At this hour art thou particularly aware, that these affairs of thine that thou particularly rememberest, that thou art situated upon the earth, and dost thou think to mix about with people? But is it not with a soul of stone naturally to think, that in such a time thou stand upon the earth, and not exult with the Angels with whom to raise up victorious song to God? For this Christ also did describe us with eagles, saying: "where the corpse is, there are the eagles gathered" (Mt 24:28) -- so that we might have risen to heaven and soared to the heights, having ascended on the wings of the spirit; but we, like snakes, crawl upon the earth and eat dirt.
Having been invited to supper, thou, although satiated before others, would not dare to leave before others while others are still reclining. But here, when the sacred doings are going on, thou at the very middle would pass by everything and leave? Is it for a worthy excuse? What excuse might it be? Judas, having communed that last evening on that final night, left hastily then as all the others were still reclining. Here these also are in imitation of him, who leave before the final blessing! If he had not gone, then he would not have made the betrayal; if he did not leave his co-disciples, then he would not have perished; if he had not removed himself from the flock, then the wolf would not have seized and devoured him alone; if he had separated himself from the Pastor, then he would not have made himself the prey of wild beasts. Wherefore he (Judas) was with the Jews, and those (the apostles) went out with the Lord. Dost thou see, by what manner the final prayer after the offering of the sacrifice is accomplished? We should, beloved, stand forth for this, we should ponder this, fearful of the coming judgment for this.
We should approach the Holy Sacrifice with great decorum, with proper piety, so as to merit us more of God's benevolence, to cleanse one's soul and to receive eternal blessings, of which may we all be worthy by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to with Whom the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and worship now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
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Mon Dec 19, 2011
ON THE BIRTHDAY (NATIVITY) OF CHRIST
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/12/patristic-understanding-of-virgin-birth.html
Where God Wills The Order Of Nature Is Overruled
"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered" (Lk. 2:6).
Concerning the birth of Christ, the Prophet Isaiah spoke thus:
"Behold she that travailed brought forth, before the travail-pain came on, she escaped it and brought forth a male" (Is. 66:7).
Saint John of Damascus adds to this saying that:
"After the normal nine-month gestational period, Christ was born at the beginning of the tenth, in accordance with the law of gestation. It was the birth that surpassed the established order of birthgiving, as it was without pain; for, where pleasure had not preceded, pain did not follow. And just as at His conception He had kept her who conceived Him virgin, so also at His birth did He maintain her virginity intact, because He alone passed through her and kept her shut.
While the conception was by 'hearing', the birth was by the usual orifice through which children are born, even though there are some who concoct an idle tale of His being born from the side of the Mother of God. For it was not impossible for Him to pass through the gate without breaking its seals. Hence, the Ever-Virgin remained virgin even after giving birth and never had converse with a husband as long as she lived."(1)
Saint Ambrose in his Synodal Letter 44 writes:
"Why is it hard to believe that Mary gave birth in a way contrary to the law of natural birth and remained a virgin, when contrary to the law of nature the sea looked at Him and fled, and the waters of the Jordan returned to their source (Ps. 113:3). Is it past belief that a virgin gave birth when we read that a rock issued water (Ex. 17:6), and the waves of the sea were made solid as a wall (Ex. 14:22)? Is it past belief that a Man came from a virgin when a rock bubbled forth a flowing stream (Ex. 20:11), iron floated on water (4 Kings 6:6), a Man walked upon the waters (Mt. 14:26)? If the waters bore a Man, could not a virgin give birth to a man? What Man? Him of Whom we read: '...the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day; and they shall offer sacrifices, and shall vow vows to the Lord, and pay them' (Is. 19:20).
In the Old Testament a Hebrew virgin (Miriam) led an army through the sea (Ex. 15:21); in the New testament a king's daughter (the Virgin Mary) was chosen to be the heavenly entrance to salvation."
In the Resurrection Theotokion of Saturday Vespers (Plagal of the First Mode), we chant:
"Then, the deep was trodden dry-shod by Israel, now, Christ is born seedlessly of the Virgin. The sea, after the passage of Israel, remained untrodden: the blameless one, after the birth of Emmanuel, remained undefiled."
Saint Ambrose also writes in another letter that:
"A virgin carried Him Whom this world cannot contain or support. And when He was born of Mary's womb, He yet preserved the enclosure of her modesty, and the inviolate seal of her virginity."(2)
Where God so wills the order of nature is overcome. Is anything too hard for Him Who called heaven, earth and the sea into being by His word alone? Nature and the elements are creations of the Creator. Their laws and properties are immediately subject to their Lord Fashioner. Adam and Eve were given dominion over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of heaven, and over the reptiles and cattle and all the earth (Gen. 1:26); all were subject to them before the fall. Saint Gregory Palamas comments that when the Logos of God took on human nature, He bestowed on it the fullness of grace and delivered it from the bonds of corruption and death. The consequence of hypostatic union in Christ of the two natures was the deification of the human nature He assumed.(3) The regeneration of man in Christ was the restoration of Adam and Eve.
The saints, having put on Christ, have often resumed the authority and dominion that our first parents had. Thus, the Prophet Habakkum instantly traversed vast expanses of land, with no effort, and brought food to Daniel in the lion's den. The Holy Apostles, too, were transported on clouds to be at the Theotokos' repose in Jerusalem, and their bodily weight proved not to hamper their flight, in defiance to gravity. Our Savior and the saints performed those things outside the created laws of physics and medicine. By a word, straightway, long and terminal illnesses vanished, limbs that were palsied became sound, those without orbs received the power of vision, and many were raised from the dead. Some of the saints could go long periods without food, water or changes of clothing as St. Paisios the Great of Egypt or St. Mary Golinduc the Persian. Others, by their mere grace-filled presence, tamed wild and ferocious animals. Thus, why should it be difficult to imagine that the Christ infant could not pass through that virginal orifice through which children are delivered without incurring damage or the slightest discomfort to His Mother, despite His newborn height and weight? Later, in life, He would pass through the midst of the mob unscathed as though bodiless and, after His Resurrection, His body would pass through solid and shut doors to meet and greet His anxious disciples (Jn. 20:19).
Concerning the mystery of the incarnation, St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote the following:
"When God became known to us in the flesh, He neither received the passions of human nature, nor did the Virgin Mary suffer pain, nor was the Holy Spirit diminished in any way, nor was the power of the Most High set aside in any manner, and all this was because all was accomplished by the Holy Spirit. thus the power of the Most High was not abased, and the child was born with no damage whatsoever to the mother's virginity."(4)
Saint Hesychios (c. 451), a learned priest-monk of Jerusalem, expressed the same truth, writing that:
"The Theotokos was a woman, yet she did not suffer the pangs of childbirth because the field of marriage had not experienced the plow; the virginal vineyard was not tilled." (5)
Notes:
1. Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Bk. 4, Ch. 14.
2. Letter 59, To the Church at Vercelli.
3. Georgios L. Mantzarides, The Deification of Man: St. Gregory Palamas and the Orthodox Tradition, p. 29.
4. "Against Eunomius, Hom. II", PG 45, 492.
5. "Sermon On the Presentation", PG 93, 1469.
Source: The Life of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos by Holy Apostles Convent, pp. 176-179.
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On the Theophany or Birthday of Christ (Oration 38)
by St. Gregory of Nazianzus (the Theologian)
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310238.htm
I. Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be ye exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope. Christ of a Virgin; O you Matrons live as Virgins, that you may be Mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?
II. Again the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. Exodus 14:20 The people that sat in the darkness of ignorance, let it see the Great Light of full knowledge. Isaiah 9:6 Old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. 1 Corinthians 5:17 The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the Truth comes in upon them. Melchisedec is concluded. He that was without Mother becomes without Father (without Mother of His former state, without Father of His second). The laws of nature are upset; the world above must be filled. Christ commands it, let us not set ourselves against Him. O clap your hands together all you people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son given unto us, Whose Government is upon His shoulder (for with the Cross it is raised up), and His Name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father. Isaiah 9:6 Let John cry, Prepare ye the way of the Lord: Matthew 3:3 I too will cry the power of this Day. He Who is not carnal is Incarnate; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ the Same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8 Let the Jews be offended, let the Greeks deride; 1 Corinthians 1:23 let heretics talk till their tongues ache. Then shall they believe, when they see Him ascending up into heaven; and if not then, yet when they see Him coming out of heaven and sitting as Judge.
III. Of these on a future occasion; for the present the Festival is the Theophany or Birth-day, for it is called both, two titles being given to the one thing. For God was manifested to man by birth. On the one hand Being, and eternally Being, of the Eternal Being, above cause and word, for there was no word before The Word; and on the other hand for our sakes also Becoming, that He Who gives us our being might also give us our Well-being, or rather might restore us by His Incarnation, when we had by wickedness fallen from wellbeing. The name Theophany is given to it in reference to the Manifestation, and that of Birthday in respect of His Birth.
IV. This is our present Festival; it is this which we are celebrating today, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go forth, or rather (for this is the more proper expression) that we might go back to God— that putting off the old man, we might put on the New; and that as we died in Adam, so we might live in Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:22 being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rising with Him. Colossians 2:11 For I must undergo the beautiful conversion, and as the painful succeeded the more blissful, so must the more blissful come out of the painful. For where sin abounded Grace did much more abound; Romans 5:20 and if a taste condemned us, how much more does the Passion of Christ justify us? Therefore let us keep the Feast, not after the manner of a heathen festival, but after a godly sort; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own but as belonging to Him Who is ours, or rather as our Master's; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation.
V. And how shall this be? Let us not adorn our porches, nor arrange dances, nor decorate the streets; let us not feast the eye, nor enchant the ear with music, nor enervate the nostrils with perfume, nor prostitute the taste, nor indulge the touch, those roads that are so prone to evil and entrances for sin; let us not be effeminate in clothing soft and flowing, whose beauty consists in its uselessness, nor with the glittering of gems or the sheen of gold Romans 13:13 or the tricks of colour, belying the beauty of nature, and invented to do despite unto the image of God; Not in rioting and drunkenness, with which are mingled, I know well, chambering and wantonness, since the lessons which evil teachers give are evil; or rather the harvests of worthless seeds are worthless. Let us not set up high beds of leaves, making tabernacles for the belly of what belongs to debauchery. Let us not appraise the bouquet of wines, the kickshaws of cooks, the great expense of ointments. Let not sea and land bring us as a gift their precious dung, for it is thus that I have learned to estimate luxury; and let us not strive to outdo each other in intemperance (for to my mind every superfluity is intemperance, and all which is beyond absolute need)—and this while others are hungry and in want, who are made of the same clay and in the same manner.
VI. Let us leave all these to the Greeks and to the pomps and festivals of the Greeks, who call by the name of gods beings who rejoice in the reek of sacrifices, and who consistently worship with their belly; evil inventors and worshippers of evil demons. But we, the Object of whose adoration is the Word, if we must in some way have luxury, let us seek it in word, and in the Divine Law, and in histories; especially such as are the origin of this Feast; that our luxury may be akin to and not far removed from Him Who has called us together. Or do you desire (for today I am your entertainer) that I should set before you, my good Guests, the story of these things as abundantly and as nobly as I can, that you may know how a foreigner can feed the natives of the land, and a rustic the people of the town, and one who cares not for luxury those who delight in it, and one who is poor and homeless those who are eminent for wealth?
We will begin from this point; and let me ask of you who delight in such matters to cleanse your mind and your ears and your thoughts, since our discourse is to be of God and Divine; that when you depart, you may have had the enjoyment of delights that really fade not away. And this same discourse shall be at once both very full and very concise, that you may neither be displeased at its deficiencies, nor find it unpleasant through satiety.
VII. God always was, and always is, and always will be. Or rather, God always Is. For Was and Will be are fragments of our time, and of changeable nature, but He is Eternal Being. And this is the Name that He gives to Himself when giving the Oracle to Moses in the Mount. For in Himself He sums up and contains all Being, having neither beginning in the past nor end in the future; like some great Sea of Being, limitless and unbounded, transcending all conception of time and nature, only adumbrated by the mind, and that very dimly and scantily...not by His Essentials, but by His Environment; one image being got from one source and another from another, and combined into some sort of presentation of the truth, which escapes us before we have caught it, and takes to flight before we have conceived it, blazing forth upon our Master-part, even when that is cleansed, as the lightning flash which will not stay its course, does upon our sight...in order as I conceive by that part of it which we can comprehend to draw us to itself (for that which is altogether incomprehensible is outside the bounds of hope, and not within the compass of endeavour), and by that part of It which we cannot comprehend to move our wonder, and as an object of wonder to become more an object of desire, and being desired to purify, and by purifying to make us like God; John 10:15 so that when we have thus become like Himself, God may, to use a bold expression, hold converse with us as Gods, being united to us, and that perhaps to the same extent as He already knows those who are known to Him. The Divine Nature then is boundless and hard to understand; and all that we can comprehend of Him is His boundlessness; even though one may conceive that because He is of a simple nature He is therefore either wholly incomprehensible, or perfectly comprehensible. For let us further enquire what is implied by is of a simple nature. For it is quite certain that this simplicity is not itself its nature, just as composition is not by itself the essence of compound beings.
VIII. And when Infinity is considered from two points of view, beginning and end (for that which is beyond these and not limited by them is Infinity), when the mind looks to the depth above, not having where to stand, and leans upon phenomena to form an idea of God, it calls the Infinite and Unapproachable which it finds there by the name of Unoriginate. And when it looks into the depths below, and at the future, it calls Him Undying and Imperishable. And when it draws a conclusion from the whole it calls Him Eternal (áἴùíéïò). For Eternity (áἵùí) is neither time nor part of time; for it cannot be measured. But what time, measured by the course of the sun, is to us, that Eternity is to the Everlasting, namely, a sort of time-like movement and interval co-extensive with their existence. This, however, is all I must now say about God; for the present is not a suitable time, as my present subject is not the doctrine of God, but that of the Incarnation. But when I say God, I mean Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. For Godhead is neither diffused beyond these, so as to bring in a mob of gods; nor yet is it bounded by a smaller compass than these, so as to condemn us for a poverty-stricken conception of Deity; either Judaizing to save the Monarchia, or falling into heathenism by the multitude of our gods. For the evil on either side is the same, though found in contrary directions. This then is the Holy of Holies, which is hidden even from the Seraphim, and is glorified with a thrice repeated Holy, meeting in one ascription of the Title Lord and God, as
one of our predecessors has most beautifully and loftily pointed out.
IX. But since this movement of self-contemplation alone could not satisfy Goodness, but Good must be poured out and go forth beyond Itself to multiply the objects of Its beneficence, for this was essential to the highest Goodness, He first conceived the Heavenly and Angelic Powers. And this conception was a work fulfilled by His Word, and perfected by His Spirit. And so the secondary Splendours came into being, as the Ministers of the Primary Splendour; whether we are to conceive of them as intelligent Spirits, or as Fire of an immaterial and incorruptible kind, or as some other nature approaching this as near as may be. I should like to say that they were incapable of movement in the direction of evil, and susceptible only of the movement of good, as being about God, and illumined with the first rays from God— for earthly beings have but the second illumination; but I am obliged to stop short of saying that, and to conceive and speak of them only as difficult to move because of him, who for his splendour was called Lucifer, but became and is called Darkness through his pride; and the apostate hosts who are subject to him, creators of evil by their revolt against good and our inciters.
X. Thus, then, and for these reasons, He gave being to the world of thought, as far as I can reason upon these matters, and estimate great things in my own poor language. Then when His first creation was in good order, He conceives a second world, material and visible; and this a system and compound of earth and sky, and all that is in the midst of them— an admirable creation indeed, when we look at the fair form of every part, but yet more worthy of admiration when we consider the harmony and the unison of the whole, and how each part fits in with every other, in fair order, and all with the whole, tending to the perfect completion of the world as a Unit. This was to show that He could call into being, not only a Nature akin to Himself, but also one altogether alien to Himself. For akin to Deity are those natures which are intellectual, and only to be comprehended by mind; but all of which sense can take cognisance are utterly alien to It; and of these the furthest removed are all those which are entirely destitute of soul and of power of motion. But perhaps some one of those who are too festive and impetuous may say, What has all this to do with us? Spur your horse to the goal. Talk to us about the Festival, and the reasons for our being here today. Yes, this is what I am about to do, although I have begun at a somewhat previous point, being compelled to do so by love, and by the needs of my argument.
XI. Mind, then, and sense, thus distinguished from each other, had remained within their own boundaries, and bore in themselves the magnificence of the Creator-Word, silent praisers and thrilling heralds of His mighty work. Not yet was there any mingling of both, nor any mixtures of these opposites, tokens of a greater Wisdom and Generosity in the creation of natures; nor as yet were the whole riches of Goodness made known. Now the Creator-Word, determining to exhibit this, and to produce a single living being out of both— the visible and the invisible creations, I mean— fashions Man; and taking a body from already existing matter, and placing in it a Breath taken from Himself Genesis 2:7 which the Word knew to be an intelligent soul and the Image of God, as a sort of second world. He placed him, great in littleness on the earth; a new Angel, a mingled worshipper, fully initiated into the visible creation, but only partially into the intellectual; King of all upon earth, but subject to the King above; earthly and heavenly; temporal and yet immortal; visible and yet intellectual; half-way between greatness and lowliness; in one person combining spirit and flesh; spirit, because of the favour bestowed on him; flesh, because of the height to which he had been raised; the one that he might continue to live and praise his Benefactor, the other that he might suffer, and by suffering be put in remembrance, and corrected if he became proud of his greatness. A living creature trained here, and then moved elsewhere; and, to complete the mystery, deified by its inclination to God. For to this, I think, tends that Light of Truth which we here possess but in measure, that we should both see and experience the Splendour of God, which is worthy of Him Who made us, and will remake us again after a loftier fashion.
XII. This being He placed in Paradise, whatever the Paradise may have been, having honoured him with the gift of Free Will (in order that God might belong to him as the result of his choice, no less than to Him who had implanted the seeds of it), to till the immortal plants, by which is meant perhaps the Divine Conceptions, both the simpler and the more perfect; naked in his simplicity and inartificial life, and without any covering or screen; for it was fitting that he who was from the beginning should be such. Also He gave him a Law, as a material for his Free Will to act upon. This Law was a Commandment as to what plants he might partake of, and which one he might not touch. This latter was the Tree of Knowledge; not, however, because it was evil from the beginning when planted; nor was it forbidden because God grudged it to us...Let not the enemies of God wag their tongues in that direction, or imitate the Serpent...But it would have been good if partaken of at the proper time, for the tree was, according to my theory, Contemplation, upon which it is only safe for those who have reached maturity of habit to enter; but which is not good for those who are still somewhat simple and greedy in their habit; just as solid food is not good for those who are yet tender, and have need of milk. Hebrews 5:12 But when through the Devil's malice and the woman's caprice, to which she succumbed as the more tender, and which she brought to bear upon the man, as she was the more apt to persuade, alas for my weakness! (for that of my first father was mine), he forgot the Commandment which had been given to him; Genesis 3:5 he yielded to the baleful fruit; and for his sin he was banished, at once from the Tree of Life, and from Paradise, and from God; and put on the coats of skins...that is, perhaps, the coarser flesh, both mortal and contradictory. This was the first thing that he learned— his own shame; Romans 1:22-31 and he hid himself from God. Yet here too he makes a gain, namely death, and the cutting off of sin, in order that evil may not be immortal. Thus his punishment is changed into a mercy; for it is in mercy, I am persuaded, that God inflicts punishment.
XIII. And having been first chastened by many means (because his sins were many, whose root of evil sprang up through various causes and at sundry times), by word, by law, by prophets, by benefits, by threats, by plagues, by waters, by fires, by wars, by victories, by defeats, by signs in heaven and signs in the air and in the earth and in the sea, by unexpected changes of men, of cities, of nations (the object of which was the destruction of wickedness), at last he needed a stronger remedy, for his diseases were growing worse; mutual slaughters, adulteries, perjuries, unnatural crimes, and that first and last of all evils, idolatry and the transfer of worship from the Creator to the Creatures. As these required a greater aid, so also they obtained a greater. And that was that the Word of God Himself— Who is before all worlds, the Invisible, the Incomprehensible, the Bodiless, Beginning of Beginning, the Light of Light, the Source of Life and Immortality, the Image of the Archetypal Beauty, the immovable Seal, the unchangeable Image, the Father's Definition and Word, came to His own Image, and took on Him flesh for the sake of our flesh, and mingled Himself with an intelligent soul for my soul's sake, purifying like by like; and in all points except sin was made man. Conceived by the Virgin, Luke 1:35 who first in body and soul was purified by the Holy Ghost (for it was needful both that Childbearing should be honoured, and that Virginity should receive a higher honour), He came forth then as God with that which He had assumed, One Person in two Natures, Flesh and Spirit, of which the latter deified the former. O new commingling; O strange conjunction; the Self-Existent comes into being, the Uncreate is created, That which cannot be contained is contained, by the intervention of an intellectual soul, mediating between the Deity and the corporeity of the flesh. And He Who gives riches becomes poor, for He assumes the poverty of my flesh, that I may assume the richness of His Godhead. He that is full empties Himself, for He empties Himself of His glory for a short while, that I may have a share in His Fulness. What is the riches of His Goodness? What is this mystery that is around me? I had a share in the image; I did not keep it; He partakes of my flesh that He may both save the image and make the flesh immortal. He communicates a second Communion far more marvellous than the first, inasmuch as then He imparted the better Nature, whereas now Himself partakes of the worse. This is more godlike than the former action, this is loftier in the eyes of all men of understanding.
XIV. To this what have those cavillers to say, those bitter reasoners about Godhead, those detractors of all that is praiseworthy, those darkeners of light, uncultured in respect of wisdom, for whom Christ died in vain, those unthankful creatures, the work of the Evil One? Do you turn this benefit into a reproach to God? Will you deem Him little on this account, that He humbled Himself for you; because the Good Shepherd, John 10:11 He who lays down His life for His sheep, came to seek for that which had strayed upon the mountains and the hills, on which you were then sacrificing, and found the wanderer; and having found it, Luke 15:4, sq took it upon His shoulders— on which He also took the Wood of the Cross; and having taken it, brought it back to the higher life; and having carried it back, numbered it among those who had never strayed. Because He lighted a candle— His own Flesh— and swept the house, cleansing the world from sin; and sought the piece of money, the Royal Image that was covered up by passions. And He calls together His Angel friends on the finding of the coin, and makes them sharers in His joy, whom He had made to share also the secret of the Incarnation? Because on the candle of the Forerunner there follows the light that exceeds in brightness; and to the Voice the Word succeeds; and to the Bridegroom's friend the Bridegroom; to him that prepared for the Lord a peculiar people, cleansing them by water in preparation for the Spirit? Do you reproach God with all this? Do you on this account deem Him lessened, because He girds Himself with a towel and washes His disciples' feet, and shows that humiliation is the best road to exaltation? Because for the soul that was bent to the ground He humbles Himself, that He may raise up with Himself the soul that was tottering to a fall under a weight of sin? Why do you not also charge upon Him as a crime the fact that He eats with Publicans and at Publicans' tables, Luke 5:29 and that He makes disciples of Publicans, that He too may gain somewhat...and what?...the salvation of sinners. If so, we must blame the physician for stooping over sufferings, and enduring evil odours that he may give health to the sick; or one who as the Law commands bent down into a ditch to save a beast that had fallen into it.
XV. He was sent, but as man, for He was of a twofold Nature; for He was wearied, and hungered, and was thirsty, and was in an agony, and shed tears, according to the nature of a corporeal being. And if the expression be also used of Him as God, the meaning is that the Father's good pleasure is to be considered a Mission, for to this He refers all that concerns Himself; both that He may honour the Eternal Principle, and because He will not be taken to be an antagonistic God. And whereas it is written both that He was betrayed, and also that He gave Himself up and that He was raised up by the Father, and taken up into heaven; and on the other hand, that He raised Himself and went up; the former statement of each pair refers to the good pleasure of the Father, the latter to His own Power. Are you then to be allowed to dwell upon all that humiliates Him, while passing over all that exalts Him, and to count on your side the fact that He suffered, but to leave out of the account the fact that it was of His own will? See what even now the Word has to suffer. By one set He is honoured as God, but is confused with the Father, by another He is dishonoured as mere flesh and severed from the Godhead. With which of them will He be most angry, or rather, which shall He forgive, those who injuriously confound Him or those who divide Him? For the former ought to have distinguished, and the latter to have united Him; the one in number, the other in Godhead. Stumblest Thou at His flesh? So did the Jews. Or do you call Him a Samaritan, and...I will not say the rest. Do you disbelieve in His Godhead? This did not even the demons, O thou who art less believing than demons and more stupid than Jews. Those did perceive that the name of Son implies equality of rank; these did know that He who drove them out was God, for they were convinced of it by their own experience. But you will admit neither the equality nor the Godhead. It would have been better for you to have been either a Jew or a demoniac (if I may utter an absurdity), than in uncircumcision and in sound health to be so wicked and ungodly in your attitude of mind.
XVI. A little later on you will see Jesus submitting to be purified in the River Jordan for my Purification, or rather, sanctifying the waters by His Purification (for indeed He had no need of purification Who takes away the sin of the world) and the heavens cleft asunder, and witness borne to him by the Spirit That is of one nature with Him; you shall see Him tempted and conquering and served by Angels, and healing every sickness and every disease, and giving life to the dead (O that He would give life to you who are dead because of your heresy), and driving out demons, sometimes Himself, sometimes by his disciples; and feeding vast multitudes with a few loaves; and walking dryshod upon seas; and being betrayed and crucified, and crucifying with Himself my sin; offered as a Lamb, and offering as a Priest; as a Man buried in the grave, and as God rising again; and then ascending, and to come again in His own glory. Why what a multitude of high festivals there are in each of the mysteries of the Christ; all of which have one completion, namely, my perfection and return to the first condition of Adam.
XVII. Now then I pray you accept His Conception, and leap before Him; if not like John from the womb, Luke 1:41 yet like David, because of the resting of the Ark. 2 Samuel 6:14 Revere the enrolment on account of which you were written in heaven, and adore the Birth by which you were loosed from the chains of your birth, Luke 2:1-5 and honour little Bethlehem, which has led you back to Paradise; and worship the manger through which thou, being without sense, wast fed by the Word. Know as Isaiah bids you, your Owner, like the ox, and like the a** your Master's crib; if you be one of those who are pure and lawful food, and who chew the cud of the word and are fit for sacrifice. Or if you are one of those who are as yet unclean and uneatable and unfit for sacrifice, and of the gentile portion, run with the Star, and bear your Gifts with the Magi, gold and frankincense and myrrh, Isaiah 1:3 as to a King, and to God, and to One Who is dead for you. With Shepherds glorify Him; Matthew ii with Angels join in chorus; with Archangels sing hymns. Let this Festival be common to the powers in heaven and to the powers upon earth. Luke 2:14-15 For I am persuaded that the Heavenly Hosts join in our exultation and keep high Festival with us today. ..because they love men, and they love God just like those whom David introduces after the Passion ascending with Christ and coming to meet Him, and bidding one another to lift up the gates.
XVIII. One thing connected with the Birth of Christ I would have you hate...the murder of the infants by Herod. Matthew 2:16 Or rather you must venerate this too, the Sacrifice of the same age as Christ, slain before the Offering of the New Victim. If He flees into Egypt, joyfully become a companion of His exile. It is a grand thing to share the exile of the persecuted Christ. If He tarry long in Egypt, call Him out of Egypt by a reverent worship of Him there. Travel without fault through every stage and faculty of the Life of Christ. Be purified; be circumcised; strip off the veil which has covered you from your birth. After this teach in the Temple, and drive out the sacrilegious traders. John 2:15 Submit to be stoned if need be, for well I know you shall be hidden from those who cast the stones; you shall escape even through the midst of them, like God. If you be brought before Herod, answer not for the most part. Luke 23:9 He will respect your silence more than most people's long speeches. If you be scourged, John 19:1 ask for what they leave out. Taste gall for the taste's sake; Matthew 27:34 drink vinegar; John 19:29 seek for spittings; accept blows, be crowned with thorns, that is, with the hardness of the godly life; put on the purple robe, take the reed in hand, and receive mock worship from those who mock at the truth; lastly, be crucified with Him, and share His Death and Burial gladly, that you may rise with Him, and be glorified with Him and reign with Him. Look at and be looked at by the Great God, Who in Trinity is worshipped and glorified, and Whom we declare to be now set forth as clearly before you as the chains of our flesh allow, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be the glory for ever. Amen.
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