Science

Old Testament Images of Christ's Birth

PREPARE, O BETHLEHEM, FOR EDEN HAS BEEN OPENED TO ALL! ADORN YOURSELF, O EPHRATHA, FOR THE TREE OF LIFE BLOSSOMS FORTH FROM THE VIRGIN IN THE CAVE!  HER WOMB IS A SPIRITUAL PARADISE PLANTED WITH THE DIVINE FRUIT: IF WE EAT OF IT, WE SHALL LIVE FOREVER AND NOT DIE LIKE ADAM.  CHRIST COMES TO RESTORE THE IMAGE WHICH HE MADE IN THE BEGINNING!

Twenty-Six Sunday after Pentecost

(Luke 12:16-21)
“AGAINST GREED AND ANXIETY”

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “ Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink and be merry.” But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.”

The belief that material gain can save us from internal pain is put simply, a false utopia. Pain is present, without exemption, in all facets of our society. It doesn't depend on the worth of a person. What actually hurts is the state of one's spiritual being if left unattended, because man is created for eternity, yet lives in this world of musts where we are born, live and eventually die, and as such, man cannot escape suffering. That internal hurt cannot be soothed with worldly pleasures: food, drink and party. What comfort does one that is sentenced to death gain from eating, drinking and partying, if one witnesses death approaching? That is the state of life of all those that live without God. Aware of one's mortality and created state, and without a solution, such a person attempts to find relief in material and worldly pleasures. The human soul being God-like in nature becomes an immense burden for a non- believer, and by existing alone, without God, the soul becomes unbearable for such a person. That is exactly what happened to the rich man from this Gospel.

The Holy Archangel Michael and all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven

The angels of God were celebrated by men from earliest times but this celebration was often turned into the divinization of angels (IV Kings 23:5 [II Kgs KJV]). The heretics wove all sorts of fables concerning the angels. Some of them looked upon angels as gods; others, although they did not consider them gods, called them the creators of the whole visible world. The local Council of Laodicea (four or five years before the First Ecumenical Council) rejected the worship of angels as gods and established the proper veneration of angels in its Thirty-fifth Canon.

In the fourth century, during the time of Sylvester, Pope of Rome, and Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, the present Feast of Archangel Michael and all the other heavenly powers was instituted for celebration in the month of November. Why precisely in November? Because November is the ninth month after March, and March is considered to be the month in which the world was created. Also, as the ninth month after March, November was chosen for the nine orders of angels who were created first. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of the Apostle Paul (who was taken up into the third heaven), described these nine orders of angels in his book, On the Celestial Hierarchies, as follows: six-winged Seraphim, many-eyed Cherubim, God-bearing Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The leader of all the angelic hosts is the Archangel Michael. 

Weekly Diocesan Bulletin - Sunday, November 19, 2017

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: SAINT PAUL THE CONFESSOR, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; VENERABLE BARLAAM, ABBOT OF KHUTYN

RESURRECTIONAL TROPARION - TONE SEVEN: By Thy Cross, Thou didst destroy death! To the thief, Thou didst open Paradise! For the myrrh-bearers, Thou didst change weeping into joy! And Thou didst command Thy disciples, O Christ God, to proclaim that Thou art risen, granting the world great mercy!

Promotion of the “Serbian Manuscripts in Slovakia”

Under the patronage of the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovakia Mr. Marko Madjaric, a promotion of the publication of the Serbian Manuscripts in Slovakia was held in the University Library of Slovakia in Bratislava on 9 November 2017.

The present publication on the Serbian manuscripts in Slovakia is a result of the work of a scientific commission of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate.  All the known Serbian medieval manuscripts located in Slovakia are exposed and scientifically described in this book.

Weekly Diocesan Bulletin - Sunday, October 29, 2017

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: HOLY MARTYR LONGINUS THE CENTURION  

RESURRECTIONAL TROPARION - TONE FOUR:
When the women disciples of the Lord learned from the angel the joyous message of Thy Resurrection; they cast away the ancestral curse and elatedly told the apostles: Death is overthrown! Christ God is Risen, granting the world great mercy.