The Paschal Fire is Burning Us Alive --It Must Be Stopped

Holy Sepulcher construction is complete and Pascha is resconstructed.

It seems the EU has taken it upon itself to create a change in The Orthodox Church. Namely, changing the date of Pascha. The rationale for this is outlined in the previous post. The Light of Pascha is the very thing which illumines our souls and is the criterion by which the date of The Feast is determined:

"Pascha is the greatest Christian feast. The Orthodox Church, in the words of St John Damascene (VIII c), calls it “the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days” (Paschal Canon, Irmos of the Eighth Ode). This was the first Christian feast that was celebrated in Apostolic times. This feast is of such significance that the day of the week during which the Resurrection of Christ took place is forever identified with it. In the Russian language this day is even called Voskresenie [Resurrection]. Throughout the whole Church year, it serves as a constant, weekly reminder of the Paschal feast itself. One particular Sunday of the year is dedicated to this feast of Resurrection. And this is the day, when there is a particular alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth. At this point, the latter enjoys a time of maximum illumination from the light sources that surround it.

In Orthodox liturgy, light has an exceptionally important meaning. The very word “light” and its derivatives are frequently found in liturgical texts. Christ Himself is the source of true Light “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12). In this context, solar light is understood as an image of the true Light.

The Christian Church, apparently from Apostolic times, began to fix the date of Pascha (Sunday) precisely in relation to light. For example, the feast of the Nativity of Christ (IV c.) was fixed as December 25, the day of the Winter solstice when sunlight begins to increase. (It was also a pagan feast for the same reason.) As for the sacred day of Pascha, here the moon also plays a part.

The Sunday of the year that falls immediately after a full moon when it occurs not earlier than the vernal equinox is set aside as the feast of Pascha.

Astronomically, the vernal equinox corresponds to that moment in the year when throughout the world (in both hemispheres) the length of the day and the night is equal and the Polar nights end. The significance of this phenomenon is that at this time of the year there is no place on Earth that is not touched by the light of the sun during the day. With the coming of the full moon during this time, the moon, being in the dark half of the Earth’s sphere, reflects the sun’s light, and thus the whole world is surrounded at that moment by the light of the sun.

Thus, in the cosmic aspect, the day of Holy Pascha is determined by the special position of the celestial bodies that illumine the Earth. This special position becomes a “cosmic icon” of that, which the Church describes by the words of the Paschal Canon: “Now all is filled with light: heaven and earth and the lower regions” [Troparion, Ode 3], or “This is the bright and saving night, sacred and supremely festal. It heralds the radiant day of the Resurrection on which the timeless light shone forth bodily from the tomb for all” [Troparion, Ode 7].

In the Church’s consciousness, the foundation of this “cosmic icon” was established by God Himself, the Creator of the world, when, at the coming of the fourth day, He ordered the “two great lights” to illumine the Earth on either side (days and nights) “And God said, Let there be lights ... to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and seasons, and for days, and years; and let them be for lights … to give light upon the earth … made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night” (Genesis 1:14-16).

Since the First Ecumenical Council (325 AD), this principle for determining the Paschal date (nearest Sunday after the first full moon occurring no earlier than the vernal equinox) was the mandatory rule for the whole Christian Church and remains so even to this day, both for the Eastern and Western Christians.

As for the theological significance of this “cosmic icon” that determines the date of Pascha, there is a little-known Fourth century Greek document (“Anatolian Sermon on the Paschal Date”, 387 AD), which gives a detailed explanation of this significance. The author points to the existing intimate connection between the “seven-day” creation of the world and the “seven-day” redemptive act of Christ.

The creation of the first man, Adam, was followed by his fall and with this the corruption of all creation. Christ, the New Adam, redeems the sin of the first man and brings to life a new creation. In this theological context, the cosmic phenomena (vernal equinox and the full moon that follows it) constitute natural signs that correspond to the beginning of time, when God created the world. The “cosmic icon” of light becomes the icon of the beginning of time at the creation of the world.

The moment of the vernal equinox is the image of the first day of creation."
SOURCE: http://www.holy-trinity.org/ecclesiology/ossorguine-pascha.html

By all means, let us discount Theology in the name of Tourism and convenience for our school children. We cannot stand to see ourselves illuminated by the light of the Paschal fire because it shows to us what we have become. We cannot allow ourselves to believe that we have turned out backs on God. Instead we turn our faces away from our hideous appearance and beautify ourselves with our own illusions founded in global commerce which depicts for us a true human unity. Naturally so, religion is evil because it causes division among men and starts wars right? All because we will not face ourselves. We would rather remain in our diapers and collect as many toys as we can until we die. There is a wonderful dark figure who is keeping score for us so we'll know how much we won. Each toy will be accounted for and we will be able to play with them for eternity.

The Fire of this Great Feast will be the means by which we are burned because of the insult that has been dealt. It has been said that The Love of God and the fires of hell are the same thing.

European Union Must Set Fixed Date For Pascha (Easter)

SOURCE: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0327/1224243530247.html

FERGAL QUINN

EU must be involved because this issue affects the secular lives of most citizens

LAST YEAR, Easter fell so early (March 23rd) that it caused a major inconvenience to most people. As the parents of schoolchildren will remember, their kids were hardly back after Christmas when it was already time for the mid-term break. And they started their Easter holidays even before St Patrick’s Day.

Easter this year falls on April 12th. In two years’ time, it will fall on April 24th. That is a 32-day gap in the space of four years. It is the difference between having Easter falling before winter is really out and having it when spring is well advanced.

That is a big problem for the tourism industry and for its customers – it means that every year they have a different product to sell, and every year the post-Easter early summer period starts at a different time.

Most people consider that having Easter as a moveable feast is a hassle, but assume it is a hassle they have to live with. They assume that there is some deep religious reason for setting the date of Easter the way we do, and that the churches would be opposed to any change.

Nothing could in fact be further from the truth. More than 40 years ago, the second Vatican Council made this clear when it declared that it had no objection to bringing in a fixed date for Easter. A little over a decade later, in 1975, the then pope Paul VI actually went so far as to propose a specific date – the second Sunday in April.

So why has nothing happened? Most members of the World Council of Churches were prepared to agree, with one glaring exception. The Orthodox Churches refused to go along with a proposal that might create the impression they were being led by Rome – not surprisingly, since they define themselves mainly by their independence from Rome.

At the same time, though, they apparently also made it clear that they would have no objection either to a fixed date for Easter – just so long as it did not involve following a proposal that was driven by the Roman Church.

And there the matter has languished for more than 30 years – a highly sensible suggestion that meets wide agreement, but which lacks a driver acceptable to all the religious interests.

Who will fill this gap?

I suggest the European Union is the ideal body to take this idea and run with it. The EU could justify its involvement because this issue is not just a religious one, but affects the secular lives of most citizens and is a barrier to the efficiency of most businesses.

Not alone that, but the EU has a magnificent track record in standardising basic matters like this, to the greater benefit of all.

* It brought about common starting and ending dates for the application of summertime right across Europe;

* It persuaded all European countries to use the same international prefix (00) for making international telephone calls;

* It created and implemented the GSM mobile phone technology that is universally used across Europe, and in large swathes of the world beyond;

* It has succeeded in abolishing passport controls across almost all of Europe (although, regrettably, Britain and Ireland still stand aloof from this great step forward).

By taking on the task of establishing a fixed date for Easter, the EU would be making a highly popular step – and so would be improving its own perception among the peoples of Europe. Let’s do it!

Feargal Quinn is an Independent member of Seanad Éireann

COMPLETION OF THE NEW CONSTRUCTION WORKS AT THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION

Inspection by His Beatitude of the placement of new glass panes at the Rock of the Holy Calvary and the new hygiene facilities at the Church of Resurrection.

A meeting of the three Committees of the Holy Shrines i.e the Greek Orthodox, Franciscan and Armenian, was held at the holy Convent of Abraham. The delegates had a discussion regarding matters of common concern. After this, His Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem Theofilos III, accompanied by fathers of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchure, descended to the Holy Sepulcher were he inspected the works carried out by the Technical Bureau of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem; the placement of new transparent panes from solid glass at the Holy Calvary and the placement of solid iron joists subservient to the scale rise leading to it.

His Beatitude then inspected the complete renovation of the lavatories of the Holy Sepulchure according to an agreement and with expenses of the three Communities, the Greek Orthodox, Franciscan and Armenian. The works began six months ago and after many difficulties and obstacles they were completed by the Technical Bureau of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The new complete structure of the lavatories is admittedly incomparable from the previous unacceptable situation.

The three Communities are looking for and expect from the relative government authorities and officials to exercise the appropriate pressure and leverage to the Copts, who contrary to the Status Quo, refuse to allow the unblocking of the sewerage and thus the new lavatories fall into desuetude. This results to problems for the priests and a serious hygienic issue to the multitudinous pilgrims of the Holy Sepulchre.

From the Holy Sepulchre Office

Patriarch Kyrill Addresses Metropolitan Jonah on The Week of The Holy Cross

SOURCE: http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?page=44528

On the Week of the Cross His All Holiness Patriarch Kyrill sends a letter to His Beatitude Jonah, Metropolitan of All America and Canada

On 22 March, 2009 during the Week of the Cross His Beatitude Jonah, Metropolitan of All America and Canada served Divine Liturgy at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York (Moscow Patriarchate) with the blessing of His All Holiness Kyrill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA Bishop Merkurii, Bishop of Zaraisk. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church sent a letter of greeting to His Beatitude Jonah, Archbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada which was proclaimed upon completing the Divine Liturgy. The complete text of His All Holiness Kyrill, Patriarch of Mocow can be found below.

Your Beatitude!

I sincerely welcome your visit to the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Moscow Patriarchate in the city of New York, this memorable and holy place connected with the life and service of St. Tikhon.

Your first visit as head of the Orthodox Church in America to the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA and to a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church comes during the week of the Cross, when the Honorable Cross stands before us for reverential worship and adoration. Maythe *invincible and inscrutable power of the honorable and life-giving Cross* strengthen the love between our Churches and overcome the *demons of feeble impertinence.*

Having passed over the course of Great Lent in peace, I wish you a joyous Pascha. I await the upcoming visit of Your Beatitude in Moscow.

With love in the Lord,
Kyrill
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

В Крестопоклонную неделю Святейший Патриарх Кирилл обратился с посланием к Блаженнейшему Митрополиту всей Америки и Канады Ионе

SOURCE: http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?page=44528

22 марта 2009 года, в Неделю Крестопоклонную, Блаженнейший Митрополит всей Америки и Канады Иона по благословению Святейшего Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла и по приглашению Управляющего Патриаршими приходами в США епископа Зарайского Меркурия совершил в Свято-Николаевском Патриаршем соборе Нью-Йорка Божественную литургию. Предстоятель Русской Православной Церкви обратился к Блаженнейшему Архиепископу Вашингтонскому и Нью-Йоркскому, Митрополиту всей Америки и Канады Ионе с приветственным посланием, которое было оглашено епископом Зарайским Меркурием по завершении Божественной литургии. Ниже приводится полный текст послания Святейшего Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла.

Ваше Блаженство!

Сердечно приветствуем Ваше посещение Николаевского Патриаршего собора в городе Нью-Йорке, этого памятного и святого места, связанного с жизнью и служением святителя Тихона.

Ваш первый визит в Представительство Московского Патриархата в США и в храм Русской Православной Церкви в качестве Предстоятеля Православной Церкви в Америке совершается в неделю Крестопоклонную, когда перед нами предлежит для благоговейного поклонения и лобызания честный Крест Господень. Непобедимая и непостижимая и божественная сила честного и животворящего Креста да укрепит любовь между нашими Церквами и да одолеет демонов немощныя дерзости.

Желаем Вам, в мире свершив поприще Святой Четыредесятницы, радостно встретить Пасху. Ждем скорой встречи с Вашим Блаженством в Москве.

С любовью о Господе

+КИРИЛЛ,
Патриарх Московский и всея Руси

The Subdeacon's Confession. An absolutely astounding story

The Sub-Deacon’s Confession

Two years ago I was asked to hear the last confession of and bring communion to an old woman who was preparing to die. Once we had arrived at the house where she lived, the relatives who were accompanying me began finding excuses not to proceed. In shy voices, they said things like:

“You know, Father? she was a smoker.”

“Well,” I answered, “that is certainly not the greatest of sins.”

The thus comforted relatives then led me further, but some time later they stopped again.

“Father, she was for her entire life an atheist; she cursed the Church, and she couldn’t stand the site of priests.”
Well, now. This was a far more serious obstacle. Quite often, people who’ve begun to believe quite recently wish for anything whatsoever to save their loved ones. They do this more often than not in a clumsy manner; and their lingering doubts or belief-on-condition that’s led them away from the Church. But neophytes can be persistent. They are capable of biding their time, and when a non-believing relative ends up in an impossibly hopeless situation that makes the rendering of any resistance equally impossible, they run straight to the priest and convince him to receive, to christen and commune this poor dying soul. For such circumstances, there exists a special “Mute Confession” rite. The priest himself lists the sins, hoping against hope in that circumstance that the person who lost his ability to speak will nonetheless comprehend the subject of the priest’s words, hear them, understand their meaning and, perhaps, repent in his
heart. The depths of Divine Compassion are truly endless. It is possible to agree on a Mute Confession, but only in those instances where the person presented to the confessor is in fact a believer and, when he was in good health, received confession regularly. And here we have an atheist – an atheist smoker, at that …
“Perhaps I should leave,” I said. “There’d be no point in observing such a formalistic offering of the Eucharist. After all, just one little sin …”

“No, no Father,” the family relative insisted, “She herself requested that a priest – and, specifically, that you – be summoned. She still has full possession of her mental faculties, and her memory is intact. Sheis, afterall, just about eighty years old. And you know, she never went to church, but she always sent along lists of the departed that were to be remembered – it’s just that the list was always of one and the same name. So, please, could we get started?

I entered her room. It turned out that the woman facing death’s door was a physician who had been well-known in the city. She was surrounded by a few relatives of the same vintage, and seated in an armchair stuffed to overflowing with pillows. It was obvious that only in such a position could she breathe and speak. The room itself radiated with clinical cleanliness and modesty of décor. The interior was a throw-back to a film inducing Soviet-era nostalgia – Nikita Mikhalkov’s “Five Evenings” perhaps. 1950’s vintage furniture radiated like new: a reading table lamp with a green lampshade, covered with a lace kerchief next to the earliest vintage Soviet television set, a KVN, looking for all the world as though it had just left the conveyor belt.

Greeting me, the aged atheist asked me to read the prayer before confession. I was more than a bit surprised at her evident familiarity with our rite that this request indicated. I then asked that we be left alone, but the old woman wanted to have her confession heard by everyone present. Such an unorthodox request made me profoundly uncomfortable, but I decided not to contradict the wishes of someone preparing to die. I decided that I could most likely cut off her confession if it began to stray into delicate matters not fit for public discussion. Having coughed enough to clear her lungs, she finally began:

“I was sub-deacon to Bishop George, the last bishop of Volsk.”

This information shocked me profoundly. My thoughts raced to the Blessed Marina, who allowed herself to be taken for a Monk, Marin; to the female Cavalier Durova, about whom a film, “The Hussar’s Ballad,” was made. But the old woman sensed what I was thinking and continued:

“Please don’t think I’ve lost my mind. I remember everything quite well. I was indeed sub-deacon to Bishop George (Sadovsky) in 1933 – 1936, when he served in Volsk.

This grandmother, it turns out, was in full control of her senses. What’s more, she had a tremendous memory. She remembered that when she was a 12-year old girl, she loved to attend church services. In the second half of the 1930’s, there was only one Orthodox Church in Volsk, which had previously belonged to the Old Believers who worshipped without priests. The Soviets had taken this church from them and given it to the Orthodox community following the closure of all the other churches in that city.

“I attended church during the winter in a fur hat with floppy ear flaps, and I looked very much like a boy. What’s more, my hair was closely cropped,” explained Ekaterina Mikhaylovna Ivantsova. “The women of the parish insisted that I take off my hat. They would say ‘You’re a boy. You can’t enter a church wearing a hat.’ And there were no real boys around. In order to serve an episcopal liturgy, it was necessary to find at least four sub-deacons who, in the old days, were always boys. And here there were only two old men and a nun from the already destroyed Vladimir Monastery. So His Grace chose me to be his fourth sub-deacon. I went up to the altar, carried out a candle, held his episcopal staff, and helped with vesting the bishop. Vladyka loved me very much and he always tried to give me whatever food he could during those years of famine. He always saved a big piece of blessed bread for me. Attending to him and
being at church was, for me, always a great joy.

Ekaterina Mikhaylovna lived in those days in Nagibovk, and she would cross the city to attend services. She remembered that Vladyka suffered from serious problems with his legs. Now she understands that this was most likely due to trophic ulcers [трофическиеязвы]. He acquired this condition during his incarceration, and it was very difficult for him to stand during lengthy services. Someone made soft boots for him; and toward the end of an all-night vigil service, they would be soaked in blood.

“Vladyka George had beautiful vestments that the nuns of Belev had sent. He had served there previously. Just before Pentecost in 1936, I was supposed to bring green vestments that had just been sent. As I turned the corner to enter the church, a nun met me, weeping. She told me there would be no service today because Vladyka had been arrested.”

The burden of such torment on a twelve-year old girl was unbearable. She cried unceasingly for several days. She would climb a tree that stood in front of the city NKVD [precursor to the KGB] to see over the fence and occasionally catch site of Vladyka, when he was being led from an interrogation room. But then they sent him to Saratov.

“Nuns told me that a child’s prayer travels to God much faster. I prayed as best I could. I prayed with all my strength both day and night. Summer vacation came, and nothing stopped me from praying for entire days on end. Oh, how I prayed! But next month, news arrived in Volsk that Bishop George had been shot. And then,” the woman broke down in tears, “I lost my faith. I understood that a God who did not hear or did not wish to answer a child’s prayers could not exist. And so I have lived my entire life without faith. The emptiness that took its place in my soul was not simply the opposite of the Living God. It was offended by the now non-existent God. Offence at the Church and its clergy who, out of stupidity or ambition, deceive people. And when they opened the church in Volsk again during the War, I turned the other way whenever I passed by those open doors. And if I should hear the echoes of services being chanted, I would
become ill for several days.”

Lord! What a monstrous mistake, I thought, how misguided! Bishop George lived until 1948. But the old woman continued:

“Recently I learned that all my prayers had indeed gone straight to God, and that Bishop George had not been shot. If I had known that then … I would have gone to him where he was in the camps, in exile. I would have lived nearby, cleaned his clothes, brought food to him … My life would have been completely different. And that is the great sin of my life, for which I now repent before dying. Forgive me, Father!”

Ekaterina Mikhaylovna died that evening. On the third day, I served her funeral service thinking about how surprising human fate can be, and how God is merciful, returning such lost souls to Him.

Father Mikhail Vorobyov, “Orthodox Faith” № 18 (374), 2008
Translated 22 March 2009, by Vladimir Berezansky, Jr.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Leading World Orthodoxy into The Pit

This "leader of Orthodoxy" is falling into the self same sin the Pope of Rome fell into 1000 years ago. He wishes to be "the Eastern Pope.

What nonsense.

The Church is the Image of God. If we are to change the structure of our Church then we change the the understanding we have of the Nature of The Holy Trinity. Which of course changes the religion altogether.

Our understanding of the relationship of the Persons of The Holy Trinity is Collegiate. In other words, The Father is the First Among Equals. The Son is Equal to The Father and The Holy Spirit and The Holy Spirit is Equal to The Father and The Son, and The Father is Equal to The Son and The Holy Spirit. However, The Father holds a special place of honor. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew holds the position of Patriarch of Constantinople which makes him The First Among Equals of the Orthodox Patriarchs. The Collegiate structure of our Church's hierarchy is an icon of the structure of The Holy Trinity. The Patriarchs of the Church are equal to each other in the same way that The Persons of The Trinity are.

Attempting to establish a single leader among the Orthodox undermines our entire Faith.

Additionally, The Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew's attempt at a One World Church has repercussions that should be evident to even a 7 year old Baptist Sunday School kid.

Please click on the link below to view the source of the image.

"In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, at far right seated, prays with Pope Benedict XVI, second left, in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Saturday Oct. 18, 2008. During the historic first, Bartholomew urged Catholics and Orthodox to work together to combat fundamentalism and promote religious tolerance. Benedict praised his guest on the occasion of an Orthodox leader's first time at a service in the chapel, frescoed by Michelangelo, where pontiffs are elected. Bartholomew's participation in the Vespers service and speech is a 'joyous experience of unity, perhaps not perfect, but true and deep,' Benedict said.
(AP Photo/Osservatore Romano, HO)"

http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/mod/gallery/view-photo.php?sort=-1&photo_id=2225

Romanian Lamentations

St. Gregory Palamas Sunday "To The Heights! To The Heights!"

Through the prayers of our holy Father St. Gregory Palamas, may the remainder of Great Lent be profitable for all involved.

Let's not forget St. Gregory's teachings on Hesychasm and pray unceasingly. Let's also remember St. Gregory's dying words "To the heights! To the heights!" and focus ourselves on the heights as well.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me a sinner. Or some variant.

The "Anathema"

I don't know much about this Genuwine Orthodox group. However, they do put out some excellent books. Fili's (TOC) position on ecumenism hasn't changed in decades. Did the Genuwine Orthodox just discover it? I am wondering about the "timing" of this "ukase"; why now?? I doubt that this is just some synchronous event, that just happened to occur on that particular Sunday. I must plead ingenuousness about the "genuine" characteristics that "sets apart" GOCA. Well, they may have surely made a "statement" that "divides" (άίρεσις) them in terms of ecumenical, Filial, harmony. Anybody got any background information on the GOCA or the timing of this "ukase"?
DA

Deaconesses

SOURCE: http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/deaconnesses.aspx

This Pandoras box has recently been opened as the feminist agenda tries to force itself into Orthodoxy. The call for the reinstitution of the ordination of women as deaconesses is making itself heard. Sadly, some clergy, even a few prominent bishops, are joining in favor of this "craze", perhaps because they are afraid of being labeled as misogynist by the vocal minority of women demanding "their place in the altar."

Throughout the history of the Church, monastics have always stood forward in warning of oncoming disaster and/or in defense of the purity of the faith; one only need to look at the iconoclastic controversy to see this clearly, for it was the monastics who were in the forefront in defense of icons. Although the circulation of The Veil is not as wide as publications by a number of modernist/"progressive"/radical/liberal Orthodox groups in this country, we still hope that this article will urge those who hold firm to the traditions of the Faith to come forward and join their voices to ours.

It has become very popular in recent years to look at the life of the "early Church." if we do that, certainly we will find those who were called "deaconesses." However, if we look at the early Church we also find political situations which oppressed Christianity even more than that of the tyrannical communist regimes of our own recent history. We find, in the early Church, Christians very willing to die for the faith, who stood by and encouraged their children to remain firm during their young martyrdom for Christ, who truly suffered as confessors before civil authorities; we see Christians who willingly sacrificed everything to follow Christ. Sadly, when many of those who like to cite the "early Church" raise their voice, they tend to be quite selective in which aspects of that "early Church" they would like to emulate. What we do not see in the early Church are people who are living very comfortably and making an "issue" as to what their place in the Church may be. The early Christians fell on their knees, thanking God to be in the Ark of Salvation; they were not clawing their way forward to direct it!

But, let us look at the early Church, the Church during the days of the Apostles. That is where we find the institution of the "deacons." Chapter six of the Acts of the Apostles shows clearly that the first deacons were chosen, had the laying on of hands by the Apostles, and were sent forth to serve the physical needs of the people, to distribute food and other offerings. The Biblical institution of "deacons" was to fulfill a need. Their functions relieved the Apostles (and later the priests) of certain "earthly" responsibilities so that they could give themselves "continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word," (Acts 6:4). The role of deacons serving at the altar developed later as time and need demanded, for example, the litanies during the divine services are almost always done by the deacon while the priest is saying certain "silent" prayers which are particular to the priest. However this function came in time and most certainly not at the demand of the deacons themselves wanting a more visible role in the liturgical life of the Church.

Were there "deaconesses" in the early Church? Yes. Most definitely. No one denies that. They fulfilled the female counterpart of the role filled by those very early "deacons", going into areas where men could not go to help the female Christians. Remember, in the early Church vast numbers of adults were becoming Christians and in need of baptism. Baptism was administered by full immersion of the unclothed body in water and the anointing of entire body with oil. Propriety obviously demanded that new Christians who were women could not be thus baptized by male clergy. The deaconesses therefore had this particular role of service to fulfill. In our own days, adult baptisms are done with the new Christian dressed in modest attire which can accommodate the immersion in water and the body is not entirely anointed. There is no need in our day for a "deaconess" to baptize or anoint a woman with oil for propriety sake.

Another specific function which the deaconess fulfilled in the early Church was that of visiting unmarried women who were either housebound, ill, or otherwise in need of spiritual counseling. Let us not forget that the early Church existed under Roman domination, in the milieu of Roman law. This law forbade any male from entering the home of an unmarried woman for whatever reason! To deal with this situation, the Church, in her wisdom set aside these pious, unmarried women to fulfill this obvious need which existed.

We also hear the claims that deaconesses carried the Sacrament of Holy Communion to many outside of the temple. Let us also remember that, in the early Church, all of the people took the Body and Blood of our Lord to their homes to commune during the week. The fact that records show deaconesses having a type of "ordination" was specifically to enable them to carry Holy Communion to women who were "shut-ins". Since, as we have made clear, it was forbidden for a male to go into a single womans home, there was an obvious need for this holy service to be done by a woman, hence, the deaconess. The ordination, or blessing, was to allow her to carry Holy Communion to those women who could not attend the Liturgy.

Such circumstances and needs do not exist today.

Yet another function of the deaconesses in the early Church dealt with the matter of guarding the doors of the church and keeping non-Christian women from being present at the Divine Liturgy after the proclamation of "The doors, the doors..." Again, it would not have been considered as proper for a male to physically escort a woman out of the church at that time.

Does this situation or these proprietorial demands exist today?

The role of deaconesses in the early Church was, like the non- liturgical role of deacons, to assist the priest in areas where civil law and propriety prevented him from serving the faithful, specifically women.

The liturgical role which we see deacons fulfilling today never existed for deaconesses. There was never a need for that!

Were there deaconesses in the early Church? Yes. Were there "female deacons" serving as the male diaconate now serve? No!

Who, exactly were these deaconesses who served in the above stated ways? They were, first of all, at least over the age of forty and were either widowed or unmarried. There is no evidence anywhere that the deaconesses were married women or that they lived their own "other" worldly life outside of their duties in the Church. They did not wear "vestments" for liturgical celebration, but were clothed in a distinctive garb at all times. The celibate state of these women, their total life of commitment in the Church and their garb, together with the fact that no writings of the early Church mention "nuns" as such should bring us to a very obvious conclusion: The deaconesses of the early Church were "parochial nuns."

One of the earliest indications of "monasteries" for nuns that we can find are in the life of Saint Anthony in the third century. We see that Saint Anthony sold all his belongings and, as he went to live a life of solitude, he gave his younger sister into a house of Christian virgins. Christian widows and virgins existed since the very earliest days of the Church, long before even Saint Anthony went off into the desert. As a precursor to the monasteries for nuns which we see today throughout all Orthodox lands, the widows and virgins of the early Church served the needs which existed within the Church, often as deaconesses. As monasticism grew we find less and less mention of the term "deaconess" in the writings of the Church. Advocates for the reinstitution of deaconesses will surely cite the deaconess Olympia who so selflessly served Saint John Chrysostom. No one denies this. The need for the services of a deacones/1parochial nun still existed at that time! It is in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom that we see the words "The doors! The doors!" thus showing us that the non-baptized were ushered out of the church at that time, hence a need for deaconesses to escort the women. Adult female baptisms were still performed, hence a need for deaconesses. In the great church of Constantinople surely there was a need to visit women ill in the hospital and in other circumstances which were not considered proper for a priest to enter; hence, a need for deaconesses.

The Orthodox Church is constantly accused of holding on to customs which are antiquated, purely ornamental and of no particular function. Yet, in our own times "modernist" voices are screaming to re-institute a practice on the basis that it existed centuries ago, that it would be "pretty," and that would no longer have a function to serve.

To serve means to give of oneself. What "service" would deaconesses have today? They would be serving only their own egos, their own pride, their own selves! Priests do not need a woman to assist him in baptisms, take Communion to the sick, or guard the doors of the Church. Women already have a myriad of "functions" in the present day Orthodox Church which far surpass the 95% of men who are not ordained clergy. Those women (and men) who wish to serve God completely, under discipline, in a life of celibacy, in distinctive clothing can enter a monastery where they may live by the rules which have existed for centuries, not by their own newly fabricated ones. We cannot talk about "reinstituting the order of deaconesses," because it never became extinct; it is simply known by another name: female monastic.

This writer has not seen the women who are clamoring to be deaconesses knocking at the door of a monastery for admittance. They are not seeking a "reinstitution" of deaconesses, but rather a rewriting of the definition. This definition would include being married, serving in the altar, having a "worldly" life and job. Vestment makers would certainly profit, for they would not only be making "deaconess" vestments, but also "maternity deaconess" vestments!

The Church is one body and each part has its own function. The role of bishop, priest and deacon are male roles, not in order to subject women, but because Christ, in taking flesh, became man, thus putting the male nature in service to the Church in His image. While there is no subjection, there is order and distinctiveness in the Church just as there is in nature and in all creation: night gives way today, the sea is bound by the land. There is order and distinction in the Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Son does not seek to be the Father, nor does the Holy Spirit seek to be the Son, but they are unity in Trinity.

So also in the Church there is unity in the one body. The laity do not fulfill the distinctive role of the ordained clergy; the deacons do not seek to fulfill the role of the priest; the priest does not seek to function as a bishop. This is not subordination, but mere distinction so that each part of the body may fulfill its role for the good and well-being of the whole Body.

Those who raise a voice in favor of women being "ordained" as deaconesses are trying to disrupt the order and distinction in the Church. The resistance to allowing "female deacons" is a resistance to allowing disorder into the Church. Women are not "second class citizens" as some would define them in the Church. The Church distinguishes between clergy and laity, not between men and women. Men and women receive Holy Communion together and in the same manner, and all of the sacraments with the exception of Holy Orders are conferred on men and women alike with no distinction. Women have always occupied prime teaching positions in church communities as well as being the principal teacher and upholder of the faith in the home.

The principles of feminism have joined some Orthodox women stronger to their Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish counterparts than to the body of the Church. Their slogans are what has wrought such ruin in certain Protestant denominations and especially within the Episcopalian Church. Members of those denominations, waking up to see that modernism is not what guided the early Church have found the true Faith in Orthodoxy. Let us listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not to the loud, discordant and sometimes very convincing voices of those who wish to destroy the order of the Body of Christ.

When we hear the cries for the "reinstitution of ordination of deaconesses," rising we must be careful not to be taken in by sentimental pleas. There is no need in the Church for such an "order," one which, as defined by those who wish to see it instituted, would be a far cry from the original role of those selfless servants of Christ. Satan fell from Heaven because he refused the order which existed; he wanted to play the role of God Himself now he has found new disciples in women who want to serve their pride and vainglory by being ordained as deacon(esses) to parade in and out of the altar and stand together with the deacons, priests and bishops.

* Much of the data and information cited in the above article are from a college paper written by Reader Joseph Hirsch IV. We thank him for sharing the result of his extensive research with us.

From The Veil, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Pascha, 1998). The Veil is a publication of the Protection of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Monastery. Free subscriptions to The Veil are available by writing or calling the convent: 2343 County Road 403, Lake George, CO 80827; 719-748-3999. Posted on 10/11/2007 with the permission of the convent.

Former OCA Metropolitan Herman Banned from Serving at St. Tikhons

SOURCE: http://ocanews.org/news/NewsFromAroundtheOCA3.13.09.html

In a recent press release announcing that the law enforcement has been called into the investigation of St. Tikhon's monastery and bookstore, Metropolitan Jonah said: "Evidence of financial mismanagement and possible wrongdoing discovered during the investigation has led to disciplinary actions against certain employees." No names or actions were cited, but OCANews.org has confirmed that during his recent visit at St. Tikhon's Monastery and Seminary last week, Metropolitan Jonah met with retired Metropolitan Herman. He informed +Herman at that time that the Synod had decided that +Herman was no longer blessed to serve at the monastery. Just as retired Metropolitan Theodosius is restricted to serving only in Canonsburg, PA; Metropolitan Herman is now only blessed to serve in Uniondale, some 22 miles from St. Tikhon's. (The retired Metropolitan had served there as a parish priest in the 1960's.) +Herman was also informed that he was no longer blessed wear his white klobuk. An official announcement of both decisions is expected in the near future.

In related news, it has been reported to OCANews.org that Metropolitan Herman's former Archdeacon , Alexei Klimitchev, has been suspended from all clerical duties. His photo and information have been removed from the OCA website. He had been earlier removed as the manager of St. Tikhon's bookstore at the end of 2008.

• Syosset, New York

The OCA announced late last week that "In compliance with a long term recommendation of the Special Investigating Committee [SIC], the Diocese of Washington and New York is now preparing for an external audit of its 2008 financial records and for a financial review of the records of the former Diocese of New York and New Jersey." That is not fully accurate. The SIC, on page 35, recommended that the records of the diocese of NY/NJ be audited, not reviewed. There is a significant difference, as the OCA has so painfully discovered in these past years.

The recommendation for the audit stemmed from questions concerning use of diocesan monies by the late Archbishop Peter, Metropolitan Herman and former Chancellor Robert Kondratick, who controlled Diocesan funds during the late Archbishop's lengthy illness. As OCA.org reported on December 8, 2003:

"Delegates to the annual assembly of the Orthodox Church in America's Diocese of New York and New Jersey at Holy Assumption Church here December 3, 2003 adopted a far-reaching proposal to address the administrative and financial difficulties brought about by 'poor bookkeeping and the lack of administrative oversight.'

At the center of the discussion was the diocese's failure to remit $126,000 in parish assessment payments to the Orthodox Church in America's Chancery in Syosset, NY. Diocesan officials explained that, due to the lengthy illness of His Eminence, Archbishop Peter of New York and New Jersey, the diocese had experienced a number of administrative challenges and unforeseen financial expenditures.

It was also noted that approximately $105,000 had been spent on unexpected expenses surrounding Archbishop Peter's care and emergency repairs to the diocese's Bronxville, NY offices and episcopal residence. With no significant savings or endowment from which to draw funds for the extraordinary expenses, these expenses were paid by the diocese out of assessment revenues received from diocesan parishes."

It is unclear why the Diocese should have been responsible for the Archbishop's healthcare costs, since the Archbishop, who had Medicare and health insurance, was, in addition, personally wealthy.
Moreover, the other "administrative challenges and unforeseen financial expenditures" cited by former Chancellor, Robert Kondratick have never been explained. When several priests attempted to inquire about such things in 2005, they were told to be silent. Quoting one (who wrote to OCANews.org at that time): "I can say as an eyewitness at the last diocesan assembly that RSK & Metropolitan Herman simply did a top-down, no questions allowed, 'here is the way we're going' thing. When people continued to raise their hands for questions, +Herman has a fit & said: 'Enough. No more questions. There will be no audits. You will never get to the bottom of this. You will never find where the funds went. Just forget about it & get on with the work of the Lord, for the good of the Church.'"

Syosset also reported this week that: "In related news, the Diocese of Washington and New York also reported that it is currently renovating its property in Bronxville, NY, for use as a diocesan center." Last renovated in 2002, the question arises as to why the property is in need of additional renovation only six years later? The retired Archbishop did not live there for most of that period, as he had built a home in the Caribbean. And is well-known, Metropolitan Herman did not use the residence during his tenure (2004-2008). If the Diocese of Washington and New York is being asked, yet again, to repair the residence, is it not reasonable the Faithful be told why?

- Mark Stokoe

Restoring The Female Diaconate

SOURCE: http://incommunion.org/?p=1113

For further information on this subject please refer to the following blog posts:

http://www.contemporaryorthodoxy.com/2009/03/deaconesses.html

http://www.contemporaryorthodoxy.com/2008/12/what-beef-have-women-theologians-with.html

“Master and Lord, You do not reject women who offer themselves, and by divine counsel, to minister as is fitting to your holy houses, but you accept them in the order of ministers. Give the grace of your Holy Spirit to this servant of Yours also, who wishes to offer herself to you, and to accomplish the grace of the diaconate, as You gave the grace of Your diaconate to Phoebe, whom you called to the work of the ministry….”

These are the beginning words of the second prayer of ordination of the female deacon in the Byzantine rite. The female diaconate is a part of our history. For over one thousand years, the Orthodox Church ordained women to serve as deaconesses. As the Orthodox theologian, Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, writes in Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church:

According to Byzantine liturgical texts, the ordination of the woman deacon occurred as any other ordination to major orders. It took place during the celebration of the Eucharist and at the same point in the service that the male deacon was ordained. She was ordained at the altar by the bishop, and later in the service, received Holy Communion at the altar with the other clergy. Depending upon the need, location and situation in history, the deaconess ministered primarily to the women in the community in much the same way that the male deacon ministered to men…. [The order] was gradually de-emphasized sometime after the twelfth century. It should be noted, however, that there does not exist any canon or Church regulation that opposes or suppresses the order.”

For over a century, various voices within the Church have called for the restoration of the female diaconate. But what is the diaconate? What is its function in the life of the Church? How has it evolved over time? What did the female deacon do? We know some of the roles of the historical deaconess. Lay women today are filling many of these functions. Is it still necessary to have an ordained ministry? Is a permanent diaconate, especially a female diaconate, needed in the Church today? What could this ministry look like in the 21st century?

The Diaconate in History: The Church’s ministry, modeled after Christ’s example, grew out of the needs of the community. In the early Church, when the Hellenists complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food, the Apostles realized that they could not attend to both the word of God and serve “tables.” According to the account in Acts, they sought out “seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task.” This marked both the embryonic beginning of the office of the deacon.

The first place where we find the word “deacon” used as a title is in Romans. St. Paul writing to the Romans says, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon (diakonon) of the church at Cenchreae…” The works of Origen and Chrysostom show that patristic tradition upholds Phoebe’s position as a deaconess.

In one of the letters from Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, to the Emperor Trajan (112 AD), Pliny asks for guidance on how to handle the Christian sect, writing that he had to place “two women called >deaconesses’ under torture.”

We have a general understanding of the functions of the male and female deacon from early church documents. Each was answerable to the bishop. The male deacons ministered to men while the female deacons ministered to women. Each also had a liturgical role, although there is disagreement as to their precise functions. This parallelism can be seen in the Apostolic Constitutions passage that outlines the character of the deacon:

Let the deacons be in all things unspotted, as the bishop himself is to be, only more active; …that they may minister to the infirm…. And let the deaconess be diligent in taking care of the women; but both of them ready to carry messages, to travel about, to minister, and to serve…

This reflects an earlier understanding of the functions of the office found in the Didascalia Apostolorum. The Didascalia contains sections on the character of the deaconess and her ministry of assisting in the baptism of women and instruction of women converts.

During the Byzantine period, the diaconal office in the east, especially that of women, flourished, as we see this in the many women deacon saints on the calendar, including Sts. Macrina, sister of Sts. Gregory and Basil (July 19), Nonna, wife of St. Gregory of Nazianzus (August 5), Olympias, friend and confidant of John Chrysostom (July 25), Xenia “the merciful” (Jan 24), and Irene of Chrysovalantou (July 28) We also have descriptions of the makeup of the clergy serving during the Liturgy at Hagia Sophia, including “forty deaconesses.”

During this time, the male diaconate in the East grew in prominence, holding high positions in church governance, including participating in the Ecumenical councils (e.g. Athanasius of Alexandria, a deacon, was secretary for his bishop at the Council of Nicaea in 325). They also served as emissaries and ambassadors of the episcopal seat in diplomatic matters and were administers of church-run homes for the poor and widows, orphanages, and hospitals.

The order of the female diaconate began to decline sometime after the twelfth century. There were fewer adult baptisms so female deacons were no longer needed at initiation. In addition, in late Byzantium the rise of influence of Levitical rules, especially regarding women, led to the perception that the shedding of blood made a woman Aunclean” and therefore, unable to enter the sanctuary or participate in the liturgical life of the Church, though this was in direct contradiction to the understanding of >uncleanness’ found in the Didascalia Apostolorum and the Apostolic Constitutions. Chapter 26 of the Didascalia admonishes Christians to abandon the rabbinical rules of ‘uncleanness’: “Are they devoid of the Holy Spirit? For through baptism they receive the Holy Spirit, who is ever with those that work righteousness, and does not depart from them by reason of natural issues and the intercourse of marriage, but is ever and always with those who possess Him…”

The Apostolic Constitutions extends this emphasis: “For neither the lawful mixture [intercourse], nor childbearing, nor the menstrual purgation, nor nocturnal pollution can defile the nature of a [person], or separate the Holy Spirit from him…. but only impiety towards God, transgression, and injustice towards one’s neighbor…”

With the rise of Islam and the subsequent fall of the Eastern part of the Roman empire to the Ottomans, the Church turned inward. It could no longer participate in many of the philanthropic aspects of its ministry. Moreover, many of the traditional duties of the male deacon were being assumed by the priest and by the growing number of those in the so-called “minor orders.” This led to the position of the diaconate being perceived as more of a “transitional” one along the way to being ordained a presbyter. Although the male deacon retained his role in the liturgical assembly, the office had devolved greatly. Unfortunately, this is what typically remains of the order in the East today.

Modern Renewal of the Office: In modern times, the diaconate has experienced a renewal and rejuvenation, most notably (and somewhat ironically) in the Western Christian churches. While this movement is due mostly to the needs of the local churches, it is instructive to us, as Orthodox Christians, to realize that the theological reasoning and justification for a re-institution of the order came from careful study of the Early Church, primarily its expression in the East.

Although the diaconate in the Eastern Orthodox Church has remained an active ministry since apostolic times, its scope and function have greatly diminished since the fall of Byzantium. The male diaconate generally functions solely in the liturgical realm and, oftentimes, is only a transitional stage on the way to ordination to the presbytery. The female diaconate has virtually disappeared.

There have been numerous attempts for over 150 years to reinstitute the female diaconate. As early as 1855, the sister of Czar Nicholas I tried to restore the office. Other prominent Russians also lobbied for its restoration, including Aleksandr Gumilevsky and Mother Catherine (Countess Efimovsky). In 1905-06, several bishops, archbishops, and metropolitans of the Russian Orthodox Church encouraged the effort. This issue was to be a major topic at the Council of the Russian Church beginning in 1917, but due to the political turmoil in Russia at the time, the council’s work was not suspended. (Other items on the agenda included adopting the use of the vernacular in the liturgical services and the reinstitution of the married episcopacy.)

Other efforts were made in Greece. On Pentecost Sunday in 1911, Archbishop (now Saint) Nektarios ordained a nun to the diaconate to serve the needs of the monastery. A few years later, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens appointed Amonastic ‘deaconesses,’ nuns in fact appointed to the subdiaconate.

More recently, the issue has been discussed at the international conferences for Orthodox women in Agapia, Romania in 1976 (at which its restoration was unanimously recommended), Sophia, Bulgaria in 1987, Rhodes, Greece in 1988), Crete in 1990, Damascus, Syria in 1996 and Istanbul in 1997.

In July of 2000, after over a year of careful review of the subject, a letter was sent to the Ecumenical Patriarch by more than a dozen members of the Orthodox community in Paris, among them Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, Fr. Boris Bobrinskoy, Olivier Clément, and Nicolas Lossky. The letter notes that the Patriarch himself has stated that there is Ano obstacle in canon law [that] stands in the way of the ordination of women to the diaconate. This institution of the early Church deserves to be revitalized.” It also states that the order should Ainvolve more than a simple and archaeological reconstitution of the ancient ministry of the deaconesses … It is a question of its revitalization … in the context of the … present day.”

What would the deaconess do in the Church today? The question is generally preceded by the acknowledgment that the ancient deaconess assisted in the baptism of women, etc. It is oftentimes assumed that since we no longer have many adult baptisms (infant baptism being the norm) that we no longer need deaconesses. (Although a simplistic analogy, it is interesting that the same question is not asked of the male diaconate. i.e. Since we no longer need ‘table servers’ at the Eucharist, a function of the biblical diaconate, why do we need male deacons?) This issue has been discussed within Orthodox circles as well. According to the report of the Crete consultation (1990), a deacon or deaconess could

lead people in prayer, give spiritual counsel, distribute Holy Communion where possible. The renewal of the diaconate for both men and women would meet many of the needs of the Church in a changing world… catechetical work… pastoral relations… serving the same needs for monastic communities without a presbyter … reading prayers for special occasions, …performing social work … pastoral care … engaging in youth and college ministry … counseling … anointing the infirm …carrying out missionary work … ministering to the sick, … assisting the bishop or presbyter in the liturgical services….

The report concludes that a creative restoration of the diaconate for women, could lead in turn to the renewal in the diaconate for men as well.

The Liturgical Role of the Female Deacon: When discussing the reinstitution of the female diaconate, the question of her liturgical role, including her service within the altar area, often arises. It is my opinion, if this question were settled, we would currently have women deacons in the Orthodox Church.

According to the First Apology of Justin the Martyr (100-165 AD), the ministry of the deacon was expressed in the liturgical celebration of the gathered assembly gathered for the Eucharist,

reading the Gospel, leading the intercessions of the people, receiving the gifts of the people and ’setting the table’ for the meal, serving the Eucharistic meal…. [Moreover] the social service carried on by the deacons seems to be been rooted in the liturgical celebration.

As we have seen, the link between liturgy and service is crucial not only to the office of the diaconate, but to our understanding of what it means to gather as Church in worship. It is in our service to the other that we are united with them. Our service to the other brings them with us to worship. We are their visible representatives.

Although the liturgy enables us to encounter God in a variety of ways and at differing levels, allowing us to experience a “taste of the Kingdom,” we must always remember that we are not fully, as yet, in the eschaton (end times). We live in the here and now and are called to draw all closer to God. In my opinion, it is a distortion of the office to have the male deacon serve only during the liturgy, but not within the community, and conversely, to have a future female deacon serve within the community, but not during the liturgy.

As Dr. FitzGerald says in her book, Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church:

It is important to remember that in the past women deacons did have important responsibilities in the Eucharistic assembly as well as in the administration of baptism, in praying with and for those in need, and in bringing Holy Communion to those unable to attend the Eucharist. … Today, these expressions of ministry can certainly continue. At the same time, we also need to examine how women deacons can participate in the Eucharist and other liturgical services in a manner which is expressive of the living Tradition of the Church and which is not defined by cultural norms of another time.

Need? But do we really need a rejuvenated diaconate and, in particular, a restored female diaconate? To help answer this question, it is instructive to understand the responsibilities of a typical parish priest.

Fr. Alexander Garklavs outlined a number of functions expected of today’s parish priest in his presentation at the 2004 Pastoral Conference held at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in June 2004. In additional to all the liturgical duties of the priest (Sunday and any daily liturgical services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.), he enumerates some of the priest’s responsibilities in parish life, including pastoral visitations, educational work, Bible study, adult study, youth work, teen work, working with choirs and choir directors, marriage preparation, marital counseling, visiting shut-ins, grief counseling, hospital visits, office work, preparing and printing bulletins and schedules, parish mailings, aspects of parish administration, etc.

In 1953, Archbishop Michael of the Greek Orthodox Church in North and South America realized that there is so much to do in each community that

the endeavors of these priests alone do not suffice. For should the priest wish to know, as he must, his spiritual children by name, their problems, and their spiritual and moral needs, this would certainly be beyond his physical and spiritual resources. These tremendous needs of the Greek Orthodox Church in America has urged us to make a fervent appeal such as this to our daughters-in-Christ… With the future welfare of our Church and membership at heart, we are considering the establishment in this country of an order of deaconess.

Clearly, a rejuvenated diaconate, a ministry that has service as its primary focus, is necessary in our Church today. No one person can fill all the duties necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ, the Church. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, AEach of us has been given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The diaconate is not merely a Astepping stone” to higher orders. It is, as Dr. FitzGerald explains, Aa full and parallel order of ordained ministry to which both men and women are called by God.”

But is an ordained ministry necessary? It is an unfortunate effect of clericalism that lay participation in our churches varies widely. This is especially true of the participation of women. The range of women’s participation in the life of the Church can vary from diocese to diocese and even from parish to parish within each diocese. Still, many laywomen are already doing diaconal work in our parishes.

What does an Aordination” mean? To begin to answer these questions, it is important to remember that we are all called to ministry within the Body of Christ. Each of us is called to minister to others in our daily lives C we are all expected to teach others, especially those in our care. And yet, we set apart certain people to undertake certain care tasks on a professional basis. Unlike us, they must be trained in their profession and pass exams before we, as a society, confer a designation on them as Ateacher” or Amedical professional.” Likewise, throughout history the Church has Aset apart” those Aconsecrated for service.”

The female deacon in the 21st century… The Church is blessed to have a number of laywomen working in diaconal roles already, including pastoral assistants, chaplains, ecclesiarchs, and monastics. Through conversations and reflection, I have collected some of their experiences that I would like to share with just one with you. In this instance I was interviewing a woman serving as a hospital chaplain:

The first time I was scheduled to serve over night as an on-call chaplain, I received a page at 5 AM. I groggily called the Intensive Care Unit, and spoke to a nurse who requested that I visit an anxious, weeping patient who would be undergoing surgery later that morning. I was told that the patient, “Andrew” was Orthodox Jewish. The nurse said that Andrea had a tracheotomy, and therefore could not speak. I entered the small ICU, which was silent but for the beeping ventilator and monitors. I introduced myself to Andrew, a 50-year old man with a scraggly beard and dark eyes. I told him that I would be happy to sit with him in this time of anxiety, and pray with him if he desired. AI understand you are Jewish,” I said, thinking that I might try to locate his rabbi if he had specific religious needs. He shook his head, and began awkwardly attempting to cross himself in an Orthodox manner. “Oh!”, I said, “You’re Orthodox!” Apparently, he had been misunderstood. “Actually, so am I!” I said. His eyes registered surprise and joy, and he began crying calmer, gentler tears. He took a pad and wrote in large, shaky letters, “I am Orthodox. I am scared.” I put my hand on his shoulder and consoled him, and after a short conversation, via the notepad, about his surgery and his fears, I offered to pray for him. I taped an icon of the Resurrection on the wall across from his bed, and standing beside him, chanted the Trisagion prayers and a Psalm. Andrew became visibly calmer; a sense of peace came over his face. He left for surgery, trusting in God’s protection. I did not see Andrew again, but I believe that God led me to him on that early morning, to ease his fears and to refocus his heart on God’s loving presence in a time of suffering.

Consider how much more complete would this story have been if, having been ordained to the diaconate, the chaplain could have brought communion to this afflicted, ailing and frightened man?

It is my hope that the Church will not only restore the ordained female diaconate, but revitalize the office, encouraging women to serve within the community and the Liturgy B borrowing the words of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel of blessed memory B in the Acontext of the culture and present requirements of the day.”

* * *

Teva Regule has completed her Master of Divinity degree at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and is now pursuing a second level master’s degree in liturgical theology. She is managing editor of the St. Nina Quarterly (www.stnina.org). This is an abridged version of a paper presented at the Orthodox Peace Fellowship Conference held in Maryland in September. The full text, with footnotes, is on the OPF web site in the Resources section.

❖

Fall 2008 issue of In Communion / IC 51

Changes in the Antiochian Church in the USA

Perhaps this recent missive may answer some questions.
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View at http://www.antiochian.org/node/18887

March 4, 2009

Beloved Hierarchs and Clergy, Members of the Board of Trustees of the Archdiocese, Parish Councils and Faithful of this God-Protected Archdiocese:

Greetings and blessings during this Holy Lenten Season!

There have been some questions raised regarding the February 24th decision of the Holy Synod of Antioch which addressed the status of bishops across the entire See of Antioch. The purpose of this letter is to try to answer these questions so that confusion may be avoided.

The first question deals with whether or not I am supportive of the decision of the Holy Synod of Antioch which was taken on February 24, 2009. I am supportive of this decision, for a simple reason. I am convinced that the institutional structure of our Archdiocese here requires it at this time. One of the greatest assets that we have been blessed with in this Archdiocese is our strong unity. We cannot take any chance that disunity would occur in the Antiochian Archdiocese. I believe that this decision supports maximum unity and guards against any fracture in the future. I approved the decision of the Holy Synod based on my background and personal experience. I came to this country in 1956 from a divided nation. I found in North America a divided Antiochian family: first between "Russy" and "Antaki", and second between New York and Toledo. I worked very hard to unite this family at the cost of blood and tears. I will guard this unity with my life and I will leave to our future generations a strong and unified Antiochian family in North America. If we do not learn from the mistakes of history, we will be condemned to repeat the same mistakes. In my judgement, the models of other Orthodox jurisdictions simply do not work, and the examples are numerous. Most importantly, I do not see the action of the Holy Synod of Antioch as making that much practical change in the way we operate. Most of the auxiliary bishops will remain where they are. The auxiliary bishops will administer the dioceses on behalf of the Metropolitan. It is now clear that in the few instances in which the Metropolitan disagrees with the action of a bishop, that the Metropolitan has the authority to reverse that decision. While we have vacancies in some of the dioceses, it is important that the Metropolitan have the flexibility of moving a bishop to a place where the best interests of the Archdiocese can be served.

The second question deals with the exact status of our bishops. The decision makes it very clear that our bishops within this Archdiocese will now be considered Auxiliary Bishops. But we need to focus on the practical application of that change, and not just a title. in due time we will begin the work of editing the "Manual of Hierarchical Duties and Responsibilities" so that these changes will be clear. The Archpastoral Directive of March 3, 2009 made it clear that the Metropolitan is to be commemorated in all divine services. The auxiliary bishop will be commemorated only in the case that he is present at the divine service.

The third question deals with the impact of this decision on the provisions of our Self-Rule as well as certain articles of our Pittsburgh Constitution.

Our Self-Rule status remains in effect with regard to the relationship of this Archdiocese to the Holy Synod of Antioch. The decision of the Holy Synod is a narrow administrative decision, addressing only the standing of bishops across the See of Antioch. As we know from church history, administrative structures come and go as the needs of the church change over time. As you are all aware, there are still some differences that exist between the Archdiocese Constitution that was approved in Pittsburgh, and the constitution that was proposed by the Holy Synod of Antioch as an alternative. These differences will be addressed with the Patriarch, myself, and the Holy Synod in due time.

I pray that you will all have a blessed Journey to the Empty Tomb.

Yours in Christ,

Metropolitan PHILIP
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America

The Antiochians

What's up with the Antiochians and their autocephaly? http://antiochian.org/node/18867