Extraordinary communique of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church

The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, at its regular session at the Patriarchate in Belgrade, expresses its deep concern and protest against the latest threat to freedom and basic human rights of the Serbian people and other non-Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija, expressed through illegal and uncivilized termination of the mobile and fixed  telephony in the central parts of Kosovo and other parts of the southern Serbian province.......

Extraordinary communique of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church

On its afternoon session of April 29 of this year, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church unanimously adopted recommendations of the competent diocesan bishops and entered into dyptichs of the saints of the Orthodox Church names of the blessed repose of archimandrite Justin Popovic, geront of the monastery Celije near Valjevo (1894-1979), from now  Venerable Justin of Celije, and Simeon Popovic , prior of the monastery Dajbabe near Podgorica (1854-1941), from now Venerable Simeon of Dajbabe.

Liturgical memory of Venerable Justin will be celebrated on June 1, according to the Julian calendar (June 14, according to the Gregorian calendar), a memory of Venerable Simeon will be celebrated on March 19 according to the Julian calendar (April 1, after the Gregorian calendar).

Patriarchal Paschal Encyclical 2010

1. April 2010 - 13:26

The Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2010

IRINEJ
By the grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian
Patriarch, with the all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church – to all the
clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy
and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit,
with the joyous Paschal greeting:

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

LIFE OF SAINT PETKA

27/14 Oktobar

The beloved Serbian saint Paraskeva, more popularly called by her worldly name, Petka, or Petka-Paraskeva, was born in the town of Epibata on the shore of the Sea of Marmara, near the imperial city of Constantinople. Her parents were faithful in fulfilling God's commandments and well-known for their charitable deeds. By their prayers and example, Petka and her brother both decided at an early age to dedicate themselves wholly to Jesus Christ. Petka's brother received his parents' blessing to become a monk and he was later made a bishop. Petka, like most girls of her time, was educated at home. Here she matured in her desire to imitate the saints and enter into their company in heaven.

In church one day, Petka heard the Gospel reading, If any man will follow Me, let him deny himself . . . Christ's words so impressed themselves on her heart that on leaving the church she gave away her good dress to a poor woman on the street, exchanging it for the woman's rags. She did this several times. When she was scolded, she replied that she could not live otherwise. To be a disciple of Christ meant to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.

After her parents died, Petka went to Constantinople, a city full of churches with many relics and wonder-working icons. There she met some zealous ascetics who instructed her in the spiritual life. Settling in an isolated place outside the city, she spent five years in concentrated prayer and fasting before making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she had long desired to venerate those places where our Saviour had lived and walked. She did not return to Constantinople but, yearning to withdraw still further from the world and its distractions, she crossed the River Jordan into the wilderness.

Like St. Mary of Egypt, who had lived there four centuries earlier, St. Petka struggled hard to regain that likeness to God, which mankind lost when Adam fell. She sustained her body with desert grasses, eating only after sunset. Her spirit she nourished with prayer, her mind constantly on God, Who is mighty to save from faintheartedness and from tempest (Ps. 54:8). As her body grew withered, her soul blossomed with virtues as befits a true bride of Christ. In her were fulfilled the words of the Psalmist, And the King shall greatly desire thy beauty (Ps. 44:10).

Years passed, and Petka grew old. One night she was praying as usual when an angel in the form of a radiant youth appeared to her and said, "Leave the wilderness and return to your native land, for there you are to leave your body on the earth and ascend with your soul to the Lord." The Saint, discerning in this God's will, rejoiced that she was soon to part from the earthly temple of he body, although she was sorry to leave her desert solitude, for nothing so cleanses the soul and draws it near to its original likeness as the desert and silence.

Back in her native town of Epibata, St. Petka lived for another two years in asceticism before God called her into the next world, to join the choir of the righteous. She was given a Christian burial, but as no one knew who she was or where she was from, she was buried in an unmarked grave. It pleased God, however, to reveal the glory of His saint. Years after her repose, the body of a dead sailor washed ashore. It had already begun to decay and give off a horrible stench before a stylite saint nearby detected it and asked the villagers to bury it. They unknowingly dug the grave right over the relics of St. Petka. That night, one of the grave-diggers, a pious man by the name of George, had a dream. He saw a queen seated on a throne, surrounded by a glorious company of soldiers. One of them said to him, "George, why did you disdain the body of St. Petka and bury a stinking corpse with it? Make haste and transfer the body of the Saint to a worthy place, for God desires to glorify His servant on earth." Then St. Petka herself spoke: "George, dig up my relics at once. I can't bear the stench of that corpse." And she told him who she was and that she was originally from Epibata. That same night, a devout woman, Euphemia, had a similar dream.

On being told about these dreams the next morning, the villagers took lighted candles and went to the cemetery, where they dug down and discovered St. Petka's relics, fragrant and incorrupt. The relics were taken to the church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, where, by the prayers of the holy ascetic, many people were healed of various diseases and the blind received their sight.

Due to historical circumstances-the Crusades and the belligerent expansion of the Ottoman Empire -the relics of St. Petka-Paraskeva did not remain in Epibata.

Two centuries after her death (1238 A.D.), the Bulgarian emperor John Asen decided to move St. Petka's relics from Epivat, which then was under the Crusader's control, to Trnovo, the capital of Bulgaria. After the Turkish occupation of Bulgaria, the relics were moved again--this time to Vidim on the Danube (Vlaska). In 1396 when the Turks also conquered this area, the Serbian princess Milica acted to bring the holy relics to Belgrade. In 1417 the Church of St. Petka was built in Belgrade and her holy relics were placed there. In 1521 after the mighty Sulleyman II conquered Belgrade, St. Petka's remains, along with many Serbian families, were moved to Constantinople. There her remains were received with great respect and solemnity and the Sultan brought them to his castle. Numerous miracles occurred there, which caused the holy Mother Petka-Paraskeva also to be worshipped by Muslims. In 1641, with permission from Constantinople's patriarch Partenije I, the pious Moldavian ruler Vasilije Lupul brought St. Petka's remains to Moldavia's capital, Jash, where on 14/27 October they were placed in the church of the Three Holy Hierarchs, where St. Petka's holy relics continued to glorify the Lord with wonders and miracles.

Water from St. Petka's spring in Belgrade has effected many cures for those who with faith call upon her intercession.

An Order of St Sava formally handed to President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev

Parish of St. Basil of Ostrog in Lake Forest IL celebrates 10th anniversary

Det dyrbara och livgivande  

Korsets allmänna upphöjelse

27.september/14.september

Det heliga korsets upphöjelse latin Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis; grekiska Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ) är en av de åminnelsedagar för korset som firas i flertalet kristna samfund. Dess festdag är i de flesta samfund den 14 september.

Medan långfredagen är tillägnad Jesu lidande och korsfästelse, är det heliga korsets upphöjelse tillägnad själva korset, det sanna korset, såsom ett instrument för frälsningen.

Festdagen firas till minne av att sankta Helena, Konstantin den stores mor, enligt traditionen grävde fram det kors som Jesus korsfästes på, på Golgota under en pilgrimsfärd till Jerusalem. Heliga gravens kyrka uppfördes på platsen för återfinnandet, på begäran av Helena och Konstantin. Dagen, den 14 september, härleds från invigningen av Heliga gravens kyrka, en ceremoni som tog två dygn i anspråk.

För både den östliga och den västliga kristenheten är festdagen helgad åt både korset och Heliga gravens kyrka. För karmelitorden inleds fastan som varar till påsk. Festdagen har än större betydelse för den östliga kristenheten, och räknas till en av kyrkoårets tolv stora religiösa fester, vilken inleds med fasta. Armeniska apostoliska kyrka iakttar minnet av denna händelse i flera dagar.

Troparion, 1:ta tonen

Fräls, o Herre, Ditt folk och välsigna Din arvedel. Giv Din kristenhet seger över motståndarna, och bevara Ditt herravälde med Ditt Kors.

Kontakion, 1:ta tonen

O Kristus, vår Gud, Du som frivilligt uppsteg på Korset, giv Din nåd åt Ditt folk, som uppkallats efter Dig. Fröjda med Din kraft vår överhet. Förläna dem seger över motståndarna och må de hava till sin hjälp i striden fridens vapen, ett oövervinneligt segertecken.

This Saint, who had Nicomedia as his homeland, was the son of Eustorgius and Eubula. His father was an idolater, but his mother was a Christian from her ancestors. It was through her that he was instructed in piety, and still later, he was catechized in the Faith of Christ by Saint Hermolaus (see July 26) and baptized by him. Being proficient in the physician's vocation, he practiced it in a philanthropic manner, healing every illness more by the grace of Christ than by medicines. Thus, although his parents had named him Pantoleon ("in all things a lion"), because of the compassion he showed for the souls and bodies of all, he was worthily renamed Panteleimon, meaning "all-merciful." On one occasion, when he restored the sight of a certain blind man by calling on the Divine Name, he enlightened also the eyes of this man's soul to the knowledge of the truth. This also became the cause for the martyrdom of him who had been blind, since when he was asked by whom and in what manner his eyes had been opened, in imitation of that blind man of the Gospel he confessed with boldness both who the physician was and the manner of his healing. For this he was put to death immediately. Panteleimon was arrested also, and having endured many wounds, he was finally beheaded in the year 305, during the reign of Maximian. Saint Panteleimon is one of the Holy Unmercenaries, and is held in special honor among them, even as Saint George is among the Martyrs.

Apolytikion of St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr - Third Tone
Holy Laurel-bearer and Physician Panteleimon, make intercession to our merciful God, that He grant our souls remission of offenses.

Kontakion. Mode pl. 1.
Imitator you were of the merciful God. You received as a grace from Him the art of medicine. O Medallist and Martyr of Christ our God, by your prayers you can cure the diseases of our souls. Drive the scandals of age-old enemy away from those who cry unceasingly, Save us, O Lord.

Profeten Elia

02.augusti/20.juli

Enligt Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovch i den inledande prologen från Ohrid:

 "En man som såg Gud, en Wonderworker och en svärmare för tron på Gud, Elias var stam av Aaron, från staden Tishba, varifrån han var känd som" Tishbite ". När Elias föddes, hans far Sabah såg änglar Guds runt barnet, swaddling den med eld och utfodring med flammor. Det var en foreshadowing av Elias är eldig karaktär och hans Gud gett eldig befogenheter. Han tillbringade hela sin ungdom i bön och meditation, drar ofta till öknen för att fundera och be i frid. Vid den tiden, den judiska kungariket var uppdelad i två olika delar: Konungariket Juda bestod bara av stammarna av Juda och Benjamin, med sitt kapital till Jerusalem, medan Konungariket Israel bestod av de övriga tio stammarna , med sitt kapital på Samaria. Fd rike styrdes av ättlingar till Salomo, och det senare av ättlingar till Jeroboam, en anställd vid Solomon's. Profeten Elias kom till största konflikt med Israelite kung Ahab och hans onda hustru KOKOTT för de dyrkade avgudar och vände folket från tjänsten av en, levande Gud. Utöver detta KOKOTT, är en syrisk, övertalat sin man att bygga ett tempel till den syriska guden Baal, och utnämnde många präster för delgivning av denna falska gud. Elias utförs många underverk genom Guds kraft, han avslutade himlen, att inget regn skall falla under tre år och sex månader, kallas ner eld från himlen för att förbruka offra till sin Gud, medan präster i Baal kunde inte göra detta, väckt regn från himlen på hans böner, mirakulöst multiplicerat majs och olja i änkan hus på Zarephath och återställas hennes döda son till liv, profeterade att Ahab att hundarna skulle slicka upp hans blod, och KOKOTT att hundarna skulle sluka henne - som kom till pass, och utförs många andra mirakel och förutsade många evenemang. Han talade med Gud på Horeb och hört hans röst i lugn efter den stora vinden. Vid tidpunkten för dödsfallet Han tog Elisha och utsåg honom hans arvinge som en profet, han parted i Jordanien med sin mantel och slutligen bäras till himlen i en eldig vagn dragen av eldiga hästar. Han verkade tillsammans med Moses, att vår Herre Jesus Kristus på Tabor. Vid slutet av världen, Elias kommer att visas igen, för att bryta strömmen av Antikrist (Upp. 11). "

Troparion, Tone 4

FÖRKROPPSLIGA Angel och möte profeterna, / andra föregångare till de kommande Kristi / praktfulla Elia skickas ner nåd från höjden till profeten Elisha. / Han helar sjukdomar och renar den spetälsk. / Han häller helanden på alla som hedra honom.

Kontakion, Tone 2

 O stora profeten Elia, / Seer Guds mäktiga verk, / som didst stoppa skyfall av ditt ord, / bed för oss till Lover mänskligheten.