Blooming in the Desert – Episode 10-Orthodoxy & Ecology

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(you will be downloading the file here which may take a little time)

or,

The link to this particular post
(and you can scroll down the sidebar on the left under "Podcasts" and listen there.  Much quicker.

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Father George Elliot, who has been the Associate Priest to St. Paul's parish, where I attend, joined us for this episode to speak on a subject dear to his heart, Ecology.

We had a varied and lively conversation in which many subjects were broached, including St. Symeon the New Theologian, Ecology, Theosis, The Fall of Man, the Creation and many others.

This is from Blooming in the Desert on this particular show:

Orthodoxy and Ecology

As the humanistic movement continues to grow in our dying world and putting man at the center of the universe, independent from God, it is our attitude which is responsible for the rape of the natural world. It is our exploitation of Creation.

In the Lives of the Saints, we see that all Creation is only possible through God. The Saints, in their writings and teachings, are aware of their position in Creation and have a compassion and love for all Creation. They teach us that men and women who recognize the dominion of God, can have the same love for His Creation.

On this episode of Blooming in the Desert, we are blessed to have Fr. George Elliot, associate Priest of St. Paul’s Orthodox Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss Orthodox Christian Ecology and help us all understand how our treatment of the world and Creation effects each and every one of us. Please note this episode is longer then most of our episodes and if you have trouble listening to the entire thing, please email us and we will split it up for you.

The point of Blooming in the Desert is summed up thus:

Blooming in the Desert is a new and unique Podcast & Blog, that does not just explore the Orthodox Church, Her Faith, and a journey to be closer to God through love and prayer, but creates an open atmosphere of conversation and discussion for Orthodox Christians and general inquirers.

We're slowly working into a groove.  We hope to have all the Las Vegas clergy be guests on our show at one time or another. We have had ArchPriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the OCA, on our show as well.  Father Eric is our former parish priest.  At some point we will also ask His Grace Bishop Benjamin to join us and hopefully also His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah.  We intend to also have many lay people on our show.  I would also like to interview many of my favorite bloggers.  Some of the topics will be "controversial" ones, so stay tuned.

We are hoping for feedback to let us know your thoughts, whether good, bad, indifferent or whatever.

You may visit the sidebar on this blog under "Blooming in the Desert" as well to see the catalog of shows so far.

Blooming in the Desert – Episode 10 – Pillars of Piety Series Part 4 – Forgiveness,third part

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This the third and final part of our "Forgiveness" shows.  Subdeacon Jon Failla joins us for this final segment.  It turned out rather long but we did not want to do a fourth part so we went with it.  After listening, I was surprisingly pleased with this show, however.  Please do give a listen and provide a comment or two.

Blooming in the Desert – Episode 9 – Pillars of Piety Series Part 4 – Forgiveness, second part

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This is the second part of our Forgiveness episode.  Once again, Subdeacon Jon Failla joined us for a good discussion.  And to note again, with the link provided is the portion of the outline used for this program.

Blooming in the Desert presents Mother Melania: "Spiritual Wholeness: Overcoming the Passions by Strengthening the Virtues"

Every year our Orthodox clergy put together Lenten retreats for Nativity and for Great and Holy Lent.

This year we were highly privileged and honored to have Mother Melania come and do the talk, "Spiritual Wholeness:  Overcoming the Passions by Strengthening the Virtues". 

Blooming in the Desert recorded and produced the five part CD series which is available for sale but which also can be listened to on their homepage here.

It is a very worthy listen for the learning of very practical information on the living of the spiritual life.

Blooming in the Desert Presents the 2009 Nativity Retreat- Father Harry Pappas, professor of pastoral theology at Saint Vladimir's Seminary

Father Harry Pappas came out to give this talk during the Nativity Fast in 2009.

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Blooming in the Desert – Episode 8 – Pillars of Piety Series Part 4 – Forgiveness, first part

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Joining us for this episode was our Subdeacon, Jon Failla.  If you click on the link, "Listen to the Podacast", it will also provide the outline we used for this part of the show.  This is the first part of our topic, "Forgiveness", and when we do the next part, I will expand the outline material as well.






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Blooming in the Desert presents "St. Paul’s Orthodox Church – Choir Concert – November 8th, 2009"

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This post is actually related to the last one I posted on Blooming in the Desert. The Choir Concert was performed on Sunday November 8, 2009 at my parish of Saint Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church on day 2 of our International Food Festival.

The performance was well worth attending and the reproduction offered in the recording you will find at the Blooming in the Desert site is pretty good. The choir would like to do a professional recording and if you wish, you may donate when you visit the site.

READ THE PREVIOUS POST ON BLOOMING IN THE DESERT:

Blooming in the Desert – Episode 7-Unity and Diversity from St. Paul’s International Food Festival 2009

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A lot of hard work went into this year's International Food Festival. But this is the case every year.

Steve, Andrew and I, the hosts of Blooming in the Desert, thought it would be a worthwhile show this time around right from within the Festival itself.

We set up our little booth and basically worked with our theme, "Unity and Diversity" as a backdrop for the show's theme. We begin the show discussing amongst ourselves the sheer miracle of mingling with people of so many diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds in a setting which lends itself to a needed cooperation between peoples who otherwise would never have had reason to be united under any cause, voluntarily.

Now to many Americans in other Christian communities, or even communities that are not Christian or religious, this may not seem unusual because in our larger cities the "melting pot" understanding of things seems to be normative and expected. But if we examine the reason for this it is quickly discovered that this outward "unity" we have as Americans is not one brought about by a common heritage or understanding of what it means to be an American, but rather it can almost be said to be an economic arrangement whereby we cooperate to promote and preserve opportunities and a lifestyle centered around making money.

What is unique in Orthodoxy is that in the Church, as mentioned in the podcast show, ethnicities are not dissolved but rather are preserved within the Church and retain their distinctness. Something of that which is good and comes about with age retains its value not only in a sentimental fashion but in a manner where the value is of such an essence that it actually has the power and the capability of rendering intact another world within which one may experience the timeless.

Its almost as if we may say that in the Church is captured and preserved a mode of being completely other than the current of the world direction which rushes away from tradition and permanency towards anything which is new and holds promise for those enamored with newness, tired of all the old ways.

Now we don't actually go in this direction in this particular show but here I share some of my own thoughts having listened to it.

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Blooming in the Desert – Episode 6-Interview with Archpriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the OCA

Interview with Father Eric.

Blooming in the Desert

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This episode was a lot of fun to do.

All the episodes are done in my home and this one was no different. What we did that was different was to open up my home to the parishioners who wished to attend. We served up some excellent local pizza and had soft drinks and beer and wine and made a night of it. We had a good 35 to 40 people present which will account for some of the noise in this podcast.

A fairly large number of people turned out from my home parish of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church(OCA). As well, some other good friends from St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church also came out to be a part of the podcast which Father Eric Tosi so graciously accepted to take part in.Father Eric is the former priest of St. Paul in Las Vegas. He served the community here for about seven years before being called on to take a role in the Orthodox Church in America's central administration.

He is an officer of the Church at the national level and his official position is that of Secretary.

Father Eric was the priest who played a vital role in my life upon my return to the Church. I am very grateful for him and also for the time we spent together on many occasions. Many are the memories he left behind for so many of us.

We all knew he left for reasons that God had called him to. He was part of the "solution" to the ailments of the Orthodox Church in America's former troubles which in large measure abated with the election of His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah at the 15th All American Council which took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in November 2008. I was at that Conference.

Father Eric, along with many others, was instrumental in the Conference itself as well in many of the reforms of transparency in the Church.

This interview , on Blooming in the Desert, is in large part his telling of the story of his transition from parish priest to being on the administrative side of the Church. Almost the entire first half of this podcast is him answering questions in response to the many questions he was asked regarding the change from a "simple" parish priest to an officer on the national level.

We then asked other questions which ranged from questions on theology, ecclesiology and the like to questions of evangelism and questions of presenting the Orthodox Faith to those who are new.

I won't say anymore but would direct you to the show.

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Post Twenty-Five: "Orthodox Spiritual Life According to Saint Silouan the Athonite" by Harry Boosalis

(click on images to enlarge)





















Dr. Harry Boosalis actually came to my home parish of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church the last Nativity season to do a presentation on this book. I was unable to attend but interestingly, just when I learned he was to visit us, I had just picked up his book to read as my next in line. His book was on top of my stack and I began reading it and shortly after it was announced that the Las Vegas Orthodox Clergy would be hosting Dr. Boosalis as our speaker.

I remember not being too deeply drawn in at that time when I read it, but looking back, I was not able to engage the work with all my attention at that time.

Looking over it now preparing to offer some short comments on it I recognize its worth more.

One of its chief strengths is that the author accepts the Saint's writings and life and does not attempt to dissect him and his writings with the aim of critiquing him and finding where the Saint is in error or perhaps uninformed by modern scholarship's findings.

It is to Harry Boosalis' credit that he urges the reader to emulate him and the other Saints.

He writes in the Prologue,

The Saints do not follow after the ways of the world. They follow only the person of Christ. Thus they are prepared to die for their faith. Yet even after their deaths, their messages and ministries live on, still exerting an influence on the lives of the faithful. This especially holds true with regard to St. Silouan the Athonite.

In his Introduction, Dr. Boosalis takes note of the general increase in the interest in "spirituality" in the Western world but notes it is a spirituality that seems to be more at home divorced from communion with God as

commitment to Christ is seen as a relic of an antiquated morality that deprives modern man from his 'true' calling toward fulfillment in worldly pleasures and carnal pursuits.

He also observes how many who have become disenchanted with the juridical and legalistic tendencies of the Western confessions are seeking outside these confessions and he says,

A growing number of believers see the Saints of the Orthodox Church as examples on which to base their own spiritual lives. For these faithful, the Saints and their teachings are the criteria that point toward the true meaning of life and the ultimate direction that they are to follow as they seek to live according to Christ.

and he continues further down,

This is one reason why so many people are attracted to the Orthodox Faith. They are coming to realize that the Saints and the Fathers of the Church give definitive guidance on how to base one's life in Christ.

I so much wish to underscore the following also found in the Introduction,

The Fathers are not historic personalities confined to a bygone era. They are not simply relics of an antiquated past. On the contrary, they live among us. They live within the Church, pouring out the light of the Gospel of Christ. Through the continuous operation of the grace of the Holy Spirit, in synergy with man's free-will, the Church is preserved throughout history as a living divine-human or 'the-anthropic' communion.

as this beautiful little thought speaks so well to the ills of doubt and skepticism and the assumed a priori "need" to find fault with the Fathers and their writings which seems so prevalent in so many writing today on the Holy Fathers and their writings.

Not able to devote much more to describing this book, my hope is that my post provides the reader with the outlook of the author and that the author attempts not to overly "spin" Saint Silouan but rather presents him and his writings as faithfully as possible for the hope of a closer look into the Saint's life and what he had to say.

I will here post the Table of Contents thereby giving the reader a more full idea of what is contained in the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
Prologue
Introduction
The Teaching of Saint Silouan
I. The acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit

1. Preliminary points of Orthodox anthropology
2. The goal of the life in Christ: the deification of man
3. The synergy of divine grace and human freedom
4. The experience of divine grace and its effect on man
5. The loss of grace

II. Spiritual warfare

1. The deceit of the enemy
2. Methods and means of defense
3. The danger of delusion
4. Discernment and the role of the spiritual father

III. Suffering

1. The cause of suffering
2. Suffering as an unavoidable aspect of the life in Christ
3. Suffering as a Christ-centered experience
4. The fruits of suffering
5. The importance of courage

IV. The virtue of humility and the passion of pride

1. The meaning and importance of humility
2. Christ-like humility
3. Luciferian pride
4. Christ-like humility as the way of victory over pride
5. The war against pride
6. 'Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not'

V. Universal love

1. Love for God
2. Love for neighbor
3. Love for enemies
4. Love for all creation

Conclusion—Prayer for the salvation of all mankind
Epilogue
Bibliography

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Metropolitan Herman sends letter of condolence to widow of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Memorial Litiya served for the newly-reposed Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn at St. Sergius of Radonezh Chapel at the OCA Chancery. Arch Priest Father Eric George Tosi Serving the Panakhida: formerly from my home parish here in Las Vegas


Posted 08/06

SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] – On August 5, 2008, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman sent a letter of condolence to Natalia Dmitrievna Solzhenitsyna, widow of the recently reposed Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

The text of Metropolitan Herman's letter is as follows.

"We were saddened to receive the news of the passing away of your husband, Aleksandr Isaievich. We have offered prayers for his repose at the Chapel of St. Sergius at the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America. We are also praying that Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grant you and your family consolation at this sorrowful time.

"Aleksandr Isaievich was one of the great men of our times. Like the prophets of old, his writings and voice shook the world into recognition of the horrors inherent in a political system that was devoid of Christian morality and spirituality. A giant on the landscape of Russian history, he also played an important role on the world stage. During his twenty year exile from his beloved homeland, he found refuge in the United States where he could continue his research and writing. As a deeply religious man Aleksandr Isaievich also sought spiritual sustenance while living here. We recall that your husband became a close friend with the late Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. Another priest of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest Andrew Tregubov frequently provided Aleksandr Isaievich and your family with sacramental life and spiritual direction during your years in Vermont.

"On behalf of the Holy Synod of Bishops, the clergy and laity of the Orthodox Church in America, we want to express our heartfelt condolences to you, your children, grandchildren and all of your family. Please be assured of our continued prayers for the repose of Aleksandr Isaievich. May Our Lord grant him rest with the saints and make his memory to be eternal!"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was buried at the Donskoi Monastery in Moscow on August 6, 2008.

SOURCE:

Pictures Worth Looking at and Discussing

I received the following e-mail, with the four above posted pictures, several weeks ago from Costa and of course I found it very interesting.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of you may have already seen one or more of these amazing photos over the past year or so.

What is even more amazing is that, from what I have been told, the man on the newly illumine's right was Chrismated on the very same day that she was BOTH Baptized and Chrismated.

No other comments are needed, as you will see from the pictures.

In Christ,

+Fr. Demetrios

Costa just last week looked at this picture on the left which he states in the text here he had taken at St. Paul's Church here in Las Vegas on Pascha Night. I was there next to him that evening and the reason he took the picture in the first place was that the guy in the blue tanktop standing in front of the camera had walked into the Church this particular evening drunk and making a general nuisance of himself. So Costa took a picture of him, sort of in jest and then forgot about it.

He was quite surprised upon seeing the bright light above the Altar.

These are his words:

"I took this picture from my cell phone camera on Pascha 2005 or 2006 at Saint Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church in Las Vegas. I transfered it to my computer and kind of forgot about it. I was looking through pictures on my computer and I came across this one and it seemed kind of interesting and peculiar. It's a picture of the altar, but I am not sure what the bright light over the top is."

I believe that the quality of the light appears identical in both that above the Altar and that with which the newly baptized woman is suffused in and with.

The following New Testament texts came to mind:

From the Gospel according to Saint Mark, chapter 9 verses 2 and 3:

2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.

3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no lauderer on earth can whiten them.

and

From the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, chapter 28 verses 1 through 4:

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

Also I recall the story of Moses after he was on the mountain with the Lord receiving the Ten Commandments and how he had to veil his face from his brethren for it shone.

My latest post on Nicene Truth, "A Perspective on Serving our Parishes"

"The following is a letter I composed which is to be presented to my parish of Saint Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church here in my city of residence of Las Vegas.
I filled the role and office of Vice President this year on the start of a three year term and now, toward the year's end the writing of this letter occasioned the following thoughts.
I post the letter in the hope that someone reading it may be stirred to delve deeper into their own parish to serve with the perspective of Eternity in mind. The needs about each and everyone of us are great and if we do not face these needs, who will? "

Go to Nicene Truth here to read the rest of this post.

Follow THIS LINK to my previous post announcing my latest post on Nicene Truth or scroll down the sidebar to find this list of posts.

The Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary

Commemorated on October 1

The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos: "Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Church, and with choirs of Saints she invisibly prays to God for us. Angels and Bishops venerate Her, Apostles and prophets rejoice together, Since for our sake she prays to the Eternal God!"

This miraculous appearance of the Mother of God occurred in the mid-tenth century in Constantinople, in the Blachernae church where her robe, veil, and part of her belt were preserved after being transferred from Palestine in the fifth century.

On Sunday, October 1, during the All Night Vigil, when the church was overflowing with those at prayer, the Fool-for-Christ St Andrew (October 2), at the fourth hour, lifted up his eyes towards the heavens and beheld our most Holy Lady Theotokos coming through the air, resplendent with heavenly light and surrounded by an assembly of the Saints. St John the Baptist and the holy Apostle John the Theologian accompanied the Queen of Heaven. On bended knees the Most Holy Virgin tearfully prayed for Christians for a long time. Then, coming near the Bishop's Throne, she continued her prayer.

After completing her prayer she took her veil and spread it over the people praying in church, protecting them from enemies both visible and invisible. The Most Holy Lady Theotokos was resplendent with heavenly glory, and the protecting veil in her hands gleamed "more than the rays of the sun." St Andrew gazed trembling at the miraculous vision and he asked his disciple, the blessed Epiphanius standing beside him, "Do you see, brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?" Epiphanius answered, "I do see, holy Father, and I am in awe."

The Ever-Blessed Mother of God implored the Lord Jesus Christ to accept the prayers of all the people calling on His Most Holy Name, and to respond speedily to her intercession, "O Heavenly King, accept all those who pray to You and call on my name for help. Do not let them not go away from my icon unheard."

Sts Andrew and Epiphanius were worthy to see the Mother of God at prayer, and "for a long time observed the Protecting Veil spread over the people and shining with flashes of glory. As long as the Most Holy Theotokos was there, the Protecting Veil was also visible, but with her departure it also became invisible. After taking it with her, she left behind the grace of her visitation."

At the Blachernae church, the memory of the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God was remembered. In the fourteenth century, the Russian pilgrim and clerk Alexander, saw in the church an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos praying for the world, depicting St Andrew in contemplation of her.

The Primary Chronicle of St Nestor reflects that the protective intercession of the Mother of God was needed because an attack of a large pagan Russian fleet under the leadership of Askole and Dir. The feast celebrates the divine destruction of the fleet which threatened Constantinople itself, sometime in the years 864-867 or according to the Russian historian Vasiliev, on June 18, 860. Ironically, this Feast is considered important by the Slavic Churches but not by the Greeks.

The Primary Chronicle of St Nestor also notes the miraculous deliverance followed an all-night Vigil and the dipping of the garment of the Mother of God into the waters of the sea at the Blachernae church, but does not mention Sts Andrew and Epiphanius and their vision of the Mother of God at prayer. These latter elements, and the beginnings of the celebrating of the Feast of the Protection, seem to postdate St Nestor and the Chronicle. A further historical complication might be noted under (October 2) dating St Andrew's death to the year 936.

The year of death might not be quite reliable, or the assertion that he survived to a ripe old age after the vision of his youth, or that his vision involved some later pagan Russian raid which met with the same fate. The suggestion that St Andrew was a Slav (or a Scythian according to other sources, such as S. V. Bulgakov) is interesting, but not necessarily accurate. The extent of Slavic expansion and repopulation into Greece is the topic of scholarly disputes.

In the PROLOGUE, a Russian book of the twelfth century, a description of the establishment of the special Feast marking this event states, "For when we heard, we realized how wondrous and merciful was the vision... and it transpired that Your holy Protection should not remain without festal celebration, O Ever-Blessed One!"

Therefore, in the festal celebration of the Protection of the Mother of God, the Russian Church sings, "With the choirs of the Angels, O Sovereign Lady, with the venerable and glorious prophets, with the First-Ranked Apostles and with the Hieromartyrs and Hierarchs, pray for us sinners, glorifying the Feast of your Protection in the Russian Land." Moreover, it would seem that St Andrew, contemplating the miraculous vision was a Slav, was taken captive, and became the slave of the local inhabitant of Constantinople named Theognostus.

Churches in honor of the Protection of the Mother of God began to appear in Russia in the twelfth century. Widely known for its architectural merit is the temple of the Protection at Nerl, which was built in the year 1165 by holy Prince Andrew Bogoliubsky. The efforts of this holy prince also established in the Russian Church the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, about the year 1164.

At Novgorod in the twelfth century there was a monastery of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (the so-called Zverin monastery) In Moscow also under Tsar Ivan the Terrible the cathedral of the Protection of the Mother of God was built at the church of the Holy Trinity (known as the church of St Basil the Blessed).

On the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos we implore the defense and assistance of the Queen of Heaven, "Remember us in your prayers, O Lady Virgin Mother of God, that we not perish by the increase of our sins. Protect us from every evil and from grievous woes, for in you do we hope, and venerating the Feast of your Protection, we magnify you."



Troparion - Tone 4
Today the faithful celebrate the feast with joyillumined by your coming, O Mother of God.Beholding your pure image we fervently cry to you:"Encompass us beneath the precious veil of your protection; deliver us from every form of evil by entreating Christ,your Son and our God that He may save our souls."



Kontakion - Tone 3
Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Churchand with choirs of saints she invisibly prays to God for us.Angels and bishops worship,apostles and prophets rejoice together,since for our sake she prays to the pre-eternal God.

SOURCE:

Elevation of Priest Eric G. Tosi

On Sunday September 30 2007, Priest Father Eric George Tosi will be elevated to Arch Priest during the Divine Liturgy at which His Grace Bishop Benjamin will be serving.

Father Eric is a very special man and a devoted servant of the Church who serves her with his entire life.

I know. I happen to be fortunate enough to call him my priest and confessor and his counsel has always been with love and care, seeking that Christ may be formed in me.

I am also the Vice President of the Parish Council and in this capacity I have been challenged in areas I didn't know existed. Father Eric has guided me here with a (relatively)light hand knowing that "It'll all be fine" to paraphrase him a bit in that even if I screw up, he has faith in our Lord's providence to make use of whatever situation may present itself to the glory of God.

I simply here want to wish him many years and to express my gratitude for his tireless efforts on behalf of our very diverse parish(and I mean diverse: Americans, Russians, Ethiopians, Greeks, Eritreans, Romanians, Serbs, converts as well as other groups call St. Paul "Home").

If anyone reading this knows him or his family, contact him and wish him many years.

And since I've got your attention, be sure to read this biography on him.

As well, here is the link to St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church, a parish of the Orthodox Church in America as well as the link to the Life Giving Spring Retreat Center. This website has much useful information on the parish itself as well as a wonderful Orthodox library for more learning about the Faith.