Ο χρόνος και ο κόσμος της φθοράς - Φώτης Κόντογλου

Η πιο φοβερή και η πιο ανεξιχνίαστη δύναμη στον κόσμο είναι ο Χρόνος, ο Καιρός. Καλά-καλά τι είναι αυτή η δύναμη δεν το ξέρει κανένας, κι όσοι θελήσανε να την προσδιορίσουνε, μάταια πασκίσανε. 

Το μυστήριο του Χρόνου απόμεινε ακατανόητο, κι ας μας φαίνεται τόσο φυσικός αυτός ο Χρόνος. Τον ίδιο τον Χρόνο δε μπορούμε να τον καταλάβουμε τι είναι, αλλά τον νοιώθουμε μοναχά από την ενέργεια που κάνει, από τα σημάδια που αφήνει πάνω στην πλάση. Η μυστηριώδης πνοή του όλα τ’ αλλάζει. Δεν απομένει τίποτα σταθερό, ακόμα κι όσα φαίνονται σταθερά κι αιώνια...

Μια αδιάκοπη κίνηση στριφογυρίζει όλα τα πάντα, μέρα-νύχτα, κι αυτή την άπιαστη και κρυφή κίνηση δε μπορεί να τη σταματήσει καμμιά δύναμη. Τούτο το πράγμα που το λέμε Χρόνο, το έχουμε συνηθίσει, είμαστε έξοικειωμενοι μαζί του, αλλιώς θα μας έπιανε τρόμος, αν είμαστε σε θέση να νοιώσουμε καλά τι είναι και τι κάνει. 

Όπως είπαμε, δουλεύει μέρα-νύχτα, αιώνες αιώνων, αδιάκοπα, βουβά, κρυφά, κι όλα τ’ αλλάζει με μία καταχθόνια δύναμη, άπιαστος, αόρατος, ανυπάκουος, τόσο, που να τον ξεχνά κανένας και να θαρρεί πως δεν υπάρχει, αυτός που είναι το μόνο πράγμα που υπάρχει και που δε μπορεί η διάνοιά μας, με κανέναν τρόπο, να καταλάβει πως κάποτε δεν θα υπάρχει, πως θα καταστραφεί, πως θα λείψει. Πως, αφού αυτό το «κάποτε» είναι ο ίδιος ο Χρόνος; Πώς μπορεί να φανταστεί κανένας πως κάποτε θα πάψει να υπάρχει αυτό το ίδιο το «κάποτε»;

Αν λείψει ο Χρόνος θα λείψουνε όλα τα πάντα. Αυτός τα γεννά, κι αυτός πάλι τα λυώνει, τα κάνει θρύψαλα, και τα εξαφανίζει. Γι αυτό οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες λέγανε στη Μυθολογία τους πώς ο Κρόνος, δηλαδή ο Χρόνος, έτρωγε τα παιδιά του. Γέννηση, μεγάλωμα, φθορά και θάνατος είναι τ ακατάπαυστα έργα του. Ενώ βρίσκεται γύρω μας, απάνω μας, μέσα μας, δεν τον νοιώθουμε ολότελα, αυτόν τον ακατανόητο άρχοντά μας, αυτόν πού είναι φίλος κ εχθρός μας, γιατί αυτός μάς φέρνει όλα τα καλά πού μάς χαροποιούνε, κι όλα τα κακά πού μάς πικραίνουνε. 

Μάς δίνει τη γέννηση, τη γλυκειά λέξη της ζωής, τη χαρά της νιότης, τη δύναμη της αντρείας, μάς δωρίζει παιδιά, εγγόνια, έργα λαμπρά πού μάς ξεγελούνε, κάθε λογής ευχαρίστηση κι ανάπαψη. Και πάλι, ο ίδιος μάς δίνει τις στενοχώριες, τις θλίψεις, τους πόνους, τις αρρώστειες, το απίστευτο άλλαγμα και χάλασμα του κορμιού μας και των έργων, πού κοπιάσαμε να τα κάνουμε, και στο τέλος μας ποτίζει το φαρμάκι από το ίδιο ποτήρι πού μάς πότισε το γλυκό κρασί της χαράς, δίνοντάς μας τον θάνατο, σ εμάς και στους δικούς μας. 

Ω! ποιός θα πιάσει αυτόν τον κλέφτη, που μέρα-νύχτα, χειμώνα καλοκαίρι, την ώρα που κοιμόμαστε και την ώρα που είμαστε ξυπνητοί, αδιάκοπα, χωρίς να σταματήσει μήτε όσο ανοιγοκλείνει το μάτι μας, τριγυρίζει παντού, ολόγυρά μας, μέσα μας, στο φως και στο σκοτάδι, μπαίνει σε κάθε μέρος, στον ουρανό που γυρίζουνε τ’ άστρα και στα καταχθόνια, σε κάθε στεριά και σε κάθε θάλασσα, σε κάθε τρύπα, σε κάθε ζωντανό κι άψυχο, σε κάθε αρμό του βράχου, σε κάθε καρδιά, κι όλα τα παλιώνει, τα τρίβει σαν τη μυλόπετρα, τα κάνει σκόνη· και πάλι από την άλλη μεριά ο ίδιος φτιάνει κάθε λογής κτίσμα και κάθε πλάσμα, κάθε κορμί, κάθε τι που υπάρχει σε τούτον τον κόσμο! 

Όπως λοιπόν όλα τα πάντα, έτσι κι εμείς οι άνθρωποι είμαστε παίγνια στα χέρια αυτού του ακαταμάχητου γίγαντα, που είναι μαζί ευεργέτης μας και τύραννός μας. Και δεχόμαστε το ποτήρι που μας κερνά με το να χέρι του και που ναι γεμάτο γλυκό κρασί, και πίνουμε, και τ’ άλλο ποτήρι που κρατά στ’ άλλο χέρι του και που έχει μέσα το πικρό φαρμάκι. 

Τι είναι λοιπόν αυτό το σκληρό παιχνίδι πού παίζει μ’ εμάς αυτό το τέρας, που δεν έχει μήτε μορφή, μήτε φωνή, μήτε τίποτα απ’ ό,τι έχουνε όσα πλάσματα γεννά και σκοτώνει, και που το παίζει δίχως να γελά, μήτε να κλαίει, αδιάφορος κι ανέκφραστος, κρύος σαν φάντασμα, αυτός ο ίδιος που ανάβει τη φλόγα της ζωής; 

Αλλοίμονο! Αυτή την άσπλαχνη μυλόπετρα που τ’ αλέθει όλα στον κόσμο, τη γιορτάζουμε κάθε πρωτοχρονιά, και τη φχαριστούμε για όσα μας έκανε πρίν, και για όσα θα μας κάνει ύστερα, για τα πολλά κακά που θα πάθουμε απ’ αυτή, κοντά στα λίγα καλά που θα μας φέρει και που θα μας τα πάρει βιαστικά. 

Εμείς είμαστε σαν τους δυστυχισμένους κατάδικους που καλοπιάνουνε τον δήμιό τους, σαν τους μονομάχους της Ρώμης που χαιρετούσανε τον Καίσαρα, πριν να σφάξει ο ένας τον άλλον, κράζοντάς του: «Χαίρε, ω Καίσαρ, οι μελλοθάνατοι σε χαιρετούνε»! Έτσι, κ εμείς, χαιρετάμε τον καινούριο Χρόνο που θα μας πάει πιο κοντά στο στόμα του για να μας φάγει, και χοροπηδάμε και τραγουδάμε οι δύστυχοι, σαν τα σαλιγκάρια του Αισώπου, την ώρα που ψηνόντανε. 

Τούτος ο υλικός κόσμος είναι το βασίλειο του Χρόνου, που τον κάνει ν’ ανθίζει και να μαραίνεται αδιάκοπα. Η φθορά είναι ο σκληρός νόμος που έβαλε απάνω του τούτος ο τύραννος. Μ’ αυτή την άσπαστη αλυσίδα βαστά και τον άνθρωπο, σκλάβο ανήμπορον κάτω από τα πόδια του. 

Μόνο μία ελπίδα υπάρχει γι αυτόν, να γλυτώσει από τη φθορά: ο Χριστός, ο λυτρωτής, ο καθαιρέτης της φθοράς. Εκείνος που πάτησε τον θάνατο και που είπε: «ο πιστεύων εις εμέ καν αποθάνη ζήσεται. Εγώ ειμι ο άρτος ο ζών, ο εκ του ουρανού καταβάς. Εάν τις φάγη εκ τούτου του άρτου, ζήσεται εις τον αιώνα»! 

Ο απόστολος Παύλος, ο κλειδοκράτορας του μυστικού κόσμου, λέγει: «Η κτίσις υποτάχθηκε στη ματαιότητα, άθελά της, με την ελπίδα πως κι αυτή η κτίση θα λευτερωθεί από τη σκλαβιά της φθοράς, στην ελευθερία της δόξας των τέκνων του Θεού. Γιατί γνωρίζουμε, πως όλη η κτίση αναστενάζει και πονά μαζί μας ως τώρα. Κι όχι μοναχά η κτίση, αλλά κι εμείς οι ίδιοι που έχουμε το Άγιο Πνεύμα μέσα μας, αναστενάζουμε, περιμένοντας την υιοθεσία (δηλ. να γίνουμε τέκνα του Θεού), ήγουν να λυτρωθεί το σώμα μας από τη φθορά». Κι αλλού λέγει: «Αν κατοικεί μέσα σας το Πνεύμα Εκείνου που ανάστησε τον Ιησού, Αυτός που ανάστησε τον Χριστό από τους νεκρούς, θα ζωοποιήσει τα θνητά σώματά σας με το άγιον Πνεύμα, που κατοικεί μέσα σας».

Ναι. Μοναχά ο Χριστός, που είναι ο Λόγος του Πατρός και που πήρε απ Αυτόν κάθε εξουσία, θα δώσει την αφθαρσία στους αγαπημένους του, καταργώντας και τον χρόνο και τον τόπο της ύλης, από τον κόσμο της φθοράς. Να, τι λέγει ο άγιος Πέτρος γι αυτή την αλλαγή: «Ήξει δε η ημέρα Κυρίου ως κλέπτης εν νυκτί, εν η ουρανοί ροιζηδόν παρελεύσονται, στοιχεία δε καυσούμενα λυθήσονται, και γη και τα εν αυτή έργα κατακαήσεται». 

Και στην Αποκάλυψη είναι γραμμένα τα παρακάτω λόγια για τον καινούριο κόσμο της παλιγγενεσίας: «Και νυξ ουκ έσται εκεί, και χρείαν ουκ έχουσι λύχνου και φωτός ηλίου, ότι Κύριος ο Θεός φωτιεί αυτούς, και βασιλεύσουσιν εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων».

Πηγή: Μικρό εορταστικό, Ακρίτας, 2006

http://sophia-siglitiki.blogspot.gr/2013/12/o-xronos-kai-o-kosmow-tis-fthoras-kontogloy.html#more

Αναρτήθηκε από Στρατής Ανδριώτης

Ερμηνεία της Θείας Λειτουργίας (Μέρος 6ον) - Η ιερατική αμφίεση - Πρωτοπρ. Θεόδωρος Ζήσης

Πρωτοπρ. Θεόδωρος Ζήσης, Ερμηνεία της Θείας Λειτουργίας (Μέρος 6ον) - Η ιερατική αμφίεση

www.impantokratoros.gr & katanixis.blogspot.gr Δείτε και Πρωτ. Θεόδωρος Ζήσης, Ερμηνεία της Θείας Λειτουργίας (Mέρος 1ον , Μέρος 2ον, Μέρος 3ον, Μέρος 4ον, Μέρος 5ον)

Αναρτήθηκε από ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΤΙΚΑ

Εγκύκλιος Μητροπολίτου Πειραιώς Σεραφείμ επί τη πρώτη του νέου έτους 2014

Τέκνα μου ἀγαπητά καί περιπόθητα,

Ἡ ἀλλαγή τοῦ Χρόνου εἶναι ἕνα ὁρόσημο πού μᾶς δίδει τήν εὐκαιρία νά ἀνταλλάξουμε εὐχές, δῶρα, χαιρετισμούς, μηνύματα. Ὁ καινούργιος χρόνος δέν ἔχει ἀκόμη δείξει τά χαρακτηριστικά του κι ὅμως τόν περιμένουμε ὅλοι μας γεμᾶτοι ἐλπίδες κι ἐμπιστοσύνη.

Εἶναι τόσο ἀπόλυτη καί γενική ἡ αἰσιοδοξία μας αὐτή, πού θά νόμιζε κανείς ὅτι κάποιος μᾶς ἔχει ἐκ τῶν προτέρων διαβεβαιώσει ὅτι μέ τόν καινούργιο χρόνο ὅλα θά πᾶνε καλύτερα.

Διερωτᾶται λοιπόν κανείς δικαιολογημένα : Ποῦ ὀφείλεται ὅλη αὐτή ἡ βεβαιότητα, αὐτή ἡ ἀνεπιφύλακτη αἰσιοδοξία;

Ἀσφαλῶς θά ρίξει λίγο φῶς στήν ἀπορία μας ἐάν θυμηθοῦμε πῶς ἀντιλήφθηκαν τόν χρόνο οἱ ἄνθρωποι μέχρι σήμερα. Ἐνῶ γιά τό μέτρημα τοῦ χρόνου ὑπῆρξε σχετικῶς γρήγορα μιά πανανθρώπινη συμφωνία, ὥστε ὁπουδήποτε κι ἄν βρισκόμαστε νά διαθέτουμε τά ἴδια ὄργανα μετρήσεως, δηληδή τά ρολόγια, γιά τήν ἀντίληψη περί χρόνου δέν ἐπεκράτησε μιά μονάχα ἄποψη μεταξύ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλά δύο.

Ἡ ἄποψη ἡ κυκλική καί ἡ ἄποψη ἡ γραμμική. Κατά τήν κυκλική ἄποψη, πού τήν διατύπωσαν κυρίως οἱ Ἕλληνες φιλόσοφοι, ἡ ἱστορία εἶναι ἕνας τροχός, πού γυρνᾶ διαρκῶς καί ἐπαναλαμβάνεται πληκτικά, ὥστε κανείς νά μήν μπορεῖ νά περιμένει ἐκπλήξεις. Ὁ μῦθος τοῦ Σισύφου εἶναι ἡ πιό χαρακτηριστική περιγραφή τῆς κυκλικῆς ἀντιλήψεως περί χρόνου. Καί πρέπει βέβαια νά τονίσουμε ὅτι αὐτή ἡ ἀντίληψη εἶναι καθαρά μηχανική. Δηλαδή προϋποθέτει ἕναν κόσμο, στόν ὁποῖο δέν ὑπάρχει Θεός, ἤ κι ἄν ὑπάρχει, δέν ἔχει καμμία ἀπολύτως σχέση μέ τόν κόσμο καί τόν ἄνθρωπο.

Πλάι σ' αὐτή τήν κυκλική ἄποψη, πού δείχνει τόν κόσμο παιχνίδι στά χέρια μιᾶς τυφλῆς, ἄλογης καί ἀσυνείδητης εἱμαρμένης, ἀναπτύχθηκε ἡ γραμμική ἄποψη, πού εἶναι ἡ ἄποψη τῶν θρησκευτικῶν λαῶν. Ἐδῶ ἡ ροή τῆς ἱστορίας δέν νοεῖται ὡς μηχανική ἐπανάληψη, ἀλλά ὡς ἐξελικτική πορεία, γι' αὐτό λέγεται γραμμική. Ἡ γραμμή αὐτή δέν εἶναι βέβαια πάντα εὐθεῖα, ἀλλά ἔχει καί τεθλασμένες διακυμάνσεις, ἔχει κι ἐπαναλήψεις. Ὅμως δέν παύει ποτέ νά εἶναι πορεία πρός τά ἐμπρός, ἀλλαγή, ἐξέλιξη.

Σ' αὐτή τήν ἐξέλιξη τοῦ χρόνου ὄχι μόνο ὑπάρχει ὁ Θεός, ἀλλ' Αὐτός εἶναι καί ὁ κυρίαρχος τῆς ἱστορίας. Αὐτός τήν ἐπιβλέπει καί τήν κατευθύνει στούς τελικούς σκοπούς της, χωρίς αὐτό νά σημαίνει ὅτι ὁ ἄνθρωπος δέν εἶναι ἐλεύθερος στά ἔργα καί στίς σκέψεις του. Γι' αὐτό ἄλλωστε εἴπαμε πώς ἡ πορεία τῆς ἱστορίας ἔχει διακυμάνσεις, διαφορετικά θά ἦταν μιά ἄψογη κι ἀνεμπόδιστη μαθηματική εὐθεῖα.

Σ' αὐτή λοιπόν τήν γραμμική ἄποψη περί χρόνου, πού δέν εἶναι μηχανική, ἀλλ' ἠθική, δέν ὑπάρχει τόπος γιά ἄλογη καί τυφλή εἱμαρμένη. Ὑπάρχει μόνο ἡ Πρόνοια τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπό τό ἕνα μέρος, κι ἡ εὐθύνη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀπό τό ἄλλο. Σ' αὐτά τά δύο στηρίζεται ἡ αἰσιοδοξία μας. Στήν στοργική ἀγρύπνια τοῦ Θεοῦ καί στήν εὐθυνοφόρα ἀγρύπνια τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Γι' αὐτό πιστεύομε ὅτι ὅλα θά πᾶνε καλύτερα μέ τόν καινούργιο χρόνο. Γιατί ὁ Θεός δέν μπορεῖ νά μήν βοηθήσει, ὅπου βλέπει τόν ἄνθρωπο νά προσπαθεῖ τό καλύτερο.

Εἴθε αὐτή μας ἡ ἐμπιστοσύνη νά μή διαψευσθεῖ καί γιά φέτος.

Ἀγαπητοί Ἀδελφοί,

Ἡ ἀλλαγή τοῦ χρόνου δίνει πάντα τήν εὐκαιρία νά κάνουμε ἕνα ἀπολογισμό ζωῆς κι ἕνα προϋπολογισμό ἐλπίδων. Γιά φόβους κι ἀποτυχίες δέν θέλουμε νά μιλᾶμε προκαταβολικά, ἄν καί γνωρίζουμε ὅτι καί αὐτά εἶναι ἐνδεχόμενα, μέ τίς ἴδιες ἀκριβῶς πιθανότητες.

Πολύ καλά φαίνεται νά ἐγνώριζε τήν ἀνθρώπινη φύση ἐκεῖνος πού εἶπε ὅτι «παρόν εἶναι ὁ χρόνος πού χωρίζει τόν χρόνο τῶν ἀπογοητεύσεων ἀπό τόν χρόνο τῶν ἐλπίδων».

Σέ μιά τέτοια θεώρηση, χωρίς ἀμφιβολία, τό παρόν ὑποτιμᾶται σάν χρόνος χωρίς χρῶμα καί διάρκεια, χωρίς ποιότητα καί σπουδαιότητα ἀποφασιστική. Εἶναι ὅμως, ἀλήθεια, τό παρόν ἁπλῶς μιά ρευστή καί μεταβατική κατάσταση στή ζωή μας; Ἠ μήπως εἶναι ὁ πιό ἀληθινός καί πολυτιμότερος χρόνος μας;

Τήν τελευταία νύχτα τοῦ Δεκεμβρίου, πού ἀκριβῶς τά μεσάνυχτα γίνεται, σέ κλάσμα δευτερολέπτου, ἡ μοναδική συνάντηση – καί ἀποχαιρετισμός συγχρόνως – τοῦ χρόνου τοῦ παλιοῦ μέ τόν καινούργιο, τό παρόν σμικρύνεται χρονικά κι ἀξιολογικά στό ἐλάχιστο. Γιατί ἐκείνη τήν στιγμή ὁ χρόνος πού φεύγει παίρνει αὐτομάτως τίς ἐπικές διαστάσεις τοῦ παρελθόντος, ἐνῶ ὁ χρόνος πού ἔρχεται δέν ἔχει ἀκόμη ἀποβάλει τήν μυθική μαγεία τοῦ μέλλοντος. Συμπιεζόμενο ἀνάμεσα στά δύο αὐτά «ἱερά τέρατα» τό φτωχό μας παρόν, μόλις πού κατορθώνει νά ἐπιβιώσει σημειώνοντας τήν παρουσία του σάν λεπτή καί εὔθραυστη διαχωριστική γραμμή.

Κι ὅμως αὐτό τό παρόν, εἶναι ὁ μοναδικός αὐθεντικός μας «βιότοπος». Ἀπ' αὐτό ἐξαρτᾶται ἡ ἑρμηνεία καί ἀξιολόγηση τοῦ παρελθόντος, καί ἀπ' αὐτό ἐπίσης θά ἐξαρτηθεῖ ἡ πυροδότηση τοῦ μέλλοντος. Ἄν τό παρόν μας ἀρδεύεται ἀπό σταθερές ἀρχές κι ἀξίες, τότε ἀφοβα θά κρίνουμε τό παρελθόν καί γενναιόφρονα θά ἀντιμετωπίσουμε τό μέλλον. Τό παρόν εἶναι ὁ «ἐνεστώς» χρόνος, ὁ μόνος δηλαδή χρόνος πού στέκει ἀνικειμενικά μπροστά μας καί διεκδικεῖ ἀπόλυτα τήν ἀγρύπνια μας καί τήν εὐθύνη τῆς συνειδήσεώς μας. Γι' αὐτό κι ὁ Χριστιανισμός τό μήνυμα τῆς σωτηρίας δέν τό φέρνει σέ χρόνο μελλοντικό - ὅπως κάνουν ὅλων τῶν εἰδῶν οἱ μεσσιανισμοί -, ἀλλά σέ χρόνο κατ' ἐξοχήν ἐνεστῶτα : «ἰδού νῦν καιρός εὐπρόσδεκτος, ἰδού νῦν ἡμέρα σωτηρίας» (Β΄ Κορ. 6,2). «Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου» (Ματθ. 21,9). «Ἡ Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντός ὑμῶν ἐστί» (Λουκ. 17, 21).

Αὐτό τό ἄτμητο παρόν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκφράζεται ἀκόμη ἐπιγραμματικότερα στήν Ἀποκάλυψη τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ὅταν ὁ ἴδιος ὁ Θεός συνιστᾶ ὡς ἀκολούθως τόν ἀναλλοίωτο καί ἄχρονο ἑαυτό Του : «Ἐγώ εἰμί ὁ ὤν, καί ὁ ἦν, καί ὁ ἐρχόμενος» (Ἀποκ. 1,4).

Ἀναγνωρίζοντας ἀπ' ὅλα τά πιό πάνω τήν ἀνεπανάληπτη σπουδαιότητα τοῦ παρόντος, ἄς ἐργαζόμεθα καί ἄς ἀγρυπνοῦμε «ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστί» (Ἰωάν. 9,4). Καί μιά πού ὁ χρόνος 2014 εἶναι διεθνῶς ἀφιερωμένος στήν οἰκογένεια, ὑποχρέωσή μας εἶναι νά θυμηθοῦμε ὅτι ἡ οἰκογένεια εἶναι ἡ ἔνσαρκη ὑπόμνηση τῶν μεγαλυτέρων εὐθυνῶν καί δυνατοτήτων μας μέσα στήν ἀμεσότητα τοῦ παρόντος. Ἄς πράξουμε λοιπόν ὅ,τι ὁ καθένας μας μπορεῖ καί ὀφείλει, ἀνάλογα μέ τήν θέση του, τήν ἀποστολή του, τήν εὐθύνη του.

Καλή Χρονιά! - Χρονιά πολλά!

Ο ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ ΣΑΣ

+ ὁ Πειραιῶς ΣΕΡΑΦΕΙΜ

Αναρτήθηκε από ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΤΙΚΑ

Divna Ljubojevic Raspeto Kosovo (+playlist) - Crucifixion of Kosovo This is when you give away chistianit land to islam fanatic.

Raspeto Kosovo
Crucifixion of Kosovo
This is when you give away chistianit land to islam fanatic.

DIVNA LJUBOJEVIC / KIRIE ELEISON / GOD HAVE MERCY (+playlist)

Saint Basil The Great

A New Year's Eve Tale by Photios Kontoglou

A tale of Photios Kontoglou

(Describes a visit of St. Basil on the eve of his feast, years after his repose. Translated from the Greek original.*)
The Nativity Feast having passed, St. Basil took his staff and traversed all of the towns, in order to see who would celebrate his Feast Day with purity of heart. He passed through regions of every sort and through villages of prominence, yet regardless of where he knocked, no door opened to him, since they took him for a beggar. 

And he would depart embittered, for, though he needed nothing from men, he felt how much pain the heart of every impecunious person must have endured at the insensitivity that these people showed him. 

One day, as he was leaving such a merciless village, he went by the graveyard, where he saw that the tombs were in ruins, the headstones broken and turned topsy-turvy, and how the newly dug graves had been turned up by jackals. Saint that he was, he heard the dead speaking and saying: 

“During the time that we were on the earth, we labored, we were heavy-burdened, leaving behind us children and grandchildren to light just a candle, to burn a little incense on our behalf; but we behold nothing, neither a Priest to read over our heads a memorial service nor kóllyva, as though we had left behind no one.” 

Thus, St. Basil was once again disquieted, and he said to himself, “These villagers give aid neither to the living nor to the deceased,” departing from the cemetery and setting out alone in the midst of the freezing snow.
On the eve of the New Year, he came upon a certain hamlet, which was the poorest of the poor villages in all of Greece. The freezing wind howled through the scrub bush and the rocky cliffs, and not a living soul was to be found in the pitch-dark night! 

Then, he beheld in front of him a small knoll, below which there was secreted away a sheepfold. 

St. Basil went into the pen and, knocking on the door of the hut with his staff, called out: “Have mercy on me, a poor man, for the sake of your deceased relatives, for even Christ lived as a beggar on this earth.” Awakening, the dogs lunged at him.

But as they drew near him and sniffed him, they became gentle, wagged their tails, and lay down at his feet, whimpering imploringly and with joy. 

Thereupon, a shepherd, a young man of twenty-five or so, with a curly black beard, opened the door and stepped out: John Barbákos—a demure and rugged man, a sheepman. Before taking a good look at who was knocking, he had already said, “Enter, come inside. Good day, Happy New Year!”

Inside the hut, a lamp was suspended overhead from a cradle that was attached to two beams. Next to the hearth was their bedding, and John’s wife was sleeping. 

As soon as St. Basil went inside, John, seeing that the old man was a clergyman, took his hand and kissed it, saying, “Your blessing, Elder,” as though he had known him previously and as though he were his father.

 And the Saint said to him: “May you and all of your household be blessed, together with your sheep, and may the peace of God be upon you.” 

The wife then arose, and she, too, reverenced the Elder and kissed his hand, and he blessed her. St. Basil looked like a mendicant monk, with an old skoúphia, his rása worn and patched, and his tsaroúchia [a traditional leather slipper, usually adorned with a pompom at the end of the shoe] full of holes; as well, he had an old empty-looking satchel. John the blessed put wood on the fire. 

 Straightway the hut began to glisten, as though seemingly a palace. The rafters seemed to be gilded with gold, while the hanging cheesecloth bags [filled with curing cheese] looked like vigil lamps, and the wooden containers, cheese presses, and all of the accessories used by John in making cheese became like silver, as though decorated by diamonds, as did all of the other humble things that John the blessed had in his hut. The wood burning in the hearth crackled and sang like the birds that sing in Paradise, giving off a fragrance wholly delightful. 

The couple placed St. Basil near the fire, where he sat, and the wife put down pillows on which he could rest. Then the Elder took the satchel from around his neck, placing it next to him, and removed his old ráson (outside cassock), remaining in his zostikó [inner cassock].

Together with his farmhand, John the blessed went out to milk the sheep and to place the newborn lambs in the lambing pen, and afterwards he separated the ewes that were ready to birth and confined them within the enclosure, while his helper put the other sheep out to graze. 

His flock was sparse and John was poor; yet, he was blessed. And he was possessed of great joy at all times, day and night, for he was a good man and he had a good wife. Anyone who happened to pass by their hut they cared for as though he were a brother. And it is thus that St. Basil found lodging in their home and settled in, as if it were his own, blessing it from top to bottom. 

On that night, he was awaited, in all of the cities and villages of the known world, by rulers, Hierarchs, and officials; but he went to none of these. Instead, he went to lodge in the hut of John the blessed.

So, John, after pasturing the sheep, came back in and said to the Saint, “Elder, I am greatly joyful. I wish to have you read to us the writings about St. Basil [i.e., the appointed hymns to the Saint]. I am an illiterate man, but I like all of the writings of our religion [once again, the hymns and services of the Church]. In fact, I have a small book from an Hagiorite Abbot [i.e., from Mt. Athos], and whenever someone who can read and write happens to pass by, I get him to read out of the booklet, since we have no Church near us.”

In the East, it was dimly dawning. St Basil rose and stood, facing eastward, making his Cross. He then bent down, took a booklet from his satchel, and said, “Blessed is our God, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.” John the blessed went and stood behind him, and his wife, having nursed their baby, also went to stand near him, with her arms crossed [over her chest]. 

St. Basil then said the hymn, “God is the Lord...” and the Apolytikion of the Feast of the Circumcision, “Without change, Thou hast assumed human form,” omitting his own Apolytikion, which states, “Thy sound is gone forth unto all the earth.” 

His voice was sweet and humble, and John and his wife felt great contrition, even though they did not understand all of the words. St. Basil now said the whole of Matins and the Canon of the Feast, “Come, O ye peoples, and let us chant a song unto Christ God,” without reciting his own canon, which goes, “O Basil, we would that thy voice were present....” 

 Thereafter, he said aloud the entire Liturgy, pronounced the dismissal, and blessed the household. 

As they sat at the table, having eaten and finished their food, the wife brought the Vasilopeta [a sweet bread or cake baked in honor of St. Basil on the New Year] and placed it on the serving table. 

Then St. Basil took a knife and with it traced the sign of the Cross on the Vasilopeta, saying, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He cut a first piece, saying, “for Christ,” a second, afterwards, saying, “for the Panagia,” and then “for the master of the house, John the blessed.” 

John exclaimed, “Elder, you forgot St. Basil!” The Saint replied, “Yes, indeed,” and thus said, “And for the servant of God, Basil.” After this, he resumed: “...and for the master of the house,” “for the mistress of the house,” “for the child,” “for the farmhand,” “for the animals,” and “for the poor.” Thereupon, John the blessed said, “Elder, why did you not cut a piece for your reverendship?” And the Saint said, “But I did, O blessed one!” But John, this blissful man, did not understand.

Afterwards, St. Basil stood up and said the prayer, 

“O Lord my God, I know that I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under the roof of the house of my soul.” John the Blessed then said: “I wonder if you can tell me, Elder, since you know many things, to what palaces St. Basil went this evening? 

And the rulers and monarchs—what sins do they have? We poor people are sinners, since our poverty leads us into sin.” St. Basil said the same prayer, again—with tears—though changing it: 

“O Lord my God, I have seen that Thy servant John the simple is worthy and that it is meet that Thou shouldest enter into his shelter. He is a babe, and it is to babes that Thy Mysteries are revealed.” And again John the blissful, John the blessed, understood nothing....

* This well-known and charming short story by Phótios Kóntoglou has appeared in several versions, both in Greek and in what are, unfortunately, largely poor English translations. Kontoglou’s Greek is quite difficult to translate, since he uses many words common to the dialect of Greeks in Asia Minor. 

Though some of these words are actually derived from ancient Greek, in general they are part of a language spoken today by less literate Greeks. Thus, there is a tendency to render them in English slang, which detracts from the power of Kontoglou’s Greek and his writing and imagery. 

At other times, translators fail at finding the middle ground between stilted literal translations and translations which add so much to the original Greek texts that Kontoglou’s characteristic literary style is lost. I have used, here, the Greek text published by Harmos Publications (Athens, Greece, 1994) in its collection Diegémata ton Christougénnon, and have tried to capture in my rendering the style, simple eloquence, and sensitivity of the author’s story as it reads in Greek—Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna.

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Posted by Tom Manakis
 http://tokandylaki.blogspot.gr/2013/12/a-new-years-eve-tale-by-photios.html

Muslim Persecution Of Christians: October, 2013

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Two of the most tragic Islamic attacks on Christians, killing several women and children, took place in the month of October, one in Syria, another in Egypt.
On October 21 in Syria, U.S.-supported Islamist rebels invaded and occupied the ancient Christian settlement of Sadad for over a week, until ousted by the Syrian army. What took place that week was “the largest massacre of Christians in Syria,” in the words of Orthodox Archbishop Alnemeh. Among other things, 45 Christians—including women and children—were killed, several were tortured to death; mass graves were discovered; all of Sadad’s 14 churches, some ancient, were ransacked and destroyed; the bodies of six people from one family, ranging from ages 16 to 90, were found at the bottom of a well (an increasingly common fate for “subhuman” Christians).
The jihadis also made a graphic video (with English subtitles) of those whom they massacred, while shouting Islam’s victory-cry, “Allahu Akbar!” ["Allah is Greater!," meaning "than anything"]. Another video, made after Sadad was liberated, shows more graphicatrocities.
The day before rebels invaded Sadad, on Sunday, October 20, the Church of the Virgin Mary in Warraq, near Cairo, Egypt, was attacked during a wedding ceremony. The attack left four dead and nearly two dozen wounded. According to a report issued by a forensic team, two of those murdered were young girls, each named Mary: 12-year-old Mary Nabil Fahmy, who was shot five times in the chest, and 8-year-old Mary Ashraf Masih (“Masih” meaning “Christ”), who was shot in the back.
The security forces charged with protecting the church were seen leaving their posts immediately before the massacre began, as happens frequently in Egypt and other Islamic nations. In the words of Asia News, “Eye-witnesses of the al-Warraq attack confirm that despite numerous distress calls, police and ambulances only arrived on the scene two hours after the shooting.”
 
These massacres in Syria and Egypt received scant attention and even less condemnation from Western media and governments. Instead, people such as Mohamed Elibiary, an Obama administration Homeland Security adviser, condemned Copts who raise awareness of anti-Christian violence in Egypt as promoting “Islamophobic” bigotry.
Although Christians are habitually killed in Muslim countries, as this series attests, the U.S. government rarely condemns the practice or even acknowledges it. When five Muslims were killed in western Burma, however, the U.S. issued a formal condemnation, according to Voice of America, “urging authorities to do more to address the long-standing sectarian tension there.”
The rest of October’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and country in alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

Bangladesh: “A local government official in central Bangladesh has halted the construction of a church, forced Christians to worship at a mosque and threatened them with eviction from their village unless they renounce their faith,” said Morning Star News. “The Tangail Evangelical Holiness Church in Bilbathuagani village… was created Sept. 8 by a group of about 25 Christians who had been meeting secretly for three years. 
However, local council chairman Rafiqul Islam Faruk joined around 200 demonstrators Sept. 13 to protest against the start of the building of the church. The following day, the Christians were summoned to his office. 
More than 1,000 Muslims waited outside, following an announcement at all local mosques to gather at the chairman’s office.” There, they were ordered to embrace Islam or suffer the consequences. 
Said one of the Christians: “Their threats chilled me to the bone. That is why I pretended to accept Islam, but faith in Christ is the wellspring of my life.” Another said: “The chairman is clipping the wings of our faith. I do not know how long we can grin and bear it. We want religious freedom. We want to practice our religion freely.” Since Sept. 14, under the chairman’s orders, eight Christians agreed to return to Islam. Apparently, the chairman and his associates had already beaten some of these Christians three years ago for accepting Christianity.

Iran: Mariam Naqqash, a female convert to Christianity, was sentenced to four years in prison by a court in Tehran. The Christian convert was found guilty of “endangering national security by spreading religious propaganda in the country,” and allegedly being a spy for Britain and Israel. According to Adnkronos News, “renouncing the Muslim faith is punishable [in Iran] with the death penalty. Over 300 Iranian converts to Christianity have been arrested over the past two years, according to opposition websites.”

Kazakhstan: After Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, a 67-year-old pastor, was released from five months’ detention, based on charges his family and others insist are spurious. After being reunited with his family, he was arrested again within minutes, now accused of “propaganda of terrorism or extremism, or public calls to commit an act of terrorism or extremism, as well as the distribution of material of the content indicated.” His son, Askar, told Forum 18 News Service, “These new accusations are complete rubbish. They’re trying to turn my father into a terrorist.” Grace Church in Astana, where Kashkumbayev served, has, according to the report, long been subject to state harassment, including accusations of being involved in espionage, fraud, money laundering, distributing extremist texts and using hallucinogenic communion drinks.

Kenya: Charles Matole, pastor of the Redeemed Gospel Church, was found shot dead while still sitting with a Bible on his lap: “We found him with blood oozing from the head,” said a choir member. The pastor had been receiving threatening phone text messages. Similarly, Pastor Ebrahim Kidata of the East African Pentecostal Churches was found murdered, strangled to death, in a patch of bushes.

Pakistan:

• After a Muslim man slaughtered a Christian—in broad daylight and in front of police—accusing him of being “an infidel who blasphemed against Muhammad” (see September report), a group of armed men broke into the dead man’s family home, threatening to kill its members if they did not withdraw their police complaint against the murderer, and convert to Islam. Fr. Arshad Gill, a priest in Karachi, told Asia News “about this ‘sad story’ in which the victim is ‘an innocent man’ and his family is told to convert to Islam or die. For him, the case epitomizes the situation of Pakistan‘s minorities, forced to live ‘in conditions of profound insecurity’ in which events such as this one tend to exacerbate the situation…. Found in Article 295, B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code, the [blasphemy] ‘law’ punishes with death or life in prison anyone who desecrates the Qur’an or defames the name of the Prophet Muhammad.” Those few political activists who have tried to repeal the law—such as Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, a Muslim, and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian—have been murdered.
• Three other Pakistani Christians face a possible death sentence on what lawyer Sardar Mushtaq Gill says are “trumped up charges” of blasphemy. One of the Christians, Asif Pervaiz, is accused of sending phone text messages with “abusive language against Muslims, Islam, Prophet Mohammed and the Koran.” Two other Christians, Pastor Adnan and Mushtaq Masih, were also arrested for allegedly writing “derogatory remarks” about Islam. Gill also said, “Days back we received some heart breaking information that there is one group who forced Christians to accept Islam at gun point.”
• Another Christian man accused of blasphemy, 26-year-old Adnan Masih, trained as a pastor at a United Pentecostal seminary, is being hunted by police. In addition, the banned Islamic extremist group, Jamaat ud Dawa, in Lahore, issued a fatwa, or Islamic decree, calling for his death because he sought to correct misconceptions about Christianity in a Muslim book by noting biblical verses that refuted Islamic characterizations of Christianity. A source said that the hunted man had no idea that “pointing out false references in a book would land him in such big trouble.” In the words of a representative of Jamaat ud Dawa: “The police better arrest the blasphemer and hand him over to us on Saturday [Oct. 19]. We will not be responsible for any law-and-order situation in the city if the police fails to keep its assurance. How dare someone use derogatory language against our beloved prophet … Don’t they know that the Koran orders us to slit the throat of whoever is disrespectful to Allah’s beloved prophet.”
• Rana Tanveer, a chief reporter for The Express Tribune, received a one-page letter in Urdu threatening him to stop covering the plight of minorities. He was further accused of being an “apostate” for allegedly sympathizing with Christians and Ahmadis, instead of with their Sunni Muslim oppressors. He was also threatened with death, “from where you cannot even imagine.” Tanveer, a Muslim, insists that all his reports are objective and based on facts.

Dhimmitude

Egypt: After Muslims in al-Minya district accused a young man of having an illicit relationship with a Muslim woman, violence erupted against the village’s Christians (see September report). The father of the Christian man insists that there was no relationship between his son and the Muslim woman, whose family, in his words, “actually had their daughter undergo a gynecological exam, which proved the woman is ‘untouched’ [a virgin].” Instead, according to the father and many Copts in the village, “the whole story was fabricated by Muslim hard-liners from neighboring village to cause sectarian strife.” According to a separate Arabic report, “criminal groups and gangs managed to acquire guns and weapons and, as usual, have attacked and abused the Christians … [and] forced Copts to pay large amounts of money as tax [jizya] in order not to steal and/or plunder their lands.” The report also points out that no one does anything to oppose these gangs: “they simply kill Christians and their families as happened in the village of Shameiya when two Copts refused to pay the tax: the gang killed them and this was repeated in many other villages belonging to the governorate of Asyut. It is becoming so normal now to watch as these crimes against Christians occur day by day and nothing is done.”

Indonesia: Still insisting that Susan Jasmine Zulkifli, a Christian woman appointed governor of the sub-district of Lenteng Agung, in West Java, be removed solely because of her faith (see September report), Muslim protesters stepped up their threats, including carrying a coffin in a protest march of some 600 Muslims—a clear death threat —and waving flags symbolic of death. The Christian woman had been promoted in June by the Governor of Jakarta, who said in response: “I make my choices based on merits, not looking at religion.”

Iran: After being arrested in a house church December 2012 and charged with consuming alcohol in violation of the Islamic theocracy’s laws, four Christians were sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking communion wine. “The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran effectively criminalize the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord’s Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to practice faith freely and peaceably,” a human rights activist said.

Iraq: The nation’s Christians, more than half of whom have fled since the U.S.-led invasion a decade ago, are now also being targeted in and fleeing from northern Iraq, which until recently was considered a relatively safe region for Christians fleeing violence in the south. Recently, for example, a suicide bomb went off outside the home of Christian politician Emad Youhanna in Rafigayn, part of the Kirkuk province, injuring 19 people, including three of his children. Several more bomb attacks have also taken place in the northern city of Erbil, for which al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. According to Christian News, “In early September, Christians in the village of Deshtakh complained that they were facing harassment from local police. A group of Christian young people said that policemen told them that they ‘should not be in Iraq because it is Muslim territory.’ Violence in the south of the country is also escalating. Church leaders in Baghdad say that there are attacks onChristians every two or three days.”

Lebanon: Muslims in the historically Christian nation are appropriating Christian land. According to Agenzia Fides: “An urgent reminder to curb the misuse of land belonging to Christians in order to build housing for the Muslims was launched on Monday, October 14 from Talal al- Doueihy, leader of the Movement ‘Lebanese Land, our Land’…. Across the Country there are outbreaks of clashes due to problem regarding land. Last week, in the Christian village of Alma (district of Zghorta) residents had complained that the Muslims of the area of al-Fuar had begun to build houses without permission. Already at the end of August, the same Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai had called Christians to limit the sale of their property to avoid jeopardizing the demographic-confessional balance.”

Pakistan: After the bombs in the church of All Saints in Peshawar, where nearly 90 people, including many women and children, died, Agenzia Fides reported that, “the situation remains tense in the Pakistani society: not only tragedy but also horror. The Christians said they were ‘horrified’ by the rumors that link the bombs in Peshawar to the vast problem of organ trafficking: this is what some members of NGOs in civil society in Pakistan told Fides. Some of the ‘jackals,’ presumably local paramedics, seem to have taken advantage of the high number of deaths and injuries in order to steal the bodies of victims and exploit them for the illegal organ trade. ‘If this were true, it would mean that there are criminals who are taking advantage of the suffering of Christian victims in a truly blasphemous and sacrilegious manner,’ notes Fr. Mario Rodrigues, a priest of Karachi.” Meanwhile, some of the Christian survivors who mourned the deaths of loved ones too openly, were attacked, beaten, and threatened with death. Finally, in a separate story, a Christian, Harrison Masih, working in a store, who used to debate religion with a Muslim customer, Maulvi Khalad, got into an argument when Khalad tried to get him to convert to Islam, “telling him that he would enter paradise that way.” But, as Harrison related, because he refused to convert and apparently did not want want any trouble, “I quit my job at the medical store but Khalid, and three other men, came to my house and threatened me and my family.”

About this Series

While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions. “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1. To document that which the mainstream media often seems to fail to report.
2.  To suggest that such persecution is not “random” but systematic.

These accounts span different ethnicities, languages, and locations.

by Susan Duclos RINF Alternative News

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle
 http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/muslim-persecution-of-christians-october-2013-2/