News
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Fourth Sunday of Great Lent
29 March 2014
“…This kind comes out only by prayer and fasting…”
These words of the Lord again encourage us on the fourth Sunday of Great lent. At times we forget, or completely fail to see, the reasons why the Church calls us to the feat of temperance. Regrettably, sometime in our understanding lent has only a dietary value, and the prayers and chants of the Great lent – capable of warming our cold hearts – are understood by us only as a variety of the church’s repertoire.
That is why it is necessary to pay careful attention to the message of this Sunday’s Gospel. Having heard that His disciples were unable to free the pitiable young man, the Lord chastises the father of the sufferer for unbelief. “All things are possible for him, who believes,” says the Lord and – as an answer to the cry of the father: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!” – He heals the one, who was tormented by the unclean spirit since childhood.
From the question of the disciples “why couldn’t we…” one can see that they believed in the Lord. But He, by His mercy, did not leave them without saving instruction. Having pointed the father to faith as the necessary means of healing, the Lord points the disciples to the perfection of the faith, setting forth prayer and fasting as the means of achieving perfection.
Thus, the Lord teaches that it is necessary to have faith, and not only to have it, but also to perfect it by fasting and prayer. We always need faith, whether we ask the Lord on behalf of others or for ourselves. It is also very important that it not be like that of demons: they believe and tremble, but do not repent. The true fruit of fasting and prayer is a heart that is broken and humbled.
Let us, therefore, break our hearts by fasting and prayer, and humbly cry out: “I believe, O Lord, help my unbelief!” So that we, by the mercy of God and by temperance according to our strength, may be delivered from passions and unclean spirits which destroy us, and may meet the radiant resurrection of the Lord with joy. Amen.
Priest Viatcheslav Davidenko
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Visit of the Church of Protection of the Holy Virgin in Rochester. 2014
28 March 2014
To be published soon.
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Pastoral Retreat & Assembly Of the Priests & Clergy of the Diocese of Montréal & Canada March, 2014
28 March 2014
The 2014 Lenten Pastoral Conference of the Canadian Diocese
This year the Lenten pastoral conference of the Canadian Diocese was, for the first time, held at the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. This monastery was called the “lavra of the Russian Church Abroad” by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anastasy, whose earthly remains rest under the altar of the monastery cathedral. It is not unreasonable to say that the hearts of Orthodox Christians of Russian descent that have found themselves outside of Russia have a special place for Holy Trinity Monastery. The 17th of June, 2015 will mark the 80th anniversary of the first service held at the newly-constructed wooden church at the then recently organized Holy Trinity Monastery.
On the same day of that historic liturgy, a fire began in the newly consecrated church and it appeared that after many labours all was lost, but the Lord judged differently. One of the witnesses of the fire remarked that this baptism by fire did not lead to the destruction, but on the contrary to the flourishing of the monastery, which exists up to our day as the true spiritual centre of the Russian Diaspora, which in recent years has also become better-known in Russia itself.
The Canadian Diocese has a special tie to Holy Trinity Monastery. The first abbot of the monastery, the former archimandrite of the Pochaev Lavra, his Eminence Archbishop Vitaly (Maksimenko), was to become the ruling bishop of the North American and Canadian Diocese. And now the present ruling bishop of the Canadian Diocese, Archbishop Gabriel, is this year marking the 30th anniversary of his graduation from Holy Trinity Seminary, which is located at the monastery in Jordanville.
In his opening remarks Archbishop Gabriel reminded the participants of the clergy conference of the history of the monastery. Vladyka remarked that just a few steps away from the seminary graduation hall, where the conference was taking place, in the monastery cemetery many of the founders and guardians of the Russian Church Abroad are buried. Some of these remarkable hierarchs, pastors and teachers include: the first hierarchs of the Church abroad, Metropolitans Anastasy, Filaret and Laurus, Archbishop Averky (Taushev), Archimandrite Constantine (Zaitsev), and the great iconographer Archimandrite Cyprian (Pyzhov), who helped to reestablish a traditional style of icon painting in the diaspora. Through his efforts many Orthodox churches in North America with adorned with icon murals, including in the main monastery cathedral, the cemetery church and monastery refectory. Here are also buried other luminaries of the Church Outside of Russia as well as many pious monks who struggled in prayer and fasting and entreated God to show mercy on the much-suffering Russian land, not losing hope that Holy Russia will one day rise up again.
The humble atmosphere of the monastery descends on all who visit and thus the discussions of the diocesan conference were calm and peaceful. Within the last two or three years the situation in the Canadian diocese has improved noticeably. Two new missions, one in Red Deer, Alberta the other in Nanaimo, British Columbia have been formed recently. Soon, with God’s help, a new mission will be opened in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Holy Trinity Parish in Toronto, the largest parish in the Church Abroad, this past year organized and hosted the celebration of the 400-year anniversary of the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty. During these festivities a meeting of the Synod of Bishops was also held in Toronto.
During the diocese meeting, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), the abbot of the monastery, gave a talk at which he explained the present-day situation in the monastery and seminary. Deacon Andrei Psarev, one of the instructors at Holy Trinity Seminary, read a lecture entitled “The Current Law of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Archbishop Gabriel commented that the main goal of our lenten meetings is to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Feast of Feasts, the bright day of Christ’s Resurrection. The monastery services, which were attended by all of the participants of the conference, helped tremendously in this task. The hight of the pastoral lenten retreat was the hierarchal Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts served on Wednesday the 26th of March.
Archbishop Gabriel presided at this service and was assisted by the clergy of the Canadian Diocese, Archimandrite Luke and the priestmonks of the monastery as well as archpriest Alexis Duncan from Albany, NY.
Many of the participants of the pastoral conference expressed a hope that this will not be the last time the Canadian Diocese meets in Jordanville.
Below is a photo-report of the conference in Jordanville.
