Verily, the all-solemn Feast of the two Apostles hath arrived, bringing us salvation. Wherefore, let us mystically exult, crying unto them: Rejoice, O ye who have become luminaries to those in darkness, two rays of the Sun! Rejoice, O Peter and Paul, adamant pillars of the divine doctrines, ye friends of Christ and two honored vessels! Be ye present among us in an invisible manner, and grant immaterial gifts to those who extol your feast with songs.
--Doxasticon of the Feast, Tone 6
"O foremost in the ranks of apostles, and teachers of the world, Peter and Paul. Intercede with the Master of all, to grant safety to the world, and to our souls the great mercy." -- Apolytikion of Ss. Peter and Paul
Readings:
2 Corinthians 11:21-12:9
Matthew 16:13-19
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s Letter to Pope Francis on Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul
"The contemporary crisis of refugees and migrants has demonstrated the need for European nations to address this problem on the basis of the ancient Christian principles of fraternity and social justice. We recognize that the European civilization cannot be understood without reference to its Christian roots and that its future cannot be as a society entirely secularized or subjected to economism and various forms of fundamentalism. The “culture of solidarity” nurtured by Christianity is not preserved through the progress of standards of living, the Internet and globalization."
https://zenit.org/articles/ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomews-letter-to-pope-francis-on-feast-of-sts-peter-and-paul/
Brexit and the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church: The Return of Nationalism
During the last weeks of June 2016, two major international events took place, namely the ‘Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church’, on the island of Crete (June 16-27), and the British referendum that narrowly voted to leave the European Union (June 23). At first sight, the two events are unrelated. One is the product of extensive inter-Orthodox dialogue that began in 1923, nearly a century ago. The other is the expression of the democratic political vote that took place in Britain, on Europe’s western periphery. Although neither event referred to the other, both are representative of tectonic shifts in the international liberal order of the post-Cold War era.
What do they have in common?
https://publicorthodoxy.org/2016/06/29/brexit-and-the-holy-and-great-synod-of-the-orthodox-church-the-return-of-nationalism/
Patriotism, loving one’s country, one’s homeland, one’s people, is perfectly good and fine and accepted by the Church. In fact, there are many saints who are quite patriotic and quite lovers of their homeland—even defending their homeland against invaders, against nonbelievers. And so certainly, phyletism is not loving one’s people, one’s country, one’s homeland. There’s nothing wrong with that. So when people express great love for their homeland or their country, one should not misunderstand them and confuse their love for something which it is not, that is phyletism.
Now phyletism is also not a strong, healthy self-identity—that is as a Greek or Russian or Serbian or American. It’s perfectly good and healthy to have a proper self-identity. I am a part of this people, which call themselves Hellenists or Russians or Serbians or what it might be, and I’m very happy to be a part of this group, a part of this nation. And certainly we have an example of the Jewish people, the people of God in the Old Testament. They certainly were not shy about their identity and about expressing their identity as the people of God.
Phyletism is not having reservations about multinational unions, globalization, European Unions, North American Unions, international groups which seemingly subvert local governments. Phyletism is not even the desire to get out of these groups; it is not to be seen as something negative. In fact, the Church has always held a somewhat reserved and even a negative stance toward such developments seeing in them, precursors to the “man of iniquity,” the Antichrist.
So phyletism is not a zeal for one’s autonomy, the country’s autonomy from these multinational, international, organizations. There’s nothing all that virtuous in uniting the nations under one government. That’s not something the Church should see automatically as something good.
http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/postcards/phyletism
Western backed terrorism in the Ukraine only continues what has become a long standing hatred by the United States, and her British compatriots, of Orthodoxy.
Is the United States government and her Western allies, so dominated by hate-filled hawks that we are willing to set the stage for World War III, or will we finally put aside our insatiable desire to control the whole world, together with our colonialist European Union allies? Is it really beyond comprehension that our American administration, backed by CNN, Fox News, and an array of compromised Western Media types, is hell-bent on continuing the long standing position that Russia is our enemy? Do we not see that the sanctions against Russia are, in fact, an act of war? And why are we American Christians not concerned that our government, as it did in 1914, is saber rattling against the one Christian nation that is attempting to withstand creeping secularism, atheism, and militant Islam, while holding to the standards of biblical Christianity?
Let us be vigilant in our thinking, keeping ourselves open to the truth. Blindly viewing everything our American government says leaves us wide open to the same dangers that caused the German people to fall prey to the Nazi propaganda machine, and we know where that led. Perhaps we can start looking at Russia as the potential ally she is, and not seeing her as the enemy she is not.
I have been in pain of heart over this issue for a very long time. I've made it a point of staying away from politics, but, like the Lutheran pastors who spoke out against the Nazis, and paid the price, I must speak out, if for no other reason than to serve in the traditional role of the monk as prophet. We are dangerously close to war with Russia, and as a monk I am driven to speak the truth as I see it, unpopular as it may be. It is not a political article, nor is it unpatriotic or un-American article. I am simply a priestmonk calling upon his nation to repent.
Abbot Tryphon
>>79221019
Special pleading because you're special ed. Beliefs are founded on proof and just like you don't believe in goblins and flying spaghetti monsters we don't believe in magic and gods.
>>79233948
What kind of proof do you need anon? Have you never felt the Holy Spirit before? Have you ever tried to truly pray from the heart?
Matthew 7:7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
dumping comfy traditionalist pics
>>79232017
>make shit thread
>gets shit for it
>makes the same thread again
Good job.
>>79234780
>Have you never felt the Holy Spirit before?
No, because it's not real.
>Have you ever tried to truly pray from the heart?
When I was a child. But I'm not a child anymore so I don't take imaginary things seriously anymore.
>>79235746
The last thread had almost 400 posts. How can you say the Holy Spirit isn't real when 84% of the world has faith of some kind? What if you just haven't found it yet?
>>79234780
A time machine. There is no holy spirit. Praying to an imaginary friend is called schizophrenia.
>>79236196
Faith has contributed nothing.
