Orthodixie

The Fourteen Thousand Holy Children of Bethlehem

When the Magi from the east did not return to Jerusalem from Bethlehem to inform Herod about the newborn King but rather, at the angel’s command, returned to their homeland another way, Herod became as enraged as a wild beast and ordered all the children two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surroundings to be killed. This frightening command of the king was carried out to the letter. His soldiers beheaded some of the children with swords, smashed others against stones, trampled others underfoot, and strangled others with their hands. And the cries and wails of the mothers rose to heaven, Lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:18), as had been prophesied. This crime against the multitude of innocent children was carried out a year after the birth of Christ, at the time when Herod was seeking to find the Divine Child. He asked Zacharias about his son John, so that he might kill him, since he naturally thought that John was the new king. As Zacharias did not turn John over, he was slain in the Temple by order of Herod. St. Simeon the God-receiver would also have been murdered soon after the Presentation in the Temple, had he not already reposed in God. After murdering the children of Bethlehem, Herod turned against the Jewish elders who had revealed to him where the Messiah would be born. He then killed Hyrcanes, the high priest, and the seventy elders of the Sanhedrin. Thus, they who had agreed with Herod that the new Child-king must be killed came to an evil end. After that, Herod murdered his brother, sister, wife and three sons. Finally, God’s punishment came to him: he began to tremble, his legs became swollen, the lower part of his body became putrid, and worms came out of the sores; his nose became blocked and an unbearable stench emanated from him. Before his last breath, he remembered that there were many captive Jews in prison, and he ordered that they all be killed so that they would not rejoice in his death. Thus, this terrible ruler gave up his inhuman soul and handed it over to the devil for eternal possession.

Source

The image, worth at least a thousand words, is from James B. Janknegt’s Paintings — a site worth a while, especially those fond of modern (post-modern?) art.

Moscow, December 28, Interfax – The first common divine service of the Primates of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad will be celebrated untraditionally: the Royal Gates in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour will be open throughout the service, that being done only during the Bright Week, the first week after Easter.

The service was announced in the joint release of the secretaries of the commissions of the two Churches, archpriests Nikolay Balashov and Alexander Lebedev.

The document received by Interfax explained that the Royal Gates … would be opened on the day when the Act on Canonical Communion is signed for ‘the people of God to fully share the joy of the first common communion of bishops and clergy of the One Russian Church.’

The document would be signed after a short prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour before the Divine Liturgy.

Two days later, on May 19, the commemoration day of St Job the Much-Suffered, St. Job of Pochaev and the birthday of the holy passion-bearer Emperor Nicholas II, Patriarch Alexy, Metropolitan Laurus, bishops and clergymen of the Russian Church Abroad would celebrate Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Moscow Kremlin.

On 20 May 2007, the seventh Sunday after Easter, Patriarch Alexy, Metropolitan Laurus, bishops and clergymen from Russia and abroad would consecrate the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Butovo and celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church which foundation was laid when Metropolitan Laurus was paying his first official visit to Russia in 2004.

‘By the prayers of the holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia the Lord has blessed the sacred cause of restoring the unity of the Russian Church that had suffered great pain in the twentieth century. We believe that through their heavenly intercession we would complete this cause to the glory of God and the joy of church people,’ the document reads.

Thanks to FWD from Fr Mark Mancuso.

You, too, come to Christ … Don’t think of the long journeys … One reaches him, the omnipresent one, through love, not by seafaring. Yet, since the floods and storms of manifold temptations are common enough on this voyage, too, believe in the crucified one so that your faith is capable of climbing onto the wood. Then you will not sink …

— St Augustine

Regarding this posting (a conference for Anglicans interested in Orthodoxy), here’s the scoop …

DETROIT – In response to numerous enquiries, St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies will host “Faith of Our Fathers: A Colloquium on Orthodoxy for Anglicans” Jan. 29-30 for clergy of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Anglican Church of Canada, and other churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. While the colloquium is designed for Anglican clergy, it is also open to Anglican laity, and to clergy and laity from other Christian faiths. Seating is limited, however, and priority will be given to Anglicans on a first-come, first-served basis.

The purpose of the colloquium is educational, according to the Most Rev. Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate of the Orthodox Church in America, and founder and president of St. Andrew House.

“‘Faith of Our Fathers’ will be an opportunity to explain who we Orthodox are to our Anglican brethren, and to show our love and concern for them in their time of trial,” Archbishop Nathaniel said, referring to doctrinal divisions within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, and among the member churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion. “We hope Orthodoxy might be a salve that can help begin a process of healing,” he said

Including Archbishop Nathaniel, there will be nine principal speakers at the colloquium. They will compare Orthodox and Anglican theology, liturgy and church order, and the seven who are converts from Anglicanism to Orthodoxy will discuss their personal journeys and offer practical advice for Anglican clergy considering Orthodoxy.

Seven of the speakers are Orthodox priests: the Rev. Dr. Heiromonk Calinic Berger, Hermitage, Pa.; the Very Rev. Gregory Mathewes-Green, Linthicum, Md.; the Rev. James Stephen Freeman, Oak Ridge, Tenn.; the Very Rev. William Olnhausen, Cedarburg, Wis.; the Rev. John Parker, Mount Pleasant, S.C.; the Very Rev. Patrick Henry Reardon, Chicago; and the Very Rev. John Reeves, State College, Pa.

The ninth speaker, Frederica Mathewes-Green, wife of Fr. Gregory Mathewes-Green and a nationally known writer, speaker and radio commentator, is an Orthodox layperson.

Except for Archbishop Nathaniel, who is a convert from Roman Catholicism, and Fr. Berger, who is “cradle Orthodox,” all the speakers are converts to Orthodoxy from the Episcopal Church.

The colloquium is expected to attract other Orthodox clergy representing most major Orthodox jurisdictions in North America, including the Most Rev. Job, Archbishop of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America, and other hierarchs.

The colloquium will be held at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center, 23333 Schoolcraft Road, near the intersection of Interstate 96 and Telegraph Road.

The colloquium will begin with registration at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 29 and conclude with a farewell reception at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30. It will feature a Vespers service on Monday evening at nearby St. Raphael of Brooklyn Orthodox Church in commemoration of the Synaxis of the Ecumenical Teachers and Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.

The registration fee for the conference is $75 per person. It includes meals and refreshments at retreat center. Reservation of a room, either single or double, for Monday night at the retreat center is $75. The deadline for registration is Monday, Jan. 15.

To obtain further information and register for the colloquium, visit http://www.orthodoxdetroit.com/.

For further assistance, contact the colloquium coordinator, David Adrian, at (248) 322-9226 or david dot adrian at adrianassoc dot com

St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies was founded in 2001. Its mission is to promote the Orthodox Christian faith by word and example through formal instruction, worship and good works. It exists to serve the Orthodox clergy and faithful of metropolitan Detroit and to be a symbol of the unity of the faith.

For more info & registration, go HERE.