Uncovering of the Relics (1903) of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov*

“Who am I to have my image painted?  The image of God and the saints are depicted, we are but sinful people” – St Seraphim of Sarov.

It was only in deference to his followers that Saint Seraphim of Sarov allowed his portrait to be painted. Some forty miles from the busy commercial center of New York City, next to the town of Nanuet, is the convent of Novo-Diveevo. There one can find an original portrait of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, painted during his lifetime. He is depicted as an elderly man, leaning on a staff, prayer beads in the other hand, his face bright, with unforgettable eyes.

People who have seen this portrait say that his gaze seems to pass right through their soul, illuminating its dark corners. Having prayed before this portrait, I can attest to the validity of this experience. One cannot be indifferent to the warmth and kindness the portrait exudes. Hunched slightly from the burden of many years and the numerous cares and prayers, the elder continues to compassionately intercede for all those who approach him with faith and humility.

When Saint Seraphim of Sarov was canonized in Diveevo Convent, the last Russian Emperor and his family prayed before his image. During the Soviet years of the destruction of Diveevo, this portrait was taken to Kiev, then to Pokrov Church in Podolsk. In 1943, the portrait was miraculously saved and brought to the city of Lodz, then given to Protopriest Adrian (Rimarenko), the Rector of Berlin’s Resurrection Cathedral. During the terrible bombardment of that city, the image was again miraculously left unharmed. Parishioners returning after the night-time bombings saw that an incendiary bomb had crashed through the dome and fallen into the area which contained the portrait.

A plashchanitsa [burial shroud] and this painting, which lay atop it, were burning, together with a series of icons of Saints Gury, Samon and Aviv. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the faithful saw that neither the plashchanitsa nor the portrait of Saint Seraphim were damaged, though everything else in the area burned. There was no end to their joy!

The founder of Novo-Diveevo Conent in America, Fr Adrian, was a student of the last two elders of Optina—Anatoly the Younger and Nektary. In 1930, Fr Adrian was imprisoned. His flock prayed for him day and night. When Batiushka (Father) was summoned by the prosecutor for questioning, from which no one ever emerged alive, the prosecutor himself was suddenly arrested. A miracle!

By the end of the war, Fr Adrian and his flock had made their way to America, and this miraculous image joined them. Life in the New World was very difficult. There was no money, there was no place to conduct divine services, there was no place to live, and it was nothing but the fervent prayers before this image that gave them hope that everything would be alright. And then a miracle happened.

An abandoned property belonging to a Roman Catholic monastery was being offered for sale in the town of Spring Valley, New York. The offer included a stipulation that the property preserve its sacred purpose by a new owner. An Orthodox convent fulfilled this requirement, but the Russian Orthodox faithful did not yet have even the small sum needed for the purchase. Once again the prayers of the faithful did not go unheard. Mr. K. N. Maleev, an elderly bachelor who was in need of care, who lived in America for many years, donated half the money. He found the attention he needed at the convent. A bank provided the rest in the form of a loan. And so with God’s help and with the tireless prayers of Fr Adrian and the believers, the convent acquired its own land, and construction began on Novo-Diveevo Convent.

A church on the property was refurbished to Orthodox style and was dedicated to the Dormition of the Most-Holy Mother of God. In a few years, the church was no longer able to accommodate all the worshipers, so it was decided to build another church dedicated to Saint Seraphim of Sarov. 

Despite the fact that the number of nuns has significantly diminished, the convent continues to serve as an important Orthodox spiritual center. As always, divine services are consistently conducted, there is a senior citizen home, and many people continue to make pilgrimages. On a visit to the convent today, one can pray before the same miracle-working image of Saint Seraphim in the church of the Dormition. The church of Saint Seraphim contains an Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God from Optina Hermitage (a gift from Saints Anatoly and Nektary of Optina to the city of Kiev) and also a Cross from Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg where the Royal Family was martyred.

Time moves inexorably forward, people change, epochs shift. One thing remains constant, the image of Saint Seraphim of Sarov protects and supports all those who turn to him.**

*Commemoration on August 1st (Julian Calendar)
**Excerpts taken from Pravoslavniy Palomnik

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Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils

On this Sunday according to the Julian Calendar, the Byzantine Rite of the Church commemorates the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils.

In the Ninth Section of the Nicea-Constantinople Symbol-Creed of Faith compiled at the First and Second Ecumenical Councils, we confess our faith in “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” By virtue of the Catholic (Conciliar) nature of the Church, the Ecumenical Council is the Church’s supreme facility to resolve the major questions of religious life.

A true Ecumenical Council is comprised of archpastors, pastors, and representatives of all the local churches from every land of the “oikumene” (i.e. from the whole inhabited world which establishes the ecumenical basis of universality) of the Church, which is implied in the Greek word “kath’olon” translated as “catholic” in the English language version of the Nicene Creed.

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Requiem Service (Parastas) at Otpust

While preparing a post about the popular tradition at Otpust (pilgrimate) of Parastas (Memorial Service) celebrated annually on Saturday evening in Mount Macrina Cemetery, I learned of the heinous martyrdom of the 85 year-old French priest Father Jacques Hamel. Blessed Father Jacques Hamel spent his life in service to our Lord and made the ultimate sacrifice. May the martyred priest pray for us in heaven and his memory be eternal! Amidst the murders of so many by purveyors of hate, our tradition of prayer for the deceased becomes all the more poignant.

Visiting our loved ones in the cemetery and singing the memorial service for the deceased are cherished traditions of Christians of the Eastern Rite. During the Parastas at Otpust, the melodious solemn Rusyn chants for the departed resound across the Mount, as the faithful join in corporate prayer for their departed family and friends. Just as we love and respect our living loved ones, so do we continue to love and respect those who have departed this life by our prayers.

The Church is mystically composed not only of her earthly members but also of the faithful departed. All of us, living and dead, are members of one Church and are bound together by a common faith and love. Our departed loved ones are graced by our commemoration of them in our prayers. How else, if not by prayer, do we express our mystical union with our loved ones, who have gone to their rest before us? The Church instructs that all of her members, both living and departed, are being continually perfected by mutual prayer.

The Old Testament exhorts the faithful to pray for the departed:

“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Maccabees 12:46).

The Church has prayed for the dead from the beginning of its existence as is witnessed by the earliest liturgical monuments. The memorial services of the Orthodox Catholic Church are celebrated with great solemnity and are replete with the joyous Christian teaching of the Resurrection, replacing the funeral dirge with refrains of Alleluia, a hymn of praise. The Resurrection gives Christians the courage and calm to remain faithful in the face of persecution, death and martyrdom.

Kontakion

With the Saints give rest, O Christ,
to the soul of Thy servant,
where sickness and sorrow are no more,
neither sighing, but life everlasting.

The pilgrims at Otpust still walk among the graves and reminisce about days past and those buried there who they knew personally, reminding us of the many sacrifices, accomplishments and impact of those who have gone before us. I will be standing by the grave of my children’s grandmother “Baba Marko” as the Parastas ends with the exclamation of Вѣчьная Памѧть (Memory Eternal). By these words we express our firm belief in the immortality of the soul. It will live in everlasting peace and in the prayerful memories of those who pray for it.

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In Defense of the Holy and Great Council of Crete

Although the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA) is not a participant in nor is it governed by any resolutions of the Holy and Great Council, nevertheless, any potential decrees therefrom may impact future ecumenical relations between and among all Christian bodies, especially those which share traditions of apostolic succession and common creeds. It seems prudent, therefore, to keep oneself informed.

The following excerpt from The Huffington Post provided an interesting perspective on the council, revealing the difficult struggle in obtaining consensus within a conciliar Church:

“It bears re-emphasizing that there was no equivocation at the Holy and Great Council that only the Orthodox Church possesses the fullness of the Christian faith and has valid sacraments. 

The storyline spread by many ultra-conservatives on this issue is not rooted in reality; the assumptions and corresponding claims made are disconnected from the deliberations in Crete.

What is required is care and vigilance. More broadly, resurrecting the Church’s synodal system (which Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has worked tirelessly to do) is required to ensure that Holy Tradition is properly preserved and protected – from ultra-conservatives but also from ultra-liberals who wish to promote a secular spirit foreign to Orthodoxy.

The arbiter of truth is not anyone with an Internet connection, nor a metropolitan with a microphone.

Let us therefore escape the trap of ‘egocentrism’ described by Archbishop Anastasios. Having an open mind and remaining faithful to Orthodoxy are not mutually exclusive. Whenever the Church faced external threats or internal upheavals, people of goodwill came together to collaborate and safeguard the unity of faith and Holy Orthodoxy. So it should be today.”

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Veneration of the Theotokos

The veneration of Mary plays a major role in the preservation of Orthodox doctrine, because the honor paid to her is an expression of the Christology or doctrine concerning Christ of the Church. Mary’s most important title is “Theotokos,” which means “God Bearer,” or “Birthgiver of God.” This term, endorsed by the Third Ecumenical Council, the Council of Ephesus in 431, expresses the belief that the son of the Virgin was God from the very moment of his conception. As St. John of Damascus wrote,

“ … she is truly Mother of God who gave birth to the true God who took flesh from her. For the holy Virgin did not give birth to a mere man, but to true God and, not to God simply, but to God made flesh.”

When the Archangel Gabriel spoke to the Blessed Virgin, she could have refused God’s request to bear His Son. Her positive response to the Archangel Gabriel plays an important part in salvation. Mary’s obedience is an example of synergy, or cooperation, with God. For that reason Orthodox Christians sing, “For through her has salvation come to the whole human race.”

We do not “worship” the Virgin Mary; we “venerate” her and show her great honor. Nor have we ever, like the Roman Catholic Church, developed the idea that the Theotokos was born without sin (the Latin dogma of the Immaculate Conception) or that she is a “Co-Redemptor” with Christ (the Latin title of Redemtrix). The consensus of the Orthodox Church rejects such teachings. However, we do believe that the Virgin Mary is an image, as St. Maximos the Confessor says, of the Christian goal of becoming Christ-like, or theosis. Just as the Theotokos gave birth to Christ in a bodily way, so we must, St. Maximos tells us, give birth to Christ in an unbodily or spiritual way. In so doing, we imitate her practical spiritual life, including the purity and humility by which she formed her free will into perfect obedience to the Will of God.

Of this practical image of the Virgin Mary, Archdeacon Basil Kuretich, D.D., has written some words that bear repeating. They present an understanding of the importance of the model which she presents for every Orthodox Catholic believer:

“We…are aware of the part played by Divine Grace in the Virgin Mary’s life and are aware of the perfection of her virtue. However, we cannot lose sight of the importance of free will in the development and expression of her rich personality. After the Annunciation, she kept the secret of God’s plan for her; she faced misunderstanding and accusation from others. She quickly visited her cousin, Elizabeth, not thinking of her own needs, but only the need of Elizabeth to share her joy. She endured the journey to Bethlehem; she humbly prepared for the birth of her Child and obediently accepted the command to flee into Egypt. The Virgin Mary, aided by Divine Grace, carried out these actions in a real world—with real effort and sacrifice. Thus she is for us a model of many virtues.”

The Orthodox Catholic Church calls Mary “immaculate,” and “all pure,” as a manifestation of the Orthodox understanding of salvation as theosis. Thus, through Christ, the Blessed Virgin has become “more honorable than the cherubim, more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim,” for she has been deified and has inherited a place in the Kingdom of God. Orthodox Christians believe that through the grace of God, Mary has been sanctified or made by grace what God is by nature or, as St. Paul wrote,

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another …”

Vladimir Lossky wrote,

“ … the very heart of the Church, one of her most secret mysteries, her mystical center, her perfection already realized in a human person fully united to God, finding herself beyond the resurrection and the judgment. This person is Mary, the Mother of God.”

Orthodox devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is not merely an expression of popular piety. It is much more. The concept of “salvation” in Orthodox theology is more than the forgiveness of sins or justification, but is also the transformation of the believer by the grace of God to become a partaker of the Divine Nature. Orthodox Christians witness the realization of salvation in the sanctification of Mary. Mary shows that the promises of Christ are real, for, through Christ, those who follow Him will share the experience of God’s deifying grace that is manifested by the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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The Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

In both Eastern and Western Rites, the icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God) under her title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is piously venerated by the faithful. The 15th-century Byzantine icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help has been in Rome since 1499 and is permanently enshrined in the church of Sant’Alfonso di Liguori, where the official Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help is prayed weekly.  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, this icon is more commonly known as the Virgin of the Passion or Theotokos of the Passion due to the instruments of Our Lord’s Passion being present on the image.

Depicted in the holy icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Jesus, while safely cradled in his mother’s arms, looks anxiously at St. Gabriel the Archangel, who holds the cross and nails for His Crucifixion. St. Michael the Archangel, at left, holds the lance, spear, and the vessel of vinegar and gall for our Lord’s Passion as well. The Blessed Mother looks at us solemnly, perhaps as if in contemplation of her beloved Son’s future Passion and death for our salvation.

The intercession of the Blessed Mother with her Divine Son has helped provide strength, comfort and even miracles to the faithful for centuries! Remember that when we ask the Holy Theotokos to intercede for us, we are not choosing to worship her over her Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus. She is “our Mother on the order of grace” and all the graces Mary gives us come directly from our Lord. She is always ready to intercede with Him on our behalf. As we approach her with sincerely humble and contrite hearts, we can count on Our Lady’s aid and guidance. Mary’s last spoken words in the Gospels concerned her Son when she said at the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee:

“Do whatever he tells You” (John 2:5).

In the following prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, we pay tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary in asking for her assistance:

Oh, Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary. What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name. Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you. Amen!

 

If you are interested in obtaining a pendant necklace of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, it is available from our giftshop simply by paying the cost of shipping and handling: https://goo.gl/MjUutF

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Holy Royal Passion-Bearers of Russia

Today the Russian Orthodox commemorates the canonization of the Romanovs, which elevated to sainthood the last Imperial Family of Russia – Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei – by the Russian Orthodox Church. The family was killed by the Bolsheviks on 17 July 1918 at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg; the site of their execution is now beneath the altar of the Church on Blood. They are variously designated as new martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and as passion bearers by the church inside Russia.

The family was canonized on 1 November 1981 as new martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. They were canonized along with their servants, who had been killed along with them. The canonized servants were their court physician, Yevgeny Botkin; their footman Alexei Trupp; their cook, Ivan Kharitonov; and Alexandra’s maid, Anna Demidova. Also canonized were two servants killed in September 1918, lady in waiting Anastasis Hendrikova and tutor Catherine Adolphovna Schneider. All were canonized as victims of oppression by the Bolsheviks. The Russian Orthodox Church did not canonize the servants, two of whom were not Russian Orthodox: Trupp was Roman Catholic, and Schneider was Lutheran.

Alexandra’s sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, who was murdered by the Bolsheviks on 18 July 1918, was canonized on 1 November 1981 as New-Martyr Elizabeth by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, along with Prince Ioann Konstantinovich of Russia, Prince Igor Konstantinovich of Russia, Prince Konstantine Konstantinovich of Russia, Grand Duke Sergey Mikhaylovich of Russia, and Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, and Elizabeth’s faithful companion, Sister Varvara Yakovleva, who were all killed with her. Fyodor Remez, Grand Duke Sergei’s personal secretary, who was killed as well, was not canonized. They are known as the Martyrs of Alapaevsk.

In 1992, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna and Varvara Yakovleva were canonized as New-Martyr Elizabeth and New-Martyr Barbara by the Moscow Patriarchate. The grand dukes and others killed with them were not canonized. On 20 August 2000, after much debate, the Romanov family was canonized as passion bearers by the Moscow Patriarchate.

There were those who rejected the family’s classification as martyrs because they were not killed because of their religious faith. There was no proof that the execution was a ritual murder. Religious leaders in both churches also had objections to canonizing the Tsar’s family because they perceived him as a weak emperor whose incompetence led to the revolution, the suffering of his people and made him at least partially responsible for his own murder and the murders of his wife and children. For these opponents, the fact that the Tsar was, in private life, a kind man and a good husband and father did not override his poor governance of Russia.

The Moscow Patriarchate ultimately canonized the family as passion bearers: people who face death with resignation, in a Christ-like manner, as distinguished from martyrs, the latter killed explicitly for their faith. Proponents cited previous Tsars and Tsareviches who had been canonized as passion bearers, such as Tsarevich Dimitri, murdered at the end of the sixteenth century, as setting a precedent for the canonization of the Romanov family. They noted the piety of the family and reports that the Tsarina and her eldest daughter Olga prayed and attempted to make the sign of the cross immediately before they died.

Despite their official designation as “passion-bearers” by the August 2000 Council, they are nevertheless spoken of as “martyrs” in Church publications, icons, and in popular veneration by the people.

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Islamic Jihad: A Holy War

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) permits nonprofit religious organizations to voice their opinions and beliefs, to promote a stand on “hot button” religious topics and to advocate changes to legislation without violating their tax-exempt status. In the words of the IRS regulations:

“no substantial part of (church) activities (may consist of) carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.”

As a blog affiliated with a faith-based nonprofit organization, it has been and remains our policy to avoid matters of political rhetoric and debate, even though such topics are not explicitly barred by our tax-exempt status. So how it is possible for the monastery to publish a post entitled “Islamic Jihad: A Holy War” without violating its self-imposed policy that precludes posts related to politics? Because the horrific acts of Islamic terrorists and the Islamic State (ISIS) are theological issues and must be understood as such. So please allow me to express my perspective of radical Islamic fundamentalist theology as an Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christian.

I believe that most Americans view the “war” against ISIS as a socio-political issue, rather than a religious one. I also believe that many Americans do not really understand the fundamental beliefs and goals of ISIS. Bluntly stated, ISIS loyalists are not merely a collection of psychopaths; they are a fundamentalist religious group with carefully considered beliefs and tenets, one of which is that they are a central actor in inciting the apocalypse. To many Westerners, it sounds fanciful to suggest that ISIS believes it is fulfilling an apocalyptic prophecy, but this is the primary belief that fuels vehement jihad.

What follows are six important key points* to better understand ISIS:

1. ISIS is Islamic. VERY. There are many who claim that ISIS is not Islamic or is a twisted distortion of the Muslim faith. That’s wrong. ISIS “follows a distinctive form of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy,” ISIS lives by the most literal translation of the Koran imaginable, as revealed by Mohammed in the seventh century. A Christian analog would be living under the strict edicts in the Book of Leviticus.
2. ISIS is the most extreme of extremist sects. Just as there are many flavors of American evangelical extremism, ISIS is on the furthest end of the conservative orthodoxy, in terms of its beliefs, literal interpretation of seventh-century law and punishment, and what’s required of true believers for jihad.
3. To ISIS, required punishment; to others, war crimes. Anyone who follows the news has witnessed ISIS’ horrific videos of beheadings, the burning alive of captives, and mass executions of men and enslavement of women and children, as well as forcing women to be sex slaves, such as the Yazidis in northwestern Iraq. ISIS loyalists believe an Armageddon-like battle will occur in Dabiq, named for an area in Syria near the border with Turkey. In other words, ISIS sees its carnage as a prayer and required devotion, not as arguably the worst manifestation of evil on the planet today.
4. Top prophecy: they’re in the battle for end times. ISIS propaganda is filled with the belief “that the armies of Rome will mass to meet the armies of Islam in northern Syria; and that Islam’s final showdown with an anti-Messiah.” This is key to understanding what the terrorist attacks are in part about, which is baiting Islam’s enemies to fight them where the epic end-times battle has been foretold.
5. ISIS claims its great battle against Islam’s last adversaries will be won on the plains of Dabiq (Syria). According to the prophecy, about one-third of the Muslim forces will flee (“whom Allah will never forgive”), one-third will die as “excellent martyrs” and the remaining one-third will win the battle and then conquer Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). The final confrontation will occur in Israel, where Jesus—the second most revered prophet in Islam—will return to Earth and lead the Muslims to victory. ISIS intentionally strives to draw the United States into the fight. In their eyes, a U.S. military response is actually desirable, as it fulfills this prophecy.
6. Countering evil in our time. Clearly the first steps in countering the evils an apocalyptic regime like ISIS presents—mass murder, sexual bondage, child slavery and more—is understanding who and what they are. One ISIS defender explained:

“ISIS has an obligation to terrorize its enemies—a holy order to scare the sh** out of them with beheadings and crucifixions and enslavement of women and children, because doing so hastens victory.”

The Islamic State’s referencing of prophecy is part of a bigger theological problem. The validity of ISIS’ claims rest upon the capture of Dabiq, the arrival of U.S. ground forces, the uniting of Muslims behind the Islamic State and military victory over the U.S. and its allies in the area. Muslims need to address the traditional understanding of Islamic end-of-times prophecies and the role of Muslims in triggering their actualization. This entire mindset of fulfilling prophecy through war must be explicitly challenged by every peace-seeking Muslim.

The U.S. and its allies must not avoid tackling ISIS out of concern that doing so will reinforce its prophetic claims. National security and human rights are at stake. The defeat of ISIS requires the leaders of the Western world have a genuine understanding of ISIS’ goals and beliefs and take seriously ISIS’ deeply held religious belief that this is a holy war. The U.S. and its allies must strategically use this insight to create a decisive contradiction to the core elements of the prophecy. If this happens, the Islamic State’s proclamations of prophetic fulfillment will be discredited, and the West will confront and defeat the newest face of evil in our times.

*This post is excerpted and adapted from 6 Keys to Understanding ISIS’ Barbarism, Apocalyptic Vision and Desire for an End-Times Battle in Syria

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Parishioners of Russian Orthodox Cathedral Killed in Nice

The parishioners of the Russian St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Nice died in Thursday’s attack in Nice.

“About 20 parishioners of the Russian cathedral are among the fatalities,” Orthodox journalist Alyona Maler, who knows the cathedral’s senior priest, said on her social media account.

Among the dead is the cathedral’s sacristan Igor Sheleshko, she said.

Вечная им память!

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A Brief History of Otpust

The venue of the annual Otpust is the Motherhouse of the Byzantine Sisters of St. Basil the Great, which is the former estate of coal-baron Josiah Van Kirk Thompson. The estate was renamed “Mt. St. Macrina” in honor of the sister of St. Basil the Great, the father of cenobitic monasticism in the Eastern Church and patron of the Basilian Order.

On March 25, 1935, Pope Pius XI issued a decree giving official papal approbation for the Sisters to conduct an annual pilgrimage during the festal period of the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 28^th according to the Julian Calendar). The Sisters were presented on that date with a special pilgrimage icon – a painted copy of the venerated icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Exhorted to spread devotion to the Mother of God under this title, the religious community established the annual tradition of Otpust, honoring Mary as Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Over the decades, the crowds reached their peek in the mid-1950s. The Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen often visited Mt. St. Macrina Byzantine Catholic Monastery in Uniontown, where in 1955 he became the first Latin-rite bishop to offer an English-language Byzantine Liturgy before more than 150,000 pilgrims.

Since the beginning, every Otpust opens with a procession from the Motherhouse to the Shrine Altar. The sisters carry the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, accompanied by crucifers carrying processional crosses adorned with a traditional wreath of flowers and attached ribbons identifying the name and location of each represented parish. The celebration of the Divine Liturgy and the Blessing of Water at the Lourdes Grotto follows the opening procession, invoking God’s blessing on each and every pilgrim that sojourns to the Mount.

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A Midsummer* Day’s Dream

As a youngster, I considered the Fourth of July as the midpoint of the end of my summer vacation, and the dreaded thought of returning to school would suddenly pop into my head, causing me to shudder and to feel momentarily anxious. I quickly repressed any unpleasant thoughts about school, returning my attention to whatever excitement, adventure or mischief was at hand. 

When my children were young, I recall thinking that the Fourth of July marked the midpoint of the end of their summer vacation, and the joyous thought of their return to school would suddenly pop into my head, causing me to experience a brief moment of euphoria. I guiltily repressed the pleasure of these thoughts, returning my focus to whatever mayhem was unfolding around me.

I am now fifty-five years old (gulp) and untimely retired (ugh); all of my children are adults. Even at this age, I still consider the Fourth of July as the midpoint of summer, evoking thoughts of how quickly summer is passing. It’s also typically around Midsummer when I start day-dreaming about the annual Otpust held in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Mt. St. Macrina over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

My thoughts and emotions are divergent. Reminiscent thoughts of pilgrimages past evoke joy and thanksgiving for the spiritual richness that Otpust has gifted me over the years, but they concurrently trigger a melancholic nostalgia for the lost traditions of the “good ol’ days.” I also now must consider other pragmatics, namely my physical ability and financial capacity of making the pilgrimage from Oxford, Michigan to Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Thanks to the generous hospitality of dear friends in Greensburg who have graciously offered accommodations in their home over the holiday weekend, my hopes are high that I’ll be in attendance at the eighty-second annual Otpust… God willing!

Pre-Renovation Motherhouse Chapel

For anyone reading my words who has made the pilgrimage(s), I hope that my rambling reflections evoke positive remembrances of special blessed moments for you. To those who have never experienced Otpust, I thank you for indulging me in sharing the traditions and spirit of the pilgrimage, that is built upon love for God and devotion to His Mother Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

*As an aside, Midsummer, also known as St. John’s Day, is the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, and more specifically the Northern European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 19 (July 1) and June 25 (July 8) and the preceding evening.

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The Meaning of Otpust*

The hospitable invitation to the annual Otpust (pilgrimage) in Honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help for the eighty-second year has been extended by the Byzantine Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great. The invitation calls us to gather on the beloved Mount, to sing the praises of our God and His most holy Mother, according to the customs and traditions that have nourished and inspired pilgrims since 1934.

Long before the age of e-mail and social media, an actual physical gathering of the faithful from distances far dispersed to spiritually renew and to socially recreate was considered indispensable to the health of the church. And, even though technology has made possible virtual reality and cyberspace connection of the diverse peoples of the world, we as human beings still need (perhaps now more than ever) the physical experience of God and of one another manifested at Otpust.

Many people have asked the meaning of the Slavic term Otpust used in reference to the pilgrimage. While this can be loosely translated today simply as “pilgrimage,” it holds a deeper and more precise meaning. An Otpust involves a moving from one place to another and back again, of a person or group of persons, for the express purpose of attaining some religious benefit or blessing. Otpust begins the moment pilgrims leave their homes, they “go out,” often traveling long distances to reach the designated sacred place. After spending a specific amount of time in prayer and attendance at liturgical services, the pilgrims then make the return trip, “going out” once again, retracing their steps until reaching their homes. It is this “going out” and “returning again” that captures the true meaning of our word Otpust, as it applies to the pilgrimages that are such a cherished tradition of our Eastern spiritual heritage.

Before leaving for Otpust, pilgrims traditionally request the blessing of their pastor, for safe and uneventful travels and for a spiritually enriching pilgrimage. Upon arriving at the Mount, pilgrims proceed to the top of the hill, to the shrine which contains the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, so that they may venerate the sacred image and receive a blessing from one of the priests present specifically for this purpose. After the days of pilgrimage are concluded, the pilgrims proceed one last time to the shrine to obtain a blessing of “dismissal,” invoking the protection of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary for a safe and uneventful trip home and for an enriched spiritual life.

Each Otpust holds specific memories, levels of importance and meanings that are unique for every person. Each pilgrim brings one’s own particular life’s joys, predicaments, sorrows, hopes and expectations, yet several factors we pilgrims share in common: (1) to renew one’s spiritual life and relationship with God; (2) to ask the intercession of the Theotokos (Mother of God); and, (3) to afford ourselves a break from the ordinary busyness of our quotidian routines.

As our physical lives are a circle of “comings” and “goings,” of traveling from place to place throughout the various periods that mark the course of our earthly sojourn, so too our spiritual lives are a journey striving towards union (theosis) with God, ever growing in the acquisition of grace. The time of Otpust offers a special opportunity for us to reconnect with God and to step back and reflect on the ways in which we might accomplish this growth.

During Otpust, not only are our sins sacramentally forgiven (otpuskati: to remit or take away) in confession and our souls fed with the Bread of Life in holy communion, but we often receive insight and direction for the future – how to make our spiritual growth more complete, our hearts more filled with love for our neighbor and our minds more open to the activity of the Holy Spirit. It is in this spiritual cycle in which we continue to “go out” from the imperfect state of human weaknesses to a better and more Christ-like demeanor, that the pilgrimage is referred to as an Otpust.

*Отпусть (Otpust) in Cyrillic.

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Feast of the Nativity of St John the Forerunner

Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, although we cannot praise you worthily, we honor you in love at your nativity, for by it you ended your father’s silence and your mother’s barrenness, proclaiming to the world the incarnation of the Son of God! – Festal Troparion

Greetings on the the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Forerunner! 

Съ Праздникомъ Рождества Предтечи!

This is a unique feast day, because other than the Nativity of the Theotokos (Mother of God) and the Nativity of Our Lord, the Orthodox Church only commemorates one other Birth as a holyday, the Nativity of Saint John the Forerunner. This commemoration demonstrates the elevated place and honor Saint John the Baptist occupies in the Church.

 

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