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Bishop Christodoulos gives a nice concise explanation of just why we pray.



Alexandr

p.s. I found it interesting that in the comments, both a Jew and a Muslim agreed with His Grace.

His Grace said "Without prayer, we are at the mercy of the demons!"

He also said that if one of us had cancer would we not make sure that we took our drugs and treatments everyday? Then since we know that we are spiritually sick and that prayer is the cure, why do we not make time for prayer everyday? (Not verbatim.)

I am confused by his jurisdiction though. He claims to be of the Genuine Greek Orthodox Church of America under Archbishop Chrystostomos II of Athens. I thought that Christodoulos was the Archbishop of Athens and that the Greek Orthodox Church was under His Beatitude Patriarch Bartholomew. What's going on?

http://www.thegreekorthodoxchurch.com/metropolis/index_2.php

Without going into great detail, Archbishop Chrystostomos II of Athens is the head of one of the numerous Old Calendar jurisdictions that seperated from the State Church of Greece. Their canonical status is irregular at the present time. The saga of the Old Calendarist movement in Greece is very complex, and difficult for even those involved to follow. Church politics notwithstanding, all that His Grace spoke about is very true, remarkably concise and direct.

Alexandr

I agree that all he said was true about prayer, I just didn't know about his jurisdiction as I thought that the Greek Orthodox were united to Patriarch Bartholomew.

I hope that this little schism will end amicably like the "schism/separation" (if I may use the words) between Moscow and the ROCOR (if there was one, I thought there was.)

Although perhaps not a good analogy, but the Old Calendarist movement within Orthodxy can be compared with the SSPX movement within the Catholic Church. Extremely conservative in their outlook, and complicated by numerous splits, rejoinings and such. Please note, there is a difference between an Old Calendarist and those Churches which serve on the Old Calendar. The Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Polish, Czechoslovak, and Jerusalem Churches utilize the Old Calendar, but are not Old Calendarists. All very confusing to those looking on.

Alexandr

In The Way of the Pilgrim the Pilgrim meets with a Raskolnyk (sp) with which he has a discusssion. He comes away with the thought that if the Pravoslavniki (sp) were as holy as the Raskolnyki (sp) then Orthodoxy in Russia could change the world. I believe that the Raskolnyks are the "Old Believers." The seem like the Russian Orthodox SSPX to me.

Sorry if I butchered the Russian, Alexandr.

Yes, Raskolnik is a rather impolite word often used to refer to those of the Old Rite. It actually translates as "schismatic". The term "Starovertsi" is more proper.

Yes, in a way, the Old Ritualists are very conservative in their outlook, much like the SSPX'ers, and have likewise split along different paths. The question in regards to the Old Ritualists vs the Russian Church, is who actually split from whom. It is my opinion, that the Old Ritualists were actually correct, and that Patriarch Nikon was wrong. The result was much suffering and bloodshed amongst those who who mantained the old ways, with hundreds of thousands martyred for their faith. It was a sad period for the Church in Russia, and I am glad that there is dialouge today with between the Patriarchal and Old Rite bishops. But this division predates the Greek Old Calendarist movement by 3 centuries.

Alexandr

Alexander Solzhenitsyn has suggested that the sad events associated with Patriarch Nikon and the resulting division in the Russian Church are the fons et origo malorum to which the subsequent woes of the Russian Church can be traced. It's difficult to disagree.

Father Serge

Dear Fr Serge,
Blagoslovie!

I tend to agree. The MP as it stands now has a strong "Synodal" flavor to it, with the associated emphasis on a return to the 19th and 18th century's power and influence. Very hardcore Josephites, if you will. On the other hand, although monarchial by nature, the Church Abroad also has a strong "Non Possesor" faction, to which I personally subscribe to, and my hope is for the Non Possessor faction to have an influence on the Church as a whole. Shades of St Nilus of Sora!! LOL!!!
If one looks at the history of the Russian Church with an impartial eye, it is striking how the decline of the spiritual life inherant in the Church coincides with the departure of the Old Rite. The Startsi and Podvizhniki saints are gone, replaced by Theologians. Optina, Valaam and Solovki started to bring the Church back around to the Non Possessor outlook in the 19th century, but the revolution put an end to that. It is my prayer that the Non Possessor Optinsky viewpoint grows both in Russia and abroad, returning us to our roots.

Alexandr

Благословение Господне!

Dear Aleksandr,
So we shall pray together, despite the geographic distance (which for purposes of prayer is irrelevant) to Saint Nilus of Sora. We could do a lot worse!

Father Serge

Bless Father,

Actually, Fr Serge, in my bedroom is an 18th century icon of St Nil Sorsky, from the Trans Volga region. He is there as a constant reminder of what is important and what is not. I will gladly join with you in prayer to St Nil, and to the innumerable Trans Volga Saints whose names and spiritual feats are known only to God.

Alexandr

Bishop Christodoulos is the vicar bishop of our Metropolis, under His Emminence, Metropolitan Pavlos. We are Old Caledandarist and separate from other Orthodox jurisdictions for a variety of reasons which I will not go into because it will just cause arguments and is not really applicable to this forum. Our Archbishop in Greece is His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II (Kiousis) who has been a bishop since 1971 and our Archbishop since 1986. Our first bishop in America was Metropolitan Petros, who was ordained a bishop by ROCOR bishops in 1962. We have 11 or so bishops in our Synod; slightly over 200 parishes in Greece, and about 10 in America, if you include some of our new missions. Obviously we are a small Church, but we value quality over quantity. We have one male monastery and one female monastery, and two in formation.

I hope this tidbit of information is useful to someone.

Anastasios