www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Dostoevsky and our Alex

Alex, today I was re-reading portions of The Brothers Karamazov when I came across something that I believe to be prophecy about you and your life. It comes when the Elder Zozima is dying and he is sending Aloysha back into the world from the monastery..."As to you Alexei, many a time in my life have I blessed you for your face---know that.' The elder smiled gently. 'This is what I think your life will be: you will leave these walls, but in the world outside you will still be like a monk. There will be many who will oppose you, but even your enemies will love you. Life will bring you many hurts and pains, but it is in them you will find happiness, and you will bless your life and make other men bless their lives, which is the most important thing. Well, that is how I see you." Don

Dear Brother Don,

Thank you for those moving thoughts.

It is as if you jumped off the screen and came to sit down beside me with your arm around you!

Just so you know, I fulfilled what I promised with respect to the Rosary and personally remembered you to our Bishop Cornelius who was quite taken by your story.

May God bless you always, Servant of Christ!

Alex

Thanks Alex, but you are really are a special guy. A big hug to you my friend! Don

Tak, Brat' Oleksander...

Brother Don said it so eloquently in the opening post.

Alex, us Kansas boys are big fans of yours. You're welcome to ride out on our range anytime.

And Don is way too modest, he just had a birthday. Mnohaya Lita Don!

God bless both of you orthodox Christians. Daj Bozhe shchastya.

[ 07-15-2002: Message edited by: Diak ]

Yup, I agree with my ole pard Diak, you ought to mosey on down to Kansas and visit us prairie dogs...we'd russle up some pierogi and maybe roast a goat or two We could even lasso some Latins and have a rodeo! YEE HAW! Don

Dear Brother Don and Brother Diak,

Diak-uyu!

Lasso some Latins?

Down in Kansas, don't you call Latins "Roamin' Catholics?"

It has always been my dream to visit Kansas, ever since I saw the "Wizard of Oz."

May God bring us all together in body as well as in spirit!

Alex

Naw Alex, ain't got no more "roamin" Catholics, they did away with open range years ago and they all got to be fenced in now. But every once in a while there's be a maverick (vagante?) that needs to be roped and tied. :rolleyes: Don

I concur with my fellow Kansans. You really need to come visit us. As for LASSO'IN SOME LATINS FOR A RODEO just make sure its the liberals, Ok?

Joe Zollars,
A Latin Kansan

PS: Happy feast of the Most Holy Theotokos of Mt. Carmel. I hope you all have your scapulars.

Dear Don,

Is that where that song, "Rome on the range" came from?

This reminds me of a Western Rite Antiochian Orthodox priest I know who lives in, yes, Omaha, Nebraska.

He did up a cartoon for a Western Rite conference where all the clergy were sporting gallon cowboy hats to denote the fact that they were "Western."

Vagantes can be great fun and I've met a number who are also great Christians.

There is one Old Roman Catholic priest who has a chapel and an animal rescue shelter next door to our veterinarian's office.

He saves animals from the streets and adopts them out.

He's the "cat's meow" in my books! And so are you!!

Alex

Dear Joe,

I didn't know this Board had such a great Kansan Canteen!

And you seem to be all somehow tied in, either still or else at one time or another, with the traditional Tridentine Rite!

Do you people have an accent (eh?). And, if so, is it reflected when you speak in Latin?

As you know, Servus Dei, the original icon of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel that is in Naples, Italy is a Byzantine-style one that was venerated in the main church of the Carmelite Hermits of Mt. Carmel itself in the Chapel said to have originally been set up by the Prophet Elias "in honour of the Mother of the Messiah to come."

The Carmelites, although by the 13th century almost entirely comprised of Latins, were being rejected in England as an Eastern Order that properly, therefore, belonged with the Eastern Church and not in a Latin country.

It was at Aylesford that St Simon Stock (so named because he followed the Eastern ascetical custom of living in a hollowed out tree) had his vision of the Mantle of Our Lady's protection and the scapular became a symbol for it.

The Scapular is now an added on Eastern monastic garment called a "paraman" that is given (outside the rubrics)to Orthodox monks, along with the prayer rope.

The Patriarch of Moscow wears a Patriarchal Paraman which is placed under his numerous top vestments.

The scapular is also similar to the "Polystavrion" or "Many Crosses" which is a scapular-like piece of monastic clothing, given at the Great Schema or highest monastic grade.

It symbolizes the Cross on our shoulders and is covered with the Eastern Cross of Calvary.

The Brown Scapular is brown because, like the Eastern paraman or polystavrion ("Askeem" in the Coptic Church) it was originally made from the hide of an animal to signify our struggle to be "dead to the world." The Third Order Scapular of the Carmelites give out in Naples and Rome is made of brown leather in this way.

One spiritual writer once wrote that "We should take a piece of Our Lady's Mantle of Protection and place it on our shoulders to remind us of Her benevolence toward us and of our responsibility to serve God through Her."

For me, the scapular symbolizes this perfectly.

God bless!

Alex

Ropin Roamin Catholics!

Where is that range? Is it gas? :rolleyes:

We Latins know when we're up the Greek and on the Florida!

Put down that lassow; I'm vagantes the premises and it's off to Rhodio.

Are we still in Kansas?

Steve

[ 07-16-2002: Message edited by: Inawe ]

[ 07-16-2002: Message edited by: Inawe ]

The range, if I remember rightly, is round about Liberal, Kansas. But they don't use gas. Just horses and ropes.

Speaking of roping Latins, Joe, have you visited the new Benedictine monastery in Eastern Oklahoma at Clear Creek? I was there over the 4th of July, neat place. The mother house is in Fontgambault in France, there are both American and French monks and they use the traditional Solemses chant style. They follow the full Rule of St. Benedict with the traditional Latin Mass (in the Benedictine usage, of course!) and were invited by Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma. They have about 1200 acres with cattle, sheep, all kinds of critters and a beautiful log guest house that used to be a hunting lodge. It's not too far from Parsons south as the crow flies, maybe two hours...

Dear Diak,

You are truly blessed to have such a monastery!

The Rule of St Benedict and that entire school of spirituality has always inspired me and brought calm to my soul!

Alex

You're right on the money there, bro' Alex. I am preparing a brief history of Dom Lambert Beaudoin for the prior in Oklahoma. Dom Lambert, as you probably remember, started the Benedictine monastery at Amay, later Chevetogne where both Byzantine and Latin congregations lived at the same monastery with different chapels, one Slavic Byzantine and the other Latin, with each congregation following the Rule of St. Benedict.

Dom Lambert was a confrere of Blessed Metropolitan Sheptytsky and I have been fascinated with that monastery ever since I first heard of it many years ago. Chevetogne is also the place where Archimandrite Boniface Luyxx has decided to retire and spend his remaining years. It is a stunning example of how the Rule of St. Benedict has universal relevance for both Byzantine and Latin monasticism.

Dear Diak,

How utterly fascinating!

I did my year's postulancy to be an Oblate but have yet to formally complete it and be professed.

Could you comment on how Byzantine Rite Benedictines have adapted the Rule of St Benedict, especially his rules for the Psalter and the Office, to the spirituality of the Byzantine Church?

I've always assumed Byzantine Benedictines would just follow the liturgical tradition of their own Church.

Alex

+JMJ+

I have not visited yet, but will ASAP. I have heard about it before and hope to go there for a visit soon. If all works out, maybe I will go to that monastery.

What part of Kansas are ya'll from?

Joe Zollars

I'm in Toe-Peaka Joe :rolleyes: Don

I'm in Par-suns Don.

Joe Zollars

PS: my Ya'll comes from my years as a southerner.

Dear Diak,

Is there not a Ukrainian Benedictine Monastery in your Eparchy?

Alex

Dear Joe and Don,

This reminds me of the story of the visit to the Ole South of an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi from New York City.

As he walked around the streets, he was greeted by stares and stares from the Southerners.

He could take no more of this, turned around and yelled out, "Whatsa matteh? Haven't y'all seen a Yankee before?"

Alex

I can say Ya'll because I grew up in Okie-Homa, now displaced to northern regions, like northeatern Kansas. Don can say it too, because he's from that Missouri boot-heel country. We live southeast of Topeka and southwest of Lawrence in the scenic Wakarusa River country, nearest to the unincorporated berg of Berryton.

Alex, we have two monasteries in our Eparchy, Holy Transfiguration in Ukiah, California and Holy Transfiguration Skete on the Keewenaw Peninsula in Michigan. HTM in California is Studite while the Skete is Studite-style that follows the rule of St. Benedict.

The monks at the Skete, Father Nicholas and Father Basil, were both former primitive-observance Latin Benedictines who were received by the Eparchy and were instructed in the Eastern monastic life by Archimandrite Boniface in California. They actualy do follow the Rule of St. Benedict and integrate that fully into the Byzantine monastic life. True to the Eastern way they don't formally call themselves 'Benedictine' but they certainly follow and read the Rule.

There is talk of at least one more mnastery in the works inour eparchy, as well.

The spiritual fathers for my family are all in your Eparchy, strangely enough...Toronto's been our home away from home for the last three or four years.

I was down in Oklahoma recently to visit relatives and an old friend of mine and former teaching compatriot was giving a seminar at the new Benedictine monastery I spoke of to Joe on education of boys and the connection to monastic life, so it was a good chance to check out the new traditional Latin Benedictine monastery, pray with the monks, hear some good talks and see some old friends. Interestingly enough, they had a large copy of Rublev's Holy Trinity in the narthex and another large hand-written icon of the Theotokos in the chapel as a side-shrine for which I commended them.

[ 07-17-2002: Message edited by: Diak ]

Dear Diak,

Then please tell the monks that there is no limit to class with them!!

Alex