Orthodox Easter

The Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on April 19-21, 2009.
This year comes with some minor financial problems for all the world, but hopefully and with God's help we shall overcome all the challenges.
For the Orthodox Easter is an occasion for repentance, forgiveness and joy. Christ is risen and all the world has the chance to come back to life, to light and eventually to salvation.

Happy Easter!
CHRIST IS RISEN!

Roman Britain

In the summer of the Roman year 699, now described as the year 55BC, the Proconsul of Gaul, Gaius Julius Caesar, turned his gaze upon Britain. He knew it was inhabited by the same type of tribesmen who confronted the Roman army in Germany, Gaul and Spain.
On 26 August, 55 BC the great Roman general invaded Britain for the first time. This was to be the first military conquest of the British Isles. His army set sail from Gaul and landed somewhere near Dover. The highly efficient Roman troops had little difficulty in routing the local Celtic chieftains. Caesar decided to return the following year considering this first expedition as a preliminary to the conquest. On 6 July 54 BC, legionaries and cavalry set sail to Britain in 800 boats. Caesar conquered the south-eastern part – the most accessible and the richest - of the island but the coming of winter forced him to return to Rome. He had now the knowledge that Britain was far from being the primitive island of brutal tribesmen which Romans had previously imagined it to be.
In 43AD, emperor Claudius decides to incorporate Britain into the Roman Empire. So began what was called the “ Roman occupation “ which was to last for 360 years.
The superior Roman civilization imposed its values over the Celtic society. This material culture was strongest in the towns. The ruins of the Roman cities and villas which we can still visit today are remarkable. Having imposed a uniform set of principles in architecture all over the Empire, whether we talk about Africa, the Middle East or Europe, the new comers brought their sense for order and symmetry. Towns were planned in chessboard squares for communities dwelling under orderly government. The building rose in accordance with the pattern standardized throughout the Roman Empire. The urban areas had their forum, temples, and courts of justice, baths, markets and main drains. During the first century of occupation the builders took in consideration an increasing population. Nowadays the experts dispute the population of Roman Britain, and rivals estimates vary between 500,000 and 1.5 million. It seems certain that the army, the civil administration, the townsfolk, the high class and their dependants amounted to 300.000 or 400,000 people.
London, the Roman Londinium, had become the center of the road system and an export market for corn and cloth. An extensive and well-planned city with mighty walls took the place of the wooden trading settlement of 61AD. At the end of the 3rd century money was coined in the London mint, and the city was the headquarters of the financial administration. In the later days of the Roman occupation it seems to have been the center of civil government, as York was of the military, although it never received the status of municipium. From the objects dug up in all the south-eastern part of Britain it has been possible to reconstruct the pleasant life then enjoyed by the well-to-do under the protection of the Roman rule. Togas, shoes and sandals of leather seem to have been worn in the Roman fashion. In cold weather, rooms were kept warm by heated flues beneath mosaic-patterned floors.
Christianity seems not to have had an important role in Roman Britain, given the fact that they worshiped many different deities. The proto-martyr St. Alban, who is said to have suffered for the faith under Diocletian, is spoken of with some uncertainty. In 313 AD emperor Constantine the Great offered the possibility to practice the Christian belief. In 314 the first British bishops are present at Arles. By the year 391, when Emperor Theodosius ordered the closure of the pagan temples, the British Church was highly organized, sending its bishops and delegates to the great councils held on the continent. The British – actually Romano-Briton - Church was still not strong enough to be an influential institution in the political game. The Anglo-Saxon later gave it a status of high importance but the Normans took it to the highest point of development in the early Middle Ages, reshaping it as an efficient instrument of submission of the natives
For over 300 years Britain remained a relatively untroubled outpost of the Roman Empire, the barbarians, from beyond the frontiers being kept at bay by forts and legions along coasts and in the north by Hadrian’s Wall. Stretching 73 miles from the Tyne to Solway, it remains the most impressive surviving Roman landmark in the country.
Roman soldiers looked very different from the Celts they defeated. They wore metal helmets and articulated plate armour and carried shields with a sword suspended and dagger suspended from a belt. A high degree of fitness was demanded so that a legionary could leap fully armed on a horse or swim with all his equipment across a river. The legions were dotted across Britain and were established in forts sited to achieve maximum strategic defence. In some instances the pattern of fort-building will be followed by the Normans who also took great advantage of the old Roman roads, sometimes still in use.
There was law, order and peace and a long established custom of life during the Roman occupation. The population was free from barbarism without being sunk in sloth or luxury. The culture was just a pale reflection of the metropolis. Latin was the official language and it seems that some Latin words entered the common use of Celtic population. French, imposed as an official language by the Normans, influenced much more the existing Old English idioms. Later, historians of art and architecture have attempted to describe the Romano-Celtic culture but have generally concluded with a note of the fortunate blend that was achieved in late 7th and early 8th century. Latin had an interesting fate as it became the language of culture and of scholars in monasteries during the Middle Ages especially in Ireland, from where some monks reintroduced it in Europe. As A Maurois2 said, the language spoken in England was little influenced by the Roman rule. The Latin words in English were borrowed later from French, mainly through the Normans, or were used out of scientific needs. Among the words directly inherited from Latin we can mention: street (strata via – Stratford ), mile ( Lat. mila ), wall ( Lat. vallum ), or –chester ( Lat. castra )
By the year 400 AD, at latest, the Wall seems to have been abandoned. By now the Empire itself was beginning to crumble into ruins, and in Britain one legion after another was recalled to fight Rome’s wars on the Continent. In 407 AD the last two remaining legions were withdrew on the orders of Emperor Honorius, not to return. Until by the middle of the 5th century Rome’s protection was at an end. The islanders were left to fend for themselves.
What was the important effect of the Roman occupation on the later kingdom of England? Besides the city of London and a few ruins, the Romans left no direct significant traces on culture, arts or social life. The Romanic elements in language and in the material civilization were brought back to the island by with the coming of the Normans. The irony of history lies in the fact that the descendants of the very people who contributed to the fall of the Emperial Rome and to the withdrawal from Britain, would bring back – after more than six centuries – the seeds of the new Romanic spirit which emerged in Europe.

The Sultanate of Oman

The Sultanate of Oman occupies the south eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula - 300,000 sq. km boasting some 1,700 km of coastline stretching along the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. It is the second largest country in Arabia, and has the most diverse landscape including fjord-like rugged mountains in the far north, magnificent tracts of desert and a lush south.
Oman's history can be traced back to 12,000 BC. The country is strategically located on the crossroads of several trade routes that linked the ancient world. It became a centre of power in the 17th century with Omani rule extending from Zanzibar in East Africa to parts of Persia and Pakistan.
Evidence of a glorious ancient past is spread all over the country which boasts more than 500 forts, castles, and towers. Their diversity and numbers reflect the high standards achieved by Omanis in architecture.
Oman enjoys many unique features including an unspoiled culture and lifestyle traditional in almost every aspect. The people are friendly and offer incomparable hospitality. A rich variety of flora and fauna abound, together with panoramic beauty witnessed in its mountain ranges, deserts and sand dunes.
Today, His Majesty Said Bin Sultan Qaboos rules the country and Oman is considered a safe and secure destination with many modern amenities and facilities

Climate: The hottest months are June through August when temperatures are in the 40’s. However, modern AC and sea breezes make this more than bearable. The most pleasant months to visit Oman are mid October through March when daytime temperatures fall into the lower 30s and below.

Dress: The dress code is fairly liberal in Muscat, although decency is still expected. Women should wear, for example, tops with sleeves, and long skirts or trousers. Men are required to wear trousers and shirts with sleeves. Swimwear should be restricted to the beach or pools.

Language: Arabic, English and Swahili are widely spoken.

Time Zone Difference: Oman is GMT+4

Currency: The unit of currency is the Rial Omani (RO) consisting of 1,000 baizas. ($1USD = 0.384 OMR 22.5.06)

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross is celebrated each year on September 14. The Feast commemorates the finding of the True Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by Saint Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

Background

In the twentieth year of his reign (326), the Emperor Constantine sent his mother Saint Helen to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places and to find the site of the Holy Sepulchre and of the Cross. Relying upon the oral tradition of the faithful, Saint Helen found the precious Cross together with the crosses of the two thieves crucified with our Lord. However, Helen had no way of determining which was the Cross of Christ.

With the healing of a dying woman who touched one of the crosses, Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem identified the True Cross of Christ. Saint Helen and her court venerated the Precious and Life-Giving Cross along with many others who came to see this great instrument of Redemption.

The Patriarch mounted the ambo (pulpit) and lifted the Cross with both hands so that all of the people gathered could see it. The crowed responded with "Lord have mercy".

This became the occasion of the institution in all of the Churches of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross, not only in memory of the event of the finding of the Cross, but also to celebrate how an instrument of shame was used to overcome death and bring salvation and eternal life.

The Feast is an opportunity outside of the observances of Holy Week to celebrate the full significance of the victory of the Cross over the powers of the world, and the triumph of the wisdom of God through the Cross over the wisdom of this world. This Feast also gives the Church an opportunity to relish the full glory of the Cross as a source of light, hope and victory for Christ's people. It is also a time to celebrate the universality of the work of redemption accomplished through the Cross: the entire universe is seen through the light of the Cross, the new Tree of Life which provides nourishment for those who have been redeemed in Christ.
1. Patriarch Macarius is seen standing on the pulpit in the center of the icon elevating the Cross.


Icon of the Feast

The icon of the Feast of the Precious Cross tells the story of the finding of the Cross and of its Exaltation. Patriarch Macarius is standing in the pulpit elevating the Cross for all to see and venerate. On each side of the Patriarch are deacons holding candles. The elevated Cross is surrounded and venerated by many clergy and lay people, including Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine.
Deacons can be seen holding candles while coming to venerate the Holy Cross (detail).

In the background of the icon is a domed structure that represents the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. This church was one of the churches constructed and dedicated by Emperor Constantine on the holy sites of Jerusalem.
Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine who discovered the Holy Cross (detail).

Orthodox Christian Celebration of the FEAST OF THE Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross

This Feast of our Lord is celebrated with the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, which is conducted on the day of the feast and preceded by the Matins service. A Great Vespers is conducted on the evening before the day of the feast.

On the day of the Feast at the conclusion of the Matins or of the Divine Liturgy, a special service is held. The Cross is placed on a tray surrounded by branches of basil and is taken in solemn procession through the church to the chanting of the Hymn of the Feast. The tray is placed on a table, and the priest takes the Cross and offers petitions from each side of the table, the four directions of the compass. This represents the universal nature of the offering of Christ upon the Cross. As the people respond by chanting "Lord have mercy", the priest raises and lowers the cross, a commemoration of its finding and exaltation. At the conclusion of the service, the people come and venerate the cross and receive the basil from the priest. The basil is used and offered, as it was the fragrant flower growing where the Cross was found.

Scripture readings for the Feast of the Cross are the following: At Vespers: Exodus 15:22-16:1; Proverbs 3:11-18; Isaiah 60:11-16. At the Orthros (Matins): John 12:28-36. At the Divine Liturgy: I Corinthians 1:18-24; John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35.


Hymns of the Feast

Apolytikion (First Tone)

Save, O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to the faithful over their adversaries. And protect Your commonwealth, by the power of Your Cross.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

You who were lifted upon the Cross of Your own will, O Christ our God, bestow Your compassions upon the commonwealth that bears Your Name. By Your power, gladden our faithful rulers, giving them victory over their adversaries. May your alliance be for them a weapon for peace, an invincible standard.
(source GOARCH)

The Norman Conquest - 1066. General Considerations.

Generally speaking the history of the British Isles is up to a certain moment the story of repeated waves of migrations and invasions, the story of successive waves of invaders and immigrants from the mainland Europe which gloriously closed with the Norman Conquest in 1066. The most significant aspect for the understanding of Britain’s evolution throughout time is the fact that it is an island. The south-eastern part of the archipelago situated in North Atlantic was the most suitable way of access and at the same time the guarantee of security and a favourable land for civilization. Here lay the inviting routes for invasions which, many times over, seem to have run much the same predestined course. Those who came to Britain would conquer or drive before them the previous occupants of the land, imposing each time something new on them. The Normans were to be the last of the conquerors and at the same time the most influential.
However much dispute there may be concerning the detail of the Norman impact on England, there can be no doubt whatever concerning the general importance of the coming of the Normans. Long centuries of different changes and influences made nothing more than to prepare the country for the most spectacular revolution in its history. Until 1066 England has undergone civil war, invasion and change of dynasty, but never before a change like that wrought by the Normans. Yet it is utterly misleading to ascribe to the Normans all the credit for the fine flowering of the civilization in the post-Conquest centuries or to neglect the contribution of the natives to the whole process and the fact that they were deeply rooted in the Western world. As a consequence many of the most striking achievements after 1066 were e rather cosmopolitan in character.
Till the 11^th century all invaders seem to have followed much the same objective. They were seeking to get away from the forests; they wanted room, land, dry gazing and good water. The late 11^th century would give to the act of conquering and invading a new dimension: the extortion of the resources of the country for the benefit of a hand of new foreign rulers.
The natural resources and the mild climate attracted many different people who came here as immigrants or as conquerors. We might say that British history until the Norman Conquest in 1066, was determined by two important migrations – the Celts (800 BC) and the Anglo-Saxons (410 AD) - and by one major conquest – the Romans (55 B.C.). The interposition of these historical phenomena of invasion and of conquest gives to the British history a chess board like aspect.
The insularity offered to the different pretenders an opportunity and at the same time it raised many problems concerning the efficient rule of these islands. Only twice has it ever been conquered, once in 55 BC, by the Romans and again in 1066 by the Normans. A fact which we should mention here is that the conquerors always had to have a dialogue with the pre-existing inhabitants, producing sooner or later a mixed society with elements from both.

Australia and the Orthodox Christians

It's been a real surprise for me to find on Elisabeth and Craig's blog these pictures - I hope they don't mind me taking these pictures from their post on their trip in Australia.
This church is situated in Cobber Pedy

"Coober Pedy

846km North of Adelaide. Coober Pedy - the opal capital of the world is Australia's unique "underground town". Half its 3,500 people from over 45 different nationalities live underground to escape the summer heat.

The cosmopolitan capital of Australia's opal mining towns has numerous interesting features including historic mines, dugout homes, shops, churches, the colourful Stuart Range and - of course - OPAL! It has been described as looking much like the surface of the moon."

(from here)

At Cobber Pedy there is also a Catholic church built underground - in an old copper mine.
More details here.
In Australia there are a few orthodox denominations that are organized either as bishoprics or as parishes under the jurisdiction of dioceses.
The Greek Orthodox Archidiocese of Australia - jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch
The Russian Orthodox Diocese for Australia and New Zealand
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Australia
The Romanian Orthodox Church in Australia - as far as I understand there is also a Romanian Vicariate in Australia
Other links to other Orthodox churches and denominations in Australia.

Feast of the Three Holy Fathers, Great Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom

Today January 30th the Orthodox Church celebrates The Three Great Hierarchs and Holy Fathers: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

Introduction

During the reign of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118), a controversy arose in Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey) among men learned in Faith and zealous for virtue about the three holy Hierarchs and Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. Some argued for Saint Basil above the other two because he was able, as none other, to explain the mysteries of the Faith, and rose to angelic rank by his virtues. Organizer of monastic life, leader of the entire Church in the struggle with heresy, austere and demanding shepherd as to Christian morals, in him there was nothing base or of the earth. Hence, said they, he was superior to Saint Chrysostom who was by nature more easily inclined to absolve sinners.

The partisans of Saint Chrysostom retorted that the illustrious Archbishop of Constantinople had been no less zealous than Saint Basil in combating vices, in bringing sinners to repentance and in raising up the whole people to the perfection of the Gospel. The golden-mouthed shepherd of matchless eloquence has watered the Church with a stream of homilies in which he interprets the divine word and shows its application in daily life with more accomplished mastery than the two other holy Doctors.

According to a third group, Saint Gregory the Theologian was to be preferred to the others by reason of the majesty, purity and profundity of his language. Possessing a sovereign mastery of all the wisdom and eloquence of ancient Greece, he had attained, they said to such a pitch in the contemplation of God that no one had been able to express the dogma of the Holy Trinity as perfectly as he.

With each faction setting up one of the Fathers against the other two in this way, the whole Christian people were soon caught up in the dispute, which far from promoting devotion to the Saints in the City, resulted in nothing but ill-feeling and endless argument. Then one night the three holy Hierarchs appeared in a dream to Saint John Mauropus, the Metropolitan of Euchaïta (5 Oct.), separately at first, then together and, speaking with a single voice, they said: “As you see, the three of us are with God and no discord or rivalry divides us. Each of us, according to the circumstances and according to the inspiration that he received from the Holy Spirit, wrote and taught what befits the salvation of mankind. There is not among us a first, a second or a third, and if you invoke one of us the other two are immediately present with him. Therefore, tell those who are quarrelling not to create divisions in the Church because of us, for when we were on earth we spared no effort to re-establish unity and concord in the world. You can conjoin our three commemorations in one feast and compose a service for it, inserting the hymns dedicated to each of us according to the skill and knowledge that God has given you. Then transmit it to the Christians with the command to celebrate it each year. If they honor us thus as being with and in God, we give them our word that we will intercede for their salvation in our common prayer.” At these words, the Saints were taken up into heaven in a boundless light while conversing with one another by name.

Saint John immediately assembled the people and informed them of this revelation. As he was respected by all for his virtue and admired for his powerful eloquence, the three parties made peace and every one urged him to lose no time in composing the service of the joint feast. With fine discernment, he selected 30 January as appropriate to the celebration, for it would set the seal to the month in which each of the three Hierarchs already had a separate commemoration (Saint Basil – January 1; Saint Gregory – January 25; Saint John (translation of relics) – January 27).

The three Hierarchs—an earthly trinity as they are called in some of the wonderful troparia of their service—have taught us in their writings and equally by their lives, to worship and to glorify the Holy Trinity, the One God in three Persons. These three luminaries of the Church have shed the light of the true Faith all over the world, scorning dangers and persecutions, and they have left us, their descendants, this sacred inheritance by which we too can attain to utmost blessedness and everlasting life in the presence of God and of all the Saints.

With the feast of the three Hierarchs at the end of January—the month in which we keep the memory of so many glorious bishops, confessors and ascetics—the Church in a way recapitulates the memory of all the Saints who have witnessed to the Orthodox faith by their writings and by their lives. In this feast we honor the whole ministry of teaching of the holy Church, namely, the illumination of the hearts and minds of the faithful through the commemoration of all the Fathers of the Church, those models of evangelic perfection which the Holy Spirit has raised up from age to age and from place to place to be new Prophets and new Apostles, guides of souls heavenward, comforters of the people and fiery pillars of prayer, supporting the Church and confirming her in the truth.

(source Greek Orthodox Archiodiocese of Amercica - GOARCH)
Troparion
Let us who love their words gather together
And honor with hymns the three great torch-bearers of the triune Godhead:
Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.
These men have enlightened the world with the rays of their divine doctrines.
They are sweetly-flowing rivers of wisdom filling all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge.
Ceaselessly they intercede for us before the Holy Trinity!

Kontakion
O Lord, You have taken up to eternal rest
And to the enjoyment of Your blessings the divinely-inspired heralds,
The greatest of Your teachers,
For You have accepted their labors and deaths as a sweet-smelling sacrifice,
For You alone are glorified in Your saints!

Further reading
OCA
Orthodox Wiki