Posted on 11/03/2015 12:52:49 PM PST by Trumpinator
'It's a whole other world': religious pilgrims venture deep into Alaska forest
Pilgrims from as far as Russia descend up the small town of Kodiak to honor a Russian Orthodox saint who lived and died in the archipelago centuries ago
Celeste Englehardt has traveled all over the world to pray.
A Russian Orthodox Christian from Washington, DC’s Virginia suburbs, Englehardt’s faith has taken her to Jerusalem, Ukraine, Moldova – even to the ruins of ancient Orthodox monasteries in Ireland. And now an island in Alaska’s Kodiak Archipelago is among the holy sites she has visited.
“Sometimes you can’t describe things,†Englehardt said, sitting on a beached log on Spruce Island in the Gulf of Alaska, choking back tears. “Because you feel it in your heart and your soul, and there’s a peace. There’s a peace beyond understanding.â€
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
“... even to the ruins of ancient Orthodox monasteries in Ireland.”
What nonsense! They were all CATHOLIC monasteries. The Eastern Orthodox are just as imaginative as Protestant Fundamentalists when it comes to re-imaging the early history of the Church in the West.
The Orthodox consider all monasteries pre schism to be orthodox (both small O and big O). I am not Russian Orthodox but I do know that. Just like Catholics consider Orthodox saints “Catholic” (a Greek word, by the way) before the schism.
Which came first? The eastern Greek speaking church of Christians or the Western one? Who is re-imagining history?
St. Herman is the Patron Saint of America and Canada. I pray to him almost daily!
The first American Saint who was actually born in the U.S., however, is St. Sebastian of Jackson and San Francisco, who was glorified (canonized) by the Serbian Orthodox Church earlier this year. I pray to him nearly daily, too!
Surprised no one else has said it yet: it’s a Kodiak moment...
Vlad, Trumpinator is correct. Those pre-schism monasteries were thoroughly Orthodox. So were a number of them in England and Scotland. As I sit here in my office, I have in my icon corner icons of +Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland, +Aidan of Lindisfarne and +Columba of Iona. Rome didn’t put all of England under its sway until the Council of Whitby and Scotland and Ireland long after that.
In any event, why is the non-”Roman Catholic” history of The Church so offensive to you? Not every particular church was Latin then and they aren’t now.
O Almighty God, We praise and glorify You, Our Lord and Creator. All the earth and everything within it acknowledges You as Creator, The Eternal Father.
Heaven and Earth, Angels and Men, together, praise and glorify You, the most glorious company of Apostles, the praiseworthy fellowship of Prophets, the great and noble gathering of Martyrs, the whole community of Saints, all praise You.
We the members of the holy community on earth pray: Make us worthy with all the Saints in Heaven, especially the newly glorified Elder, the Blessed Herman of Alaska, to reign in Your everlasting glory.
On this day the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church praises and glorifies You, our God, in joyful thanksgiving. The inheritors and children of the Holy Church of Christ which you, 0 Blessed Father Herman and your holy companions planted here, now flowering and growing throughout this great continent, gather at your reliquary. We gaze at your Relies in the knowledge that your soul joins together with the Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, Saints and the Heavenly Hosts before the Throne of the Most Merci- ful God in praise of the Holy Trinity.
O Blessed Herrnit of Spruce Island, good teacher of the faith in the Holy Trinity, and our Spiritual Father, intercede before the throne of the Almighty God, for peace within the Church, the dispelling of all disunity, faithlessness and discord.
Come to the aid of our spiritual leaders that they may always be true and ef- fective instruments of the Holy Spirit, with the power to proclaim the evangelical truths, with the wisdom to enlighten the unenlightened, with the spirit to inspire all to love the knowledge of God, with the perseverance to defend the Church, even unto death, from all enemies both within and without and at all times.
May the hearts of your spiritual children be filled with that faith and love of the Holy Church which you manifested in your holy life; praying to Him to: deliver us from the temptations which cause us to fall; renew our child-like faith in our Heavenly Father; replace our trust in God, and in Him alone; satisfy our thirst for the true knowledge of God; teach us to serve God faithfully; transfigure our life that it may truly reflect the image and likeness of God.
O Holy Father and Patron of the Church in America: Be a physician to the weak in faith; be a support to the fallen; be a defender to the defenceless; be a bulwark of strength to the weary in spirit; be a guide to the travelers by sea, by land and by air; be our heavenly intercessor.
O Blessed Father Herman of Alaska, together with all the Saints and the Heavenly Hosts, pray to God that on each of us He will bestow wisdom for our mind, strength for our will, light for our spirit, enabling us to attain to the true peace of life which is from God alone. We praise with joyous and grateful hearts, the Life-Creating Trinity: Father Almighty, Only-Begotten Son, Comforter, Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
I recently heard a homily on St Sebastian from Fr Josiah Trenham on Ancient Faith Radio. Inspiring!
Not entirely true. For instance, there was actually a Coptic presence in Britain, very large at one point in the early church history.
You just aged your self with that! :)
I actually know of this for non religious reasons. I was reading up on St. Brendan the navigator in a book (name I forgot but it could be how the Irish saved Western Civilization) and the book stated the Irish monks and the Gaelic church were pretty much converted from Egyptian (though I can see why some call it Coptic) Christians. That sounds exotic but Alexandria was pretty much one of the most advanced cities on earth at the time. And in the Egyptian monastic tradition there was an impulse to leave the world and go where no humans lived to set down and form a monastic community. So that is why St. Brendan the Navigator got into his skin boat and went west and maybe to North America.
“Surprised no one else has said it yet: it’s a Kodiak moment...”
My digital Canon does a much better job.
There is an ancient carving up in Scotland of +Paul and +Anthony sitting under a date palm tree, eating I think. It is identical to one in a monastery in the Egyptian desert. The story of the conversion of at least a part of Scotland by Alexandrian monks is very ancient and likely very true.
True. As a Lutheran, I am still fascinated with Orthodoxy, so I appreciate posts such as this one. Thanks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/andrew.shtml
Saint Andrew Religious icon of Saint Andrew with halo and right hand raised in benediction Saint Andrew © Saint Andrew's Day is November 30. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, Greece and Russia and was Christ's first disciple. Andrew's bones come to Scotland How did the bones of Saint Andrew come to Scotland? There are two versions - the first a pious fable. In this, Saint Regulus (later known as Rule), a Greek monk and keeper of St Andrew's relics at Patras, was told in a vision to set hide some of the relics until further instruction. A few days later, the emperor Constantine removed the remaining parts of Andrew's body to Constantinople. An angel again appeared and told Rule to take the bones he had hidden and go west by ship. Wherever they were shipwrecked he should lay the foundations of a church. The angel foretold how pilgrims would travel to this shrine from all parts of the West to receive health of body and soul. Saint Rule's ship was driven ashore by a storm onto the headland of Muckross in Fife, into the little village of Kilrymont (later St Andrews). Halfway between the Castle and the harbour is said to be Saint Rule's cell. At the time Saint Rule landed, the Apostle appeared to the Pictish King, promising victory to his enemies. In gratitude, the King confirmed the dedication of St. Regulus Church to God and Saint Andrew. This is, one suspects, an arresting fable that telescopes more mundane and complicated historical fact. A second (and probably more reliable) explanation says that the bones were brought to St Andrews about 732 AD by Acca, Bishop of Hexham (near Newcastle), a well known venerator of Saint Andrew. Around the year 832AD (although some say 735 AD) the Northumbrian King Athelstane is said to have camped at what is now Athelstaneford in East Lothian, before his battle with the Picts under King Angus mac Fergus. Saint Andrew appeared to Angus in a dream and promised victory. During the battle, a saltire cross was seen in the sky, putting heart into the Scots (note, this was not jumbo-jet vapour trails or even necessarily a cloud formation!). Athelstane was killed at the ford over the Cogtail burn. In gratitude, Angus gave gifts to the church of Saint Regulus at St Andrews. He then ordered the Cross of Saint Andrew to be the badge of the Picts. However, this foundation story of a more stable kingdom in what would become Scotland is almost certainly modelled on the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great's victory at the Milvian Bridge, Rome in 312 AD at the banks of the River Tiber when he became convinced of the power of Christianity by seeing the symbol of Christ (the Chi Rho - the Greek letters Χ Ρ, the first letters of 'Christ') in the rays of the setting sun. Whatever route the bones of Saint Andrew may have taken, we do know that in AD 908, the only bishopric in Scotland was transferred from Abernethy (the royal residence) to St Andrews. Subsequently, the town rapidly became famous as a pilgrimage site.
Would that be one of the canons of the church?
I am more into the history - not into denominational fighting or turf wars in the discussion. I would love to visit the ancient church ruins built by the Vikings in Greenland.
The puns write themselves!
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