Under the Turkish Guns, the Christians Roar

The Brussels Journal ^ | 12/01/2006 | Joshua Trevino

[Kolokotronis]

This is a great read!

[Kolokotronis]

Please ping your lists as appropriate!

[livius]

It is the queen of liturgies

True that!

A great report - it was like being there. Ping to NYer!

[livius]

FYI. This is a beautiful report.

[Kolokotronis]

"It is the peculiar genius of Byzantine history that its glory reached its apogee in the era known to the West as the Dark Ages. It has no great literary heritage – a half-millenium of Muslim domination ensured the annihilation from memory of its major works beyond the Alexiad of Anna Comnena, the anonymous epic of Digenes Akritis, and various religious texts. The latter survived because the Church survived, even as the Empire did not. Chief among them are the great liturgies, and chief among the great liturgies is the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. It is the queen of liturgies: a Greek epic of its own, also of the Western Dark Ages, emphatic and deliberate in its insistent worship of Christ. The liturgy has a heavenly glory in its song and prayer."

I am so very happy that everyone had an opportunity to see the Divine Liturgy on EWTN or the web! Here is something to understand about most of us Orthodox. Century upon century our people lived under various tyrannies; many still do. Things were so bad in the old countries that for those of us in West and Australia, our old people had to leave. But through those centuries of oppression and cruelty, every Sunday our people could go to heaven for a few hours. Those of us in the West are so blessed that our old people brought the Divine Liturgy with them when they came here. They knew they had a great treasure which had allowed them to live fully under conditions which made up the nightmares of my childhood. And they preserved it so their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren could have it...every Sunday just like they did. Our Divine Liturgy doesn't simply define a part of our lives, it is our Life!

[VOA]

It has no great literary heritage – a half-millenium of Muslim domination
ensured the annihilation from memory of its major works...

I get steamed every time I hear some Islamic aplogist (or American
history professor) singing that song about how Islam saved the wisdom
of the ancients.

I'm waiting for the professor to give some good survey about what
vanished when Islam went on the warpath with their conquest by sword
and the spilling of barrels of blood.

[vladimir998]

I got to watch most of the replay on EWTN on Thursday. The liturgy was beautiful. It was nice to see Bartholomew I smile!

[Kolokotronis]

"I got to watch most of the replay on EWTN on Thursday. The liturgy was beautiful. It was nice to see Bartholomew I smile!"

That's when I caught it too! And you are right, it is nice to see him smile. He has a wonderful smile and has been told more than once that he ought to use it more often publicly, as it appears often in private.

I'm pleased you like the Liturgy, Vlad. Its now archived on the patriarchate.org website.

[livius]

It really is like Heaven. It's a special environment, and I have always felt you could virtually see the Choir of Angels standing about you.

That said, I think the Latin Old Rite had majesty and sacredness too, although it was always more doctrinal and catechetical than the Byzantine Rite. However, in the Old Rite, I always knew that the Cloud of Witnesses was all around me.

But I don't want to divert this into something about the liturgy. My apologies.

This was a truly beautiful report, and if we all finally stop fighting, who knows what the real "New Rite" will look like?

[Kolokotronis]

"That said, I think the Latin Old Rite had majesty and sacredness too, although it was always more doctrinal and catechetical than the Byzantine Rite. However, in the Old Rite, I always knew that the Cloud of Witnesses was all around me."

Ah, High Mass; ranks of priests, altarboys and choristers, clouds of incense, Gregorian Chant. You bet the the Cloud of Witnesses were present, my friend! "This was a truly beautiful report, and if we all finally stop fighting, who knows what the real "New Rite" will look like?" Well, for us it had best look just like the Divine Liturgy of +John Chrysostomos! :)

[Kolokotronis]

"The liturgy was beautiful."

I meant to add that I thank-you for your comment. I really do appreciate the kind words!

[eleni121]

EFHARISTO! What superb reportage from the City.

I was fortunate enough to meet Bartholomew on one of my visits to Asia Minor. It was not so much meeting him but being there! I can never forget the fear in the eyes of the taxi diver when we told him where we were going. I will never forget the plain-clothed security goons - really creepy looking - posted all over the district.

Here is an overview of the situation pre visit written by Ted Karakostas:
DESECRATION OF A HOLY SITE, TURKEY, AND THE POPE

by

Theodoros Karakostas

The Church of Aghia Sophia has special meaning for Greek Orthodox Christians. Aside from its obvious religious and spiritual value, Aghia Sophia is a site of Hellenic
martyrdom and suffering. Following the Ottoman Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Ottomans soldiers interrupted the last liturgy held in the Great Church and
began dragging men, women, and children by the hair, tied them, and began sending them back to Adrianople to be sold into slavery. The Crucifix that stood on the altar was desecrated and mocked as the Janissaries rounded up the faithful while the Great Church was filled with the cries of family members being separated. Mehmet the conquering Sultan had previously told his soldiers and Janissaries that the people of the City would be theirs to enslave while the buildings such as Aghia Sophia would
belong to him.

On November 22, 2006 a pathetic and outrageous spectacle ensued. The notorious Grey Wolves entered the Great Church and defiled it once again. The bloodthirsty
killers who have killed Greek Cypriots in the past, and who are attempting to deprive the Ecumenical Patriarchate of its rights, proceeded to chant "Allahu Akhbar" in the
Church while proceeding to pray in the Muslim fashion. The members of the Grey Wolves shouted "Aghia Sophia is ours"....

This action was carried out less than a week before the visit of Pope Benedict to Constantinople. If there is any reason that should make it quite obvious as to why Turkey does not belong in the European Union, it is the very existence of this wicked racist organization.

The Grey Wolves obviously remember that when Pope Paul VI visited Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in 1967, he prayed inside the Great Church of Aghia Sophia. As such, Turkish extremists of all factions believe that a plot is under way to restore Aghia Sophia as a Church.

This of course is even less outrageous than the assertion of the Grey Wolves that the Ecumenical Patriarch is attempting to revive the Megali Idea on behalf of Greece. The violent demonstrations outside the Ecumenical Patriarchate have included the declaration by the Grey Wolves that their City is Turkish and will never be given up.

There has been a petition in Turkey circulated by the Turkish extreme right that is demanding the outright expulsion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

And what actions has the Turkish government taken to protect one of its minority populations? Ankara continues to insist that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has no right
to use the title "Ecumenical", and that the Ecumenical Patriarch is merely the local Bishop of the Greek minority. By undercutting the proper title of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Ankara is directly fueling the paranoia of the Grey Wolves and the violence against the
Ecumenical Patriarchate.

During the fall of 1993, Turkish extremists attempted to set fire to the Patriarchate. Between May 1994 and October 2004, the Ecumenical Patriarchate was bombed
on four occasions. In late 1997, the Greek caretaker of a Church was brutally murdered, and in October 1999, a nine year old Greek boy on the island of Imbros died in an arson attack. During the fall of 2004, the Greek orphanage at Prinkipos was seized, and during the Spring of 2006 the Monastery of Saint George was confiscated.

The continued seizure of Greek property and the refusal of Turkey to allow the reopening of Halki makes very clear that the Grey Wolves are not acting alone in their terror campaign against the few remaining Greeks. Both the civilian Islamic authorities in Turkey and the Kemalist Generals are contributing to the atmosphere of terror that is again resurfacing in Turkey against the Greek minority and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. News reports in September 2004 indicated that the notorious National Security Council ruled that Halki would not be allowed to reopen.

There is no greater evidence of the lack of remorse on the part of Turkish leaders for the past policies pursued against the Greeks than by the activities of the Grey Wolves. A responsible and democratic government worthy of joining the European Union would not be permitting reprehensible displays of hatred against a vulnerable minority.

It is beyond bizarre that demonstrations in which the Patriarch is burned in effigy are permitted outside the Ecumenical Patriarchate considering the four bomb attacks
at the Phanar!

Last January, the Grey Wolves gathered in Smyrna where a figure made up to look like the Patriarch was dismembered in a way that recalled the horrific murder and mutilation of Metropolitan Chrysostom in 1922. It is ironic because by touching on the murder of the last Bishop of Smyrna, the Grey Wolves were in effect conceding the reality of the Turkish Genocide against the Greeks.

The present Pope may be one that the Orthodox can work with. As former Cardinal Ratzinger, he openly opposed Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Considering
the reception that the Grey Wolves and others are planning for the Pope, it is unlikely he will reconsider his stance on Turkey. In all likelihood, the Papal visit is going to bring the attention of the world on Turkey, and the world is going to get a rare opportunity to actually see beyond the propaganda of Turkey's American, Israeli, and British partners. The Pope recently received President Papadopoulos of Cyprus in Rome where the latter presented him with a book on the destroyed Greek Churches in occupied Cyprus.

The Pope was widely condemned by the politically correct for quoting Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos back in September. The words of Emperor Manuel about Islam were expressed when Constantinople was surrounded by the Islamic armies of the Ottoman Empire. It is unlikely any of these critics know or care to know about the fate of Manuel's last descendants in Constantinople today.

There are those who will blame the quote of Emperor Manuel II for the hostile reception that the Pope will receive in Turkey. This is a completely false and inaccurate assumption. The Turkish government blocked the Papal visit which was supposed to take place last year. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has been harassed by Islamic
militants other than the Grey Wolves over the past decade, so a hostile reception to the Pope was inevitable under any circumstances.

The Pope is scheduled to visit Aghia Sophia and Turkish extremists are likely concerned that the Pope may actually pray inside the Great Church. I hope the
Pope does pray inside Aghia Sophia. Perhaps he will pray for the Christians who fell during the fall of Constantinople, or perhaps he will pray for the plight of Christianity in Turkey and the Islamic world?

The horrors and the evils that transpired in Asia Minor which resulted in the Genocides of the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks have bee hidden from the Western world for too long. Hopefully, the Papal visit will begin the process of shedding much needed light on the political realities of Turkey today, and its past.

[NYer]

We must, he says, recall Europe to its Christian heritage before it is too late – and we must do it together.

---

Throughout history, there have been defining moments when personal differences were dropped in order to pursue a greater and more nobler cause. I truly believe this is one of those moments.

Who amongst us could ever have imagined this image splashed across our tv screens - the Pope and Patriarch, arms entwined, joined in a common mission - to restore Christianity to a country that has abandoned its roots and now embraces Islam.

The only thing missing from their joint declaration is this message to the Christians: "Be fruitful and multiply!" (like the Muslims :-)

Beautiful and touching article. Thank you, K, for posting this thread.

[Campion]

"Agia Sophia" is Greek for "Holy Wisdom"

"Ayasofya" is Turkish for "stolen property"

[Kolokotronis]

"EFHARISTO!"

Δεν ειναι τιποτα!

[NYer]

For those who did not rise at 1:30 AM to witness it, here is a beautiful shot from the Latin Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at Santo Spirito Cathedral, at which the Patriarch assisted.

Reuters - Fri Dec 1, 12:19 PM ET Pope Benedict XVI (L) stands with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I during a visit to Istanbul's Holy Spirit Cathedral December 1, 2006. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano (TURKEY)

[Frank Sheed]

Thanks for posting this. I have prayed for this trip for weeks and now can comprehend a bit more of its significance. May God bless those Orthodox and Christian souls living in a Moslem country. The photo of the Patriarch and the Pope alone is awesome.

F

[kosta50]

"Ayasofya" is Turkish for "stolen property"

LOL! I suggest stolen and desecrated.

[NYer]

It is the queen of liturgies. True that!

This is the liturgy of royalty, hence the elaborate decorations and costly vestments. The Traditional Latin Mass also rises to this level in its liturgical vestments and golden chalices.

These different approaches to celebrating liturgy, fascinate me no end. With no affront to the ODL, I can't help but point out the great diversity of these liturgies within the Catholic Church.

Although there are 22 Catholic Churches, there are only eight "Rites" that are used among them. A Rite is a "liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony," (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 28). "Rite" best refers to the liturgical and disciplinary traditions used in celebrating the sacraments. Many Eastern Catholic Churches use the same Rite, although they are distinct autonomous Churches. For example, the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Melkite Catholic Church are distinct Churches with their own hierarchies. Yet they both use the Byzantine Rite.

A good depiction of this:

[diamond6]

Goosebumps!!!