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Welcome to the Bizzaro World of liberalism.
Posted on 08/17/2016 5:58:08 PM PDT by marshmallow
Moscow, August 16, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has made Saint Michael the Archangel the patron saint of the Russian Investigative Committee at the initiative of the committee's head Alexander Bastrykin, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Tuesday.
"His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia blessed and made the Saint Archistratigus Michael the patron saint of the agency at the initiative of Russian Investigative Committee Chairman Bastrykin, as well as in order to strengthen the spiritual and moral foundations of the Russian Investigative Committee's staff," Markin said.
St. Michael the Archangel was chosen as the patron saint of the Russian Investigative Committee because in the Holy Scripture he is portrayed as the main fighter against all sorts of illegality among people, and in the Book of Revelation Archangel Michael acts as the warrior of Light and the chief leader in the war against the Devil and the dark forces, he said.
"In Orthodox iconography Archangel Michael is depicted as piercing the Devil with a spear and as trampling with a foot upon a rich old man [as a symbol of the fight against bribery and other corruption-linked crimes]. Archangel Michael is also often depicted as holding the scales where one scale is heavier than the other, which helps the guard of the Gates of Eden to discern between a righteous man and a sinner, thus allowing us to draw parallels with criminal proceedings, which is the main task of the Investigative Committee," Markin said.
The first ceremony to hand over an Archangel Michael icon is expected to be held at the St. Petersburg Academy of the Russian Investigative Committee on September 1, 2016, when the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the academy will take place, he said.
A draft agreement between the Investigative Committee and the Russian Orthodox Church is currently being draw up at Bastrykin's instruction and with the involvement of the Moscow Patriarchate's Synodal Department for Relations with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, Markin said.
"The subject of this agreement is the sides' cooperation aimed at resurrecting and strengthening spirituality based on traditional moral values, which is a crucial factor of Russian society's wellbeing and security; the use of the spiritual potential that Orthodoxy has to protect cultural, spiritual and moral heritage and historical traditions, as well as to enhance stability in social life, overcome the threat of the people's spiritual degradation and reduce crime rates in the country; the crackdown on negative phenomena such as terrorism, extremism, corruption, immorality, as well as other negative tendencies stemming from the false understanding of freedom and human rights," Markin said.
It is no less important that Archangel Michael is present in the majority of Russia's traditional religions (Orthodoxy, Islam and Judaism) and is mentioned in the Old and New Testament, as well as in the Quran. This circumstance will help ensure the worshipping of this patron saint in the Investigative Committee's departments in Russia's North Caucasus Federal District as well, Markin said.
Similar initiatives were earlier successfully put into practice in other security and law enforcement services of the country, he said.
I never thought I’d live to see Christianty so embraced in Russia and despised in my own country.
Didn’t notice in this where it indicates what this investigative committee actually investigates.
It’s supposedly Russia’s anti-corruption agency. Keeps an eye on possible government and police corruption. Answers directly to Russian president.
“Didn’t notice in this where it indicates what this investigative committee actually investigates.”
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Itself?
We say the Archangel Michael prayer after every 8:30 daily Mass at my parish. It’s probably up to the individual parish pastor to OK this traditional practice or not.
We do it after every mass.
It isn’t forbidden. You can ask for it.
"Little children, guard your hearts from idols." - Apostle John
Read you Bible.
Never been to Russia, I see.
They'll need MORE than St. Michael for that.
We say the rosary with this prayer BEFORE daily Mass.
Maybe St. Michael will intercede to straighten them out. It always amazed me about the stories of proper procedure when you have contact with the police in Russia. I’ve always heard you just start with how big the bribe will be. The Russians who told me this acted like it was normal, like it’s just the price of having police in the first place. Like there was no other way.
Freegards
“Read you Bible.
I have, over 35 years and in the original languages.
There is no praying to Angels.
It is too easy to make even good things into idols. Hence the warning from John.
“in the original languages.”
Whoa. Serious props
...don’t be too impressed.
It was required in seminary and (for me) darn lots of work since I’m not a naturally gifted language learner. It is accessible, if you do the work.
Millions of 4 year olds speak Hebrew and Greek!
PS - I’m slacking off in the second part of life, and starting to lose what I learned - and the language tools today are extraordinary.
We say The Prayer of Saint Michael after finishing the Rosary before Mass.
We also do the prayers at the foot of the altar which include The Prayer of Saint Michael.
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