St. Celidonius, the man born blind

6th Sunday after Pascha, the Man Born Blind

The Synaxarion reading for today in the SJKP Pentecostarion (available online through pirate website Ponomar) says that the man born blind later became one of the apostles.  That means we have his name, — right? — so I went looking for his name, and it is not on the list of the 70.  Apparently St. Celidonius is not numbered with the 70, but he is maybe one of the 72.  I didn't realize there is such a thing as "the 72," so I wanted to see St. Demetrius of Rostov's synaxarion where St. Celidonius is named as a disciple.

Lives of Saints, by St. Demetrius of Rostov, has been translated into English and published and is available to us English-speakers at a fair price.  It is not one of the Holy Fathers' writings that we can find online in the public domain.  But I did find the page related to St. Celidonius, from which I copy-paste here below:

Besides the 72 holy apostles listed above, there were in those days many saints equal to them in holiness . . . Since these holy men were worthy of the title "apostle," we shall mention some of them here. 

     I. Saint Lazarus (October 17) 

Lazarus, who was dead four days and raised by the Lord, received the Holy Spirit with the apostles when tongues of fire descended at Pentecost. After Stephen’s death, when there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem, he fled the Holy Land in a sailboat, accompanied by Saint Maximin, the Lord’s disciple, and Saint Celidonius, the man born blind and granted sight by the Saviour. God guided the boat to Massilia where Lazarus proclaimed the apostolic teaching. Lazarus then became Bishop of Kition in Cyprus, and there departed this life in peace. Many years later his holy remains were found in a marble casket bearing this inscription: "Christ’s friend Lazarus, who was dead four days." As for Maximin, he became the first Bishop of Libia in Gaul, in which town he preached the doctrines of the apostles. Saint Celidonius, Maximin’s helper and fellow-preacher, died in Gaul and is listed by some historians as one of the seventy-two apostles.  

From The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints, Volume 5: January, compiled by St. Demetrius of Rostov

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Letter to us from our Synod

http://internetsobor.org/index.php/novosti/rptsz/2024-11

Message of the Bishops' Conference 2024

Автор: Митрополит Агафангел. Дата публикации: 30 мая 2024  Категория: РПЦЗ.

Message

Conference of Bishop of the ROCOR to her faithful children

Don't be afraid, small herd! for your Father was well-willed to give you a kingdom  (LK 12.32).

Christ is Risen!

Honorable pastors and faithful to our Church, monastics and laity!

Our Bishops' Conference (partially remote) with the rights of the Bishops' Council, now gathered in conditions that probably did not exist in the history of the Church – war, created in laboratories and widespread spiritual and physical diseases and technologies, a mass retreat from faith. At this difficult time, we found it necessary to address you with a word of support.

Even in the present apocalyptic time, when control over people increases, darkness thickens and grace diminishes, the Lord does not leave us and does not close the way to His Kingdom.

The Church of Salvation will be numerically small, as the Lord teaches, but for each individual Christian, in fact, the number of the saved is not as important as it is that by the great mercy of God he is personally saved. Therefore, staying in the Church and helping our neighbors not to perish with all our strength, let's not be embarrassed by the universal depriation and retreat that must be (see Mt 24.6).

An example for us is Christ, who has risen from the darkness, which is almost like the reality around us - only in Christ is our great hope, which is enough for the believing soul, even though hell is huge and strong.

We will not be afraid of your fear and will not be embarrassed, as God is with us! – St. Church. Together with Christ, His faithful followers will rise up - death has no power over Christians – the Lord is the Protector of my life, from whom will I be afraid? (Psam 26.1).

Therefore, in the spiritual darkness that has gripped this world, we will not lose the light of the saving grace of the Heavenly Kingdom reaching our souls! - this light is our solid consolation in the raging ocean of the dying world.

Indeed, Christ is risen and life lives!

President of the Archieresky Sobor of the RPTZ

Mitropolitan Agaphangel

Members of the Council

Archbishop John, Archbishop George, Archbishop Gregory, Bishop Kirill, Bishop Nikon, Bishop John, Bishop Ambrose, Bishop Christopher, Bishop Alexy.

May 16/29, 2024, Pascha of Christ

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For details of the May Conference, Meeting Minutes, with items listed along with their respective decisions, see Reader Daniel Sharing blogspot post dated June 8, 2024 ~jh

Funny t.v. Commercials from the 1970s America

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW-eWRVVFNw

12 minutes

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Cherubic Hymn Bortniansky No. 7

update: May 2024

Bortniansky No. 7

Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim 

And chant the thrice holy hymn

unto the life-creating Trinity

Now lay aside all earthly care.  Amen.

That we may receive the King of all

Who cometh invisibly upborn in triumph 

by the ranks of angels. 

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

At the beginning of the 2nd half of the celebration of the Divine liturgy, the Cherubic Hymn is chanted.  There are many different melodies, this one is a favorite.  It sounds complicated, but I have heard it done beautifully with just a simple non-professional choir of 4 lay church members. 

The choir chants this hymn slowly to allow time for the priest to complete his prayers in the altar.  If the priest is not ready when the hymn is over, the choir repeats the alleluias.

Full Russian choir (cathedral style) 

literal translation subtitles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDCwdreKpXI

https://app.box.com/s/b5e9kqelgs1zicpt7rr8z2krsvamk4us   must download to view

4:10

part of a rehearsal of a smaller American choir (non-Orthodox)

a bit faster tempo, this is a rehearsal choir, adding some speed helps in learning the melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgfUdrH5tm0  

https://app.box.com/s/0d29t07nidd3y4439uh46eck5oqrlve4     must download to view

1:30

learn pronunciation in Church Slavonic 9:20

The pronunciation in Church Slavonic of the Cherubic Hymn, also known as Izhe Xeruvimy.

https://app.box.com/s/rlbkj0vicaeu4lpa8h5gff6j3g62u0s8      must download to view

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plM62Rr1YAU

 9:20

sheet music

https://app.box.com/s/mwf6ohazz0pdz1v0vk83n0a6ngo5pblv

 

Photo Fr. Seraphim's bookshelf

I recognize the first book top shelf on left:  Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain.  I read this book in the early 70's.  I remember it being a hardcopy, borrowed from my sister.  Even then I remember being somewhat amazed that the Russians took seriously the super-natural.  Unlike America that denied the supernatural, saying there is a logical or scientific explanation for everything.

But the Russians accepted the supernatural as valid part of science.  I later learned more after the ROCOR-MP union.  It explains why so many of our most committed people, from all ranks, did "flip-flops" especially after visiting Russia.  Then this book came back to my memory.  

There was one case, circa 1950, where a Russian KGB agent man was watching a spoon-bender.  After the show, he went up to the spoon-bender, and asked, "Can you do that to a man's heart?"  

Later, another case, sometime soon after 1980, a KGB-defector visited the Etna convent to tell them his conversion story which went like this:

I was given an assignment to go to [B______] (some country that started with a B: Bolivia? Brazil? Bulgaria?) to do a series of experiments using evil spirits to control mens' minds.  Well, I did not believe in evil spirits, but in doing the experiments, I found out they are real.  I figured that if there is such a thing as evil spirits, then there must be such a thing as good spirits, too.  And that was what put me on the road to finding the Orthodox Church. . . .

There is more to this story.  The KGB punished him for defecting by killing his wife and children.  He remarried and had more children, and his new family was also killed.  Then he himself just disappeared.  This story was told to me by one of the nuns at St. Elizabeth's, shortly after the ROCOR-MP union.  Maybe 2008, or 2009.  It might have been Mother Justina — one of the nuns who had been there from the earliest days of the convent being there.  I was glad to hear this story, because I felt certain that witchcraft had been used to bring about the ROCOR-MP union (in addition to blackmail, bribery, torture, threat, manipulation, etc.).  Everyone thought I was nuts.  I was (still am) pretty much alone in this realization.  I needed confirmation that this was not just some wild idea.  Today I'm more confident than ever. 

source for photo:

https://img.ifunny.co/images/de53064bcdd2b0298f7e39f3744ac0ce644e42d3c5aee428e7604326379deaa4_1.jpg

https://ifunny.co/picture/fr-seraphim-rose-s-bookshelf-in-his-cell-XrFY29OjA?s=cl

Photo Fr. Seraphim reading in church by candlelight

SJKP Catalog 1994

Today I scanned an old SJKP catalog from 1994, and I uploaded it to my Shared Library along side the 2007 catalog.

Please look through these catalogs and see if you have any of these books that are now out-of-print and not included in my Shared Library.   I'd like to make the effort to get them scanned and uploaded. 

SJKP Catalog 1994

https://app.box.com/s/80tkmdve5fngai8qeo1f2crcw11ss2jm

SJKP Catalog 2007

https://app.box.com/s/jf7v6iw9rknqclddmc30833cimms9p1h

Do not try to order books ffom this catalog.  

SJKP is now owned by world Orthodoxy.

  The value today of these catalogs is that here we have a list of safe reading materials.    Fr. Gregory never offered any book he did not carefully read himself first.  Also, Fr. Gregory adds a description for each book from a sound Orthodox perspective.

  Flipping through the pages of the 1994 catalog, I first noticed that back then, on page 18,  RUSSIA'S CATACOMB SAINTS was still for sale, at $20.  (Minimum wage was $4.25).

  Another thing I noiced was Fr. Gregory's mini-review of ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE.   See page 6.  We have to forgive him for that review.  In those days, that book was probably better-than-nothing for many people.  I remember considering it for my teenage daughter, for her home schooling, — but even before I got halfway into it, I had to reject it.  That left me with no study tools, since there were no suitable alternatives.   Happily, today there is a really good study guide out there for sale, in two volumes:

THE ORTHODOX NEW TESTAMENT

https://secure.holyapostlesconvent.org/hacwebstore/viewnormalitem.zul?itemModelNo=ONT1

https://secure.holyapostlesconvent.org/hacwebstore/viewnormalitem.zul?itemModelNo=ONT2

EXCELLENT for home schooling and adult study.

  Another thing I noticed about the 1994 catalog is the somewhat large number of books related to the western rite.  This was certainly because people were aware of St. John's special hope and dream to bring Europeans back to Orthodoxy.   1994 was the year St John was glorified.  But, every attempt to include the western rite in our Orthodox lives has ended up a failure.   (Just look at the goofy Milan synod of our present day.)  For some reason the western rite attracts all the wrong attention, we are better off leaving it be.  Seeking the beauty in the ancient Greek chants is a far more fruitful endeavor.

The last page of the 1994 catalog has a photo of Fr. Gregory's original house.  It was in this house that I first became acquainted with Fr. Gregory and his family, during an agape meal offered after the litrugy. 

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