Skycop150's Blog

I received this email from my spiritual Father today:


Patriarchate severs Communion with Archbishop Christodoulos

This just in Patriarchate (Metropolitans and Archbishops from Patriarchal Eparchies gathered there under Patriarch Bartholomew--including Archbishop Demetrios of America)has decided to break Eucharistic Communion with Archbishop Christodoulos head of the Church of Greece. Also, the Patriarchate refuses to recognize the consecrations of the two Metropolitans for the New Lands that took place, and the transfer of the Metropolitan of Alexandropolis to Thessaloniki. If there is an attempt to enthrone these three Metropolitans the Patriarch has been given the authority to take back the Praxis of 1928 (which in effect would mean the New Lands belong completely to the Patriarchate and are in no way part of the Church of Greece). For information see this site (in Greek):

Click here for info in Greek

Something rather strange happened to me today. Outside of the fact that I haven't been feeling to well that is. I turned on the computer and was checking my AOL and I started listening to the radio over the computer. I like to listen to the AP news channel. The first two stories I heard today were positive NOT negative. I was surprised because usually it is all negative.

What I heard:

1. South Korea is continuing to speed aid to the North after their recent train blast. South Korea was preparing to send help even before the North asked for aid. {Pretty amazing since these two neighbors have relationships which rivals/parallels the Greeks and Turks, and Brits and Irish. The North actually allowed a S. Korean plane to enter and land in their airspace.}

2. China is allowing people to travel this weekend for a holiday (local to China I guess) in spite of worries about SARS. They are simply screening people when they enter the train stations. Upto 90 million people are expected to travel this weekend. {Really amazing since the Chinese government usually doesn't let her people do anything. Especially since SARS.}

Well, I can go about the rest of the day now God is still in the business of miracles. :-)

Also taken from the Prologue of Ochrid vol.I from 25 March--The Annunciation, pg. 237

Once they asked Abba Athanasius: 'How can the Son be equal to the Father?' And he replied: 'Even as one has two eyes but one sight.' An execllent answer. As well as this we might add: 'Even as one has two ears but one hearing. And likewise for all three divine hypostases: there are three candles, but the same light.'

This is taken from the Prologue from Ochrid, from February 29th, it can be found of pg. 224 of the Prologue


St. John Cassian writes thus on the struggle with a spirit of lust: "The struggle with a spirit of lust is a fierce struggle, longer than others, a daily struggle, and only a small number of people come to total victory. This struggle begins with the first ripe growth and does not finish until all the other passions have been mastered. In this struggle, it is necessary to use two weapons. For the achievement of a perfect and pure chastity, bodily fasting is not enough (though it is of the utmost necessity). On top of that, compunction of soul and unremitting prayer against that most unclean spirit; then, constant study of the Scripture together with prudent works, physical labor, and hand-work. These things keep the heart from unchastity and bring it back to itself. Above all, deep and true humility is needed, without which one will never attain victory over any passion. Victory over this passion is a freeing for the perfect purifying of the heart, from which, according to the words of the Lord, flow forth poison and grave ills: 'For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,...adultries, fornication's and so forth (Matt. 15: 19). One must have patience and constant humility of heart, and keep oneself carefully during each day from anger and other passions. For as far as the fire of anger penetrates into us, so afterwards there penetrate more easily the live coals of lust. It is interesting that many other spiritual guides link causally the passion of anger and the passion of the unchaste lust, from which it follows that those prone to anger are the most prone to lust.

This morning I was reading Corinthians again and I felt the need to put some of my thoughts here:

It is funny how we [I am referring to the church as a whole] today think that the problems which afflict God's church [for it truly is not ours] are new. In fact, when going through some of the chapters in Cor. I found St. Paul admonishing the church in Corinth about: sexual immorality, mis-handling of grievances in the church, misinterpretation of the Resurrection of Christ, and the list goes on and on.

I particularly found the following passage interesting, since at a meeting last night here at school, which introduced the candidates for next years SGA (student government) there was a lot of talk about unity (or the lack thereof).

(cf. I Cor. 11: 18-22)--NRSV

For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extant I believe it. Indeed, there have to be fractions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord's supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! {that is my favorite line in this passage by St. Paul} Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!

I put this passage here because it also reflects what goes on in the church as a whole not just the seminary. Do we not constantly wish to do "our own thing in church"? 'I want to use this language because it is what my grandparents used', forget for the moment that no one understands that language anymore; or 'I want to have this service on this day for this long', 'I want a private baptism, wedding, funeral', 'this guy got ordained before me that is outrageous!' and again the list goes on.

Later in the same chapter verse 27 St. Paul says the following, Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.

I honestly believe, that we forget, that we are going to be held accountable for receiving Christ's communion, His body and blood. We talk about how communion will heal us, help us, and the like but in reading these passages today I was reminded that we most certainly are going to be held accountable for what we have received. (i.e. the body and blood of Christ--which is greater than any other gift!)

My brothers and sisters, let us remember, that we are all part of the same body, no matter how much we try to divide (or separate) ourselves. Let us remember that we have the answers to these problems we face today. We just have to be brave enough (and trust in Christ enough) to put them into action!

St. Peter of Damaskos, Philokalia vol. III;

Even if you are not what you should be, you should not despair. It is bad enough that you have sinned; why in addition do you wrong God by regarding Him in your ignorance as powerless? Is He, who for your sake created the great universe that you behold, incapable of saving your soul? And if you say that this fact, as well as His incarnation, only makes your condemnation worse, then repent; and He will receive your repentance, as He accepted that of the prodigal son (cf. Luke 15: 20) and the prostitute (cf. Luke 7: 37-50). But if repentance is too much for you, and you sin out of habit even when you do not want to, show humility like the publican (cf. Luke 18: 13): this is enough to ensure your salvation. For he who sins without repenting, yet does not despair, must of necessity regard himself as the lowest of creatures, and will dare not to judge or censure anyone. Rather, he will marvel at God's compassion, and will be full of gratitude towards his Benefactor, and so may receive many other blessings as well. Even if he is subject to the devil in that he sins, yet from fear of God he disobeys the enemy when the latter tries to make him despair. Because of this he has his portion with God; for he is grateful, gives thanks, is patient, fears God, does not judge so that he may not be judged. All these are crucial qualities...

I found these in the Philokalia vol. I, by St. Diadochos of Photiki;

Faith: dispassionate understanding of God.

Hope: the flight of the intellect in love towards that for which it hopes.

Patience: with the eyes of the mind always to see the Invisible as visible.

Freedom from avarice: to desire not to have possessions with the same fervour as men generally desire to have possessions.

Knowledge: to loose awareness of oneself through going out to God in ecstasy.

Humility: attentive forgetfulness of what one has accomplished.

Freedom from anger: a real longing not to loose one's temper.

Purity: unwavering perception of God

Love: growing affection for those who abuse us.

Total transformation: through delight in God, to look on the repulsiveness of death as joy.

The story that I am posting here I never heard of before a few days ago. I actually came across it printed on a flyer in the chapel here at HC/HC. I myself have always been fascinated by stories of the lives of the Saints in particular the martyrs of the church. They provide me with so much hope and faith!

Now while most of these people I read about aren't officially saints they seem to have the same zeal that the martyrs of the church did. My friend, who is Romanian, told me that the stories she heard about this place were horrific and ghastly at best. She did say that the people confined in this place were there for a reason, it is a prison after all. {This is a little clarification, thanks to a comment that Seraphim left me. The people who were in these prisons were there often times because of their religion, politics, or sometimes just to silence them. While there may have been "real" criminals there, what they went through, far out weighed their crimes. (at least in my opinion) I am sorry if I originally misrepresented their memories.} However, when I read this story I realize that Christ can redeem all. With out further commentary for me here is the story.

Vesnica pomenire! Αιωνια η μνημη! May their Memory be Eternal.

Easter in the Prison of Jilava (Romania)
by C. Cesianu,
Translated by
Mother Alexandra

This extraordinary script has been written in French by C. Cesianu, a former Romanian diplomat, who died last year in Paris, when he was-I believe-in his late sixties.

It is, as he calls it, a "Testimonial" of the unspeakable horrors he went through in 19 Romanian prisons and concentration camps to which he was condemned, with a short respite, from 1949 to 1964.

I must confess that I never heard nor read such an unremitting horror story, to a degree that is sometimes literally difficult to continue reading, although God knows we have witnessed enough atrocities since the thirties!

It really defies all comprehension that human beings should want to mentally and physically torture other human beings to such degree of vicious refinement.

M. Cesianu who miraculously escaped alive to tell the story, described everything with amazing calm, dignity, and truthfulness, which do him great honor. A shattering human document.

--15 August, 1984 --George I. Duca

We lived 15M underground in dampness and in darkness; the one window sealed shut so that neither light nor air could filter in; hungry, condemned not to go out, not to see the sun or the sky, in semi-darkness during the day, pitch darkness at night; 45 men in the stench of mold, urine, and excrement in the collective tomb of Jilava...

Those who had never sinned through excess optimism nor pessimism stood up to it best. They honestly took a dim view of things but never gave into despair, they hung onto hope. They had the firm will to fight and come through. The human body has within itself astonishing resources, unexpected reserves which only rarely have the occasion to gush forth from the depths of being, dredging up astonishing powers of resistance. But for this one needs willpower, hope, and faith. Above all, faith. Faith saved many prisoners from almost certain death. We prayed a great deal in prison, which was natural for those who have faith; but those also prayed who had none, and ended by having real faith, which in spite of all the miseries heaped upon them, became deeper and their prayers more fervent.

'Faith and Prayer...Greatest Consolation'

The atmosphere at Jilava was good for meditation upon life, death, and eternity. The more than monastic fasting, the darkness and the silence in which these men lived, the prayers they sent up from under that mass of earth towards light, truth, and love, gave them a sensitivity, a spirituality which they otherwise never would have attained.

Faith and prayer being the greatest consolation for the majority of us, it was with great emotion and impatience that we awaited the feast of Easter...

Thus in our cell and--as I found out later--in all other cells of Jilava, as indeed in all the prisons of Romania, Holy Week, Resurrection night and Easter Sunday were fervently observed.
On Good Friday we received portions of meat, such as we had not seen in ages. Of course the administration was testing us. Nevertheless the majority of us kept the fast, that is to say we did not touch the meat, eating only bread and water. Others in spite of their hunger touched no food at all.

Religious Services 'Rigorously Forbidden'


Can you understand what a sacrifice that meant for these men, dying of hunger...these precious foods, the very sustenance of our miserable existence? Yet they renounced these precious things to give expression to their faith and hope in the Resurrection. Religious services were rigorously forbidden. We nevertheless, unanimously decided to hold the Saturday night Resurrection office as best we could. Unfortunately we had no priest in our cell, but there were two deacons...

The greatest problem seemed to be how to know the exact hour. Of course, no one of us had a watch and we were determined that our praise should raise to heaven together with those of all other Romanians. The Fort of Jilava was close to a station and we could hear the train's whistle. We knew that one left at twenty to midnight, we could await for that signal to start our prayers.

It was pitch dark in our cell, dinner was served at about 6:30 but not one of us had touched his portion of food, but with infinite precaution, fumbling in the dark, each lay away his soup and portion of bread and awaited the signal. Lying upon our boards, our thoughts were with those outside and our memories went to the days when the country was free and this feast above all others brought the entire population joy and the sense of communion.

Glorious Song to the Resurrection


Like an immense tomb, Jilava was plunged in darkness and silence. When we heard the train whistle go, we rose carefully. It was so dark that I could not identify who stood on my right or left. The two deacons were somewhere in the middle of the room conducting things. The voice of General Mardari was asking forgiveness of those he might have offended. Each of us followed suit, after which in that utter darkness above our cramped and tortured bodies, the prayers of the two deacons in which we joined followed over our souls in an immense wave of faith and hope.
The supreme moment came, for which we so eagerly waited:
"Christ is Risen."
Truly He is Risen."
As we sang and prayed, we heard from close by and from afar, like an echo, the same hymn. In the other cells the prisoners had the same idea as we. From the depth of the earth, the voices of thousands of prisoners rose up in one glorious song to the Resurrection.
Outside in the passages the guards were running up and down banging on our doors yelling at us to be still. But nothing would stop us now, we answered our torturers with prayers and song. All Jilava rang with the hymn of the Resurrection.

Voice of Hope: 'Christ is Risen'.

When our office was over, deeply moved, we embraced each other, then fumbled our ways back to our bedboards to find our soup bowls and bread. At home, in spite of penury, we knew each had made sacrifices to place a few red eggs and cozonac on the table, and here we too were respecting the tradition, we had our own sad little feast.
It was all over. Lying against each other we tried to sleep. All was still, Jilava had sunk back into silence and darkness, and then very faintly, as if from far away from the very bottom of the earth was heard the hymn: "Christ is Risen from the dead."

It was a cell that had mis-calculated the hour, but had continued their praises into the night, a little tomb, left all alone, had lifted up its voice of hope and praise--

"Christ is Risen..."

Article taken from the United Methodist News Service. The information contained herein is protected by copyright laws and is the property of UMNS.

I am dumbfounded after reading this article. Judgemental or not this isn't a Christian church!


A UMNS Report By Amy Green*

Submitting a prayer request at First United Methodist Church in Rockwall, Texas, isn’t as easy as pulling the pastor aside for a chat about an ailing aunt.

Parishioners must fill out a form put together by an attorney and include written approval if the prayer is for someone other than themselves. The new policy comes after the church suspended publication of prayer requests in its church bulletin and newsletter for four months because of complaints about disclosed information.

Privacy rights have become a growing concern among churches, especially since far-reaching federal regulations meant to protect patient privacy went into effect last April. The regulations, part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, have prompted clergy across the United States to rethink how they pray for parishioners.

Some have scaled back or scrapped the prayer requests they share with congregations. Others find their care for hospitalized parishioners thwarted. They say they feel torn between their mission to minister to those in need and their obligation to be conscious of legal dangers.

“We’ve missed some people. They’ve come and gone from the hospital again, and maybe sometime later they’ll say, ‘Didn’t you know?’” said the Rev. Dennis Shock, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Crown Point, Ind., which draws about 400 on an average Sunday. “I feel a little frustrated and sometimes a little guilty.”


The Rev. Carole Somers-Clark with Methodist Health System in Dallas visits with a patient.

It is an unintended consequence of privacy laws and regulations such as HIPAA’s. The law was approved in 1996 to address primarily health insurance issues. Its privacy regulations direct health plans and providers in how to share patient information, but the rules do not prohibit clergy from visiting patients or praying for them with congregations.

However, the law does prohibit sharing patient information without consent when clergy are employed by hospitals as chaplains or churches that provide mental health services.

The laws are so vast and new, many are interpreting them in different ways. For example, hospitals used to provide clergy with a list of patients sorted by denomination. Now some continue to provide the list with patient consent, but others have scrapped it altogether.

HIPAA prompted enough confusion among churches that United Methodist attorneys posted a 12-page memorandum summarizing the law and its effects on the General Council on Finance and Administration’s Web site in February.

The law is not aimed at pastors, and so many clergy concerns are unfounded, said Dan Gary, associate general counsel with the council in Evanston, Ill. But some are legitimate.

Gary cited the case of a Presbyterian church music director in Ohio who filed suit over information disclosed in a church bulletin that was posted on the Internet. The man had been hospitalized for months with depression. The case, filed before HIPAA’s privacy regulations took effect, went to the state Court of Appeals, which ruled the man had grounds to sue.

“That was an example of where less information might have mitigated the situation,” Gary said. “There’s really nothing wrong with getting consent for these kinds of disclosures even when you aren’t legally required to do so. There’s what the law allows you to do, and then there’s the right thing to do.”

To address privacy concerns, First United Methodist Church of Rockwall, Texas, has created a form for prayer requests.

Shock now is more careful about the information he shares when reading prayer concerns during Sunday services. But he is more concerned about how HIPAA has affected his ability to minister to hospitalized parishioners. He used to get a call from the local hospital when a parishioner was admitted. Now he struggles for information even after a member is released on whether the patient was sent home or to another facility.

“Rarely has this been an issue in my 30 years in ministry,” he said. “Usually the problem is the other way — the parishioner will be in the hospital and no one knows and they get upset, or they get upset that we haven’t put them on the prayer list.”

It is a troubling trend because pastoral care is an important part of a patient’s recovery, said Josephine Schrader, executive director of the Association of Professional Chaplains.

“There are some studies that have shown that people who are prayed with and prayed for have shorter recovery times,” she said. “It’s a comfort, a reassurance, a calming effect that they don’t feel as alone.”

The decision to stop publishing prayer requests at Rockwall’s First United Methodist Church came last summer as a way to give church leaders time to figure out how to address privacy concerns. An attorney who is a member of the church drafted a prayer request form. Now the church is working on a new form that would allow parishioners to make some prayer requests public and keep others private just among the church leadership.

“We want to take seriously our responsibility to pray for each other as a community,” said the Rev. Valarie Englert, associate pastor of the church, which draws about 650 on an average Sunday. “So we’re trying to figure out how to walk that fine line between showing trustworthiness and sharing of each other’s burdens.”

*Green is a freelance journalist based in Nashville, Tenn. News media can contact Kathy L. Gilbert (615)742-5471 Nashville, Tenn.or newsdesk@umcom.org.

I would like to ask all of you to pray for my friends who recently had a baby boy. He, Michael Seraphim, was premature and has some complications. It also appears he might have Downs Syndrome. He is okay right now but he needs all the prayers he can get. So do his parents. They all have a long road ahead, help me ensure they aren't alone on that road. So to all those in this Orthodox blog sphere please do me the favor of saying a prayer for Michael and his parents. Thanks a lot!

My friend George was ordained to the Diaconate this past Sunday. AXIOS! To him. I wasn't feeling well and I couldn't make the service so I lent my camera to some of my other friends who were going. I showed them how to use the camera and what not. When they came home they said that they took 25 pictures, a roll of film. I was like great thanks a lot. I went to unload the camera and no film...I thought, I'll check the camera bag, again no film...He must still have it on him, I went and asked my friend, Hey where is the film? What are you talking about? He says. There is no film in the camera. WHAT! I took all those pictures and no FILM! I thought the other guy loaded it?! Nope. !^&#$@$^@)#&@*)&

Oh well, that is how things go sometimes. This was one of the more funny things I have heard of in awhile.

CRUNCH TIME! In other words, that part of the semester when papers can't be put off any longer, exams are around the corner, ...You know the fun stuff. I also pray that we remember to keep God where he should be during this time. In our hearts and our top priority.

God bless and keep all!

Dear God,

Grant me the patients and long-suffering of your servant Job, as the evil one rips asunder my life and this world around me. Grant me O Lord your strength, so that I may prevail in the wake of such evil. For no man can stand against the powers and principalities; but in you O Lord I can withstand all things and all the attacks of my enemies. Help me O Christ my God in all things and preserve me in the face of mine enemies. Lest I would fall to the evil one, and your creation would be destroyed. Save me O Lord for pity sake, for without you I am defenseless. Forgive my countless sins O Lord, which I do not forsake, yet I cling to, in futile hope that they will somehow save me from the fires. Oh how vain and ignorant of me. My spirit calls out to you, nay it screams out to you, for your love and your help; yet the flesh tries constantly to silence it. For the enemy has surrounded me and I am cut off from my only ally, which is you, and you alone O Lord.

You O Christ have Risen from the dead, trampling upon it and obliterating death by death, you O Christ have shattered the very gates of hell. Yet I am like a deaf man and I can not hear the righteous rejoicing! Like a blind man I can not see the festival of the Saints and Angelic ones! I am like the mute, silenced because of my countless sins! Therefore, help me now and forever, O Lord in my distress! Free me from the chains which I willingly assumed because of my sinfulness and wickedness. How foul am I, that I would willingly stay locked in chains and the bonds of hell, when you O Christ, have handed me the key to your Kingdom, and secured my freedom from the bonds of death and sin!

Truly O Christ my God my spirit begs of Thee freedom from these chains and bonds. Please do not leave me but rather rescue me from myself! For my spirit knows O Lord, that if you are with me then no one and nothing can prevail against me!


I call out to you O Christ, in my feeble voice, please hear me now and come to my aid, so that I may spend my remaining days glorifying you O Lord!

From the Philokalia, vol.4, pg. 104:Nikitas Sithatos, the disciple and biographer of St. Symeon the New Theologian; On the Practice of Virtues.

The demons rage violently against those who are progressing in contemplation, lying in wait for them night and day. Through fellow-ascetics they provoke formidable trials, while through their own direct action they terrify them with noises. Even when they are asleep they attack them grudging them any rest. They harass them in various ways, even though they cannot injure those who have surrendered themselves to God. If an angel of the Lord God did not protect them, they could not escape the demons' attack and the snares of death.

Story from News Max.com:

Saturday, April 17, 2004 2:10 p.m. EDT
King Abdullah: Al-Qaida WMDs Came From Syria

Jordan's King Abdullah revealed on Saturday that vehicles reportedly containing chemical weapons and poison gas that were part of a deadly al-Qaida bomb plot came from Syria, the country named by U.S. weapons inspector David Kay last year as a likely repository for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

"It was a major, major operation. It would have decapitated the government," King Abdullah told the San Francisco Chronicle. Jordanian officials estimated that the death count could have been as high as 20,000 - seven times greater than the Sept. 11 attacks.

King Abdullah said that trucks containing 17.5 tons of explosives had come from Syria, though he took pains not to implicate Syrian President Bashir Assad in the al-Qaida plot, saying, "I'm completely confident that Bashir did not know about it."

In his testimony before Congress last year, weapons inspector Kay said U.S. satellite surveillance showed substantial vehicular traffic going from Iraq to Syria just prior to the U.S. attack on March 19, 2003.

While Kay said investigators couldn't be sure the cargo contained weapons of mass destruction, one of his top advisers described the evidence as "unquestionable."

"People below the Saddam-Hussein-and-his-sons level saw what was coming and decided the best thing to do was to destroy and disperse," said James Clapper in comments reported by the New York Times on Oct. 29. Clapper heads the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

Israeli intelligence has long believed that after the U.S. delayed invasion plans to allow U.N. weapons inspectors time to search for Iraq's WMDs, Saddam moved the banned weapons to Syria, the only other country ruled by the Ba'ath Party.

On April 1, Jordanian officials announced the arrest of several terrorist suspects, saying they were still hunting for two cars filled with explosives.

Five days later, the State Department revealed that the attackers were linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-based terrorist considered to be one of al-Qaida's most dangerous. One of Zarqawi's targets was the U.S. Embassy in Amman.

By Saturday morning European news services were quoting an unnamed Jordanian official, who revealed that the al-Qaida plotters planned to use weapons of mass destruction in the foiled attack.

"We found primary materials to make a chemical bomb which, if it had exploded, would have made nearly 20,000 deaths ... in an area of one square kilometre," the official told Agence France-Press.

Another operation planned by the network was to use "deadly gas against the US embassy and the prime minister's office in Amman," he added.

A car belonging to the al-Qaida plotters, containing a chemical bomb and poisonous gas, was intercepted just 75 miles from the Syrian border.

Abba Agathin said, 'If I could meet a leper, give him my body and take his, I should be very happy.' That indeed is perfect charity.

He [Abba Anthony] also said, 'Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalise our brother, we have sinned against Christ.'

Abba Ammonas said, 'I have spent fourteen years in Scetis asking God night and day to grant me the victory over anger.'

Abba Daniel also said, 'The body prospers in the measure in which the soul is weakened, and the soul prospers in the measure in which the body is weakend.'

More to follow...

Although I haven't come across any new information concerning Kosovo in the last few days I am sure things are still happening over there. I really feel for the people who didn't have churches especially during Pascha. One bit of good news I heard recently from this side of the 'pond', is that my school Holy Cross, is going to send all the money we took in from Holy Week and Pascha to the Sts. Cyril & Methodious seminary in Kosovo. That was the school that was burnt out.

I encourage all who can to do whatever they can to help raise money, or whatever they feel might be helpful. The OCMC is a good place to check as well as perhaps the International Red Cross. They might have better ideas on what is needed.

If I come across anything new I will continue to post it here.

This was one of those email stories everyone receives but after reading it all the way through I thought hmmmm! I have to wonder if the person who wrote this is or was Orthodox (or at least new something about the tradition behind why eggs are given out at Pascha). Whatever the case may be it is a good story to read during Bright Week!

THE EMPTY EGG

Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to
learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would
squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises.

At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher.

One day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Foresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students." Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here."

Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Foresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach and Jeremy was a distraction.

Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying? As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared to that poor family, she thought.

Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. "I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear.

The other students snickered and Doris' face turned red. She stammered, "Wh-why that's very nice, Jeremy. N-now, please take your seat."

Spring came and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. "Now," she said to them "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life.

Do you understand?" "Yes, Miss Miller," the children responded enthusiastically...all except for Jeremy. He listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said
about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents
and explain the project to them.

That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.

The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row waved her arm. "That's my egg, Miss Miller," she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows
into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that's new life, too." Little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine."

Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the
classroom, "My daddy helped me," he beamed. Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty.
Surely it must be Jeremy's, she thought and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another.
Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty."

He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too." Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty? "Oh, yes," Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up." The recess bell rang.

While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away. Three months later, Jeremy died.

Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19
eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty.

I found this passage while reading the Philokalia, it is from St. Gregory of Sinai on How to expel thoughts:

In the case of a beginner in the art of spiritual warfare, God alone can expel thoughts, for it is only those strong in such warfare who are in a position to wrestle with them and banish them. Yet even they do not achieve this by themselves, but they fight against them with God's assistance, clothed in the armour of His grace. So when thoughts invade you, in place of weapons call on the Lord Jesus frequently and persistently and then they will retreat; for they cannot bear the warmth produced in the heart by prayer and they flee as if scorched by fire. St. John Klimakos tells us, 'Lash your enemies with the name of Jesus', {from the Ladder of Divine Ascent-step 21} because God is a fire that cauterizes wickedness (cf. Deut. 4: 24; Heb. 12: 29). The Lord is prompt to help, and will speedily come to the defense of those who wholeheartedly call on Him day and night (cf. Luke 18: 7). But if prayer is not yet activated in you, you can put these thoughts to flight in another manner, by imitating Moses(cf. Exod. 17: 11-12): rise up, lift hands and eyes to heaven, and God will rout them. Then sit down again and begin to pray resolutely. This is what you should do if you have not yet acquired the power of prayer. Yet even if prayer is activated in you and you are attacked by the more obdurate and grievous of the bodily passions-namely, listlessness and lust- you should sometimes rise up and life your hands for help against them. But you should do this only seldom, and then sit down again, for there is a danger of the enemy deluding you by showing you some illusory form of truth. For only those who are pure and perfect does God keep the intellect steadfast and intact wherever it is, whether above or below, or in the heart.

This is interesting to me because often times I tell (delude) myself into thinking that I can control thoughts and the like. Now I know that I cannot contend with the spiritual powers that assail me but yet I still do the opposite of what St. Gregory is speaking to here. My spiritual father continually emphasizes-- surrendering it (whatever 'it' is, fill in the blank) to God.

In this time of great joy during the Paschal season it is easy to tell yourself that I have control over these types of thoughts or attacks. Yet we should always remember that it is because Christ died and was resurrected that I don't have to do these things alone.

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Χριστος Ανεστη! Αληθως Ανεστη!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Pascha! Although it is raining here in Boston it is still Bright Week. So regardless of the weather have a blessed Paschal season!

Tonight O Lord you have made all things right! Tonight O Lord death is destroyed and the gates of hell obliterated! Tonight O Lord you have taken away the pain of this temporal life and restored us fallen creatures to the heavenly! Tonight O Lord I rejoice in you, tonight O Lord the tears are wiped away and the sadness is turned into unspeakable joy!

Thank you Lord for your mercy, thank you Lord for your Love, thank you Lord for your passion, suffering, pain, and death! Thank you Lord for your dispensation to such a pitiful creature as I. Help me O Lord to know the joy of this glorious day of Resurrection all the days of my temporal life here on earth. That I may stay on your road and partake of your joy all the days of my life.

You are my God and I rejoice in you! I raise your banner high, that is, the cross of your crucifixion. Once a symbol of death and pain, now a symbol of life and salvation. Continue to accept me O Lord, sinful though I am, and always be merciful to me. Through the prayers of your most pure Mother and of all the Saints who tonight are rejoicing with the heavenly hosts for Truly You O Lord have Risen!

I saw you lifted on to the cross tonight for the sake of all mankind. I marveled at the sight I beheld. Yet I must admit that I still cling to my sins as though they are something so precious and valuable. Truly, I know not why I do this? Forgive me O Lord for my fear, my hard-heartedness, and my hard-headedness. Forgive O Lord Jesus Christ my unbelief, my doubts, and my despair. For in holding on to these vile things I deny the very reason you ascended the cross for us.

My road has been paved and made straight by you alone yet, I still wander aimlessly amid the brush and trackless waste land. Help me O Lord to find my way. Let my light be your light and may I always follow your road. Thank you Lord for your love and kindness towards me a wretched sinner. May I be lifted up with you on the Great day of your Resurrection and by your grace may I shed my sins and cares for this life and look only to you for all things.

May I become like a child again with simple faith and love for you. May the pain which I have brought to myself and to others be shattered by your strength as you destroy the gates of hell and death itself. May those whom I have harmed be made whole in you and your Resurrection. For I am part of your creation, your breath gave me life and I owe a debt to no one save you. Grant me tears O Lord to cleanse my soul and this miserable body of mine. May I never turn away from your glorious light.

Now O Lord as I approach my darkest hours of doubt may I know that you ascended the cross for my benefit. May my darkest hours now be lit by your glorious light. Please forgive my intolerance of others and my stubbornness O Christ. May I always know that it is only because of your sacrifice that I have such an easy road to travel upon.

This is an excerpt about the UConn men's basketball win in the national NCAA championship. I am a sports fan myself and I have even played sports over the years. But folks its a damn basketball game. There is no reason to go destroy a neighborhood over this. I just don't get it.

Click on the highlighted portion of the text to read the whole article.

STORRS, Conn. -- Police arrested more than a dozen people Monday night and early Tuesday as University of Connecticut fans started fires and overturned cars in celebration of the men's basketball team winning its second NCAA championship.

University police said the most serious incidents occurred at the Celeron Square apartment complex about a mile north of campus, where a dozen fires were set outside and two cars were overturned.

...but he is still the devil!

I read this article on AOL(tm) today and it hurt on many levels.

Mother Says She Stoned Sons to Prove Faith
By LISA FALKENBERG, AP

This article is the property of the Associated Press, Copyright laws are applicable.

TYLER, Texas (April 1) - A housewife said the first sign that God wanted her to kill her three boys came Mother's Day weekend when she saw her 14-month-old playing with a toy spear.

Deanna Laney said she resisted at first, but the signs kept coming. The baby came to her with a rock, and later in the day squeezed a frog, and she believed God was suggesting that she should either stab, stone or strangle her children.

A sobbing Laney recounted in a videotape played at her capital murder trial Wednesday how she smashed her sons' skulls with rocks to prove her faith to God.

"I was telling him no, and each time it was getting worse and worse, the way that it would have to be done," Laney said. "I thought it was the Lord saying to me, 'You're just going to have to step out in faith. This is faith. You can't see why. You just got to."'

The state rested its case and Laney's attorneys were expected to begin presenting evidence Thursday.

Laney, 39, who homeschooled her children in the tiny town of New Chapel Hill, 100 miles southeast of Dallas, has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity in the deaths of 8-year-old Joshua and 6-year-old Luke and serious injury to a child in the beating of the 14-month-old, Aaron.

Five mental health experts consulted in the case agreed Laney met the standard for legal insanity. But prosecutors want a jury to decide, saying other evidence suggests Laney could tell right from wrong.

The defense is trying to convince jurors that the signs from God were actually psychotic delusions caused by a severe mental illness that made Laney incapable of knowing right from wrong at the time of the killings, the standard in Texas for insanity.

Dr. Park Dietz, a psychiatrist who interviewed Laney in the tape, called her a textbook case of insanity, concluding she did not know right from wrong at the time she attacked the boys.

Prosecutors tried to convince jurors that regardless of whether Laney believed she was doing right by God, she had to have known she was doing wrong by state law. Her first call, prosecutors said, was to 911 to summon authorities.

Dietz said Laney wasn't thinking about state law when she killed the boys, but acknowledged that she probably knew her act was illegal at the time.

In the videotape, Laney said she believed she and Andrea Yates, the Houston woman who drowned her children, were chosen by God to be witnesses after the world ends. Yates was convicted of capital murder in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison.

Laney said she awoke just before midnight on May 9 and "I just got this feeling that now's the time."

She said she went into Aaron's room and bludgeoned his skull with a rock she had hidden under his crib, but he wouldn't quit breathing.

"I told the Lord, 'You're just going to have to do the rest. I can't do anymore,"' Laney said. She said she put a pillow over his head to mute a gurgling sound.

She killed the older boys next, one at a time, guiding them outside and hammering their heads with a heavy rock. She dragged Luke by his feet across the yard so that Joshua wouldn't see him.

"I don't remember seeing their faces at all," Laney said in the tape.

Homeowner horror stories: Associations are heaven or hell
By Paul Bannister • Bankrate.com

This article is from Bankrate.com

To many people it's Shangri-La. Heaven. Paradise.

Everybody's lawn is manicured. No one's gone to an electric chartreuse and fuchsia color scheme. No one's got her granny panties -- or thongs, for that matter -- flapping on a clothesline. No junk cars in the side yard. No sofas on the front porch.

Everything looks wonderful.

To others, it's sheer hell. Hades. Purgatory.

Skip one Saturday mowing the lawn and the Gestapo comes down on you. Four hundred and some houses are the same boring shade of beige. You can't get that nice fresh-air fragrance in your unmentionables. That classic Corvette you were planning to restore got towed away, and your wife has been officially informed that the cute little swing near the front door is a violation punishable by death.

Depending on your perspective, your homeowner's association is either the best of all worlds ... or the worst.


Here are just a few homeowner horror stories that have been reported to Bankrate:

A man from Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., lost his home because he planted too many roses on his four-acre site. The board fined him and watched monthly as the fines mounted. When they slapped a lien on his home, he went to court and lost because he'd transgressed the board's architectural design rules. He was stuck with the board's $70,000 legal fees and lost his home to the bank.


A woman from Pomona, Calif., who was involved in a divorce fell behind with her monthly dues. The board said she owed $1,000; she said it was less than $800, and they went to court when the board threatened foreclosure. The woman was right -- the volunteer board's amateur accountants goofed, but the judge ruled she should have made back payments during the dispute, anyway, and the therapist was handed a $22,000 legal bill.


A couple from Lawrenceville, Ga., found they had a $3,500 lien on their house when they tried to sell it. The homeowners association had been fining them every day they left pink flamingos on their lawn but didn't tell them. The association got the money, but the couple have filed suit to get it back.


A Maryland man asked for a six-foot fence as protection from a neighbor who'd attacked him with a log. The board denied the request, so the homeowner sued -- and lost. It cost him $23,000 in legal fees and interest. Chastened, he built a shorter fence, but in places it was several inches taller than the four feet allowed. Board members came with a tape measure, fined him, slapped a lien on the home and seized the man's paycheck. "They took all my savings and treated me like a common criminal," he says.


Sometimes, the long-gone developer causes problems. A Hillsborough, Calif., builder put houses wherever he could, then donated unusable areas as 'parkland' to the private community. The donated areas turned out to be unstable hillside that required the homeowners to pay loads of money for some expensive maintenance.

Near snowy Donner Pass, Calif., a development has rules that you can't drive over the snow or clear it from around your house to preserve the rural appearance and to provide zones for snowmobiles. A woman resident with a back injury wasn't able to walk the half mile to her house, so she drove over the snow. The association fined her up to $500 a day. She faces more than $50,000 in fines and has been fighting her HOA in court for three years. The case is unresolved.

A Tampa, Fla., woman thought her attorney had paid all her delinquent HOA fees of more than $4,000, but she was wrong by $497. It cost her the house. The busy physical therapist ignored legal papers mailed to her, the association foreclosed and held a courthouse auction. A property company snapped up the house for $4,651, the price of the HOA's legal fees, then sold it for $88,000.


A family that cares for five foster children in Port Richey, Fla., was threatened with eviction from their residential development. The association considered having foster kids a business because the state paid $2,028 a month to care for the children. The 56-cents-an-hour 'business' owners are still fighting the case.


Sometimes a poor homeowner feels the wrath of the HOA even when he tries to succumb to the obscure rules and regulations. The nightmare for one Florida resident started only after he admitted he made a mistake and informed the HOA he was going to rectify it immediately. It seemed this hapless soul painted his house a bright blue -- after believing an HOA's secretary who said prior approval by the HOA was merely a formality. When he learned of his misdeed, he quickly agreed he would switch to a sanctioned shade.

That's what made the subsequent assault by the HOA so bizarre.

First it held a meeting to discuss the crime with neighbors -- but didn't invite the culprit. Then they stuffed fliers in each neighbor's mailbox -- carefully skipping the scene of the crime -- in which they went on at length about their outrage over the unauthorized paint job.

When he got a copy of the flier from a sympathetic neighbor, the stunned homeowner wrote to the HOA president, reiterating his willingness to repaint the house and politely objecting to what he felt was needlessly abusive treatment and a dismal lack of neighborliness.

He got no response from the grand poobah but did receive a threatening letter from the HOA lawyer.

The final straw came at the end of the month when the HOA's monthly newsletter came out -- while the repaint work already in progress. The top story on the front page was a copy of the lawyer's nasty threatening letter to the harried homeowner, along with a note warning that all such miscreants would face a similar fate.


Rarely, homeowner association horror tales have a happy ending. Take the case of Houston attorney Wendy Laubach, who helped a man get his house back. Ill with a brain tumor, the man fell behind on $600 in condo dues. His association sued to get the money, piling on $4,600 more in legal fees. When the man couldn't pay on time, the association foreclosed and sold his $55,000 home for $17,000. Laubach got the foreclosure voided, a rare event.