Părintele Sofronie ca duhovnic în Mănăstirea Sfântul Pavel

Author(s): Nicodim Aghiopavlitul / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 05/2017

The venerable Monastery of Saint Paul (Agios Pavlos), which lies on the lower slopes of Athos, has, over the centuries, been blessed by the Holy Triune God and the Most Holy Mother of God in receiv- ing and nurturing saintly and virtuous men, full of grace and the blessing of God, starting with its first Founder, Our Blessed and God-bearing Father Paul of Xeropotamo, right through to the late former Abbot Andreas, who departed this life twenty years ago and who, as is well known, not only saw Our Lady the Mother of God with his corporeal eyes, but also actually conversed with Her.Certainly, a prominent position in the spiritual firmament of the Monastery deserves to be accorded to Elder Sophrony Sakharov who, for more than three years, lived a short distance from the Monas- tery, in the cave hermitage of the Holy Trinity.The blessed Elder gained the respect of the fathers of the Monastery from very early on and in a short space of time, with the blessing of the Abbot, Archimandrite Seraphim became their confes- sor. He had earlier been ordained priest in the Katholikon (Main Church) of our Holy Monastery on 2 February 1941, the feast of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple (Candlemas).Through his gift of foresight, Elder Sophrony warned of the approach of German officers who were coming to the Monastery of Saint Paul to announce its impending dissolution for harbouring the Monk Grigorios, a brother of the Monastery who had been wrongly sentenced to death by a German military court. The timely notification of the Abbot by Elder Sophrony and the fervent interces- sions by the fathers of the monastery at his orders changed the course of events and the danger was averted by timely action. What is remarkable is that Elder Sophrony also foresaw this change and consoled Abbot Seraphim, explaining that the danger had passed, as was later shown to be the case. He really did save the Monastery of Saint Paul from the dire straits in which it found itself on this occasion.Because of his failing health, Elder Sophrony left for the Vatopaidi Skete of Saint Andrew on 11 January, 1949, so that the fathers there, who had facilities for medical and pharmaceutical care, could look after him. The fathers of Saint Paul’s were greatly saddened by his departure since they were grateful for the absolute confidence they had in Elder Sophrony as a spiritual guide.When, twenty-four years after Elder Sophrony had left the Hermitage of the Holy Trinity, I, in my unworthiness, arrived in the Holy Monastery of Saint Paul, the older fathers told me with great emotion of the above occasion when he saved the monastery and attributed it to the Elder’s gift of foresight. May his holy prayer, which we invoke, accompany all of us. Amen.

Süreli Yayınlar ve Kurumsal Yapılar Üzerinden Ortodoks Teoloji Literatürüne Dair Bir Deneme (Fener Rum Patrikhenesi Örneği)

Author(s): Salih İNCİ / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2019

Although Orthodox Christianity is one of the most ancient traditions of Christianity, it is rarely known today. One of the most important churches of this sect is the Istanbul Church. (Fener Greek Patriarchate) The purpose of this article is to give brief information about the literature on Christian Greek Orthodox theology around the Church of Istanbul in XIX. and XX century. This literature will be examined from two perspectives as periodicals and institutional structures of the Patriarchate. The journals published directly or indirectly by the Patriarchate are: : Ekklisiastiki Alithia (1880-1923), Ortodoksia (I. Period 1926-1963, II. Period 1994-), The Greek Orthodox Theological Review (1954-). In addition, the Patriarchate's annual Church Calendar (Imerologia) and The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (Thriskeftiki ke İthiki Enkiklopedia) (1-12 / 1962-1968), which are regarded as an important source in Orthodox theological studies, and a few other dictionaries will be mentioned. As for the institutional structures, these will also provide information about schools, research centers, institutes and libraries that are directly or indirectly related to the Patriarchate in Istanbul. These issues are the primary sources for the studies on Orthodox theology that took place around the Patriarchate in the modern period.

Rev. Prof. Dr. Nicolae Popovici, Translator and Continuator of the Canonical Tradition

Author(s): Emilian Roman / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The study highlights the personality and the legacy of the canonical scientific work of Rev. Prof. Dr. Nicolae Popovici, the outcomes of the teaching activities he carried out at the Theological Institute / Academy (nowadays) of Arad, at “Ilarion V. Felea” Faculty of Orthodox Theology, “Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad. The second part of the study sets out to analyze the term holy canons in the context of canonical tradition, concluding that we can state that, just as the laws of a state are binding for the citizens of that state, so are the canons and the current church law for its faithful as they mirror the practical way in which the problems of the Church were solved pastorally.

Peace, Passion and Virtue: Basic Concepts Present in the Theology of Saint Gregory Palamas and Elements for a Catechetical Philosophy

Author(s): Roger Coresciuc / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

In the context of the proper understanding of the role of modern catechesis in the progress of the modern world, we cannot dispense from the analysis of the line of thinking and doing that the Holy Fathers have imposed over time. This study analyses the three fundamental concepts that are found in the sermons of Saint Gregory Palamas and which prove the close connection between the theology of the hesychast teacher and his pastoral activity. This close connection is a model for the contemporary catechetical philosophy. The reality of the current catechesis is not fundamentally different than the one which has been configuring throughout various historical periods. The form has probably evolved or regressed. The more or less emphasis on the human intervention in deciphering godlike realities has made the regress or evolution of the report to patristic theology to oscillate. I have chosen three concepts - peace, passion and virtue - because they represent the communicating bridge between the theoretical conceptualization and classification of living and the daily reality of this living. We shall not analyse them from the point of view of their moral definition, but we shall connect them to a larger framework of a patristic catechetical philosophy. It is much spoken, and has always been spoken, of the spiritual life developing within these three concepts transposed into reality, and it is very important to see the manner in which Saint Gregory Palamas manages to prove that they cannot remain only at the stage of mere theoretical display, but they are vital for an authentic Christian living, living with the purpose of revealing what we could call the non-shielded reality, lacking the distortion of the surreal, phantasm, the lack of the concrete.

Woodcut as Book Illustration in Moldavia in the 17th to 19th Centuries

Author(s): Elena Ardelean / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

In the activity of conservation restoration of the books printed between the 17th and the 19th centuries, where the front page is often deteriorated or even missing, the illustrations that accompany the text constitute a very important element in dating the respective printing, in locating the typography, etc. Although the engravers preferred to remain anonymous, however many of the engravings that can be found in these books are signed, discreetly by the authors, thus offering us an important instrument that we can use to obtain information necessary to the scientific documentation which accompanies every activity of conservation-restoration of a cultural good. This research wishes to present briefly the activity of the engravers who activated in the region of Moldavia and whose works we were able to find in the books preserved and restored in the laboratory of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology from Iassy.

MESAJ LA ÎMPLINIREA A 30 DE ANI DE LA HIROTONIA ÎNTRU ARHIEREU A PREAFERICITULUI PĂRINTE PATRIARH DANIEL (4 MARTIE 1990)

Author(s): Timotei Seviciu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 01-03/2020

PREASFINȚITUL PĂRINTE EPISCOP LUCIAN LA 14 ANI DE LA INSTALAREA SA CA EPISCOP AL CARANSEBEȘULUI

Author(s): Romulus Frîncu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 01-03/2020

Moartea - ritual de trecere in spatiul Putnean (secolul al XIX-lea si prima jumatate a secolului al XX-lea)

Author(s): Lămîiţa Serban,Elena-Petronela Alexandru / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3/2014

The study „Death – the passing ritual in the Putnean space (the XIXth century and the first half of the XXth century) “is a research into the rites of passage from the past Putna county (today being called Vrancea county), that highlights the beliefs, the superstitions and the traditions related to death. Choosing a well delimited period of time, we studied the phenomenon of death from the perspective of the ample transformations which took place over time. We considered interesting to notice how the Putnean peasant, at the beginning of modern times, was understanding death as a temporal separation – he taught that the soul has to get through a leading path to anew world, which is connected to the terrestrial world; by this meaning,the traditional man populated the space with elements filled with special symbolism. On the other hand, the traditions related to the funeral ritual have elements with a quasi-general spreading. The archaic facts of folklore coexist with the obvious adaptations and modernizations. The review of this material, as diverse and profound as it is, gives very important data regarding those traditions and beliefs, which are captured diachronic and synchronic.

Avva Casian Savaitul vs Sfântul Ioan Casian? Sau despre „revelaţiile” Codexului Metamorphosis 573

Author(s): Agapie Corbu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 08/2020

In this article, the author summarizes the study of the Greek professor Panayiotis Tzamalikos regarding the Codex Metamorphosis 573. According to him, all the writings of the Codex Metamorphosis 573 belong to the monk Cassian the Roman, as he writes on the first page of the codex. A key element of Tzamalikos is the note on page 290, the last of the manuscript, which would state the paternity of the hieromonk Cassian the Sabaite on an exegetical writing included in the manuscript (Scholia in Apocalypsin) which reproduces passages from Didymus, Clement of Alexandria and Theodoret of Cyrus. According to the Greek professor, the author of the Scholia and other ascetic writings in Codex 573 is another Cassian than the well-known St. John Cassian the Roman, a monk who was the apprentice of the great Antiochian teachers (Diodorus of Tarsus, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus) and of Saint Sabbas himself. He was an intellectual of Antiochian extraction, who was born in Scythopolis around 470 and died as abbot of the famous Lavra of Saint Sabbas, on July 20th, 578.

In memoriam - Mihail Diaconescu, omul de cultură şi scriitorul religios

Author(s): Mircea Popa / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2020

The son of a priest from the village of Priboieni-Argeș, Mihail Diaconescu was one of the writers with a great love for the church and very close to our old religious culture. His work, like his life, contains numerous confirmations of this, being preoccupied with carrying on the traditional culture of our people, which he particularly appreciated. He left us unexpectedly, passing away on March 25 a.c., being buried in the land of his parents in Argeș, in those sub-Carpathian lands that he was so fond of. He was one of the writers who saw in the Church and in Orthodoxy the way to fulfillment and salvation, preaching the values of our past and present Church, giving lectures and speeches on our churches and monasteries, which he considered living places of intense spiritual life, forms of a millennial civilization. Some of his books of documentary investigations testify to this existence in faith, as proved by the titles Orthodox Churches and Monasteries (1988), History and Values (1994), Lectures on the Aesthetics of Orthodoxy, I-II (1996), Lainici Monastery, History of Daco-Roman literature.

Luminânde dintr-o primăvară ninsă (II)

Author(s): Răzvan Ionescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 06/2019

Continuing a previous article, the present text evokes memories of the Suzana Monastery on the Teleajen Valley, considered by the author, in his childhood, to be the most beautiful place in the world. He mentions abbots and monks of the monastery who have remained deeply engraved in his memory: Marta Berteanu, Evghenia Tomescu, Mother Fevronia, Mother Taisia, Mother Isidora, Tomaida Perlea, Natalia Perlea, Iustina Stănescu, Evlampia Georgescu, Marina Dinu, Eleonora Popescu, as well as others, very good at chanting. It also describes the tragedy that many nuns went through because of the Decree 410 of 1959 to scatter the monks from the monasteries.

Reflecţii asupra imaginii şi a icoanei în teologia contemporană românească. Un tur de orizont

Author(s): Paul Siladi / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 03/2019

The theology of the icon has enjoyed some interest over time among the Romanian theologians. Even if volume works dedicated to the icon appeared only very late (if we do not take into account Dumitru Fecioru’s translation of St. John Damascene’s “Treatises against Iconoclasts” or Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s translations), we still find a number of articles in periodicals of theology. For an overview of the Romanian iconology in this article are taken into consideration the magazines: Studii Teologice, Ortodoxia, Glasul Bisericii, Mitropolia Olteniei, Mitropolia Sucevei, and among the newest Studia Babeş-Bolyai Theologia Orthodoxa and the cultural and theological magazine Tabor.

Teologia luminii Sfântului Simeon Noul Teolog din perspectiva părintelui Dumitru Stăniloae

Author(s): Adrian Ioniţă / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 02/2019

One of the greatest Byzantine mystics, Saint Symeon The New Theologian frequently uses the theme of light in his theology. Saint Symeon The New Theologian uses this word to designate divine light, that is God Himself and all the gifts of His grace. Saint Simeon sees man’s connection with Christ as a living relationship of communion in prayer, and the encounter of man with Christ in the light is the proof of his personalistic Christology. The profound Christological character of his theology is a true source of inspiration for Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s Christology, which considers man’s relationship with God as the conscious approach of the Person of Christ by man, as a dialogue based on love. The merit of Father Stăniloae is to rediscover the theology of Saint Symeon the New Theologian which he valorizes and emphasizes in his own way to make God known to the people of the contemporary society often alienated from God and lacking moral guidelines.

Acatistul Sfântului Dimitrie cel Nou Basarabov - o litanie închinată de Sandu Tudor protectorului capitalei

Author(s): Camelia Suruianu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 10/2017

In 1927, Sandu Tudor will surprise the readers of the magazine “Gândirea” with the publication of a Byzantine poem, known to the faithful as Acatist. More specifically, the writer dedicates an extensive religious poem to the protector of the capital, Saint Demetrius Basarabov the New, whose relics are found in the patriarchal cathedral. The poem fully respects the Byzantine Typicon and canons of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The life of Saint Demetrius is gradually presented to us, with a distinct artistic virtuosity, the text being well supported from the literary point of view, regarding both the suite of metaphors and the vetust language, Sandu Tudor being able to remarkably refine this type of poetry by means of literature.

Enciclica Sfântului şi Marelui Sinod al Bisericii Ortodoxe Creta 2016

Author(s): / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 07/2016

This Encyclical is a theological document issued by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete, Greece, between June 16-27, and deals in seven chapters with current issues regarding the Church's perspective on contemporary realities such as: mission, family, education, the challenges of the contemporary world, globalization and the nature of the Church and dialogue between Christians. The encyclical addresses not only the believers in the Orthodox Church, but also the world as a whole.

Timp și veșnicie, conform învățăturii Părintelui Sofronie

Author(s): Macarie Tillyiridis / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 08/2016

Elder Sophrony according to his own testimony was familiar with the issues of eternity and time. As a young boy he used to converse with his friends with whom he was engaged in such conversations of this great mystery of time and eternity. As he was growing he become even more interested to the unseen, the indefinite, more especially during the time of the First World War. The mystery of eternity and time were deeply occupied a fundamental aspect in his conscience. During our conversation with him, the issue of time was discussed in relation with prayer. The question was when we pray are we outside time? The answer of Elder Sophrony was «We live in the two realities [of prayer and created reality] but we must reach the stale when we ore no longer limited to the created reality». On another occasion Elder Sophrony said that «God never forgets a prayer even we forget it; prayer is an eternal act and always it remains as such». In another question whether is God’s eternity everlasting or outside time, Elder Sophrony answered: „I think that in God there is no duration; He said I am”. He is the creator encompasses all. In other words what Father Sophrony was saying was that although God is outside time. He embraces and encompasses time, ft could be said that He englobes all eternity.

ETHNICITY, CONFESSION, NATION – THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS IN THE HISTORY OF TRANSYLVANIA IN RELIGIOUS LIFE

Author(s): Ioan Chirilă / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The church has had to accept the national division of Europe since the Middle Ages and adapt to this situation. This issue is relatively unclear in the case of Transylvania. N. Iorga stated about the Orthodox Christian consciousness that “it was so strong that it hindered the creation of a strong national consciousness”, and this would allow us to see in the ecclesiastical organization a form of expression of unitary organization of Romanian ethnicity in Transylvania. The time of Transylvanian principalities and voivodeships shows us that most often the ecclesiastical leaders were also the political leaders (see the case of Prince Andrew Báthory who was Archbishop of Warmia – Poland); so, the two concepts of ethnicity and confession reflected the same historical reality during those times. The two concepts will become separated only later, after the emergence of confessions other than the Eastern rite. In support of our statement, we have the correspondence between the Hungarian kings and officials and the papacy. Before dealing with these perspectives, we shall pin down the terminology to grant the reader the possibility to understand the historical situations through a kind of thinking marked by the imprint of the Holy Scripture.

THE GLOBAL RELIGIOUS CONFIGURATION. REALITIES AND FORECASTS

Author(s): Gabriel-Viorel Gârdan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Based on recent research, we aim to present the current global religious configuration, the religious demographic evolution during the twentieth century, and the main trends for the first half of the twenty-first century. From a methodological point of view, we chose to present only those religions that register a share of 1% of the global population, among which we paid increased attention only to Christianity and Islam. The only exception to this rule is Judaism, the reason for advancing this exception being the desire to compare the evolution of the three religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.The purpose of this presentation is to provide a more nuanced picture of the geographical distribution of each religion and, on the other hand, to illustrate the global religious diversity. From a chronological point of view, the landmarks are the years 1910, 1970, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2030, and 2050. The data collected for the years 1910–2014 is the basis of the forecasts for the years 2030 and 2050. The former ones describe the religious realities, while the latter two open up perspectives on the trends in religious demography.We would like to draw attention to the potential of religious demography in deciphering the religious image of the world in which we live. On the other hand, we consider that exploring the global religious profile and the way it evolves, as well as the factors that bring forth change, is not only an opportunity generated by the organic development of religious demography research but also a necessity for rethinking the pastoral and missionary strategies of the church.Religious demographics provide valuable data about the past together with nuanced knowledge of the present, helping us anticipate and even influence the future. The church, at any time, assumes the past, manages the present, and prepares the future. From this perspective, we believe that a strategic pastoral thinking, regardless of religion or denomination, can be organically outlined, starting from the data provided through the means available to religious demography. While religious demography provides specific data, it does not explain the phenomena behind this data; it notes and invites questions, debates, and explanations about religious affiliation, religiosity, and religious behaviour.

Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Repere ale autobiografiei spirituale din spaţiul ortodox în secolele XIX şi XX, Iași, Editura Lumen, 2019, 536 pp. Recenzie

Author(s): Raluca Uilean-Isciuc / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 4-6/2020

This article is a review of Fr. Iuliu Marius Morariu book: „Landmarks of spiritual autobiography from the Orthodox space in the 19th and 20th centuries”, in which he present three important personalities of Orthodox Spirituality: John of Kronstadt, Fr. Siluan the Athonie and Nicolae Berdiaev.

INCORPOREALS IN THE ONTOLOGY OF CREATED BEINGS IN THE BYZANTINE PHILOSOPHY OF MICHAEL PSELLOS

Author(s): Denis Walter / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

In this contribution I tried to show that Psellos has a complex understanding of the ontology of the being of incorporeal entities that is shaped mainly from a Christian position but also supplemented by the methodological use of positions from ancient philosophy. There is surely a lot more to say about this problem, but I think the classical notions of soul or forms cannot be very easily included into Psellos philosophical framework. His discussion with the pagan philosophy is not only complex but depends also on the circumstance and context of the problems he is discussing in specific texts. Regarding incorporeal beings, he seems to advocate the existence of angels and souls while forms do not seem to have an own ontological realm between God and sensible cosmos. The question of Platonic forms as the thoughts of gods is tricky. On the one side Psellos points to God as direct cause of creation, on the other side he holds back on characterizing God’s thoughts.