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Description=The Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox church is located in Baltimore, America and belongs to the Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). ;
author=Dmitriy Kashchenko;
Keywords=Orthodox, Russian Crurch , Transfiguration of Our Lord, Lord, church, Fr. Sheniloff, Transfiguration, Baltimore, ROCOR, Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia;

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erer of mankind from sin damnation and death it became imperative for the infection of sin that had penetrated deeply into the spiritual and physical nature of man to be gradually brought out into the open in order to be completely and perfectly healed by an artful physician would it be reasonable to lead into a brightly lit room right way a person who had grown up in darkness and had never seen light asks st basil the great of course not such a person must be introduced to light gradually made to first see the shadows of objects and to first look at the reflection of the sun in water so that this person would not lose his sight by coming to an immediate vision of pure light in like manner the heavenly caretaker of mankind gradually led it to a perception and comprehension of the mystery of deliverance by the incarnate son of god behold say the holy fathers with what wise fatherly caution did god prepare men for the realization of this great mystery elaborating upon his promise god calls the saviour of the world either the seed of woman that will bruise the serpent s head or the seed of abraham isaac and jacob in whom would be blessed all nations in the world and who would become the conciliator and restorer of the disrupted union between god and man after such a lengthy preparation for the coming of the saviour says apostle paul in his epistle to the galatians when the fullness of time was come for fulfilling the long awaited promise on the salvation of mankind god sent forth his only begotten son born of a woman subjected to the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons receiving the right to once again be called the sons of god through the redeeming sacrifice of christ the saviour people once again received the right to call to god abba thou art our father and since out of slaves people once again became the sons of god this means that people also became the inheritors of god professor g a znamensky christian teaching ascetic of virtue on this day july 19th the holy orthodox church glorified one of its great saints the venerable seraphim wonderworker of sarov the ways of spiritual life are diverse and complex along winding paths does the human spirit return to the abandoned dwelling of the heavenly father to his sanctity that was lost through sin and oftentimes at the very abyss of a sinful fall at the yawning chasm of sin man feels the full horror of his rejection of god and begins to seek salvation from the eternal perdition of his immortal soul to a realization of which he comes at the very last moment this is the path of the eleventh hour arrivals the evangelical parable of the laborers hired at different times of the day the path of publicans prodigal sons adulterers and sinners who at some point in their unclean lives envision and aspire towards the purity and sanctity of a life genuinely established in god in the final analysis this bitter path of sinful experience either spiritually destroys a person or conversely spiritually sobers him up but there is yet another path the path of virtue the path of spiritual purity of a life preserved from beginning to end in chastity a life revealed marked and augmented by continuous spiritual endeavor this is the path of ascetics from youth who have loved god not only outwardly but whole heartedly placing their joyous hope of salvation in him alone saint anthony the great hearing the evangelical summons to discard all the cares and affairs of the world did not take counsel with his flesh and blood but left all and followed after christ hosts of god s saints regarded all the luxuries of this world as dust for the sake of a powerful and unshakeable striving towards the temple of true and supreme heavenly beauty such was the path of saint seraphim from the youth didst thou love christ o blessed one sings the church glorifying the great wonderworker of sarov he loved from his very youth and the saint preserved this love until the very end until his repose at a venerable age his image is the integral image of genuine spiritual virtue in the fullest sense of the word alien to vacillation alien to deviation from the true path in this sense saint seraphim is primarily an ascetic of virtue he is the embodiment of spiritual vigor of genuine spiritual simplicity and in our times the example of his life is especially instructive his prayerful intercession is especially needed the world has become embroiled in complexity is drowning in contradictions has deviated from simplicity in christ and with the entire endeavor of his life the great wonderworker of sarov calls us back to the abandoned path of god to love christ to turn one s heart to him to serve him and not oneself or one s passions such is the path of christian life brethren how terrifying it is to realize and how often it happens that one loves oneself more than god in the final analysis this is a spiritual dead end a second death and the only way out here is to seek simplicity reject oneself take up one s cross no matter how heavy and follow after christ o venerable father seraphim pray to god for us hieromonk methody before the eyes of god s truth reprinted from orthodox russia no 17 2007 coronation of tsar nicholas ii not only the khodynka tragedy the ceremony of the coronation of tsar nicholas ii took place on may 14 1896 old style the meaning of this event is much more profound than simply a tribute to tradition alas in the minds of subsequent generations it was overshadowed by the khodynka catastrophe but still what is meant by anointment to reign is it only a rite confirming the already existing fact of a new sovereign s ascension to the throne what did it mean for tsar nicholas ii what did the khodynka tragedy signify within the perspective of the next the 20th century the subject of anointment to reign demands a serious and thoughtful approach this especially pertains to the coronation of tsar nicholas ii who as is obvious in hindsight was at that same time anointed for his forthcoming martyrdom but no sooner does one start thinking of the anointing of our last tsar that the mind apparently filled with compassion for our fallen compatriots forces us to think of the catastrophe yet it is impossible to disregard a tragedy that took the lives of more than a thousand and a half people it took place on the fourth day after the coronation was as we shall see the result of brief madness on the part of the crowd and according to abbot seraphim kuznetsov presaged a loss of consciousness that caused us after 1917 to trample upon one another not only in thousands but in millions however we may add just as the revolution and civil war in the 20th century which overshadowed the reign of tsar nicholas ii did not cancel out his reign so the khodynka catastrophe did not cancel out the coronation ceremony and its main component the anointing of the sovereign the tsar arrived in moscow on his birthday may 6th old style and stopped at the peter palace which at that time stood on the outskirts of the capital on may 9th the tsar ceremoniously entered moscow the royal couple settled at the alexander palace and prepared for communion all the days remaining before the coronation the day of may 14 1896 arrived and the tsar and the empress were met on the portico of the dormition cathedral by the clergy metropolitan sergius of moscow having blessed the tsar and the empress addressed the sovereign with a speech which traditionally was not only welcoming but also instructive he said thou art entering this ancient and holy temple in order to lay upon thyself a kingly crown and to accept sacred anointment all orthodox christians receive anointment but it is never repeated if thou art due to receive a new imprint of this sacrament then it is only because just as there is nothing higher on earth than kingly power so is there nothing more difficult there is no burden more difficult than kingly service through visible anointment may thou be granted invisible power coming from above and illuminating thy monarchical work for the good and happiness of thy loyal subjects the tsar and the empress kissed the cross and were sprinkled with holy water after which they entered the cathedral accompanied by the singing of the 101st psalm in which is heard a ruler s confession of the ideal of integrity a froward heart shall depart from me whoso privily slandereth his neighbor him will i cut off i will not know a wicked person the tsar and the empress then knelt before the royal doors kissed the miraculous icons and sat down on the thrones that were prepared for them in the middle of the cathedral the rite of coronation began from the moment the primate metropolitan palladius of saint petersburg approached the royal throne and asked the sovereign about his profession of faith in response the emperor pronounced the words of the orthodox creed in a clear and loud voice one of the most important moments of the coronation is the metropolitan s cruciform placement of his hands on the tsar s head and his proffering of a prayer to the lord to anoint the tsar with the chrism of joy to vest him in strength from above to give the scepter of salvation into his hand to set him on the throne of truth after this prayer the sovereign took the crown that was brought to him on a pillow by the metropolitan and in accordance with the rite placed it on his head himself then took a smaller crown and placed it on the head of the empress who knelt before him having confessed his faith and accepted the burden of rule the tsar knelt down and holding the crown in his hand offered the coronation prayer to god after the rite of coronation followed the divine liturgy at the end of it right before communion the tsar and the empress were anointed the repetition of this sacred action which in principle must not be repeated imparted a special status to the tsar a special charisma the tsar now seemed to belong to another higher sphere of existence and his judiciary authority now turned into charismatic authority according to protopriest maxim kozlov the meaning of this sacred rite lay in the fact that the tsar was being blessed by god not only as the head of a government or civil administration but primarily as the bearer of theocratic service of church service as god s vicar on earth moreover the tsar was responsible for the spiritual state of all his subjects protopriest maxim kozlov also reminds us of the teaching of the holy hierarch philaret of moscow on the subject of royal power and on the right attitude of all orthodox subjects towards it he reminds us of the hierarch s words a people that venerates the tsar thereby pleases god for the tsar is a dispensation from god protopriest kozlov goes on to say according to the teaching of hierarch philaret the tsar is the bearer of god s power the power which as it exists on earth is a reflection of god s celestial all sovereign power an earthly kingdom is the image and threshold of the heavenly kingdom and therefore it follows from this teaching that only that earthly society is blessed and contains within it the seed of god s grace spiritualizing and sanctifying this society which has as its head the supreme bearer of power the anointed tsar after the service in the dormition cathedral was over the coronation procession began which included the tsar and the empress visiting the sacred icons of the archangels cathedral and the annunciation cathedral finally the royal personages ascended the red porch and bowed thrice to the people before them to the right and to the left nowadays tsar nicholas is usually regarded as a good man with the addition of but this but may be followed by his being blamed for all our 20th century woes or perhaps not in any case however the following is understood a good man but an incompetent ruler his successes which were acknowledged even by his enemies are now glossed over while there is no thought for his sense of responsibility which is considered to be self evident at the same time in terms of responsibility tsar nicholas ii may be regarded as a model sovereign it was well known that he did not make any decision without checking it against divine law and he never went against his conscience according to currently emerging testimonials even his so called abdication was not real but provoked or even fabricated moreover none of his actions were a manifestation of the notorious weakness that is ascribed to him even to this day but rather a demonstration of strong will and now let us turn to the events on the khodynka field on may 18 1896 from early morning and even from nighttime a huge number of people had gathered here more than half a million people waiting for the distribution of royal gifts up until 6 00 in the morning everything was absolutely peaceful around 6 00 a rumor suddenly spread that there would not be enough gifts for everyone that the concessioners were supposedly stockpiling reserve supplies for themselves then according to an eyewitness the crown sprang up as one man and rushed forward so precipitously as though it were pursued by fire the back rows pressed upon the front ones and whoever fell was trampled upon with people losing the ability to feel that they were treading over still living bodies as though over stones or logs the catastrophe lasted only 10 15 minutes when the crowd reeled back to its senses it was already too late the coronation of the tsar alexander iii took place thirteen years before the coronation of his son and now they prepared for the festivities on the khodynka field just as they had then not expecting such an influx of people the organization of such a mass measure undoubtedly left much to be desired but when one reads the description above one gets the impression that no measures could have saved from such madness like a hundred or fifty years ago to this day there are people who with great pathos blame the governor general of moscow the grand duke serge aleksandrovich although officially he was in no way responsible for the organization of the festivities at khodynka field a n bokhanov s book nicholas ii describes in detail the intrigues that were spun in the house of the romanovs around the name of the grand duke who had many enemies among his own and it was they who ordered the indicated pathos in the canonical list of accusations against tsar nicholas ii the tragedy on the khodynka field occupies perhaps not the most significant place but a quite definite one the tsar was accused and continues to be accused of heartlessness he supposedly did not refuse to attend a ball at the french ambassador s etc let us again cite a n bokhanov who very clearly explains the impossibility for the sovereign to refuse the french party s invitation an official individual is always a helpless hostage to etiquette and protocol it is well known that after may 18th ceremonious measures were curtailed however the calumny regarding the tsar s hea...