ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY THEN AND NOW: July 2021

July 31, 2021

Saint Panteleimon and Elder Simon Arvanitis Help Remove a Car Stuck on a Mountain

The following testimony is recorded in the book of Monk Zosimas, disciple of Elder Simon Arvanitis, titled Hieromonk Simon Arvanitis (1901-1988), His Life and Works. Elder Simon was the founder and abbot of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon in Penteli. This and many other stories like it shows the living presence of Saint Panteleimon at his Monastery.

One day I had gone to Father Zosimas, who was then living in the small Church of the Holy Evangelist Luke, behind the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon in Penteli.

On Sunday, when I was returning from the mountain, at a turn I saw an abandoned Toyota car. The driver, who was a shepherd, stopped me and begged me to help him; the car was stuck and it was impossible for the two of us to get it out.

Saint Panteleimon Delivers a Portion of his Relics to Elder Simon Arvanitis

At the consecration of the Church of Saint Panteleimon, Panteli came loaded with deliveries for it, as usual.

As he went to turn where the iconostasis shrine is, a young man stopped him and gave him a box with Holy Relics. He said to Panteli:

"Give these to the Elder."

July 30, 2021

A Uniquely Cypriot Icon of Saint Paraskevi

In Cyprus there are two churches from the 15th-16th century that depict Saint Paraskevi holding an icon of Christ known as "Extreme Humility", showing him dead and being taken down from the Cross. This style dates back to the 13th century. In most other icons of Saint Paraskevi she usually holds a Cross in her right hand to indicate her martyrdom, and in her left hand she holds a plate with eyes to indicate her particular gift to heal ailments of the eyes.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece Canonizes 51 New Saints

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the martyrdom of Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V (+ April 10, 1821) and following the proposals of the Metropolitans of Patras, Lefkada and Chios, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece decided to include in the list of Saints the other seven Hierarchs who were hanged with him.

All together, fifty-one new Saints were proclaimed on 15 July 2021 by the Church of Greece, after a thorough study of the files submitted by the Metropolitans through the Synodal Committee for Nomocanonical and Dogmatic Issues.

How Saint George Karslides Once Celebrated the Feast of the Prophet Elijah

During the years of the Bulgarian occupation (1941-1944), mother Argyro lived in the monastery near the Elder George Karslides and took care of him. One night, around 2:20 a.m., a loud noise was heard as if the wall of the church had fallen. She was afraid that the Bulgarians might come to kill the Elder, but she saw that the church was locked. She went out into the courtyard, but the Elder was nowhere to be found. She went to the corner of the fence and there she saw approaching something flying in the air wearing black.

Smiling Bolsheviks at the Scene of the Brutal Murder of Tsar Nicholas and his Family

In the late 1920s and 1930s, it was common for the Communist Party apparatchiks (obedient executives who held various state positions) to go to the Ipatiev House in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg) in large tour groups.

July 29, 2021

Fr. Stephanos Dalianis, Parish Priest to Hundreds of Lepers, Has Reposed

Fr. Stephanos Dalianis received particular attention during the pandemic when he gave video testimony of his nearly half a century of service at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in West Attica, which is famous among Orthodox Christians for treating the leprosy of Saint Nikephoros the Leper and Elder Eumenios Saridakis, who served as parish priest there for the lepers during his life and with whom Fr. Stephanos served behind the altar and who was his spiritual father.

Holy Confessor Matrona Belyakova of Anemnyasevo (+ 1936)

St. Matrona of Anemnyasevo (Feast Day - July 29)

Matrona was born on November 6, 1864 in the village of Anemnyasevo, of the Ryazan province, to her peasant farming parents Gregory and Eudokia, who were physically frail and underdeveloped. Her family was considered the poorest in the village, and her father was a bitter drunkard. After seven years, Matrona suddenly fell ill with smallpox. The parents did not treat the girl, and after an illness she went blind.

July 28, 2021

Saint Irene Chrysovalantou: The Saint of Miracles

By Fr. Elias Makos

A source of consolation, in the difficult days we live in, is Saint Irene Chrysovalantou, with her many miracles recorded by various testimonies and whose memory the Church celebrates on July 28.

Although she had an enviable position in Byzantine society, although she was a sought-after bride, although she enjoyed the admiration of the world because of her kindness, although she was rich, she chose the freedom of the soul.

After a visit to the Monastery of Chrysovalantou, she made the decisive to become a nun. What she had and did not have she gave to the poor and left herself in the hands of God.

July 24, 2021

Ten New Important Updates and Announcements - Part 2 (July 2021)

Dear Readers:

My apologies for the long delay in getting back to my updating you on some recent developments. It's not till you interrupt your normal schedule to attend other neglected matters that you realize just how much you have neglected, which basically means I need better time management for my busy life.

As I said in my last post earlier this month, I made some significant updates to announce to you. They are as follows:

1. I had mentioned that the email subscriptions to all the websites of the Mystagogy Resource Center will be terminated, which is something completely out of my control. I was first informed this would take place in July, but now I am told this will take place in mid-August. I found another way for you to get your daily email updates, so please submit your email if you want to be subscribed in the pop up when you log in and I will make sure you continue to receive the email updates after mid-August.

2. The Praxis and Theoria website is primarily a personal website where I share personal stories, and I told you last time I was making public a new Twitter account to supplement this website, which will just feature random posts I make about everything but ecclesiastical or theological matters, so if you are interested, just look up my name John Sanidopoulos on Twitter and subscribe. The Mystagogy Resource Center Twitter account of course still exists and there the focus will continue to be ministry related.

3. Many have expressed their ambivalence to using Paypal to subscribe with a monthly or annual donation to the Mystagogy Resource Center, for one reason or another. As an alternative, you can now become a monthly subscriber through Patreon and by this means show your support for my work. To become a subscriber, click on the Patreon icon at the DONATE link above or towards the bottom of this website. However, to make a one time donation, you will still need to go through Paypal or send a check, as Patreon does not allow one time donations. Remember, this ministry exists only because of your financial support.

4. Last time I had mentioned opening up a store where books and possibly other items can be purchased. At the link above I made a beginning towards doing this, but will wait till I have a few published items of my own to begin, which should not be long from now. It is called Apollos Publishing. Click on the link and see why I named it after one of my favorite New Testament figures.

5. As you probably noticed at the top of this page, I have renamed this specific website to Orthodox Christianity Then and Now, which is how this page should be referred to from now on. I wanted something simple, self-explanatory and easy to remember, and this was the first title that came to my mind. The Mystagogy Resource Center should not be confused with only one website, but it is a combination of all the websites together. The main website for the Mystagogy Resource Center is www.mystagogyresourcecenter.com, not johnsanidopoulos.com which is obviously the most used and popular.

6. Two new websites have been added to the Mystagogy Resource Center, which can be accessed through this website at the left bar or on the main website. They are actually old websites I was going to use to publish books for paying members, but since that did not work out, as I explained last time, I am now using them another way. KNOW THYSELF will now become a website where I will focus on moral and ethical issues from an Orthodox Christian perspective, while SALVATION OF SINNERS will be a free website open to all where I will begin publishing books online as I translate them or prepare them. Next month I will announce the books I will be working on.

7. My website NEW MYRIOBIBLON, which is exclusively dedicated to Book Reviews, will now increasingly include my own book reviews, since publishers and writers are now sending me books, plus I will include books I am personally reading. Book Reviews from the past that I like authored by others will continue.

8. I have new information about advertising on this site, which you can read at the link above titled ADVERTISE.

9. At the top left or right bar of each of my websites I now have a stamp with a link to the main page indicating that this website is part of the Mystagogy Resource Center, and if this stamp is missing then it has nothing to do with me. Many confuse other Orthodox websites with being mine, so this should eliminate any confusion. Plus, only websites linked from my main website www.mystagogyresource center.com belong to me.

10. Please familiarize yourself with all the websites in order to be aware and receive all the benefits of the Mystagogy Resource Center. I still get emails from people telling me they have been reading my website for years but just discovered there were other websites.

Thank you for reading and I will return to my regular posting early next week. I am anxious to do so.

With love in Christ,

John Sanidopoulos

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July 1, 2021

Updates and Announcements - Part 1 (July 2021)

Dear Readers,

It's been many months since I last kept you up to date with any updates and announcements. I've been a bit busy with other things, but now that I see some time opening up for me I saw it as a good time to make these updates and announcements.

1. First thing I need to inform you about is that as of July 2021, if you are an email subscriber and receive daily updates through email from the Mystagogy Resource Center, you will no longer receive any emails. This is not my choice, but it is something Google is shutting down and not offering any more. I know there are hundreds of email subscribers and this is how you are notified daily of any new posts, so this is a big setback. Good news is, though, that I will be offering a new way for all of you to subscribe and receive these daily email updates. I will give more details about this in Part 2.

2. Many of you are aware of a website I started as part of the Mystagogy Resource Center that is titled Praxis and Theoria. It is meant to be a place where I talk about more personal and random things as well as my opinions on various matters outside of ecclesiastical issues. Originally it was supposed to coincide with me starting a new personal Twitter account, but Twitter is such a toxic place I decided to hold off. Though Twitter has not improved, I've decided to move forward with it and will be launching my own personal account in the coming days. I will give more details about this in Part 2.

3. Months ago I informed you of my plans to start translating entire books, and to post these translations as I make them before I formally publish them. This could only be accessed by private members with a paid subscription. However, just as I was ready to begin, particularly because there was a lot more interest than I anticipated, I was informed that I could not have more than a hundred private subscribers per website. This is something I did not know about, and I have been trying to find a solution around it, but after searching and making inquiries, there apparently is no real solution for the way I want to do it. Apparently you have to have your own servers to do it, but I have no idea how that stuff works, so it is not an option. My only choice therefore is to not make it a private membership and to make it public, but the whole point of me doing it was to get additional funding for my efforts, and I know from experience that most people will not pay for what they can get for free. But it looks like this is how it is going to go. In Part 2 I will explain in more detail how this will come about.

4. Due to popular demand, I will be offering another way to accept online payments and donations besides Paypal. See Part 2 for more details.

5. One of the most common requests I get is how to purchase various items of an ecclesiastical nature. This has led me to the idea of just starting my own store. I'm currently figuring out how to do this and hope to have more information about this soon, hopefully by the time Part 2 comes out.

I wanted to limit my Updates and Announcements to only five items at this time, and after giving you a taste of what's to come here in Part 1, be sure to read Part 2 to see how these changes and updates will come about and what you need to do and be aware of. I should be back next week with Part 2.

Lastly, as you know, every year before Christmas as winter approaches and after Easter as summer approaches I do a fundraiser for the ongoing work of the Mystagogy Resource Center. Because of all the hardships we have gone through, I decided to only have one fundraiser this year, at Christmas, so I will not be doing a second mailing and full fundraiser. However, for those who are able, your financial assistance goes a long way and would be much appreciated, therefore I am providing the links and information below for all those who wish to offer their financial assistance and keep this ministry alive and improving. The work of the Mystagogy Resource Center is fully supported by all of you.

Till next time,

John Sanidopoulos