The Orthodox Standard Journal

  by Archbishop Wulfstan of York [+1023]  Most beloved brothers, in the Gospel we have heard the Lord calling us to come to Him through free will. He saith: “Come unto Me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” [Matt. 11:28] But the Same Lord testifieth against our weakness when He saith: “No man can come to Me, except the Father Which hath sent Me draw him.” [John 6:33] The Apostle also urges on our free will, saying: “So run, that ye may obtain.” [1 Cor. 9:4] But John testifieth to our weakness when he saith: “ A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven.” (John 3:27) By this, therefore, we should understand (on the one hand) that without God’s Help we can do nothing right, and (on the other) that He alloweth us the power of free choice that we may seek the Lord and obey His Commands. Therefore we may take the example of a farmer working well, when he employeth all his efforts in the cultivation of the field to break up or ploug...

  Let us walk in the prosperity of the light of this day, In the Virtue of the Most High God, the greatest of gods, In the Good Pleasure of Christ, In the Light of the Holy Ghost, In the Faith of the Patriarchs, In the Righteousness of the Prophets, In the Peace of the Apostles, In the Joy of the Angels, In the Splendour of the Saints, In the Works of the Monks In the Virtue of the Just, In the Martyrdom of the Martyrs, In the Chastity of the Virgins, In the Wisdom of God, In much patience, In abstinence of the flesh, In continence of the tongue, In the abundance of peace, In the Praises of the Trinity, In acute senses, In ever good actions, In spiritual forms, In Divine words, In blessings, In this is the path of all laboring for Christ, Who leadeth the Saints, after their departure, eternally into Joy, That I may hear the voice of the Angels praising God and saying: Holy, Holy, Holy! [From the 9th Century Anglo-Saxon Book of Cerne, a prayer book of Bishop Aedeluald] SOURCES: http...

  by Bishop Enoch Vicar of the Metropolitan in the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia     of North & South America and the British Isles   Dr. Joseph Julian Overbeck “ History was always the weak point of the Jesuits, and consequently of the Papists. If this nasty and troublesome stumbling-block could be cleared away altogether, Romanism would be irrefutable. But it is with history as with conscience. Could the criminal only clear away his provokingly uncomfortable conscience, he would be a perfectly happy man. History is the conscience of mankind, and Rome by falsifying it has sealed her own doom .” (pg. 64, “A Plain View of the Claims of the Orthodox Catholic Church As Opposed To All Other Christian Denomination, by Dr. Joseph Julian Overbeck, published in 1881) Dr. Overbeck’s statement illustrates the fact that Papism’s claims to being the Church Christ established are fundamentally and exclusively built upon forgery and subterfuge. Every attempt by Papism...

,  Troparion of the Cross in Tone I — O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance./ Grant victory unto Orthodox Christians over their adversaries,/ and by virtue of Thy Cross,// pre­serve Thy habitation. Kontakion in Tone IV — O Thou Who wast lifted up willingly on the Cross,/ bestow Thy mercies upon the new community named after Thee, O Christ God./ Gladden by Thy power Orthodox Christians/ granting them victory over enemies.// May they have as Thy help the invincible trophy, the weapon of peace. 

  The Christian epic poem known as the "Muspilli" survives in fragmentary form in a 9th century Bavarian manuscript; the Old German text describes what happens to the soul after death, the events of the end times, the battle between the Prophet St. Elias and the Antichrist, Second Coming of Christ with the Resurrection, and the Last Judgment.  It is possible the text was meant to be sung by bards and others, in a similar fashion to the work of Caedmon in England.  What I find important, however, is the witness it gives to the popular and ancient Christian belief that, after death, the souls of men are disputed over by angels and demons; this belief was so deeply ingrained among Christians not only in the Middle East, or in England, but also among the Old Germans, that it found consistent expression in Latin and vernacular poems, homilies, etc.  Here is the relevant text, as well as some of the important sections: "...his day comes, when he has to die.   Imm...

  “We have heard that He Who gave life to creatures laid down His Own Life for the salvation of mortal men. We have heard that God, Who is Impervious to suffering, Undertook Suffering in the Flesh on behalf of sinners. We have heard that He Who is Co-Eternal with the Father endured the punishment of death. What a Price beyond measure, redeeming the human race! What an Holocaust, allowing us to escape eternal flames! First there was the death which brought ruin, and then the End which brought abiding good without end; for when Satan, the dart of death, emerged against the Innocent One, the result was that he rightly lost those whom he held in subjection. Hell swallowed up its own destruction like fish, and when it thought it was obtaining plunder it was deceived and obtained the Plunderer instead. This is why Pope Leo [the Great], who was equal to his See, said so splendidly: ‘Though the death of many Martyrs was precious in the Sight of the Lord, the slaughter of no innocent man br...

  The French Monk, Bernard the Wise [circa 875 AD], made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem around the year 870 AD. Bernard visited during the time of Patriarch Theodosius of Jerusalem, who was Patriarch from 864 to 879. Here Monk Bernard records the Miracle of the Holy Fire: " However, this should be told that on Holy Saturday, i.e., Pascha Eve, the Office is begun early in this church, and after the Office is done, Kyrie eleison is chanted, until by the coming of an Angel, the light is kindled in the lamps that hang above the aforesaid Sepulchre. The Patriarch gives this Fire to the Bishops and to the rest of the people, that each may with it light up his own home. This Patriarch was called Theodosius, who for the merit of his devoutness, was carried by the Christians from his Monastery, distant 15 miles from Jerusalem, and made Patriarch over all Christians in the Land of Promise ." from the  The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society https://archive.org/details/cu319...

            https://iconreader.wordpress.com/ Nativity of the Theotokos, falling on Saturday, begins to be celebrated at Vespers tonight:   "Thy Nativity, O Virgin Bearer of God, hath proclaimed joyful tidings unto all the world; for from thee hath arisen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ Our God; Who, taking away the curse, hath bestowed a blessing, and, despoiling death, hath given unto us life everlasting."  [Antiphon for First Vespers for Nativity of the Theotokos (and for Terce throughout the Octave)] Eastern Church's Troparion  Tone 4:  Thy nativity, O Theotokos Virgin, / hath proclaimed joy to all the world; / for from thee hath dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, / annulling the curse, and bestowing the blessing, //abolishing death and granting us life eternal.

taken from Anslem House The  12th century English historian, Henry of Huntingdon, a married priest, records the attempt by Anselm to abolish the traditional married priesthood in England:  "In the same year [1102) Archbishop Anselm held a Council in London at Michaelmas [29 September], in which he forbade English priests to have wives, which had not been prohibited before. This seemed to some to be the greatest purity, but to others there seemed a danger that if they sought a purity beyond their capacity, they might fall into horrible uncleanness, to the utter disgrace of the Christian name." ("The History of the English People", Book III, Ch. 24)   The attempts to implement the Hildebrandian ['Gregorian'] Reforms in England were to continue, several years later with a Roman Cardinal attempting the same:  ""At Easter [29 March, 1125], John of Crema, a Roman cardinal, arrived in England. He travelled round the bishoprics and abbeys, receiving la...

  "In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)  "He [St. John] is the last Evangelist chronologically, but he is the first to begin with the Source of the Mystery, for he alone of the Four Rivers begins his course from the Very Highest and Divine Source, thundering forth from a lofty cloud: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' He rises higher than Moses, who with mental eye extends the boundaries of knowledge to the origin of the world and the beginnings of visible creatures. He flies higher than the other Evangelists, who begin the Gospel of the Resurrection with the human lineage of the Saviour, or from the prefiguring sacrifice of the Law, or from the prophetic proclamation of Christ's Forerunner, John the Baptist. He reached the Very Heavens and did not halt even at the Angels, but mounting above Archangels and all created beings--Virtues, Principalities, Dominati...

  Pater Noster cord The short answer is "No"; however, people bring up the use of the Pater Noster beads / cords from the 8th century; but, this ultimately isn't the Rosary, since the Rosary is far more than using a prayer rope or beads to say the Angelic Salutation. What is ultimately meant by the Rosary is using meditative techniques, the attempts to imagine one self present at the declaration of mysteries, and such, these are real problems that will produce spiritual delusions. Saying the Angelic Salutation, and other prayers numerous time, like saying "O God, be attentive unto helping me; O Lord, make haste to help me.." dozens or more times, is definitely ancient since the Ancient and Medieval Monastic Fathers talk about it.  Again, I am never quite sure that everyone has the same meaning by "Rosary"; if by Rosary they mean the way modern RC's do it, then, I don't think in that form, it goes back much before the 15th century.  If they mean...

  For the first time ever, the complete monastic hours of the rule of St Benedict according to the use of Orthodox England at the time of the great schism, together with the pre-Sarum Masses of the ancient monasteries of Sherborne and Worcester, are being made available in complete form online for inspection, use and edification of the Orthodox public. Three decades worth of painstaking research, translation and spiritual labor under the supervision and guidance of Metropolitan ( then,  Archbishop) John (Lobue) of New York and New Jersey of the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas & British Isles are now being released for online consumption.  (excerpted from ABOUT from this blog) Visit The Rites of Orthodox England by clicking on the banner above.

In the [Muslim] Saracen encampment they asked St. Cyril [Enlightener of the Slavs] (who reposed in 869): “How can Christians wage war and at the same time keep Christ’s commandment to pray to God for their enemies?’ To this, St. Cyril replied : “If two commandments were written in one law and given to men for fulfilling, which man would be a better follower of the law: The one who fulfilled one commandment or the one who fulfilled both?’ The Saracens replied: “Undoubtedly, he who fulfills both commandments.” St. Cyril continued: “Christ our God commands us to pray to God for those who persecute us and even do good to them, but He also said to us, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). That is why we bear the insults that our enemies cast at us individually and why we pray to God for them. However, as a society, we defend one another and lay down our lives, so that the enemy would not enslave our brethren, would not e...

  [10th / 11th Century Anglo-Saxon Prayer / Antiphon on the Holy Cross from the Service to the Holy Cross from the Pre-Conquest English Winchester Prayer Book of Abbot Aelfwine] "Thy Cross we adore, O Lord, and Thine Holy Resurrection we praise and glorify; Thou Who didst deign to be Born, to Suffer, to Die, and Rise Again from the dead; save us and have mercy on us. May the Sign of Thy Cross be upon us and defend us from all evils past, present, and future, both within and without through the Sign of Thine Holy Cross; and deliver us from all persecutions, and through this Sign of the Cross lay prostrate enemies and drive off the demons. Through this Sign of the Cross deliver us from the dangers of the world. O Cross, Life to me! O Cross, Health to me! O Cross, Resurrection to me, unto eternal life. Amen."   The Aelfwine Prayer Book is currently set into a print edition by the Henry Bradshaw Society, and can be purchased from them.

  An Traditionalist Critique of  Fr. Peter Kavanaugh's  (pastor of St. Benedict Orthodox Church in Wichita Falls, Texas} video "The Honest TRUTH About The Western Rite" by His Grace Bishop Enoch of the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas & British Isles.

  By Gustave Doré - https://santatizing.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/the-one-to-be-sacrificed-is-laughter/crucifixion-dore/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49740042 That Death was precious beyond the power of human thought, and yet the Saviour yielded Himself to be sold to His murderers for a trifling sum, so that even this should be full of poverty and dishonour for Him. By being bought He willed to share the lot of a slave and be subject to outrageous treatment. He considered it gain to be dishonoured for our sake; by being sold for a trifling sum He would indicate that He came freely, as a Gift, to Suffer Death for the world. Willingly He Died, having wronged no one either for the sake of His Own Life or for the common good, supplying graces to His murderers far greater than they could wish or hope for. "But why do I mention these things? It is God Who Died; it was God's Blood Which was Shed upon the Cross. What could be more Precious than This D...

September 1. Feast of St. Giles the Hermit-Priest of Provence and Septimania St. Giles, originally coming from a noble family in Greece in the 600s, was an holy priest and monk. The name "Giles" is a French form of the Greek name "Aegidius". Once when St. Giles came to church, he saw a sick man, who begged alms. St. Giles gave him his coat, and by a miracle the sick begger was healed. In time his parents reposed in the Lord However, he fled Greece to seek solitude in a distant land; he came to Arles, but, even in this city, so distant from his home, he left further, and came deep into the forest, where he dwelt unknown by man (but known by angels) for several years.  Here in the solitude of his forest, he had the companionship of a kindly red deer, which by a miracle likened unto that of Adam in Paradise, gave him milk. St. Giles ate only the herbs of the forest, again living like Adam; for he would eat nothing, fish or otherwise, that was living. His wa...

from Traditional Western Orthodoxy on YouTube  Preface of Address to Giving the Our Father to the Catechumen from our Western Orthodox Roman Catechumenate Service prior to Baptism:    The Priest then gives the following explanation concerning the Our Father:  Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, among the rest of His Saving Precepts, when His Disciples asked Him how they ought to pray, not only gave them a form of prayer, but also shewed them with what intention and purity they should pray, as the lesson hath made known to [thee] you in fulness.   Beloved, hear now in what manner He teacheth His Disciples to pray to God the Father Almighty: “ Then when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father. ” When He speaks of a closet, He does not mean some hidden room, but the secret recess of the heart; that is, He would have us shut our breast from every evil thought by the mystical key of faith; and, with closed lips,...

visit the YouTube site of the Traditional Western Orthodoxy  

Listen on YouTube   Metropolitan John discusses with Bishop Enoch, and explains the principles of our Western Rite Orthodoxy; and, thus, why our Church (the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia) rejects the Book of Common Prayer and Anglican liturgics and practice. This interview premiered on Feb 29, 2024.

  Analysis of the ROCOR-MP Western Rite then Hieromonk Fr. Enoch ( now Vicar Bishop of  Apshawa) Continuing Problems with ROCOR-MP Western Rite: Historical and Modern Perspectives  (Originally written in 2010; thus referenced then.) Ever since the ROCOR-MP approved wholesale the adoption of the 'Western Rite' in the past two years, they have been plagued by a number of problems. Perhaps the biggest problem is that the ROCOR-MP as a whole, not just the Western rite segment, are in grave theological error (that is, to be blunt, heresy) due to their union with and acceptance of the Moscow Patriarchate and all the Patriarchates. This is the overriding issue, which, if not solved, will mean that any further critique will merely be 'academic' at best. The other problem is that they (ROCOR-MP WR) have no idea what they are doing, as regards the 'Western Rite'. They allow multitudinous different forms, which in itself isn't bad. However they go from bad to worse, ...