Il grande miracolo della Santa Luce

[Qoelèt]

Cari amici, vorrei segnalarvi alcuni link molto interessanti sul grande miracolo della Luce Santa:
http://www.holylight.gr/agiofos/holyli.html
http://digilander.iol.it/ortodossia/SantaLuce/film.htm
http://www.holylight.1821.gr/HOLYFIRE94/

Uno dei più eccezionali miracoli che continuano ripetendosi fino al nostro tempo è la discesa del Fuoco Santo sulla Tomba del Signore a Gerusalemme nel corso del Vespro che il Grande Sabato apre la Domenica della Resurrezione. Questo miracolo è conosciuto in corso dei molti secoli dall'antichità.
A proposito del miracolo parlano già San Gregorio di Nissa (+394), San Giovanni di Damasco (+780) e lo storico della Chiesa Eusebio di Cesarea (secolo IV).
Nella vigilia di Pasqua, durante il Vespro della sera del Grande e Santo Sabato, il Patriarca Ortodosso di Gerusalemme, o in sua impossibilità un altro Vescovo Ortodosso, entra nel Sepolcro con le candele spente, dopo aver tolto tutti i paramenti eccetto lo sticario ed essere stato accuratamente perquisito dalle autorità civili, prima turche ora israeliane, senza mitra e prega davanti alla Tomba. Anche l'edicola del Sepolcro è stata perquisita e fermata con sigilli su cui tutte le Comunità comproprietarie della basilica, nonché le autorità civili appongono l'impronta del loro timbro. Subito o dopo qualche ora di preghiera, sul marmo che ora ricopre la lastra del Sepolcro Glorioso appaiono scintille come perline o gocce luminose. Il patriarca raccoglie queste gocce di Fuoco con l'ovatta e accende le candele. In un istante il Fuoco s'è propagato nella chiesa. Meraviglioso è che il Fuoco non brucia per 10-15 minuti, né abiti, né capelli. Molti peregrini raccontano che hanno provato ad infuocare la propria barba senza riuscirci. Alcuni dicono che si può anche respirare questo Fuoco.
Il Fuoco appare soltanto al patriarca Ortodosso o ad un Vescovo delegato. Una volta gli Armeni misero fuori della chiesa del Sepolcro gli Ortodossi per ricevere il Fuoco da soli e furono disonorati da Dio. Un certo Huri Fosi, arabo, scrisse nel 1910: "Invano gli Armeni invocavano Dio, il Fuoco non voleva discendere. All'improviso s'udì un rimbombo del tuono e dalla colonna di marmo, presso la quale era il patriarca Ortodosso, apparve il Fuoco." Questo fuoco, come un fulmine fendè la colonna come ancor oggi si può vedere.
I Cattolici non hanno mai il coraggio di provare a ricevere il Fuoco sulla Tomba, ma non vogliono farne parola, anzi, fanno finta di niente. Però ci sono testimonianze antiche anche dei cattolici; ad esempio del monaco Bernardo (secolo IX) e papa Urbano II (secolo XI).
Bisogna dire che Cattolici e Ortodossi celebrano la Pasqua secondo stili diversi e quindi a date diverse. La Chiesa Ortodossa vive secondo il calendario vecchio (Giuliano), mentre il Cattolicesimo usa lo stile nuovo (calendario Gregoriano) dal 1582. Ora, il Fuoco Santo appare soltanto alla Pasqua secondo lo stile vecchio, cioe' Ortodosso.
Come dice la Tradizione, la discesa del Fuoco Santo avra' fine prima dell'Apocalisse.
Questo miracolo rappresenta una sfida alla scienza ed anche alla incredulità del nostro secolo, perché chiunque può andare a Gerusalemme e constatare di persona.
Ma si preferisce non farlo. Domandiamoci il perché.

[Qoelèt]

Il grande miracolo dell'apparizione della Santa Croce Luminosa su Atene nel 1925 a protezione dei vecchiocalendaristi



IN THE EARLY 1900's, and especially in the 1920's, there were strong anti-Church and secularist forces in power in Greece and in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Among the actions of these forces, there was introduced, by force, the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is adequate for the functions of business, the stock-exchange, and other worldly, secular activities. Liturgically, however, it is practically useless, even harmful. It is in no way possible to reconcile the Gregorian calendar with our canonical, Orthodox Christian Paschalion. Moreover, the introduction of a Church calendar change by a local church created an unacceptable liturgical disunity within the Church Itself.

Vast numbers of the people of Greece refused to accept these anticanonical, anti-Church changes being forced upon them by state police power. Such people suffered, and continue to suffer persecution, imprisonment and deprivation at the hands of secular police powers. But the spiritual eyes of true Orthodox Christians saw clearly even if, at the time, they did not completely comprehend the evil of the new calendar. It was a forerunner and a sign of the greatest heresy in the history of the world—
Ecumenism. Many people, however, became confused. Some began to waver. Just as the Arians were in control of the worldly power in 351 and were able to force their heresy upon the empire, so now, the calendar renovationists controlled the worldly power of Greece. In such a troubled and dangerous time, the All-Merciful God heeded the needs of His people. Again, as in 351, God sent a wondrous apparition of the sign of the All-Honourable Cross to seal the truth and put the false teachers to shame.

The appearance of the sign of the Cross took place in this manner:

In 1925, on the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the All-Honourable and Life-giving Cross of our Saviour, 14 September according to the Orthodox Church calendar, the all-night vigil was served at the church of St. John the Theologian in suburban Athens. By 9 o'clock that evening, more than 2,000 of the true-Orthodox faithful had gathered in and around the church for the service, since very few true-Orthodox churches had been accidentally left open by the civil authorities. Such a large gathering of people could not, however, go unnoticed by the authorities. Around eleven P.M. the authorities dispatched a battalion of police to the church "to prevent any disorders which might arise from such a large gathering." The gathering was too large for the police to take any direct action or to arrest the priest at that time and so they joined the crowd of worshippers in the already over-flowing courtyard of the church.

Then, regardless of the true motives for their presence, against their own will, but according to the Will which exceeds all human power, they became participants in the miraculous experience of the crowd of believers.

At 110 P.M., there began to appear in the heavens above the church, in the direction of North-East, a bright, radiant Cross of light. The light not only illuminated the church and the faithful but, in its rays, the stars of the clear, cloudless sky became dim and the church-yard was filled with an almost tangible light. The form of the Cross itself was an especially dense light and it could be clearly seen as a Byzantine cross with an angular cross bar toward the bottom. This heavenly miracle lasted for half an hour, until midnight, and then the Cross began slowly to raise up vertically, as the cross in the hands of the priest does in the ceremony of the Elevation of the Cross in church. Having come straight up, the Cross began gradually to fade away.

The human language is not adequate to convey what took place during the apparition. The entire crowd fell prostrate upon the ground with tears and began to sing prayers, praising the Lord with one heart and one mouth. The police were among those who wept, suddenly discovering, in the depths of their hearts, a childlike faith. The crowd of believers and the battalion of police were transformed into one, unified flock of faithful. All were seized with a holy ecstasy.

The vigil continued until four A.M., when all this human torrent streamed back into the city, carrying the news of the miracle because of which they were still trembling and weeping.

Many of the unbelievers, sophists and renovationists, realizing their sin and guilt, but unwilling to repent, tried by every means to explain away or deny this miracle. The fact that the form of the cross had been so sharply and clearly that of the Byzantine (sometimes called the Russian Cross) Cross, with three cross-bars, the bottom one at an angle, completely negated any arguments of accidental physical phenomenon.

The fact that such an apparition of the Cross had also occurred during the height of the first great heresy must strike the Orthodox with an especial sense of the magnitude of the importance of the calendar question and of all that is connected with it. No sensible person can discuss this issue lightly, with secular reasoning or with worldly arguments. Renovationists, like the Arians in 351, are left without extenuation or mitigation.



Reprinted from Orthodox Life, Vol. 22, No. 2 (March-April, 1972), pp. 18-20.


Eyewitness Accounts of the Appearance of the Cross over the Church of St. John the Theologian at Mt. Hymettus, September 14, 1925
was one of the men from the Police Institute who were sent to stop the vigil that night, some fifty years ago, at the country Church of St. John the Theologian.

The Old Calendarists were keeping vigil there, because it was the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross (according to the Church Calendar, not the papist! -ed.)

Since many people had gathered - more than two thousand individuals - we did not attempt to seize the priest as we had been ordered, but we sat down quietly in the nearby court and waited for them to finish.

At about 110 at night, we heard a loud and strange uproar coming from the shouts of the multitude. Without any delay, we ran to see what was happening - and we saw. The whole multitude of the faithful was in a state of excitement. Some were weeping and others, crying out “Lord, have mercy,” were kneeling and had turned their eyes toward heaven, and yet others were fainting, overwhelmed with great emotion. Then we too looked and beheld the marvel: an enormous radian Cross, very high above the church was illumining the whole area. At first, we were seized with fear, but immediately we came to ourselves and, forgetting the purpose for which we had been sent, we fell to our knees and wept like little children.

Of course, it is superfluous for me to tell you that, filled with emotion, we attended the rest of the vigil to the end - no longer as persecutors, but as faithful Christians. In the morning when we returned to the Institute, we told everyone about the great marvel which we had been deemed worthy to see. Afterwards there was an investigation and all of us swore under oath that we had seen the Precious Cross clearly, high in the sky.

John D. Glymis
Retired Police Officer,
78 years of age
73 Aristotle Street
Peristeri ( a suburb of Athens)

On that night in 1925 when the Precious Cross appeared, I was making the last run with the tram which I was operating. I had reached Omonoia and was going around the square when I saw everyone looking up toward heaven and crying, “Look! - the Cross! - the Cross!” Immediately I stepped on the brakes and stopped the vehicle. I stuck my head out the tram’s door and I, the unworthy one, also saw the Precious Cross of Our Lord - may His Name be glorified; it was shining over Mount Hymettus. I don’t remember how long this lasted. I know only one thing - the Precious Cross which I saw the night turned me into a different man. Since then, everyone in my family has become a faithful child of the Church of the True Orthodox Christians.
Athanasios Primals
Retired Tram Conductor,
80 years of age
17 Kavales Street
Nicea (a suburb of Athens)



SIGNS FROM GOD ABOUT THE TRADITIONAL CALENDAR
Many signs and wonders from God also took place among the people, so that it might become clear that our Lord Himself did not disdain to be found among the simple and unlettered, but fervent and faithful souls whom Metaxakis and Papadopoulos mocked and derided for becoming agitated over such trivial matters. One of the most astounding signs from God took place during the all-night vigil for the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross, in the year 1925. In the little country chapel of St. John the Theologian at the foot of Mt. Hymettue (which was then miles outside of Athens, but which is now deep within the city limits-so much has the city grown. The section is called St. John Holargos) over two thousand people had gathered to celebrate the feast according to the old calendar reckoning. When Archbishop Papadopoulos got wind of it, he sent a message to the Minister of Interior Affairs, who in turn sent the police to disperse the crowd and arrest the priest. When the police arrived and saw the size of the crowd, they decided to wait until the morning to arrest the priest. At midnight, just when the procession for Litya was taking place, the people who were standing outside in the court of the little chapel suddenly saw a giant cross forming in the heavens directly above their heads. The Cross, which was lying horizontally, stretched from the little chapel to above the peak of Mt. Hymettus, and was in the form of the Byzantine Cross, with three straight cross-bars. When the people saw it-it was most brilliant and radiant in appearance-they all cried out in fear. The procession and the service came to a stop, and the people fell on their knees weeping and chanting Kyrie eleison. The police, also, became so terrified that they literally threw down their weapons and with tears began to pray with the others. For a half-hour the Cross remained thus in the sky and then slowly began to raise itself until it finally stood straight up and down, and then it slowly disappeared. The next day, the Athenian newspapers printed a full report with sketches showing how the Cross appeared above the chapel. Such a sign has not taken place since the vision of St. Constantine, and also since the year 346, when the Cross was seen in the heavens stretching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives, when St. Cyril was bishop of Jerusalem. The reaction to the appearance of this Cross over Mt. Hymettue was characteristic. The pious became more pious; the others simply shrugged their shoulders or tried to explain it away as a phenomenon brought about by some natural causes. It was this way when our Savior worked miracles in the presence of thousands; why should it be different when He worked this miracle? We ourselves know some of the people who were at that vigil and who are still alive today. One of them became a nun and received the name Martha. She, incidentally, still follows the old calendar.


A CALL TO ORTHODOXY
The word "Orthodox" comes from two Greek words: "Orthos" which means straight, and "doxa", which means belief and/or worship. The combination of these two words has come to mean the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that remained the same throughout the centuries. This Church is the only Christian Faith which bears the belief, teaching and worship that has been handed down from the very Apostles themselves. The Orthodox teach that there can be only one Church, undivided both in doctrine and in practice, and this was witnessed to by the words of our Lord Himself Who said "...upon this rock shall I build my Church, and the gates of hades will not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:18) and the words of the Apostle of the Nations who tells us of "One Faith, One Baptism, One Lord of All…" (Eph. 4). That undivided Church can only be found in those churches that hold to the Eastern Orthodox tradition.





TRUE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS

One can only be called truly Orthodox if he holds to that which was taught of old by the Holy Apostles, and the Holy Fathers of the Church, and struggles in a sincere manner to apply them to his life. When one deviates from these teachings he is considered a heretic - one who transgresses against revealed truth. One who separates himself from the life of the Church, and sets up his own altar for reasons other than heresy in his Church is in sin of schism. There have been numerous instances when three quarters of what called itself the "official" Church had abandoned the Faith, and only a stark minority of hierarchs and faithful could be considered Orthodox.

In 1923, under the direction of Patriarch Meletios of Constantinople and a special commission, the State Church of Greece uncanonically accepted the Roman Catholic calendar of Pope Gregory XIII, in order to capitulate to the demands of the worldly minded government in Greece. A number of clergy and faithful refused to accept this innovation, and walled themselves off from the "official" Church, denying it grace for creating schism in Orthodoxy, in dividing its liturgical unity. The state Church responded with a wave of persecutions, with the help of the police authorities, where Temples were burned, holy vessels overturned and broken, icons desecrated, the faithful and clergy beaten, arrested, humiliated at the hands of state officials and sometimes martyred for their steadfast refusal to alter their faith. The True Orthodox are sometimes referred to as "Old Calendarists" because they hold to the traditional Church Calendar, but the calendar is only one aspect of their witness to the wonderful saving religion of Jesus Christ, passed to them through the ages.

Which Calendar is Actually "Correct"? We do know that the Church valued the menologion (the calendar) to the point of anathematizing the calendar innovation of the Pope of Rome in the 16th Century, and was anathematized in four successive pan-Orthodox synods. We honour that steadfast tradition, by holding fast to all that has been passed to us from the ages, and rejecting all attempts at changing it and making it "in
step" with the modem age.

HOW CAN I TELL THE TRUE ORTHODOX CHURCH?

Scripture gives us the first means to find the true Church. Read 1 Timothy 1:10, 2 Timothy 4, Titus 1:9, 2:1. The first and most important sign of true Christians is that that they zealously seek out sound doctrine, and not that the traditions and innovations of men. The second sign is that they are part of a church that has maintained an unbroken line of faith from the time of the Apostles. There is but one Church, one Faith, one Baptism, and one Lord of All, says St. Paul. The third is that they are united by a common bond of love and prayer. The fourth is that they are not in "step with the times". The Church is a revelation of the eternal Kingdom of God on earth, and therefore must not reflect modern attitudes which are transitory and change with the times; she is the church in the present age, not of it. One of the best indicators that a Church is not "in step" is that she follows the traditional Church Calendar, and refuses to join in inter-faith worship with heterodox and non-believers. The last indicator is that she is a martyred Church. Jesus Christ promised that all who believed in Him would suffer at the hands of those who hate Him. She suffers not only persecution from outside, but truly struggles against the principalities and powers of darkness through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

THE OLD CALENDAR CHURCH OF GREECE

The history of the Old Calendar Church of Greece is a radiant example of strength in persecution and uncompromising love for the Holy Orthodox Faith. The church of Greece uncanonically introduced the New, Gregorian calendar in 1924. Initially, only a small group of laymen resisted this innovation. Gradually, a number of priests began to return to the Old Calendar, especially following the miraculous apparition of the Cross above a church outside Athens which followed the traditional Church calendar during the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross according to the Julian (Old) Calendar.

The majority of clergymen at this time (1924-1935) were monks of the Holy Mountain who traveled throughout Greece, founding parishes and monasteries. Throughout this time, the State Church persecuted the Old Calendarists: services were interrupted, clergy were arrested, processions were broken up, and churches were closed. Despite these measures, by 1934 over 800 communities had been formed throughout Greece following the Old Calendar. A breakthrough occurred in 1935 when three bishops of the State Church returned to the Old Calendar, including Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina, who later became known as the leader of the True Orthodox Christians of Greece.

The fiercest of the persecutions of the Old Calendarists occurred starting in 1949, when Archbishop Spyridon was elected primate of the State Church. Priests and monastics were arrested, beaten, and forcibly shaved; churches were seized, Old Calendarists were barred from theological schools.

In his Encyclical of 1950, Metropolitan Chrysostomos affirmed that the new Calendarists must be received by Chrismation, and that their Mysteries are invalid. He suffered a two year exile on account of this Encyclical which infuriated the new calendar State Church

Metropolitan Chrysostomos himself was arrested in 1951. Yet the members of the True Church remained firm in their defense of the Faith, preferring persecution to compromise. Only in 1954 did the persecutions come to an end, but by that time, Metropolitan Chrysostomos was alone and unable to consecrate a successor before his blessed repose.

In 1960, two bishops of the Russian Church Abroad consecrated to the episcopacy Archimandrite Akakios. Shortly thereafter, a third bishop of the Church Abroad, along with Bishop Akakios, consecrated further bishops. Following the repose of Archbishop Akakios, Archbishop Auxentios was elected Archbishop of the True Orthodox Church of Greece.

The Julian, or Old Style, calendar was in use when Christ, the Word of the Living God, descended form heaven and assumed a human nature - when the Timeless and Pre-Eternal God was born in time. The Julian calendar was used by all Christians, both Eastern and Western for a millennium and a half, and although the best scholars and Saints of the Orthodox East and West (e.g., St. Bede) were quite aware that the Julian year did not strictly coincide with the solar year, this fact did not particularly bother them, since the Julian year had become a liturgical instrument of a venerable stature. Matters stood thus until Pope Gregory XIII promulgated his reformed calendar in 1582. Noting that the days upon which the solstices and equinoxes fell were ten days removed from the dates on which they fell in Julius Caesar's day (this disturbed his astrologers), Gregory commanded the day after October fourth of that year to be called October 15. This was the beginning of the Gregorian (New Style) calendar now in secular use. The Orthodox church on the other hand, in three Pan orthodox Councils, decreed the preservation of the original Christian calendar as the seal of unity for a body not subject to the Pope's commands. Some local Orthodox churches have now introduced the Papal calendar, but many Orthodox Christians over the world, still keep the Julian. Britain was the last place in the West to adopt the Gregorian Calendar, Holding out until the mid-Eighteenth century.