Lenten Reflections

Why It Would Perhaps Be Best To Avoid Perusing The Fridge

During Prolonged Periods Of Fasting

Men Going Their Own Way

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Luke 10:30 A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead...

O, Happy Days !

There aren't any.

Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Night Life

Why one rabid with rage and devoured by anger, who unleashes his cowardly vengeance only when
safely hidden under the cloak of darkness, is morally superior to a party animal, pulling wild all-nighters.

Sexual Jihad

1 Corinthians 7:1 It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. 7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Giving Up On Others For Lent

1 Samuel 15:10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying: 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. 16:1 And the Lord said unto Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel ?

Matthew 8:19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 21 And another of his disciples said unto him: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him: Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Luke 9:57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him: Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 59 And he said unto another: Follow me. But he said: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him: Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said: Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him: No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Old White Men

Daniel 7:9 The thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.

Timing Is Everything

The astronomical significance behind the dates underlying the church calendar's main feasts is as follows:

• The year's shortest and longest days are the two solstices, closely corresponding to the births of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist.


• The days whose length lies precisely midway between the two solstices are the two equinoxes, closely corresponding to the conceptions of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. They also happen to coincide with the days equally distanced from the two solstices.


• The days whose length lies precisely midway between the two solstices and equinoxes closely correspond to the feasts of Saint Valentine in late winter, Saint George in late spring, the Assumption of Mary in late summer, and Saint Demetrius in late autumn. They do not, however, coincide with the days equally distanced from the two solstices and equinoxes, the latter closely corresponding to feasts of the Presentation and Transfiguration of Christ in late winter and summer, and that of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel in late autumn.

Whitewashing At Its Finest

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The song is given an encore, about seven and a half minutes into the video.


Jackson Mania Taking Over Romania

January Royalty

Elvis Aaron Presley, The King Of Rock And Roll

born on January 8^th, 1935




Martin Luther King, Jr.

born on January 15^th, 1929




Lawrence Harvey Zeiger King

passed away on January 23^rd, 2021

Life As A Movie

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Death: Life's Closing Credits


As the curtain falls, and the credits roll, the soul finally tastes a supreme sense of the ultimate freedom.

On all sides saw I
 Valkyries assemble,
Ready to ride
 to the ranks of the Gods...

Poetic Edda, Völuspá, Thirty-First Stanza

Old White Men

The Tolerant Twenties

 It was only in my fourteenth to fifteenth year of life that I first began to stumble more often upon the word Jew, partly in the context of political discourse. I felt towards it [anti-Jewish polemic] a mild distaste, being unable to forefend myself from sensing an unpleasant feeling, which always crept up on me, whenever denominational unpleasantries were carried out in my presence.

 I perceived the only noteworthy difference to lie in their strange confession of faith. For them to have been persecuted solely on account of this, as I then believed, sometimes made my [abovementioned] distaste of [witnessing] unkind remarks directed at them turn into outright repulsion.

 I do not wish to suggest that the way and manner in which I would [eventually] become acquainted with it [the Jewish question] felt particularly pleasant to me [at the time]. In Jews I still saw only the confession, and, therefore, in the name of humanitarian tolerance, I considered the cessation of religious infighting to justly apply in this case as well. So I deemed the tone, especially the one displayed by the anti-Semitic Vienna press, as unworthy of the [rich] cultural tradition of a great nation. I felt oppressed by the remembrance of certain medieval events, which I did not gladly wish to see repeated. As the aforementioned newspapers were not generally well-regarded (whence this [impression] came from, I myself was not exactly aware of at the time), I viewed them more as (by)products of livid envy, rather than results of a systematic, though misguided, perspective.

 The infinitely more noble form (as I saw it), in which the truly great press addressed all these attacks, or, what to me seemed even more graceful, not even mentioned them, but was simply dead-silent about, only served to strengthen my opinion.

 I eagerly devoured the so-called world press (New Free Press, Vienna Daily Paper, and so on), and was stunned both by the [wide] range [of subjects] it provided its readers with, as well as by the objectivity of its detailed presentation. I appreciated its appropriate tone.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Today Is A Good Day To Die

Gaudeamus, igitur,
Iuvenes dum sumus...

Vita nostra brevis est,
Brevi finietur;
Venit mors velociter,
Rapit nos atrociter:
Nemini parcetur.

Vivat academia,
Vivant professores;
Vivat membrum quodlibet,
Vivant membra quaelibet :
Semper sint in flore !

For smoke is our nostrils' breath, and thought a sparkle kindled by our beating hearts; which, when extinguished, our body shall turn into ashes, and our soul shall fade away as thinnest air...

Wisdom of Solomon, Second Chapter

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Sunday Of The Myrrh-Bearing Women

Earth-Shattering Events

Whose Cataclysmic Shock Waves Are Still Felt To This Very Day

Matthew 27:50  ¶Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54  Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the Son of God. 55  And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56  Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. 28:1  ¶In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

It's Just Another Skeptic Sunday

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Lies We Can Believe In !

Perfectly Rational Explanations

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...And Other Psychological Coping Mechanisms

Designed To Protect The Human Mind From Accepting The Unthinkable

The Latest Victim

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We Interrupt This Blog To Bring You This Important News Bulletin...

Christus Victor

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Orthodox Soteriology 101

Chaos Is A Ladder

Easter And Passover

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Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 27 That ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 29 ¶And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said: We be all dead men.

The Uncreated Light, And Other Outdated Concepts

Edison vs. Palamas

...as if St. Peter celebrated the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and saw the Uncreated Light while chanting the Jesus Prayer. You don’t even have to go back that far in the timeline to conclude that this is nonsense.

Arturo Vasquez, Why I Didn’t Become Orthodox

With their antiquated medieval notion of an uncreated light having been long since outshone by the advent of modern electricity (unknown in fourteenth century Byzantium), and seeing their traditional long-held beliefs of heaven and hell being gradually challenged and subsequently replaced by the exasperated postmodern quest for finding an earthly Paradise, what are the poor Orthodox to do, but pray ?

When's The Best Time For Repentance ?

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Romans 13:11

 ¶And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:
for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Apocalypse Now

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Unrepentant Sinners Before Christ's Dreaded Judgment

The last week before Great and Holy Lent begins, of course, with the Sunday of the Last Judgment. (For those pondering or wondering about the possible differences between the two nearly-synonymous expressions, we hope this post will provide some adequate clues).

Christ's Prophecy Concerning America

Wonder how all American Evangelicals have missed such an obvious allusion to their own history, especially since they seem otherwise quite proficient at discovering all those hidden prophecies in the Book of Revelation:

Luke 15:11  ¶And he said: A certain man had two sons: 12  And the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

First Week Of The Pre-Lenten Period

This post is pure fiction.

Any resemblance to any actual person, alive or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Luke 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying: God be merciful to me a sinner. 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Mandatory Epiphany Post

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Psalm 77:16
The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee;
they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

Psalm 114:3
The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas...

Black Lives Matter !

( The only question is : To whom ? )
The differences between various denominations, be they religious, political, philosophical, or ideological, are usually much subtler than one would otherwise be inclined to either suspect or expect. Thus, for instance, if the traditional Easter greeting is “Christ is risen !” (notice the brazen exclamation mark at the end), intellectually enlightened forms of atheism or agnosticism would not necessarily counter this statement by boldly, and rather ostentatiously, affirming its opposite (followed, presumably, by an even greater number of exclamation marks; say, three: one for each person of the Holy Trinity), as one would, somewhat understandably, be tempted to believe; but rather by subversively having its ending replaced by a question mark, as in “Christ is risen ?”. Similarly for the well-known response “Truly He is risen !” being made to read “Is He truly risen ?” instead. Indeed, it would be a very welcome change to see unbelievers greeting each other in the streets with “Christ is born, glorify Him ?” during the winter holidays, rather than resorting to their usual unimaginative quips, such as “This season, celebrate reason !”, as if Christians, who, following the very first verse of Saint John's Gospel, profess Christ to be the Incarnation of God's divine Logos (which is where the word logic, a synonym for reason, comes from), don't do just that; but I digress... The same observation also applies to countless other slogans as well, including the one under discussion. Black (or unborn) lives may indeed matter; but to how many, and how much, remains to be established... (and the odds do not appear to be in their favor).

It Must Have Been Life...

But It's Over Now...

1 Corinthians 13:8  ¶Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 13  And now abideth faith, hope, and love: these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Remember, Remember The Last Of November

The Holy Apostle Andrew, The First-Called

John 1:35  Again, the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples; 36  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God ! 37  ¶And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 40  One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41  He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him: We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42  And he brought him to Jesus.

Mandatory Halloween Post

Some people have to put on a mask
in order to become monsters,
while others only have to take off
the one they've been wearing all along...

The Friend Zone

John 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Gender Pronouns

A (Wo)Man's Right To Choose

Let The Children Come To Me...

Memento Mori

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Rutger † Hauer

On My Comeback, Following A Long Absence From Blogging

Alcoholic Beverages During Advent

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More information on this topic can be found here.

How Fasting Interferes With One's Social Life

Severe Sexual Repression

In the Western hemisphere of the Christian world, such utterly abnormal feats and unbearable psychological burdens are reserved only for certain highly select and especially privileged social classes, such as Catholic priests, or homosexuals, whose sole “domain” they represent. The Orthodox Church, however, knows better than that... :-)

Let Us Eat, And Drink, And Be Merry !

...for tomorrow the fasting begins...

Orthodox Catechism 101: The Holy Angels

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More information on this topic can be found here.

Mandatory Halloween Post

Some people have to put on a mask in order to become monsters... while others only have to take off the one they're already wearing... Happy Halloween, everyone !

Silent Hill: Orthodox Version

The Jesus-Myth Theory

A.
A1. The French revolution took place in 1789. The French are a Romance population of Latin descent.

A2. The Romanian revolution took place in 1989. The Romanians are a Romance population of Latin descent.


B.
B1. Leonhard Euler died on September 18^th, 1783. He was a deeply religious man, as well as a famous mathematician.

B2. The owner of this blog was born on September 19^th, 1983. He is a religious man, and a mathematician.


C.
C1. Trajan, the famous Roman Emperor who conquered Dacia (modern-day Romania), was born on September 18^th, 53.

C2. I'm a Romanian, my father's name is Traian, he was born in '52, and my birthday falls on September 19^th.


From this undisputed data, we clearly conclude the following facts:
1. I do not exist, and -by extension- neither does this post. The fact that you're `reading` this right now clearly means that you're a clinically insane individual currently experiencing a hallucination, and most likely in need of some serious psychiatric treatment. Any person supposedly `confirming` the so-called `existence` of this post is either severely deluded as well, suffering from what specialists might call folie a deux, or else simply being polite, perhaps even afraid of your possible reaction, or probably only jesting, thinking that you are merely joking as well.

2. All the suffering that I've endured in my entire life has been nothing more than an illusion: I never existed, and neither did my pain. The tragedy and horrific events which took place in the winter of '89, and which plague my country until the present day, never happened. The tears, the blood, the martyrs, the fear, the terror, the torture, the killings, the slaughter, the bullets: mere figments of the dreams (and nightmares) crafted by the wild imagination of a non-existent and illusory being, akin to that of the main character of the 2009 movie Mr. Nobody, and reminiscent of the main ideas expressed in such successful Hollywood productions and big screen blockbusters as Inception and the legendary Matrix trilogy. There truly is no spoon.

Ecumenical Relations Between Catholicism & Orthodoxy

Roman Catholics & Eastern Orthodox, Working Side By Side...

Religion As The Cause Of All Evil

When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in order to impress the living Hollywood legend Jodie Foster, no one in his right mind dreamed of accusing the famous actress of being in any way involved in -let alone responsible for- the unfortunate tragedy. But when people commit atrocities in the name of Christianity, the same logical courtesy is not extended...

Religion, Democracy, and Education

For all sane people everywhere, these three notions are among the purest of all possible concepts, which -by the very virtue of their noble nature- could never be joined together with that which is brutal, barbaric, degrading, disgusting, impure, inferior, ignoble, savage, repugnant, or in any way less than sublime. Like murder, for instance. After their illustrious forefathers have slain countless lives in the name of the former, today's `civilized` Westerners have no qualms in smearing the name of the latter two by bombs and abortions. Apparently, war begets peace, and actual gun-powder is what's really needed to ignite the `explosion` of freedom and prosperity throughout the world. Not to mention the mandatory trip to the abortuary, which every self-respecting Western woman owes to herself and to her future career... probably one as an English teacher, instilling in her future pupils high moral values, like sacrificing oneself for others (as opposed to sacrificing others for oneself, or for one's own interests: such as, say, taking the life of an unborn child for the sake of furthering one's career...) Or perhaps that of an accomplished poet or musician, delighting the hearts and ears of her audience with surreal sounds and lyrics, resplendent of a heavenly beauty which lies in stark contrast and direct opposition to that of the darkness of her ugly deed...

John the Baptist: Patron Saint of Bisexuals Everywhere

Apparently the Feast of his Conception ( September 23^rd ) falls on the same day as that of the bisexual community... Not quite sure whether he'll be very pleased by that, but that's life ( after death )...

Coincidence... Or Providence ?

Being born on the same day as one's favorite adult movie star...

Muslim Menace: The Threat Of Islam

Remembering The Summer

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A True American Hero

The Home Of The Brave, And The Land Of The Free...

... Where Being Brave Can Apparently Cost You Your Freedom ...

... And Where Uncovering Evil And Injustice Is Considered A More Hideous Crime Than Committing It ...

Is Orthodoxy A Religion Of Peace ?

1. The Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ falls on the same day as the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945.

2. The Feast of the Assumption of Mary falls on the same day as the capitulation of Japan nine days later, on August 15, 1945.

3. The Ecclesiastical New Year begins on the same day as the Second World War, on September 1, 1939, marking Hitler's invasion of Poland.

Apart from these uncanny World War II coincidences, our faith perceives the entirety of human life on earth as one long and never-ending spiritual struggle and Unseen Warfare (a famous Orthodox classic on asceticism and spirituality), and its view of salvation can be summed up by the phrase Christus Victor.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The Illusion of Freedom: Why Fasting Is Necessary

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Dormition Fast Begins Today...

The crystalline voice of Orthodoxy, shattering the myths and idols of modern man...

Christmas In July: On Pigs And Homosexuals

Too Long; Don't Read.
Perhaps some of you might have been wondering (just kidding: I know you haven't ! Heck, you haven't even been reading my posts any more, have you ? Apparently I've lately been doomed to losing not only my soul, but my audience and readership as well !) OK... Now: where was I, before I've so brutally interrupted myself ? Ah, yes ! Perhaps some of you (key word here being `some` - if any at all...) may have probably wondered by now why I identify with homosexuals, and think about them so much... and not just merely `think` about them, but suffer grievously when contemplating the fate that awaits them in all eternity, not as some sort of detached intellectual endeavour, but rather to the point of being utterly crushed, shattered, and devastated by their destiny myself. Why do I care so much ? No skin of my nose... Right ? (I mean, apart from the fact that I'm kinda going there myself... But -in time- I've ultimately reached a point where I've finally made my peace with that... At least I actually deserve it... Not so sure about the gays, though...)

We all remember the prophetical passages from Isaiah (53:7) and Jeremiah (11:19), alluded also in the New Testament (Acts 8:32), liking Christ's sacrifice with that of a lamb being brought to the slaughter... Likewise David, in the Book of Psalms (44:22), and Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Romans (8:36), draw a similar analogy for the sacrifice of both Jewish and Christian martyrs. But have any of you, dear readers, ever actually experienced an animal sacrifice first-hand ? If so, then what impression -if any- did it have on you ? My last name -quite incidentally- means Christmas, and I'm a Romanian Orthodox Christian. Orthodoxy is generally a very traditional religion, and the traditional Romanian Christmas dish consists of various home-made pork products. (Forty percent of the Romanian population is still rural, as opposed to only a few percent in civilized countries, and the percentage would've been even higher were the Communists not have made it their sole mission in life to utterly destroy and uproot countless villages by numerous house-demolitions and many forced relocations of the rural population to the newly-created industrial towns... What I'm trying to say by all this is that we basically raise and kill our own pigs: and obviously the same goes for all other animals as well. No one does our dirty work for us... We just don't possess the luxury of innocence, or even some false sense of detachment, artificially created by the conscience-numbing combination of distance, and the existence of a whole well-oiled chain of intermediaries, which so many people in the West simply take for granted. It's just us). Five days before Christmas, on December 20^th, the day in which the Church commemorates the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Romanians traditionally sacrifice their pigs in anticipation for the upcoming Winter Holidays, which last for two whole weeks, until the 7^th of January, and which include -apart from Christmas Eve and the Nativity itself- Saint Mary and Saint Stephen, New Year's Eve and the New Year itself, Saint Basil the Great, Christ's Circumcision, His Baptism, and Saint John. (There are, of course, very many Marys, Stephens, Basils, and Johns among the Orthodox, just in case you were wondering what the deep mystical and spiritual reasons behind our annual fondness for celebrating such a great number of Holidays in a row might really be...) Now, when they bring the poor animal out to the slaughter, you can immediately sense that -despite obviously not possessing the same amount of consciousness as a human being- it is terrified to death, squealing its guts out, madly and insanely, just like a man desperately pleading for his life. Does he know what is going on ?... Doubtful. The mind of animals is simpler than that of children: But this is precisely what makes this whole scene so monstrously grotesque. A fully conscious human being has the ability to crush his base, mindless passions -such as traumatizingly excruciating fear or severe panic- by the power of his God-given intellect, and the promise of the resurrection unto life eternal: But animals do not possess this power, nor this promise, lacking the fundamental faculty that generates it and makes it possible. Their fear is unspeakably great. Brutal. Direct. Devoid of any hope and comfort. When we were children, fear was unbearable. Overwhelming. But -as we grew up- we've lost this primitive, visceral perception. For animals, whose minds are even more basic than those of children, fear is even more monstrous. Even more unbearable. Infinitely more overwhelming. We do not torture our pigs to death. We're not mindless sadists. There is no physical cruelty involved in their unduly demise. It doesn't exactly `hurt` to have one's throat cut swiftly by a knife, and then quickly bleed to death afterwards, while simultaneously choking in one's own blood, and intermittently producing disturbing gargling sounds, the likes of which I never want to hear again, as the only life you'll ever know slowly fades away before your very eyes. (I use both words -`slowly` and `quickly`- without any fear of contradiction (pun intended), with regards to the same thing, because -as we all know- unlike objective time, which flows constantly at the same speed, subjective time flows differently when we are having fun than when we are suffering, or traumatized, or in pain). As seen through the dispassionate and un-lying eyes of a child, whose mind is by its very nature free of any cultural inheritance, and incapable of making excuses -either for itself or for others- these sights are perceived exactly as they are: Devoid of any logic, truth, or beauty; and full of evil, pain, and ugliness. Barbaric and grotesque. Repulsive to the mind, and disgusting to the soul. Devoid of reason and sanity, and without excuse. A socially-accepted madness, joyfully and without any moral qualms or drama engaged in by people that are otherwise kind and good and gentle and loving and normal... If pigs would've cut my throat on Christmas, dragging me to slaughter while I screamed my head off, crying and terrorized to death [of course, that would've simply never happened, since I've always wanted to kill myself, ever since I was a little child, being deeply repelled and disgusted by the way in which grown-ups loved and cared about their own life so much that they debased themselves in front of Communists, bending their knee and bowing down to them out of fear of death and torture, selling their souls to save their lives ( Matthew 10:39; 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-38; Luke 9:24-26; 17:33; John 12:24-25 ), so I would've walked to death rather joyfully and relieved, since it is the only thing I've ever truly desired... but I'm going to allow it anyway, for the sake of the demonstration], on the reason that Scripture does not forbid eating flesh, and that they are only doing this to feed the mouths of their cute little piglets, who are crying with hunger, and that I'm going to a better place in Heaven anyway, and -since I am a human being- I possess an immortal soul capable of inheriting life eternal, and then there's always the resurrection to look forward to; besides, we already know from Scripture that “young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God” (Psalm 104:21), and -of course- this meat that our loving Heavenly Father, in His Divine Providence, provides for them is not always animal, but sometimes also human... Well... Let's just say that I sincerely doubt that my mother and grand-mother would've been very impressed by all these mental gymnastics and rationalizations... (Romanian olympics are of course very good acrobats, and Nadia Comaneci was the first woman to have scored a perfect 10 in the entire history of the Olympic Games, but these exercises are of a different nature than the ones I'm referring at...)

So... Why do I care so much ? Am I a pig ? Do any of my relatives get slaughtered around Christmas time ? I don't know why. Perhaps I was born this way (pun intended). Maybe it's because of the genes I've inherited from my father (pun intended yet again). After all, he is an intellectual, and to accept things on the force of custom, without any recourse to reason or sanity, is not quite really what intellectuals are supposed to do. Or perhaps it is a matter or nurture, not nature: My granny loved me very deeply. She raised me, and she always taught me to be a good person, and to believe in God. (And it was after all Christ Who taught us to care for others, and to make their problems our own. And even if He wouldn't have, our own mind and our own conscience tells us the same, since it is ultimately against all reason and logic to pretend that it couldn't have been us in their place, especially given the all-pervading randomness of life and circumstance). She was kind to me. And I've always wanted for my own soul to have in itself the same treasure of goodness and loving-kindness that she herself had: So that's why I probably despise and abhor so much all the things which are in exact opposition to everything that she ever embodied.

Now, it is only reasonable to care more about our fellow men, created in the image and likeness of God, than for other innocent little creatures, as cute and adorable as they might be. (Of course, not all people agree here with me: Hitler, along with many American Liberals, are vegetarians, yet have no qualms in condoning, or even inflicting, the deaths of countless human beings, while bluntly denying their personhood and humanity). At the same time, I cannot escape the sheer sense of futility involved in this bleak, depressing, and ultimately absurd struggle against oneself, one's own feelings, and one's own nature, for those that were truly born this way... If I would only be a-sexual... If I would only not feel for women the way I feel for them... If it would only be possible for me to resist their sublime beauty... If only I could be devoid of any romantic weakness and desire... If I could only be complete without it... And if I can't do it (nor anyone else, for that matter, except for a few chosen souls, as Christ Himself taught, in Matthew 19:10-12), how could I ever be able to fool myself into pretending that `everything's gonna be alright`, when it quite obviously won't ? (Unless of course someone is actually willing to argue that the `gay gene` goes hand in hand with either a celibacy gene, or with one that renders people capable of finding happiness and meaning in a life devoid of any romantic fulfillment...)


This Being Said, I Wish You All A Happy And Blessed Summer !




Posting Pictures Of Attractive Young Women In A Desperate Attempt To Attract Readers... :-)

The Hopelessness And Absurdity Of It All

Imagine being forced to chose between either marrying a person of the same sex, or otherwise giving up on marriage and romantic fulfillment altogether. The excruciating misery and emptiness of such an abnormal existence would be utterly unbearable to the human mind. And yet, this is precisely the equivalent of what is being asked of homosexuals by an otherwise reasonable God, quite capable of understanding human weakness and suffering (Matthew 19:10-12).

The Cause Of Homosexuality

There's no such thing...
Some people are born without limbs, while others lose them in an accident : There's no one cause for disability and affliction...

Which is also why -in my opinion- we may generally only speak of causes -in plural- of same-sex attraction, and never only of one such cause, supposedly suiting all cases, be it either genetic, psychological, or circumstantial...

The Jesus-Myth Theory And The Fourth Of July

This post may come a day late (and a dollar short), but I just had to write it:
A1. The United States celebrate their National Independence Day on the Fourth of July (1776).
A2. Their national colors are the Red, White, and Blue.

B1. France celebrates its National Day on the Fourteenth of July (1789), commemorating the Storming of the Bastille.
B2. Its national flag is also Red, White, and Blue.

Now, if we were to faithfully apply to these well-known and undisputed facts the same brilliant logic or principles which guide the Jesus-Myth Theory, we would have to conclude that -given all these numerical, historical, and even chromatic coincidences- one of the two nations would have to be a myth clearly based on or inspired by the other, and that either France or America never actually existed...

Four Years Ago Today

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


The Last Wednesday In June

The Holy Trinity

Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll.

The sad discrepancy between the God that we're supposed to worship, and the idols we actually venerate.

Pentecost and Ascension: Their Numerical Significance

Since the human body consists of the four elements, it was only fitting for Christ's bodily Ascension into Heaven to take place on the fortieth day after His glorious Resurrection from the dead. And since the immaterial spirit is rightly considered as the fifth element (or quite literally quint essence) of an otherwise material existence, it makes perfect sense for the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon His faithful followers and disciples to take place on the fiftieth day after the same bright event in the history of our salvation.

Unrepentant Sinners At The Last Judgment

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Sin is sweet and repentance is overrated ...

On The Fire Of Hell And The Flames Of Gehenna

The soul’s state beyond the grave is the continuation of its earthly condition... When the soul is kindled by the desires of the flesh, all these lusts accompany the soul into eternity, constantly devouring him, urging him to fulfill them in deed, even though he no longer possesses a material body as its tool, as was the case during its earthly existence, therefore enduring an even more unbearable burden than before, when these cravings, having been satisfied through the body, conveyed to the soul the illusion of their quenching, thus offering a false impression of peace and gratification. But immediately after the body’s demise, these lusts stir in the released soul a blazing flame of cravings and desires, which torment him just as much as excruciating thirst would torture someone passing through the Sahara desert without finding even a single drop of water... Every passion that the soul held dear, but is now unable to fulfill, will stir itself up more and more, growing stronger and stronger, tormenting him forevermore with increasing heat and power. There is no deliverance from this agonizing suffering caused by the never-ending growth of lusts and passions, since the soul is immortal, and unable to terminate its own existence.

Father Arsenie Boca, The Way of the Kingdom

Can Sexual Beings Ever Find True Happiness In The Sexless Realm Of A Dispassionate God ?

Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

For instance, take this sample: he [mortal man] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race -- and of ours -- sexual intercourse!

It is as if a lost and perishing person in a roasting desert should be told by a rescuer he might choose and have all longed-for things but one, and he should elect to leave out water!

His [man's] heaven is like himself: strange, interesting, astonishing, grotesque. I give you my word, it has not a single feature in it that he actually values. It consists -- utterly and entirely -- of diversions which he cares next to nothing about, here in the earth, yet is quite sure he will like them in heaven. Isn't it curious? Isn't it interesting? You must not think I am exaggerating, for it is not so. I will give you details.


You know what the human race enjoys and what it doesn't enjoy.
1. First of all, I recall to your attention the extraordinary fact with which I began. To wit, that the human being, like the immortals, naturally places sexual intercourse far and away above all other joys -- yet he has left it out of his heaven! The very thought of it excites him; opportunity sets him wild; in this state he will risk life, reputation, everything -- even his queer heaven itself -- to make good that opportunity and ride it to the overwhelming climax. From youth to middle age all men and all women prize copulation above all other pleasures combined, yet it is actually as I have said: it is not in their heaven; prayer takes its place.

That rich gift [intercourse] which, possessed as we possess it, makes all other possessions trivial and not worth the trouble of invoicing.

Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, pp. 8-11

Bearded Orthodox Saints

The Public Perception Of Homosexuality, And Its Evolution In Recent History

Oh, How The Times Have Changed !


Same-Sex Couples Were Still Considered “Odd” In The Late Sixties...

When Did You First Know You Were Gay ?

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

When Was The First Time You've Ever Asked A(nother) Girl Out On A Romantic Dance ?

The Toll That Two Whole Months Of Lenten Abstinence Takes On A Marriage...

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


What They Won't Tell You In Catechism Class...

Just Three More Days Left !

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).
Apparently, my ungrateful readers were not able to appreciate the transcendental beauty of sacred Latin chant, so perhaps this hip modern song will be more palatable to their Novus-Ordo-shaped tastes...

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

( Click on the picture above, to view the video ).

Great And Holy Week In The Orthodox Church

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Only now that Lent is technically and officially over, can the real fasting truly begin...

A True Ascetic

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


Some people are really devoted to the cause...


( Whatever that `cause` might be... )

The Demons That Torment Me

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind [ of demons ] goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Mark 9:29 And He said unto them: This kind [ of demons ] can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

I hope this post might answer the Protestant dilemma concerning the role that self-discipline plays in our spiritual lives, and the effects it has on the salvation of our souls.

The Protestant Position On Fasting And Abstinence

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Catholics Explaining To Protestants The Requirements Of Orthodox Lent

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

A Lenten Classic

No Weddings For The Next Two Months !

The nine weeks starting with the one before Great and Holy Lent, and stretching all the way up to the Sunday following Easter, are completely wedding-free, and the performance of marriage ceremonies (and other wedding-related activities) is strictly forbidden during this sacred time interval. The same holds true for all other Fasts and Feasts of the Church year.

Happy Valentine's, Everyone !

The Values I Cherish And Admire

Grace. Class. Charm. Style. Elegance. Warmth. Kindness. Soulfulness. And Affection.

Inner beauty will save the world... or -at the very least- redeem the soul it indwells...

My Favorite Trigonometric Function

Apart From Maths, My Other Interests Also Include Waltz and Astronomy...

New Beginnings: When Our Attempts To Start Over Don't Go Quite As Planned

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


Starting Off The Year On The Wrong Foot...

On The Virtue Of Hospitality

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


On these cold Winter Holidays, let us open our hearts and homes to receive those lost and wandering souls in need of shelter and compassion...

Why The Orthodox Are So Bent On Fasting, Abstinence, And Ascesis

Our Great War is a spiritual war.

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club

Santa Claus Siding With Muslims In The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Why do so many Americans, especially from Christian-conservative and right-wing (Republican) political circles, feel the need to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy in droves, and flood into the Eastern Church by the hundreds, when even the greatest Orthodox Saints themselves so shamelessly and unapologetically espouse such clearly anti-American politics on the hotly-debated topics of Gaza and Palestine ? Oh, well... I guess we'll never really know -- will we ?...

5. A Muslim man came to Beit Jala to shoot at the Israeli settlement of Gilo. An old man appeared to him, telling him to leave immediately. The man did so. Moments later a shell exploded on the exact spot where he had been standing. The man later identified the person who spoke to him as St Nicholas.


6. Another elderly Muslim man was deeply worried about his son who had been in an Israeli prison for some years. During the night before the man's birthday, an old man appeared at his bedside, telling him his son would return on the next day. When the man asked the visitor who he was and where he was from, he answered: "I am Nicholas, from Beit Jala. If you need to find me, just ask for me, everyone knows me there." The following day, the son returned. The old man set off for Beit Jala to share the good news with the stranger, and to thank him. Confused by the story, no one in Beit Jala could tell him who had visited him. Then the sacristan took the man into the Church of St. Nicholas, where he immediately recognized the icon of St Nicholas as the person who had visited him.

Source

Perhaps it is in moments such as these that the leaders of the Free World should take a brief pause to reflect, and -in all honesty and sincerity- genuinely ask themselves: What Would Saint Nick Do ?...

On My Wit And Intelligence

It Feels So Nice To Finally Be Appreciated...

Why I Can't Just Give Up On Fasting And Abstinence Only Half-Way Through Advent

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Matthew 10:22 But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

As you can clearly see, I'm deeply involved in the Advent Fast, and I'm taking ascesis very seriously...

Kind Words Of Comfort And Encouragement For Those Who Already Feel Worn Out By All That Fasting And Abstinence, At Only Half-Way Through Advent

Where you are now, you can't even imagine what the bottom will be like...

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club

I Don't Need To Be "Saved"...

I'm Doing Just Fine, Thank You...

On Long Periods Of Fasting And Abstinence

Orthodox Ascesis 101

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

My Original Sin

More information of this topic can be found here.

The Holy Prophet Daniel Encouraging Those Who Are Afraid That Fasting Might Prove Dangerous To Their Health

Daniel 1:5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. 8 ¶But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel: I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. 11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

Of course, it is not the meats and wine (and women) that God created which are defiled, but our own inordinate craving and compulsion towards them. (Genesis 1:25; Acts 10:9-16; Romans 14:20-21; Philippians 3:19; Titus 1:15).

The "F" Word

Fasting.

Protestants As The Real Ascetics !

It seems we were gravely mistaken and severely misguided in our distorted interpretation of their refusal to fast:
May God forgive us all ! Their sincere intentions were apparently holy and pure all along:

127. “It is not pleasure they love, for they stuff themselves with it. What they love is the punishment they inflict on their bodies through excessive pleasure”.

Anthony de Mello, Awakening: Conversations With The Masters

In reality, it is we Orthodox and Catholics that should be simply ashamed of ourselves, taking the easy way out, by shamelessly indulging the sinful lusts and appetites of our stomach with all those light, delightful, and easily-digestible foods, instead of suffering together with Christ on our own spiritual Golgotha for all our heinous sins and hideous offences, by stoically enduring with sheer grace and utter dignity such a martyric self-flagellation as that to which our Evangelical brethren willingly and joyfully subject themselves... As it is written in Scripture, though they came after us, we are unworthy even of unloosing their shoe-latchets (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:27). May God have mercy on us all, for only His grace can save us now: but Protestants shall be saved by their own works of righteousness, for they truly and rightfully were deemed worthy to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven by their own merits and glorious efforts ! (Matthew 11:12).

No Milk-Products For The Next Six Weeks

Though Temptation May Be Strong, We Must Overcome

Two Whole Months Of Complete Sexual Abstinence Starting Tomorrow

Happy Advent, Everyone !

And if you think that this is hard, just wait till you see what Christ has in store for us for all eternity...

Matthew 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God ? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time ?

The True Reason Behind My Scant Blogging Over The Past Four Months

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


Exhaustion... Sheer And Utter Exhaustion...

On My Plummeting Blog-Statistics

This Blog Definitely Needs More Followers...


On the blessings of having such a small and declining readership:
1. It keeps the mind humble, in accordance with the blessed image of our divine Saviour, Who Himself was also meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29).

2. It helps create an intimate and more familial atmosphere for my few readers, and even fewer commenters.

3. It makes for excellent damage control to my public image (or what's left of it, anyway) once all my hidden secrets will be revealed, and I'll finally be exposed for the rotten fraud that I really am...

Summer's Definitely Over...

On My Astrological Sign

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Why I sometimes feel like my very existence is the living, breathing refutation of the Zodiac.

What Is The First Major Feast Of The Orthodox Church Year ?

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Happy New Year 7521 !

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