War Losses

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Theodicy and the Problem of Evil

Matthew 2
¹⁷ Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
¹⁸ In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning:
  Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Half a Century of French-Ukrainian Friend-ship

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Taking Christ's Body Down From The Cross

A Soldier's Work Is Never Done!

Matthew 27
³⁵ And they crucified him: ⁵¹ and, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; ⁵² and the graves were opened. ⁵⁴ Now when the centurion watching Jesus saw the earthquake, feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the Son of God!

Crime and Punishment

I could... shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.

Donald Trump, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, January 23, 2016.

Salome's Dance

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Gateway Drugs: How One Sin Leads To Another

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— Smoking —




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— Drinking —




In the long journey of fasting, the first step is always selfdenial

A Song of Ice and Fire

1 Kings 19
¹¹ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and mighty wind tore the mountains,
  and broke to pieces the rocks before the Lord: but the Lord was not in the wind;
  And after the wind, an earthquake: but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
¹² And after the earthquake, a fire: but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire,
  a still small voice: ¹³ And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle,
  and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave...

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Baltic Midsummer Traditions

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The Warm Season

The flaming fires of Pentecost officially mark the scorching summer heat.

Revelation 11

³ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. ⁵ And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. ⁶ These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. ¹² And they ascended up to heaven. ¹³ And at the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand men were slain: and the remnant were frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Musically Ascending the Scales to Heaven

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Lifting Up Our Hearts ( And Voices ) For Ascension

Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women

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The Modern Magdalene, Struggling With Her Calling





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The Medieval Magdalene, Embracing Her Vocation

Passion Week: a World of Pain and Suffering

The Passion of Unrequited Love

Lady Day

Desperate Ukrainian Housewives

Coming Out

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James Van † Der Beek

John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free.

Groundhog Day

I could... shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.

Donald Trump, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, January 23, 2016.

The New Normal

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Trump's America

I could... shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.

Donald Trump, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, January 23, 2016.

Words To Live Or Die By

The beauty of the White Aryan woman must not perish from the earth.

The suburban women are under attack!

I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women.
I'm going to do it, whether the women like it or not, I'm going to protect them.

Is there any woman in this giant stadium who would like not to be protected ?
Is there any woman in this stadium that wants to be protected by the president ?

Donald Trump, Resch Center,
Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 30, 2024.

Solid Patristic Advice

Wherefore, a good Christian ought to beware of mathematicians, or
of anyone who impiously divines, especially of those speaking the truth.

Augustine, De Genesi ad Litteram, Second Book,
Seventeenth Chapter, Thirty-Seventh Paragraph

Those impostors, then, whom they designate mathematicians, used
no sacrifices and invoked the aid of no spirit for their divinations.

Augustine, The Confessions,
Fourth Book, Third Chapter

Requiem For A Dying Faith

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Snow White: Winter Is Coming!

If there truly is a God, whose Son gave His Holy Apostles power to bind and unbind all things in heaven and on earth, and all those myriads of popes, patriarchs, (arch)bishops, cardinals, and priests are their living successors, why are they so utterly powerless in stopping or preventing Russian missiles flying through the sky from ever reaching Ukraine and brutally massacring its inhabitants ?

Silent Night

Silent Prayers Met With Divine Silence

Psalm 45:10

Be still, and know that I am God.

Exposing Russian Hoaxes

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Cathartic Conversations With Imaginary Girlfriends

Exposing Russian Disinformation

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The Apologist And The Women


The disenchanted, middle-aged I.T. graduate, slowly realizing one's highly expensive college education is
as useless at providing or securing decent employment opportunities, as it is at impressing beautiful girls.

Romanian Orthodox Halloween Mass

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How Evangelicals View Liturgical Services

Weather Forecast

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Icy Winter Ahead

The Trump Era

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Remo † Girone

Second Amendment Wrongs

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When Guns Are A Right, Life Becomes A Privilege

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way which seems right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Red September

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Apocalypse Now!

Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.

Acts 2:20

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come.

Revelation 6:12

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal:
and, lo, there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood.

Life and death are but two sides of one and the same coin.

Thus, were the life-giving spirit to enliven the inanimate elements, such as the land, the air, the sea, or the flames, vivifying them, making them suddenly spring to life, and move violently or with great force, thereby inadvertently wreaking great havoc, causing powerful quakes, kindling mighty stormwinds or large waves, and igniting all-consuming fires, it would therefore, to the self-same extent, become a deadening spirit as well: Hence also the mortification of the flesh, frequently mentioned by the Apostle Paul, in relation to the Holy Ghost.

Russia's Bright Future

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The Apocalypse: Coming Soon To A Country Near You!

Revelation 15:7

And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven
golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Revelation 16

¹⁷ And the seventh angel poured out his vial ¹⁸ and there was a great earthquake, such
  as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

⁵ And I heard the angel say: Thou art righteous, O Lord, ⁶ For they have shed the blood
 of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy.

Petrine Prerogative

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The Keys To The Gates Of Heaven

Matthew 16:19

And I will give unto thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven:and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven;
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosen in heaven.

Trinity Sunday

Were the radiance of a thousand suns to burst at once into
the sky, that would be like the splendour of the Mighty One...

Bhagavad Gita,
Eleventh Chapter, Twelfth Verse

The Power Of Prayer

Vox Populi, Vox Dei !

Elon And The Felon

Mark 15
⁶ Now, at that (Passover) feast, (the Roman governor of Judea) released unto (the Jews) one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. ⁷ And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

⁹ Pilate answered them, saying: Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews ? ¹⁰ For he knew that the chief priests had delivered (Christ) for envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. ¹⁵ And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

Decency Has To Die,

For Indecency To Reign

Psalm 115:6

Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints.

Christmas Miracle

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Hope Dies Last

Democracy Dies In Darkness... At Its Own Hand !

They haven’t figured [out] that the women are smarter right now than the men,
so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years...

Donald Trump, South Carolina, July 21, 2015.

What Dreams May Come

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In Dreams Begin Responsibilities

Sirach 34
¹ The hopes of a man void of understanding are vain and false: and dreams lift up fools.
² Whoso regards dreams is like him that catches at a shadow, and follows after the wind.

³ The vision of dreams is but a reflection:
 the likeness of a face beholding itself.
⁴ Of an unclean thing, what can be cleansed ?
 and from that which is false, what truth can come ?
⁵ Divinations, and soothsayings, and dreams are vain:
 and the heart fancies, as a woman's heart in travail.
⁶ Set not thy heart upon them, for dreams have deceived
⁷ many, and they that put their trust in them have failed.
⁸ The law shall be found perfect without lies:
 and wisdom is perfection to a faithful mouth.

Friday The Thirteenth

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Isaiah 13:13

Therefore I will shake the heavens, and
the earth shall move out of her place,
in the wrath of the Lord of hosts,
and in the day of his fierce anger.

The Czar Formerly Known As Prince

John 12:31

Now is the judgment of this world:
Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.


John 16

⁷ If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
⁸ And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin,
 and of righteousness, and of judgment:

⁹ Of sin, because they believe not on me;
¹⁰ Of righteousness, because I go to my Father;
¹¹ Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

The Butler Did It !

The Silent Majority

Unlucky Numbers

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Shannon † Doherty

The icon of the dying star
Slowly climbs up heaven’s vault:
`T’was there before laid eyes upon;
Though we now see it, it’s long gone...

Mihai Eminescu, To The Star

Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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On Hesychasm And Monasticism

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A Single Man, Practicing Stillness Of The Mind

Border Security: On The Walls We Build To Protect Ourselves

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My inquisitive, conservative readership, asking tough and deeply

uncomfortable questions, about fair, blonde, blue-eyed Ukrainians,

in light of illegal aliens abducting and attacking American citizens.

Deeply Uncomfortable Situations

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Having My Theological Credentials & Qualifications,

As An Orthodox Blogger & Apologist, Called Into Question

Republican Idols

God With US !

Exodus 15:3

The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.

Genesis 1:26~27

And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.

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Since leadership required killing people, why won't republicans arm Ukraine's leadership ?

I need ammunition, not a ride.

Vladimir Zelensky

From The Dnieper River, To The Black Sea, Ukraine Will Be Free !

Wherever the (Russian) sun doth shine,
there's always (s)laughter, and good red wine.

Hilaire Belloc

Orthodox Christianity: Mortally Wounding Its Opponents Since 363 AD

Saint Basil the Great, whose feast is celebrated on New Year's Day, once prayed before an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, upon which Saint Mercurius was depicted as a soldier holding a spear.

He asked God not to permit the emperor Julian the Apostate to return from his war against the Persians and resume his oppression of Christians. The image of the holy Great Martyr Mercurius, depicted on the icon beside the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, became invisible. It reappeared later with a bloodied spear.

At this very moment Julian the Apostate, on his Persian campaign, was wounded by the spear of an unknown soldier, who immediately disappeared. The mortally wounded Julian, as he lay dying, cried out, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean !”

A Life In Ruins

Beauty Will Save The World




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On God's Involvement In The Big Bang

Hypothetically speaking, of course...

Prayer For Protection Against Invaders

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Amen.


Securing Ukraine's existence, and a future for its children.

Revelation
16:6 They have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

17:6 I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

18:24 In her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Running Russia

...into the ground.

A Putrid Christmas, And A Rotten New Year !

Like a second Herod, Putin the Pious saw fit to brutally mock and viciously destroy an entire country, by drowning it in senseless bloodshed and unspeakable violence, smearing it with the stench of death and despair, defiling it with the dismembered and decomposing corpses of its defenseless women and innocent children, whose lost lives and shattered limbs, as globes and tinsel upon Christmas trees, now adorn its once beautiful landscape.

Prayer For The Ukraine

Arise, O Lord, and judge thine own cause ! Incline thine ears to our prayers !

For foxes have arisen, seeking to destroy the vineyard, whose winepress thou alone hast trod.
The wild boar from the forest seeketh to destroy it, and every wild beast feedeth upon it.

Pope Leo the Tenth, Exsurge, Domine

The One True Faith

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Saint Vladimir of the Ladder

Innocence Interrupted

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The Fine Line Between Observer And Collaborator

People like to wash their hands of the violence. But we all wash our hands in blood.

In This Sign, Conquer

Psalm 151
1 I was small among my brethren, and youngest in my father's house. 5 My brothers were great and handsome; but the Lord was not pleased with them. 6 I went forth to meet the Philistine; and he cursed me by his idols. 7 But I drew his own sword, and beheaded him, and removed reproach from the children of Israel.


Troparion of the Holy Cross
Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting our rulers to prevail over adversaries, and protecting Your commonwealth by Your cross.

On (Dis)Honoring One's Parents

The throne of Kiev held a dominant position in Ancient Rus. This had been the custom since the late ninth century. The Tale of Bygone Years captured for posterity the words of Oleg the Prophet about Kiev: May it be the mother of all Russian cities.

Vladimir Putin,
On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians

Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Deuteronomy 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them; 19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying: Honour thy father and mother; and: He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

Mark 7:10 For Moses said: Honour thy father and thy mother; and: Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

Feeling Blue: Summertime Sadness

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The sky hung high and blue; the child was staring at it, mouth open, hand above his forehead. The bright, cool morning breeze enveloped his sunburned cheeks, and dusty feet. Somewhere far away, at the edge of the plain, muffled, faded bangs were heard at times. There was no single cloud upon the clear sky, nor any smell of rain being brought on by the wind. The child stopped on the footpath near the road, openmouthed, beholding the unencompassed blue sky. He kept dragging his feet through the dew-soaked grass, to wet them. He whistled, constantly gazing at the azure sky. His father's jacket, which he had on, reached below his knees, his hands barely visible.

The child was short in stature, blue-eyed, no older than, say, seven or eight. He was returning home, from his grandmother's neighboring village, carrying, in a twig basket he could barely hold in his hands, a fat, white goose, he named Lyla on the way. He covered her in wide burdock leaves, least someone might see her. The child was whistling, to embolden himself, even though he was not particularly shy, and there was no one nearby. He was whistling out of habit, so the goose might seem less heavy.

As he passed the middle of the road separating the two villages, he laid his basket upon the grass, and took off his garment, breathing in the warm summer breeze. The goose was honking, softly flapping her wings, and making him giggle. He admired the red cloth he tied around her neck, to ward off the evil eye. After tying her wings to a hemp rope, he let her walk freely on the path before him. She treaded slowly, pecking grass, turning, from time to time, towards the boy, with her small, round eyes. She tried flying off, a few times, but the rope kept her in place.

On the road, far ahead, the child saw a dust cloud coming his way. The dusty truck drove straight past him. He found a dried up rod, and picked it up. The goose was neither answering him, nor turning around to look at him anymore. Instead, she kept on walking idly by. The knot of the red cloth around her neck reached up to her nape, looking like a bow. The sky was clear. The child was whistling, holding the basket and the rope in one hand, and the rod in the other. He wore his father's coat upon his shoulders, like a grownup. He was biding his time.

At the turn of the road, as he was about to cross the river, he saw a car, crossways before the bridge. He stopped in front of the car, to say hello. Would you let me across the bridge ?, he asked, looking at the two young, blond men, leaning on the car wheels. The two laughed, and, one of them, handing him a piece of chocolate, asked him his name. Emil, answered the boy, and her name is Lyla. — And whereto are you going, Emil, with Lyla ? — Home, if you'd let me cross the bridge. — We'll let you, but first, tell us more about Lyla.

The child started telling them anything that crossed his mind. The men were besides themselves with laughter, and Emil was glad he'll get to go home with the goose. At some point, a man came up from underneath the bridge, all smutty, and covered in mud. You can cross now, but quickly, very quickly, said the young blonde, handing him another piece of chocolate. Emil thanked him, and went on to cross the bridge. The three got into the car, setting off towards the village the child came from.

Upon reaching the middle of the bridge, Emil stopped, and, whilst still eating his chocolate, looked behind him, seeing the car now far gone. He wanted to say something, but felt Lyla flying out of his hands, and a deafening blow hitting him hard over the ears, as if the bridge itself was being lifted up, towards the sky, and torn apart. Lylaaa ! His thoughts dissipated into thin air. Far away, within another dust cloud, the car raced. Upon the field, and upon the river, like unto a faded echo, the silence of an August morning eventually fell. The sky was clear, like the child's eyes.

Dumitru Radu Popescu, August Clear

Prophecy Against Russia's Czar

1 Kings 21:17 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria. 19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying:

Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou killed, and also taken possession ? In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. 20 Because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord, 21 I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, 22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

23 And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying:

The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying:

29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Fighting To The Last Slav

Paraphrasing the above prophecy:

Were the [Slavs] to succeed, in dragging the nations once again, into yet another world war, then its result will not spell the triumph of [Slavism], but rather the destruction of the [Slavic] race in Europe.

Russian Orthodox Crusade Against The Wicked West

The Apostolic Canons
28. We command that a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who strikes the faithful that offend, or the unbelievers who do wickedly, and thinks to terrify them by such means, be deprived, for our Lord has nowhere taught us such things. On the contrary, “when Himself was stricken, He did not strike again; when He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not.”

I couldn't help but notice the Kremlin's ever-increasing employment of Chechen Muslim troops, in Russia's special military operation against its sovereign Orthodox neighbor. Perhaps someone should inform Rasputin that Jihad has never been an Orthodox tradition.

In its ostensive desire to fight the west, Russia has become just like it, crusades being a product of the schism, which, ironically enough, even westerners themselves have long since repudiated.

Fire From Heaven

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Genesis 19:24

Then it rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

After tainting this year's Easter holidays, marking Christ's holy resurrection, by defiling them with the stain of death, like a second Herod, Putin the Pious saw fit to mock the sacred day of Pentecost as well, by turning it from a day of divine fire, descending from the celestial spheres, unto the spiritual enlightenment of many nations, into one where the hellish flames of an ever-burning Gehenna of his own making, fueled by explosions raining down from heaven upon countless innocents, whose lives are lost and limbs are shattered, demonically deride and ultimately fall short of, not only God's highly elevated standards of moral sanctity, but even those of basic human decency.

Tuesdays On Mars

After Constantinople, the New Rome, eventually fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks, half a millennium ago, Moscow gradually became the third Rome. The Christian empire lasted for an entire millennium, reckoned as the seventh from creation, according to the Byzantine calendar era.

Prior to the time of its Christianization, following the conversion of Constantine, pagan Rome was worshipping ancient idols, such as Mars, the god of war, in whose honor both the third day of the week, and the third month of the year, March, were named.

Russia's special military operation in Ukraine started shortly before the beginning of March, close to the feast day of Saint Nicholas Salos of Pskov, the fool for Christ. Throughout the entire month, the term war was not applied to it, in defiance of the deity whose name it bears; a brazen impiety, continuing up to the present moment. This undoubtedly constituted an affront to Mars, thereby incurring his wrath, thus explaining their slow, snail paced progress, and subsequent withdrawal.

On the other hand, the besieged declared martial law from the very beginning, honoring the latter's memory, and gaining his favor. The ides of April, unlike those of March, fall on the month's thirteenth day. On this occasion, Neptune, the Roman god of stormy seas, avenged Mars' offended honor.

Lessons In Agronomy: On The Importance Of Cereals

Russia and the Ukraine are among the world's largest grain producers:

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you: Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

1 Corinthians 15:35 But some man will say: How are the dead raised up ? And with what body do they come ? 36 Thou fool ! That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die; 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but mere seeds, perchance of wheat, or of some other grain.

Weather Forecast

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Official Eastern Orthodox Stance On Pride Parades

Genesis 19:24

Then it rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Lessons In Misguided Optimism

What atheism, Holocaust denial, and Russian war propaganda have in common:

John 20:25 Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Crucifying A Country For Easter

Apparently, Halloween came early this year...
After pseudo-religious civil disobedience of the most divinely uninspired kind tainted the last two Easters, by turning them from celebrations of life into festivals of death, thus marking the triumph of death over life, rather than the other way around, as would normally have been expected, this year, a certain Czar of the same stock as Ivan the Terrible, deemed it expediently appropriate to smear the sacred Holidays, by defiling them with the corpses of raped women and children, thereby trampling human life once again underfoot, as an anti-Christ mocking the Savior's resurrection, by which He trampled on death by death, as our Orthodox Paschal anthem, sung every spring, so beautifully puts it.

A putrid, rotten Easter, filled with the stench of decaying bodies, whose unbearable smell rises to the high heavens, demanding justice and retribution, and a bloody Bright Week, to all !

Pharaoh, Moses, And The Exodus

As the Egyptian Pharaoh oppressed the people of Israel,
so the Russian Czar oppresses the people of the Ukraine.

As Moses turned Egypt's rivers into blood,
so Russian invaders make rivers of blood flow in the Ukraine.

As the Jews left Egypt during the Exodus,
so Ukrainians are fleeing their homeland.

Why Russian Leaders Are Exempt From Fasting

It was the first week of Lent...
Hearing that the Tsar was coming to visit him, Nicholas found a piece of raw meat and, when the Tsar entered his cell, Nicholas bowed down, and offered the meat to the Tsar:

Eat, little Ivan, eat !

The terrible Tsar answered him furiously:

I am a Christian, and do not eat any meat during Lent !

To which the man of God promptly retorted:

You do that, and much worse !
You feed on men's flesh and blood,
forgetting not only the Fast, but God as well !

This lecture entered deeply into the heart of Tsar Ivan, and he immediately left Pskov in shame, having intended to wreak great slaughter there.

Lenten Recipe

2 Esdras 15:58
They that be in the mountains shall die of hunger, and eat their own flesh, and drink their own blood, for very hunger of bread, and thirst of water.


Joseph Flavius, The Jewish War, 6:3:4
There was a certain woman that dwelt beyond Jordan; her name was Mary. She was eminent for her family, and her wealth; and had fled away to Jerusalem with the rest of the multitude, and was with them besieged therein at this time. The other effects of this woman had been already seized upon. What she had treasured up besides, as also what food she had contrived to save, had been also carried off by the rapacious guards, who came every day running into her house for that purpose. This put the poor woman into a very great passion. But none of them, out of commiseration of her case, would take away her life. And if she found any food she perceived her labours were for others, and not for herself; and it was now become impossible for her any way to find any more food, while the famine pierced through her very bowels, and marrow. When also her passion was fired to a degree beyond the famine itself. She then attempted a most unnatural thing; and snatching up her son, which was a child sucking at her breast, she said:

“O thou miserable infant! for whom shall I preserve thee, in this war, this famine, and this sedition? As to the war with the Romans, if they preserve our lives, we must be slaves. This famine also will destroy us, even before that slavery comes upon us. Come on. Be thou my food, and a by-word to the world. Which is all that is now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews.”

As soon as she had said this, she slew her son; and then roasted him; and eat the one half of him; and kept the other half by her concealed. Upon this the seditious came in presently; and smelling the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her, that they would cut her throat immediately, if she did not shew them what food she had gotten ready. She replied, that “She had saved a very fine portion of it for them;” and withal uncovered what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seized with an horror, and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight, when she said to them:

“This is mine own son; and what hath been done was mine own doing. Come, eat of this food, for I have eaten of it myself. Do not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman, or more compassionate than a mother. But if you be so scrupulous and do abominate this my sacrifice; as I have eaten the one half, let the rest be reserved for me also.”

After which those men went out trembling, being never so much affrighted at any thing as they were at this; and with some difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother. Upon which the whole city was full of this horrid action immediately; and while every body laid this miserable case before their own eyes, they trembled, as if this unheard-of action had been done by themselves. So those that were thus distressed by the famine, were very desirous to die; and those already dead were esteemed happy, because they had not lived long enough either to hear, or to see such miseries. This sad instance was quickly told to the Romans, some of whom could not believe it, and others pitied the distress which the Jews were under.

The Ides Of March

...according to the original Julian calendar.

The Slavic Czar stems from the Latin Caesar.

Brotherly Love

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Slavic Brotherhood





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From Russia With Love





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Lovelorn Slavs

Come And See

More on this topic.

John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him: We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him: Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip saith unto him: Come and see.

History Repeating Itself

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Old Saint Nick

on the 1968 Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia

The incursion of the troops of the five socialist countries into Czechoslovakia constitutes a great error – a grave danger – for [preserving] peace in Europe, and for the fate of socialism throughout the world.

It is inconceivable, in today's world, when people are rising up in battle, to defend their national independence, [fighting] for equal rights, for a socialist state, for socialist states, to infringe upon the freedom and independence of another state.

There is no justification, nor can any reason prove acceptable, in admitting, even for a single moment, the mere idea of a military intervention, in the affairs of a rightful socialist state.

[...]
Choosing the [right] way of constructing socialism, is [ultimately] a question facing every party, every state, every nation:

No one can erect themselves as advisor, or as guide, of the way in which socialism is [meant] to be constructed.

[Rather], it is each nation's [own] concern, and we consider that [...] the immixture in the affairs of other states, and of other parties, has to cease, once and for all.

[...]
We are determined to act, with all [our] might, and with all our responsibility, so that we may contribute to determining the [best] way for quickly solving this situation, created by the incursion of foreign troops into Czechoslovakia, so that Czechoslovakians might [finally] be able to conduct their business in peace.

We are firmly determined to act, so that, together with other socialist countries, with other communist and workers' parties, we may [eventually] contribute to eliminating divergences, [thereby] strengthening the unity of socialist countries, and of communist parties, because we are convinced that, only in this manner, do we serve people's interests, as well as the interests of socialism throughout the whole world.

The above words belong not, as one might initially be inclined to think, to a democratically elected leader of the free world, but to one of the fiercest communist dictators known to history, heading, for many decades, one of Europe's most brutal and repressive totalitarian regimes.

Nor were they spoken today, but rather well over half a century ago, all of this only serving to show Russia's current president's increasing inadequacy, on the world's geopolitical stage, within the larger historical context.

Mother Russia

Protecting Her Ukrainian Daughter From The West

There are the stories you tell yourself,
and then there's the truth...

Khary Payton as King Ezekiel in The Walking Dead

Valentine's Day Special

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I am neither Roman Catholic, nor a Priest,

so why do I constantly feel like one ?

The Virgin-Born Comes

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Holocaust

Genesis 19:24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: 28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

Lamentations 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Ezekiel 16:1 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 48 As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord.

Amos 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Melodious Medieval Marian Music

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Llibre Vermell De Montserrat ~ Mariam, Matrem Virginem





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Cantigas De Santa Maria ~ 100. Santa Maria, Strela Do Dia





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Cantigas De Santa Maria ~ 100. Santa Maria, Strela Do Dia





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Cantigas De Santa Maria ~ 149. Fol E A Desmesura





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Cantigas De Santa Maria ~ 302. A Madre De Jesu Cristo

The Fault In Our Stars

Stephen Collins

— † 2014 —




Bill Cosby

– † 2014 –




Kevin Spacey

— † 2017 —

Judaism

† 2020

Throughout your entire life, people will die in front of you – some, physically; others, morally – and, with every single loss, a part of you also fades away, until, at the very end, after having already buried them all in some deep, dark corner of your traumatized psyche, and with the last glimmer of light that was still left within you being finally extinguished, you yourself will also, at long last, ultimately perish...

Women's Ordination

Episcopa Sophia


More information on this topic can be found here.

Why I Would NEVER Embrace Scientific Atheism

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Or Why Are There So Few Women In S.T.E.M. Fields ?

Live And Let Die

Luke 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children !

Late Term Abortion

Better Late Than Never !

John 1:11 Unto His own He came, and His own received him not...

Looking Forward To Easter

Easter Marks The Resurrection

But Death Must, Of Necessity, Precede The Resurrection

Actually, I'm looking forward to being 50...

Helen McCrory

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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