From Hart's essay: "In any event, my last remark is only this: reunion of the Orthodox and Roman Churches has become an imperative, and time is growing short. I say this because I often suffer from bleak premonitions of the ultimate cultural triumph in the West of a consumerism so devoid of transcendent values as to be, inevitably, nothing but a pervasive and pitiless nihilism. And it is, I think, a particularly soothing and saccharine nihilism, possessing a singular power for absorbing the native energies of the civilization it is displacing without prompting any extravagant alarm at its vacuous barbarisms. And I suspect that the only tools at Christianity’s disposal, as it confronts the rapid and seemingly inexorable advance of this nihilism, will be evangelical zeal and internal unity. I like to think—call it the Sophiologist in me—that the tribulations that Eastern Christianity has suffered under Islamic and communist rule have insulated it from some of the more corrosive pathologies of modernity for a purpose, and endowed it with a special mission to bring its liturgical, intellectual, and spiritual strengths to the aid of the Western Christian world in its struggle with the nihilism that the post-Christian West has long incubated and that now surrounds us all, while yet drawing on the strengths and charisms of the Western church to preserve Orthodoxy from the political and cultural frailty that still afflicts Eastern Christianity. Whatever the case, though, we are more in need of one another now than ever. To turn away from ecumenism now may be to turn towards the darkness that is deepening all about us. We are called to be children of light, and I do not think that we will walk very far in the light hereafter except together."
Here is a lot food for thought! Is Rick Salbato reliable? http://www.unitypublishing.com/godskingdom/peter2.html I don't know Hart and his works, yet. I'm just starting to study this question of unity between catholic churches (In every liturgy I say: I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church!!!).
My answer to Phillip: Sometimes I feel that it's possible to see the big picture in all of these mysterious events in the religious world today - and then I get puzzled again and lose the thread.... I must say that when I first time read Locutions to the world I felt some kind of coherence in them and similitudes with the Bible and other reliable sources. But there is so much information, it's a bit exhausting to read all. Anyway, I'm very interested in those messages. Those Jesus and Mary seem to talk like one would suppose they do (huh, did I get it right?) - not like in MDM messages....
I think that the East and West need each other like heart and lungs. One of the most wonderful things I have learnt from the East is that there's more than one way of cooking and egg (so to speak). I think this is particularly true for someone who loves to pray as I do. What have I learnt? Well so may thing... Firstly we in the West , our Spirituality concentrates on the Passion and Cruciifixtion, the struggle so to speak whilst in the East the emphasise is on Easter, Light, the Ressurection. I can see how these two go together like ham and eggs and if you push too much just one side you can get a kind of distortion of things. This is why the Feast of the Transfiguration is so important in the East. I am afraid here in the West we have mutilated and Protestanized our liturgy to such an extent you can hear it screaming. Pope Benedict was right, 'Lex orandi, lex credendi', the law of prayer is the law of belief'. On the other hand the East has much to learn from the West. One of these things is to build independence of Church and State. The Church is not the State and the State is not the Church. Russia is a very good example of where too cosy a relationship has built up between the two. I think there will be unity. But it will only come after the Cross.
Daria said: I learned a lot of it, and now "we walk together" I'm confident that as you share some pearls of wisdom from the East that I will be able to say the above, too! Thanks for the article on Holy Father John! Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
Thank you very much, Mario! This Immaculate Heart is one thing absolutely new to me, I hope you could explain it's meaning to me! I'm sure I believe in it although I don't know the exact meaning.... I think the faith is common but words sometimes different!
I am reading a wonderful book at the moment by a Quaker convert to Orthodoxy, called Mary Cunningham. I mention this because in it I came across two noble saints and Princes Saints Boris and Gleb.These two saints were murdered by their brother Syyatopolk in 1015. The thing about it is the two brothers did nothing to defend themselves, but rather than resort to a Civil War they laid down their lives rather than take up arms! Something which I find very moving. I have been racking my brains to find an equivalent example of Princes/ nobles doing something similiar in the West and can think of zilch. The Orthodox call them, 'Passion bearers '..which I take to mean what we call, 'Victim souls'. This is what I find so interesting in studying the Eastern Churches.That we find new light on old things. Real eye openers.
I found an informative summary of Boris and Gleb here: http://www.roca.org/OA/76-77/76s.htm And a short excerpt of it here: Although Boris and Glob were not martyred for their faith (they are properly called 'passion-bearers' rather than martyrs), their voluntary and meek sacrifice for the sake of averting the suffering of others and preserving the Christian ideal, had a profound effect on the subsequent development of Christianity in Russia. Whereas in Byzantine Christianity God was often depicted as Pantocrator--stern and all-powerful, in Russia the emphasis was on Christ as the sacrificial Lamb Who 'opened not his mouth before his shearer'. Russian piety came to be characterized by a tender humility and an acceptance of suffering following the example of Christ. In this century Russia's New Martyrs offer a supreme testimony to the enduring influence of this otherworldly orientation which that country first witnessed in the exploit of the two youthful brother princes and passion-bearers, Boris and Gleb. I have wondered tihs idea of "victim souls". Good that you mentioned it and compared it with 'passion bearers'! But I don't know if there's some diffrences between these terms... I just feel there is something different....which I don't quite understand yet. I hope that somebody explains me this appellation 'the Immaculate Heart of Mary', please in brief.
I was not aware Russian spirituality concentrated on Christ as Lamb of God this explains much. I think the name , 'Martyr' means 'Witness' and this mean s to give witness to the shedding of blood in circumstances were one has to actually shed blood rather than deny the Faith. Perhaps this is why these two saints were not titled with the name 'Martyr'. Victim soul in the West is someone called by God to become a living sacrifice. So again maybe 'Passion bearer', is not an accurate equivalent But perhaps this Catholic saint is a 'Passion bearer' do you think?
