Lieberman: Barghouti Will Not be Released
Article: Israel National News

Speaking Thursday morning, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he could “guarantee” that arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti would not be released from prison in any deal to exchange terrorists for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. “We have no intention to free the head of the murderers, a person who has been sentenced to four life terms in prison. There are red lines, and this is one of them,” Lieberman said.

In response to U.S. demands that Israel free an additional 1,000-some terrorists as a “gesture” to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, Lieberman said that previous releases of Fatah terrorists “have not proven themselves. The Olmert administration did this several times and it did not work, and we do not plan to allow it to happen,” Lieberman said.

Why can’t BHussein be smart enough to know that freeing RADICAL TERRORISTS does NOT PRODUCE POSITIVE RESULTS?! Oh. I guess “brotherhood” has a lot to do with it.

BHussein with Palestinian President Abu Mazen as he demands that Israel releases an additional 1,000 terrorists as a “gesture”to “moderate” “Palestinians”.

Ohhhhhhhhhh golly…

Israel pardons 92 Fatah members
Article: YnetNews

Israel has granted pardon to 92 wanted members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing. Some were awarded full pardon while others were granted partial pardon. The most prominent member on the list is a commander in the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the territories. (Ali Waked)

Yet; the Palestinian terrorists are holding one of Israel’s soldiers captive. Does BHussein Obama give a shit? The answer is NYET. He cares about himself… and his brothers in Allah.

Israel soldier swap talks on hold: Palestinian
Article: Breitbart

Indirect talks between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement over a prisoner exchange involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have been suspended until Tuesday, according to a Palestinian official .

“Negotiations on Shalit will resume after Eid al-Adha in Cairo on Tuesday,” the official told AFP on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The Hamas delegation, which visited the Syrian capital on Wednesday to meet the movement’s leadership in exile, returned to the Gaza Strip via Cairo, he added, while refusing to detail the content of the discussions.

Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants including Hamas in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip in 2006.

Hamas, which has controlled the territory since June 2007, is demanding that more than 450 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails be released in exchange for the soldier.

But Israel is refusing to release some of the detainees, blocking the chance of any agreement being reached, an official close to the talks said on Wednesday.

The same official said reports of an imminent prisoner exchange were “premature.”

Both Hamas and Israel earlier this week reported progress in the negotiations, which have been mediated by Egypt and Germany, but played down reports of a quick deal.

Hamas on Wednesday blamed the delay on Israel, which “has not yet answered the demands of the Palestinian factions,” senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said.

So; even the terrorists who are holding the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captive demand only 450 Palestinian terrorist prisoners that are being held in Israeli jails be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit; but BHussein seems to think that’s a pretty low number. “DUR… I HAZ A BETR IDEA! LETZ GO FOR A THOUSAND. THEY IS MY TERRORIZT BROTHERZ.” UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. Negotiations are on hold until after Eid al-Adha… I guess the terrorists must be shopping at Best Buy.

St. Stephen the Younger, Monk, Eastern Martyr
Constantinople, 715 – November 28, 764

A Monk of the East, he lived in the eighth century, during the iconoclast period, of which he was a victim and Martyr. Born in Constantinople in 715, Stephen began at first under the direction of a hermit, then entered the monastery of Monte Sant’Aussenzio in Bithynia, where he became Aabbot. Here he lived, praying and doing the job of copying texts. At that time the emperor Constantine Copronymo, the iconoclast in his battle against the sacred images, had aimed particularly at the monks. Following the council of Hiera, which in 753 condemned the defenders of icons, Stephen openly sided against the emperor. This cost him long harassment, imprisonment and abuse. On November 28, 764 Stephen was killed by some officers of the palace at Constantinople, without the order of the emperor.

Roman Martyrology: At Constantinople, St. Stephen the Younger, Monk and Martyr, who, under the Emperor Constantine Copronymos, was subjected to various punishments for having defended the worship of sacred images, confirmed by the shedding of his blood the Catholic truth.

The Life of this eastern Monk, was written around the year 809 by his namesake Stephen, Deacon of Constantinople.

The Monk St Stephen the Younger, was born in 715 in Constantinople, ancient Byzantium, as a young man first began under the leadership of a hermit, but then choose the religious life, entering the monastery of Monte Sant’Aussenzio in Bithynia, near Chalcedon , where he became Hegumen (abbot).

Lived here for years devoted to prayer and as amanuensis, the distinguished work of monks who copied ancient texts.

At that time ruled the Eastern Emperor Constantine V Copronymos (718-775), son of Leo III Isaura (675-741) the emperor who in 726 began the religious policy of iconoclasm against the worship of images.

The iconoclast movement was continued with his son Constantine V, who engaged in a tough fight, especially against the monks also, convened the Council of Hiera, which in 753 condemned the defenders of the cult of sacred images.

The Hegumen Stephen openly sided against the rules of this Counci convened by the emperor and the Papal rules, which will ultimately be disowned with the approval of the veneration of images, with the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.

Meanwhile, Constantine V Copronymos in June of 762, commanded the Hegumen of Monte Sant’Aussenzio, respect and adherence to the canons promulgated Hiera, since they refused, he was taken to the monastery of Chrysopoli at Constantinople and from there sent into exile in Island Proconnesus, where his mother and sister were allowed to join him.

After a year, in 763, he was brought back to Constantinople, where more than 300 monks were jailed because of their dedication to the veneration of images.

After another year of continued harassment and abuse, on November 28, 764, Abbot Stephen was killed by some officers of the palace, while the festivities were under way for the Empress Eudoxia, but without any order of the emperor.

The Greek Church recognized him as a martyr, with his memorial on November 28, and on that date and title,he is included in the Roman Martyrology.

Author: Antonio Borrelli

source: Santi e Beati

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the USA. It’s a national holiday. Family and friends gather together all across this beautiful country and celebrate the blessings of life. And for those of us who name the name of Christ, we acknowledge the source of those blessings. All while engaging in a feast. Yet sadly, it isn’t possible for many of our brothers and sisters around the world, even should their custom be the same.

For you see, they’re members of a select minority in the Body of Jesus. A called few, who shall be renowned for all eternity. Some of them, even now ready to win a crown. That of the martyr.

So as you go through your day with it’s many blessings, don’t forget your brothers and sisters who are being persecuted. And take some time to make their causes known to your family and friends. Because I tell you in truth, our Father’s eyes are on them, and I just can’t help believing that He takes special note of those who do the same.

To learn more about the suffering Church, please visit The Voice of the Martyrs.

Last week, a masked gunman entered a church in Moscow and gunned down the priest.  In the process, he also shot the choirmaster.  As I learn more about this event, especially today as my friend pointed out his martyrdom and his life, I realize he is a New Martyr.

Father Daniel preached for Christ in the arena of Islamic culture and religion.  Himself a Tartar (a traditionally Muslim people), he embraced the Lord Jesus in his life and in his death.  The threats against him never checked his unwavering voice and witness, and for it he became a True Witness, a Martyr.  (The Greek word for Martyr is Witness).

He is married and has a daughter, who I hope will be alright.  I will remember them in my prayers for their sorrow.

Father Daniel himself, however, should be no case for sorrow.  He knew he would soon mystically encounter the Lord in a profound meeting.  Now, he joins the choir of Paradise as one of the millions of faithful Witnesses to our Lord.

Holy New Hieromartyr Daniel, pray to God for us!

Святейший Патриарх Кирилл совершил литию у гроба священника Даниила Сысоева

The Life of Holy Great-Martyr Katherine

The Holy Great-Martyr Katherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandrian Egypt, during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-313). Living in the capital — the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of an uncommon beauty and intellect — Katherine received a most splendid education, having studied the works of the finest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. Young men from the most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Katherine, but none of them was chosen. She declared to her parents that she would be agreeable to enter into marriage only with someone who surpassed her in illustriousness, wealth, comeliness and wisdom.

Katherine’s mother, a secret Christian, sent her for advice to her own spiritual father — a saintly elder pursuing prayerful deeds in solitude in a cave not far from the city. Having listened to Katherine, the elder said that he knew of a youth, who surpassed her in everything, such that “His beauty was more radiant than the shining of the sun, His wisdom governed all creation, His riches were spread throughout all the world — this however did not diminish but rather added to the inexpressible loftiness of His lineage”. The image of the Christ produced in the soul of the holy maiden an ardent desire to see Him. Truth, to which her soul yearned, revealed it to her. In parting, the elder handed Katherine an icon of the Mother of God with the God-Child Jesus on Her arm and bid her to pray with faith to Mary for the bestowing of the vision of Her Son.

Katherine prayed all night and was given to see the Most Holy Virgin, Who sent Her Divine Son to look upon the kneeling of Katherine before Them. But the Child turned His face away from her saying, that He was not able to look at her because she was ugly, of shabby lineage, beggarly and mindless like every person — not washed with the waters of holy Baptism and not sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit. Katherine returned again to the elder deeply saddened. He lovingly received her, instructed her in the faith of Christ, admonished her to preserve her purity and integrity and to pray unceasingly; he then performed over her the sacrament of holy Baptism. And again Saint Katherine had a vision of the Most Holy Mother of God with Her Child. Now the Lord looked tenderly at her and gave her a ring — a wondrous gift of the Heavenly Bridegroom.

At this time the emperor Maximian was himself in Alexandria for a pagan feast day. Because of this, the feast was especially splendid and crowded. The cries of the sacrificial animals, the smoke and the smell of the sacrifices, the endless blazing of fires, and the bustling crowds at the arenas filled Alexandria. Human victims also were brought — because they consigned to death in the fire the confessors in Christ, those not recanting from Him under torture. The Saint’s love for the Christian martyrs and her fervent desire to lighten their fate impelled Katherine to go to the pagan head-priest and ruler of the empire, the emperor-persecutor Maximian.

Introducing herself, the saint confessed her Christian faith and with wisdom denounced the errors of the pagans. The beauty of the maiden captivated the emperor. In order to convince her and show the superiority of pagan wisdom, the emperor gave orders to gather 50 of the most learned men of the empire, but the Saint got the better of the wise men, such that they themselves came to believe in Christ. Saint Katherine shielded them with the sign of the cross, and they bravely accepted death for Christ and were burnt by order of the emperor.

Maximian, no longer hoping to convince the saint, tried to entice her with the promise of riches and fame. Having received an angry refusal, the emperor gave orders to subject the saint to terrible tortures and then throw her in prison. The Empress Augusta, who had heard much about Katherine, wanted to see her. Having prevailed upon the military-commander Porphyry to accompany her with a detachment of soldiers, Augusta went to the prison. The empress was impressed by the strong spirit of Saint Katherine, whose face glowed with Divine grace. The holy martyress explained the Christian teaching to the newly-arrived, and they in believing were converted to Christ.

On the following day they again brought the her to the judgment court where, under the threat of being broken on the wheel, they urged that she recant from the Christian faith and offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. The saint steadfastly confessed Christ and she herself approached the wheels; but an Angel smashed the instruments of execution, which broke up into pieces with many pagans passing nearby. Having beheld this wonder, the empress Augusta and the imperial courtier Porphyry with 200 soldiers confessed their faith in Christ in front of everyone, and they were beheaded. Maximian again tried to entice Saint Katherine, proposing marriage to her, and again he received a refusal. She confessed her fidelity to the Heavenly Bridegroom — Christ, and with a prayer to Him she herself put her head on the block under the sword of the executioner.

In the VI Century, through a revelation, the relics of Saint Katherine were found and transferred with honor to a newly constructed church of the Sinai monastery, built by the holy emperor Justinian (527-565). The church and monastery remain to this day.

With her wealth, beauty, education, and high social class, it would have been very tempting for Saint Katherine to deny Christ, save her worldly life, and go back to an easy, privileged lifestyle. Instead, she chose to follow her faith.

HYMNS OF THE SAINT

Apolytikion (Plagal Of The First Tone)

Let us praise the most auspicious bride of Christ, the divine Katherine, protectress of Sinai, our aid and our help. For, she brilliantly silenced the eloquence of the impious by the sword of the spirit, and now, crowned as a martyr, she asks great mercy for all.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

O friends of martyrs, now divinely raise up a renewed chorus, praising the all-wise Katherine. For, she proclaimed Christ in the arena, trampled on the serpent, and spat upon the knowledge of the orators.

Ever have a martyr insistently try to be a martyr for you even though you insist that they not be? You repeatedly go to do something and find that they did it for you without consulting you and they want praise for it? You keep finding that you are deadended in your goals because they head you off to “make it easier”. After time, however, the martyrs eventually become beligerent because you don’t really understand how much they have done and have been doing for you.

I have been ruminating lately on the subject of martyrs, what it really means in various arenas, including psychology. I have come to the conclusion for myself that these types of martyrs use it for control. The martyr psychology is similar to the victim psychology except that in the martyr psychology, the person’s victim identity is self-imposed and can be used as a tool to control others while being “out of control” of oneself. I wonder if they realize that they are making others their victims by imposing their martyr psychology on those who never asked or wanted it?

At one time or another we have all been on the giving and the receiving end of the martyr psychology. Martyr actually comes from a Greek root word that means “to witness”. In later terms, it became associated with “to suffer for a cause.” So which definition do we choose to have in our lives?

For the first, do we witness and move on? How long do we witness?

If we have chosen the second, then why do we feel the suffering necessary? And the biggest question of all, what is the cause? Is it a firm conviction or a compulsion?

mar•tyr (märtr)

NOUN:

1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.
2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.
3. One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.
4. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.

——————————————————————————–
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Late Greek martur, from Greek martus, martur-, witness
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/martyr

In its original meaning, the word martyr, meaning witness, was used in the secular sphere as well as in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible.[1] The process of bearing witness was not intended to lead to the death of the witness, although it is known from ancient writers (e.g. Josephus) that witnesses, especially of the lower classes, were tortured routinely before being interrogated as a means of forcing them to disclose the truth.

During the early Christian centuries, the term acquired the extended meaning of a believer who is called to witness for their religious belief, and on account of this witness, endures suffering and/or death. The term, in this later sense, entered the English language as a loanword. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called martyrdom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyr

In psychology, a person who has a martyr complex, sometimes associated with the term victim complex, desires the feeling of being a martyr for his/her own sake, seeking out suffering or persecution because it feeds a psychological need.

Nidal Malik Hassan

Når radikale muslimer/islamister går til voldelige yderligheder, skyldes det deres religiøse tilhørsforhold, som adskiller dem fra en række andre genkendelige minoriteter (sorte amerikanere, jøder, homoseksuelle), der velopdragent lader sig nøje med at appellere til offentlighedens sympati.

Christopher Hitchens

Omtrent sådan læser jeg Christopher Hitchens’ konklusion på sit indlæg Allahs amerikanske soldat i Information d. 20/11, angående major Nidal Malik Hassans nedskydning af 13 soldaterkammerater i Texas. Om de ”gode” minoriteter hedder det hos Hitchens: ”Men har nogen personer fra disse kategorier nogensinde reageret med massemord som svar? […] Ville de have opnået sympati og forståelse, hvis de havde gjort det?”

 Hitchens påviser – ganske overbevisende – en religiøst betonet drivkraft bag Hassans handling, og anklager Obama og hans administration for at neddysse opmærksomheden på disse forhold via formaninger om ikke at drage forhastede slutninger. Det primære problem ved denne offentlige håndtering synes, for Hitchens, at være, at den tenderer mod ”sympati og forståelse” for folk af Hassans specifikke type minoritet.

Hitchens ved, hvem vi er

Min anke mod Hitchens’ konklusion går ikke på, at den skulle være forhastet, for det er den ikke. Den er velunderbygget og velsagtens ganske korrekt, men samtidig malplaceret, unødvendig og ikke mindst vulgært idealistisk.

Hvorfor skal vi ikke have sympati med døds-majoren og hans slags? Det behøver vi åbenbart ikke, eftersom deres aggressioner angivelig ikke bunder i noget, vi har indflydelse på eller ansvar for, men derimod i ren og skær ekstrem religiøsitet. Dermed har vi fået samlet en stor mængde ubelejlige afvigere under en beroligende gruppebetegnelse og reduceret dem til deres grundlæggende idé eller essens: radikal islam.

Så belejlig er idealismen; den kan fortælle os, hvem folk i bund og grund er, og dermed fritage os for at overveje, hvordan de mon er blevet til dem, de er. Mange enkeltstående voldelige afvigere (tankerne falder på skolemassakrer som Columbine og Virginia Tech, samt på mere indadrettede tilfælde som Josef Fritzl) hensætter os til besværlige og foruroligende spekulationer over hvilke sociale, politiske og materielle omstændigheder, der mon skaber sådanne uhyrer. Vi kan ikke rigtig finde et entydigt label at sætte på deres form for afvigelse, og derfor bliver de genstand for – i hvert fald forsøg på – den af Hitchens forkætrede ”forståelse”.

 Og Gud da forbyde, at dette også skulle ske mht. Hassan og co., for når en gruppe vinder sympati og forståelse, så fører det jo til billigelse af deres handlinger, og dermed til optrapning af samme, ikke sandt, Hitchens?

Så hellere have en samlet fjendegruppe, som lader sig sammenligne med de andre klart definerede minoritetsgruppers eksemplariske velopdragenhed, således at vi andre enstemmigt kan råbe ad disse religiøse fanatikere, at de er forkert på den! Så holder de nok snart op med deres pjat, mon ikke, kære Hitchens?

Besværlig materialisme

Og ja, Christopher Hitchens, det er da utroligt, at de galninge ikke kan finde ud af det, når nu vi andre godt kan (altså undtagen dem, der ikke kan, forstås). Men uanset hvor fortrinligt religions-prædikatet passer på Nidal Malik Hassans verbale og fysiske ytringer – samt på martyriets mange kedelige fortilfælde – så tror jeg altså ikke, vi kommer uden om den slidsomme opgave, at forklare hvilke følelser og oplevelser denne hadske religiøsitet er udtryk for, samt af hvilke omstændigheder samme følelser og oplevelser undfanges.

Det kan meget vel være, at den historiske materialisme (dvs. marxismen) led nederlag i sit forsøg på at ophæve klassesamfundet via optimering af produktionsforholdene, og at Freud har vist os, at vi alle har vores at slås med, inderst inde, uanset hvor vi bor, og hvem der mobber og håner os. Alligevel tror jeg ikke, at vi, hvis vi vil skabe et bedre globalt samfund, kommer uden om den besværlige materialisme, som aldrig ved, hvem folk i bund og grund er, og som er tvunget til at overskue enorme mængder politiske, økonomiske, industrielle, geografiske og historiske forhold – for at kunne forstå de pludselige voldsudbrud, vi ser på overfladen. Er sådanne bestræbelser det samme som ”sympati”? Nuvel, så må jeg vel finde mig i at bære betegnelsen ”martyr-sympatisør”.

Tomorrow, 25 November, is the feast of St Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria (ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς της Ἀλεξάνδρειας, hē Hagia Aikaterinē hē Megalomartys tēs Alexandreias). It is also the commemoration of Isaac Watts, famous hymnwriter, in the Church of England calendar (and surely those of other churches too).

13th-century icon of St Catherine from Mt Sinai

Popularly, Catherine is associated with her eponymous wheel that makes it gyratory appearance at fireworks displays, symbolising the first attempted means of her martyrdom. Her legend tells of a young virgin woman who contended in dialogue with the pagan Emperor Maximinus Daia (308–13), successfully converting to Christianity his wife and courtiers, countering their philosophical arguments. The frustrated emperor ordered her tortured to death on the breaking wheel, which broke when she touched it, and so she was beheaded. Angels carried her body to Mt Sinai, where her tomb now lies.

The Catherine legend is problematic for a number of reasons. Although that does not mean that there is no real woman behind the legend, almost none of legend seems to be substantial. Maximinus is a hate figure in Christian history, being ruler of Syria and Egypt and accused of restarting the persecutions against Christians after Galerius, his adoptive uncle, had put an end to Diocletian’s persecutions. Maximinus was also part of the post-Diocletianic struggle for power opposing the party of Constantine (considered the victor of Christendom). It makes sense to see the Catherine legend in this political atmosphere. Surely, there must have been martyrdoms in Alexandria in this period.

Poster for Alejandro Amenábar's 'Agora'

However, the legend seems to have accreted another similar, yet quite opposite, legend: the legend of Hypatia (Ὑπατία). Hypatia lived in Alexandria from the late fourth century, dying in 415. She was a brilliant philosopher of the Neoplatonic tradition, skilled in logic, maths and astronomy. She taught in Alexandria, numbering a future bishop as one of her students. Problematically for the Christian community of the city, she was a pagan. A power struggle for the city was taking place between its bishop Cyril and its prefect Orestes. A mob of monks from the Nitrian Desert had previously attacked Orestes, injuring him. Hypatia was believed to be using her influence as a highly respected professor in favour of Orestes. Believing this, the Nitrian monks, led by Peter the Reader, surrounded Hypatia’s carriage, pulled her out, stripped her and dragged her through the streets. Accounts of her death at the hands of the monks have been variously dramatised in disturbingly sadistic detail. Socrates Scholasticus, a Christian historian of the fifth century, has a sympathetic account of her brutal murder, clearly dismayed by the action of his coreligionists. The legend of Hypatia, however, became powerful anti-Christian propaganda in the hands of the dwindling old Graeco-Roman aristocracy and educated elite. She has remained an icon of reason against the assaults of intolerance and religious extremism. The end of the GW Bush regime in the United States was perhaps as good a time as any to revisit Hypatia, as done in film Ágora by Alejandro Amenábar, with Rachel Weisz as our 21st-century Hypatia.

I can understand the Catherine legend having much to do with guilt-fuelled counter-propaganda against the embarrassing Hypatia legend. It is certainly a disgusting blot on the church if we are guilty of rewriting history to turn our shame into a symbol of our suffering under persecution. Perhaps more sad is the daily severe discrimination met by today’s Christian community in Egypt, the Copts.

I don’t know if it counts for anything, but 25 November is also 29 Hathor in the Coptic calendar, and the height of the month named for the goddess Hathor.

Isaac Watts

The story of Isaac Watts is over a millennium away from the stories of Catherine and Hypatia. Born in another great port city, Southampton, in 1674, his father was twice imprisoned for holding to nonconformist religious practices: he was not a member of the state church, the Church of England. The Act of Uniformity of 1662 had put severe constraints on those who chose to worship in manner not in accordance with that of the state church. Although showing great academic promise, Watts was unable to study at Oxbridge due to his refusal to accept the rules of the state church. Instead he went to an academy in Stoke Newington, that was set up for the benefit of nonconformists. Many others would have submitted in name alone to the state religion in order to progress in life, but Isaac Watts was steadfast in the independence of his belief.

Watts became a dissenting minister in Stoke Newington. While there he wrote a hugely influential work on logic, which became the official text on the matter in the Oxbridge universities that had denied him on religious grounds. He opposed the imposition of trinitarian doctrine on dissenting ministers by the movement’s conservative wing, upholding their right of each to formulate their doctrine in accord with their reason. This has lead to thoughts that he was a unitarian, something that is not apparent from his writings. Shunned and opposed in life, Isaac Watts is the Father of English Hymnody. The hundreds of hymns he wrote are a unity of passionate faith commingled with doctrinal clarity, unsurprising for a great logician perhaps. However, few in the Church of England who gladly sing When I survey the wondrous Cross or Jesus shall reign where’er the sun realise the radical man behind those words and the intolerant hatred of him and those like him by our church.

So, tomorrow, let’s celebrate Catherine and Isaac, for there is plenty to celebrate. But let us also contemplate Hypatia and Watts the rejected dissenter, better to understand our place in the history of religious intolerance.

Nya Martyren Fr Daniils hustru uttalar sig efter mordet. Texten är översatt av Fr Andrew Phillips, och är hämtat från pravoslavie.ru

On the Death of my Husband: The matushka of the martyred priest Daniel speaks and reveals that a prophecy has been fulfilled

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your support and prayers. This is the pain which cannot be expressed in words. This is the pain experienced by those who stood at the Cross of the Saviour. This is the joy which cannot be expressed in words, this is the joy experienced by those who came to the empty Tomb.

O death, where is thy sting?

Fr Daniel had already foreseen his death several years before it happened. He had always wanted to be worthy of a martyr’s crown. Those who shot him wanted, as usual, to spit in the face of the Church, as once before they spat in the face of Christ. They have not achieved their goal, because it is impossible to spit in the face of the Church. Fr Daniel went up to his Golgotha in the very church which he had built, the church to which he gave up all his time and all his strength. They killed him like the prophet of old – between the temple and the altar and he was indeed found worthy of a martyr’s calling. He died for Christ, Whom he served with all his strength.

Very often he would say to me that he was frightened of not having enough time, time to do everything. He was in a hurry. Sometimes, as a human-being he exaggerated, he got things wrong, he tripped up and made mistakes, but he made no mistake about the main thing, his life was entirely dedicated to HIM.

I did not understand why he was in a hurry. The last three years he was busy serving, never taking days off or taking holidays. I moaned, just now and again I wanted simple happiness, that my husband and my children’s father would be with my children and me. But another path had been prepared for him.

He used to say that they would kill him. I would ask him who would look after us. Me and the three children. He would answer that he would put us in safe hands. ‘I‘ll give you to the Mother of God. She’ll take care of you’.

These words were forgotten too soon. He told us which vestments to bury him in. Then I joked that there was no need to speak about that, we still did not know who would bury who. He said that I would bury him. Once our conversation turned to funerals, I don’t remember the details but I did say that I had never been to a priest’s funeral. And he answered that it did not matter because I would be at his funeral.

Now I remember many words which have gained a meaning. Now my doubts have dissolved, the misunderstandings have gone.

We did not say goodbye in this life, we did not ask each other forgiveness, we did not embrace one another. It was just another day: in the morning he went to the liturgy and I did not see him again. Why didn’t I go to the church that day to meet him? I had thought of it, but I decided I had better get the evening meal ready and put the children to bed. It was because of the children that I did not go there. There was a hand that did not let me go. But the evening before I had gone to the church and met him. I had felt as if dark clouds were gathering over us. And in the last few days I had tried to spend more time with him. Over the last week I had thought only about death and about life after death. I couldn’t get my head around either the first or the second. That day my head was spinning with the words: ‘Death is standing right behind you’. The last week everything was so hard, as if a huge load had been emptied out on top of me. I am not broken. He is supporting me, I feel as if he is standing by me. Then we said so many affectionate words, which we had never said to each other in our whole life before. Only now do I understand how much we loved each other.

The memorial service for the forty days of Fr Daniel takes place on the eve of his namesday and the patronal feast of the future church, 29 December, and 30 December is the feast of the holy prophet Daniel. According to the prophecy of an elder, the church would be built but Fr Daniel would not serve in it. The second part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled.

Matushka Julia Sysoieva

Translated by Fr. Andrew Phillips

“Their testimony put them in prison. Their faith changed a nation.”

Ilekroć kiedy przychodzi mi recenzować takie materiały jak Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy jasielskiej grupy Elenium to z całą bezwzględnością atakują mnie pytania pt. Ilu jeszcze polskich zespołów nie odkryłem? Nie takich, które rozpadają się po dwóch latach istnienia albo takich, które nagrywają po to “żeby nagrać i liczyć zera na koncie”, ale takich, które oferują fascynującą muzykę.

Kiedyś pisałem o Praesepe, dzisiaj napiszę o Elenium. Powiadam: jest o czym!

Debiutancki album zespołu pt. Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy to ukoronowanie dziewięcioletniej historii istnienia zespołu, poprzedzone dwoma demami wydanymi “na własną rękę” (Martyria i Via Puritiva). Premierowe Elenium jest już  wynikiem współpracy z konkretnym wydawcą (Lilith Productions) czym w efekcie otrzymujemy zabójczą dawkę muzyki.

Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy to prawie 50-cio minutowa historia podzielona na dziesięć części.  Sam album zaczyna się niepozornie, od ambientowego wejścia i wokalnego podszeptywania (nie tylko w angielskim, ale i w łacinie) w Aeoneurosis. Tyle, że w tym skromnym tle czai się wiele niepokoju i mroku. Dwóch pojęć, które tej muzyce nieodłącznie będą towarzyszyć.

Contemplation jest już wyraźnym przykładem tego z czym będziemy mieli do czynienia przy całości. Zespół częstuje kilkoma riffami na stosunkowo wolnym tempie, ale jeszcze w tym utworze zaczyna mocno zasuwać. Przyznam się szczerze, że pomyślałem tutaj o wczesnym (tzn. dobrym) Cradle of Filth. Mięsiste riffy, niepohamowana perkusja, tajemnicze podszepty, jakaś wijąca się solówka i pełna paleta wokali świadczą o tym, że przy Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy nie będziemy się nudzić. Ba! Ten album będzie labiryntem, w którym nie braknie ani tajemnicy, ani horroru.

Atmosferę podtrzymuje reszta utworów. Z miejsca trzeba odrzucić wszelkie teoretyzowanie na temat gatunku po jakim zespół się porusza, bo choć jego korzennym obliczem zdaje się być death metal to odwołań do innych nurtów jest tutaj co niemiara.

Zatem można na nowym Elenium znaleźć wiele smaczków jak np. zaskakujące wejście do utworu Martyria, będące właściwie klasycznym heavy metalowym patentem (posłuchajcie tego riffu!). Z drugiej strony na materiale tym panoszą się krwiste death metalowe wariactwa (Internal Whiteness), które równie niespodziewanie potrafią wygładzić się o subtelności gitarowe. A jeśli o gitarach mowa to odsyłam choćby do Psychotic Entrail będącego dobrą puentą możliwością zespołu (znowu pachnie tutaj m.in. heavy metalem) oraz Mediterranean Past gdzie najlepiej wypadły basy.  Na Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy nie braknie też  nakreślonej we wstępie elektroniki oraz wielu ambientowych ujęć.

Bardzo wysoko oceniam ścieżki wokalne nagrane przez Krissa i Martyra. Pomimo iż brakuje im oszlifowania to swoją różnorodnością nadrabiają wszelkie mankamenty. Usłyszymy tu zatem nie tylko klasyczny śpiew, ale i growl, black metalowe wrzaski i wszelkie kolory wokalnej tęczy jaką mogą wyobrazić sobie fani ciężkich brzmień.

Nie sposób przy Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy nie wspomnieć o przepięknych (podkreślam: przepięknych) refrenach z niewinnymi chórami (m.in. Martyria, Infernal Whiteness, Via Puritiva), które tworzą niesamowity kontrast z tłem muzycznym Elenium. Można przy tym dostać dreszczy!

Rzeczone chóry występują przy większości utworów, czasami pojawiając się już w ich wstępach (Towards Dismal Ectasy czy
Mediterranean Past). Tak czy inaczej w każdej wersji brzmią urzekająco.

Trzeba przy końcu wspomnieć, że w klamrę cały album bierze Impeccable Rain. Wszak jest to utwór może nie tyle podobny, co utworzony na tym samym duchu jak otwierający krążek Aeoneurosis. Pomyśleć, że te dwie niepozorne granice Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy,  zamykają tak porządną dawkę muzyki.

Życzyłbym sobie aby po ten różnorodny album sięgnęło jak najwięcej osób. W Eccentric Soul’s Anatomy znajdą coś dla siebie zarówno fani black metalu, death metalu, elektroniki, symfonii, ale przede wszystkim odnajdą się w nim fani dobrej muzyki.

Elenium powinno jak najwięcej nagrywać. Ten zespół trzeba promować nie tylko na Podkarpaciu, nie tylko w Polsce, ale i na całym świecie.  Z takiego podziemia rodzą się legendy.

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Saint Teonesto, Martyr in Vercelli
November 20

Teonesto was a member of the primitive Christian community of Vercelli, the previous bishop of Eusebius, and perhaps even peace of Constantine, who testified at the sacrifice of his life for his faith. After the martyrdom, his body was buried in a cemetery area where Christian and pagan remains were located, without particular distinction. It would appear that Eusebius himself erected the chapel in which lie the remains of the saint, which was enlarged and transformed by the end of the fourth century into the first Basilica Eusebiana. Today the saint’s relics are kept in a niche above the altar of Our Lady placed the slap in the cathedral of Vercelli.

Roman Martyrology: At Vercelli, Saint Teonesto, Martyr, the Bishop in whose honor Saint Eusebius built a Basilica.

The only ancient source that recalls St. Teonesto is the life of the holy Bishop Eusebius of Vercelli, who is remembered because the Bishop wished to be buried before the relics of the Mmartyr venerated in a shrine in the tomb outside the walls of the city of Vercelli. The question is what information learned from this little news to try to reconstruct the identity of the saint, unknown to any other source hagiography.

The text of Eusebius, Life, mentioned above, is to be placed in the eighth century, an era already very far from the facts he describes, a fact that calls into question the historical reliability. It would appear that Eusebius himself had built the chapel in which lie the remains of the saint, then enlarged and transformed by the end of the fourth century into the first Basilica Eusebiana. When at the end of the sixteenth century, the church structure was gradually demolished to make way for the present cathedral, The Holy Bishop and Saint Teonesto were found side by side as Eusebius had wanted. On the tomb of the Martyr, there was an inscription cruciform, now unfortunately lost: S. MARTYR THEONESTUS, judged by Bruzza Eusebiana era.

If this dating is correct, it could be considered the holy one member of the primitive Christian community Vercelli before the bishop of Eusebius, and perhaps even peace of Constantine, who testified at the sacrifice of his life his faith. After the martyrdom, his body was buried in a cemetery where Christians and pagans were buried, without distinction, also the inscription would suggest that the grave contained the entire body of the Saint and not only preserve the relics. The latter hypothesis could be confirmed only by analyzing the remains scientifically attributed to Teonesto, now kept in a niche above the altar of Our Lady placed the slap in the cathedral of Vercelli.

So if it was not only incomplete relics, but the bodily remains you might consider Vercelli the place where the saint died and therefore exclude the hypothesis of those who would like to identify him with a saint of the same name who was killed by the legendary Bishop Aryans in Altino, Veneto, along with other comrades. On the contrary, being now satisfied that the hagiographic narrative of that saint is just a story that unites in a single imaginative narrative saints venerated in various locations (Albano in Mainz, Orso in Aosta), one might hypothesize that it is in Vercelli the holy bishop was transformed into itinerant.

In the city and diocese of Vercelli, Teonesto, while still being celebrated liturgically November 20, never enjoyed special veneration, so that his iconography is entirely lacking, not knowing who currently works mirror, his name was never associated with any particular patronage. Paradoxically, however, are not these skinny and essential information that provide more than uncontrollable and very credible legend, the authenticity of memory regarding cultic San Teonesto.

Author: Damian Pomi

source: Santi e Beati

image source

Blessed Edward Osbaldeston, Martyr
November 16

Roman Martyrology: At York in England, Blessed Edward Osbaldeston, priest and martyr of Lancaster, who, a student of English College of Rheims, who was sentenced to death under Queen Elizabeth I came to be a priest in England, died hanged.

source: Santi e Beati

By Matt Horan

Do you remember when the year 2000 was a really big deal?  Remember all of the stuff that we were supposed to have in the year 2000?  Flying cars.  Cars that drive by themselves.  Phones where you can see the person you’re talking to.  I remember the movie, “2001, A Space Odyssey.”  It’s about a manned mission to Jupiter.  I don’t think we’re too close to that.

Now, maybe those inventions just didn’t pan out.  Too tough to invent, to expensive, etc.  Or, maybe we decided that we just didn’t want that innovation.  I mean, flying cars are a good idea until the kid next door turns 15, gets his learners permit, and starts flying over your house on the way home every day.  (However, one was spotted on Google Earth not long ago.) Or the video phone.  I’m sure that we’re capable of that, but think of the ramifications.  When someone is coming over to the house, we clean the house as if we’re trying to destroy the evidence of a crime or something.  We scrub and mop and vacuum at a totally different level when people are coming over.  Can you imagine the implications of a video phone?  Girls, take your shoes up to your room.  You never know when someone might call.  Hey, get dressed, the phone could ring any minute.  Hey, I’m going to take a shower—nobody answer the phone!

Just as we have selective innovation, we also have selective understanding.  In the 8^th chapter of Mark’s Gospel, is seems that there were some realizations that Jesus followers—and Mark’s readers—just didn’t want to have.  Jesus time and again explained things, but those who heard him seemed to consistently respond, “No, that can’t be right.”

Mark chooses his words carefully in chapter 8.  It’s easy to get lost in the narrative, to simply follow the chain of events, but let’s look closely.  Mark is writing around 70 AD, or soon thereafter, to a church, probably around the area of Caesarea Philippi.  A lot is going on at this time.  In 64 AD, the Roman Emperor, Nero, had begun to blame the Christians for many of the Empire’s problems, and began a fierce persecution.  It was during this persecution that both Peter and Paul were martyred.

At the same time, there was a revolt going on where the Jews were trying to overthrow the Romans and force them out of Jerusalem.  During this revolt, Caesara Philippi was used by the Romans as a prisoner of war camp, and many of the revolutionaries were tortured and executed there.  In fact, the Jewish Temple had just been destroyed—it was truly a low point for Israel.

So think of the position of the Christians.  In the first century there was not an entirely clear distinction between Jews and Christians—Christianity was seen by most as a sect of Judaism.  But by 70 AD, in the midst of the persecution and the revolution, neither the Romans or the Jews had much more patience for the growing Christian movement.  They were no longer welcome in the synagogues, no longer able to visit the Temple, and no longer under the protection of the unspoken agreements by which the Romans allowed the Jews to worship in their own ways.  It had thus far not really been easy to be a Christian, but now it seemed that there were more and more reasons every day to not be one.  It was to these people, despised and rejected, that he wrote.       Consider the story of a blind man whose sight is restored.  People bring him to Jesus, and they beg him to “touch him.”  Jesus does a curious thing.  He spits in the man’s eyes, and then touches him.  This spitting was a common practice for traveling magicians of the day.  The man looks up, but he says, that the people look like “trees walking around.”  This man sees, but he does not understand.  The seeing isn’t quite enough—he doesn’t understand what he is seeing.

So Jesus puts his hands on the man again, but no spitting.  No common tricks this time.  Now, Jesus really opens the man’s eyes, and he is able to finally understand.  The verse says that he was able to see “everything clearly.”  In Greek, this word translated “clearly,” is “telaugus.”  This is the only place in the entire Bible that this word appears.  It’s a combination of two words.  First, the word “telos,” meaning “ending” or “purpose,” like when we ask, “to what end?”  Second, the word “aug,” means “light.”  A more exact translation would say that the goal of this healing was for Jesus to give an understanding of where things were headed.

Now continue reading from the standpoint of a Christian living in hostile territory near a POW camp.  Jesus and the apostles go to Caesara Philippi, and Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?”  A dangerous question when Jesus asked it—an even more dangerous question in the day of Mark’s readers.  Peter announces his view that Jesus is the Christ.  Then however, we see this:

New International Version:  “Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.”

New American Standard Bible: “And He warned them to tell no one about Him.”

King James Version: “And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.”

New Revised Standard Version: “And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.”

Jesus seems to clearly say to his disciples in Caesara Philippi, read 50 years later by his disciples in Caesara Philippi, to keep Jesus’ identity a secret.  Can you imagine the relief that the readers in Caesara Philippi would have felt?  “Oh what a relief!  We can keep Jesus’ identity a secret and save our necks!”

The Greek word translated “anyone” or “no one” above is a form of “mede.”  This word sometimes has a sense of duration with it, as if to say, “be in a period of not telling anyone.”  Since durations all come to an end, keep in mind, as you move into the last passages of chapter 8, perhaps it might be appropriate to add, to Jesus’ admonition of silence, “yet.” Mark’s readers’ relief might be short lived…

Then, Jesus begins teaching them that he must suffer and die, and then, in verse 32, it says that Jesus spoke of these things “quite plainly.”  No more secrecy.  He wasn’t here to announce who he was, but he was not hesitant to announce his impending suffering.  Peter argues with him about this, and Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan!”  It means, “line up behind me,” Peter.  Arguing against this destiny is evil.  He instructs them to “take up their cross and follow me,” when, in fact, people around the time of this writing were doing that very thing.  Peter and Paul had done it by now.  Mark’s letter went to scared people who needed to hear that sacrifice was a part of discipleship.  They all expected to have Jesus return in their lifetime, but they were watching as the giants of their faith—James, Paul, Peter, Stephen, and others—were dying without ever having the chance to see Jesus’ return.  What did this mean?  What were they to do?

Mark’s writing here shows the listener—seeing is one thing.  The apostles saw Jesus do a lot of things.  But they needed him to give them understanding in order to press on and follow.  Once they understood that discipleship was a lifetime of commitment and persistence and challenge—an understanding unlocked by the Holy Spirit—they were able to follow Jesus anywhere, even to persecution and torture and death if need be.  Following Christ is not a club membership.  It’s a fundamental reorientation of your life that no longer leaves it oriented around yourself.

So now, hear the challenge in 8:34-38 through the ears of a first century believer in the midst of persecution and rejection and war.  Hear it as a person who wasn’t so sure that it was a good move to claim to be a part of this tiny sect:  “And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Perhaps this secrecy is a starting place for faith—but it is not where we are to end up.  To really follow Christ is to let it cost us something.  Then, once it costs us something, we will begin to find the life that we’ve been trying in vain to find on our own.

What are you doing to save your life?  What are you doing in the interest of self preservation?  Is your life in need of a fundamental reorientation?  Have you drawn a line in the sand over which God should not cross?  “Sorry God, that’s asking a little too much.”  Or are you willing to finally let being a Christian cost you something, so that, at last, you can have the life of significance that you have craved, and that God has dreamed for you?

Carmen B. – Libnanews

Ce soir, je viens d’apprendre une nouvelle qui a eu sur moi l’effet d’une claque, qui m’a glacé mon sang, mes nerfs, mon cœur. Le sort de Johnny Nassif, un jeune soldat de 16 ans enrôlé dans l’Armée libanaise, disparu le 13 octobre 1990, vient d’être dévoilé.

Le corps de Johnny se trouvait dans une fosse commune au ministère de la Défense à Yarzé au Liban. Les tests ADN réalisés ont prouvé son identité…Ghazy Aad, le représentant de Solide, (Soutien aux Libanais détenus en exil) – une des rares figures libanaises qui jouit de toute ma déférence – a indiqué ce soir que le corps de Johnny a été transporté depuis la Syrie vers le ministère de la Défense libanaise bien après la triste date du 13 octobre 1990, appuyant son argument par les témoignages des ambulanciers qui avaient enterré les dépouilles en 1990 et qui affirmaient avoir enseveli 13 corps seulement, alors que les inspections faites en 2005 montrent qu’il existe un nombre beaucoup plus élevé que celui des années 1990. Cette nouvelle a été annoncée ce soir uniquement par l’OTV, les télés libanaises ayant toujours passé l’éponge sur le dossier des détenus libanais dans les geôles syriennes – personnellement je ne l’ai pas vu directement, parce que je ne suis pas fan des télévisions libanaises, mais je viens de l’apprendre par un coup de fil.

Le nom de Johnny et Violette Nassif a longtemps été étroitement lié à la cause des Libanais portés disparus depuis les années 1990. Le témoignage de cette dame m’a longtemps fait pleurer. Pleurer sur sa souffrance et celle de son fils. Pleurer sur le triste sort de ces soldats et de leurs familles qui ne vivent que dans l’espoir de revoir leurs fils ou filles.

Je ne veux même pas imaginer quelle est la réaction de Mme Nassif, qui depuis la disparition de son fils, n’a pas hésité une seule seconde à crier haut et fort sa volonté de revoir son fils, qui a fait de sa cause une cause nationale, malheureusement perçue par peu de personnes. Quelle affliction d’apprendre que son fils qui a subi les pire tortures pendant des années, est inhumé dans un ministère libanais ! Elle s’est souvent rendu à Yarzé, Violette, certainement. Elle ne savait pas que son fils y reposait – comme si le verbe « reposer » peut avoir un sens ici.

Quelle triste réalité de voir qu’un dossier aussi important que celui des Libanais portés disparus, est toujours en suspens. Quelle honte ! Quel déshonneur ! Quelle bassesse de la part de nos dirigeants !

Je n’oublierais jamais les funérailles d’Odette, décédée il y a moins d’un an, par un accident de voiture, alors qu’elle était sur son chemin pour atteindre la tente des mères à l’Escwa. J’y ai vu le Liban, avec son côté doux-amer. Des mères chrétiennes, chiites, sunnites, druzes, étaient là, aux funérailles d’une catholique, présentant le café comme si elles étaient ses sœurs ou ses cousines, comme il est d’usage lors des funérailles au Liban.

J’ai entendu une des mères me dire : « C’est ce qu’ils veulent, nous voir s’éteindre les unes après les autres pour que plus personne ne réclame nos enfants ».

Cette phrase a eu l’effet d’un poignard en plein dans mon cœur. Tout le monde s’en fout, tout le monde oublie. Comme si le chagrin d’une mère n’était pas grand-chose.

Et nos dirigeants continuent à s’empiffrer et à gonfler cupidement leurs comptes en banques. Je n’accuse pas la Syrie, elle était en guerre avec nous, et en temps de guerre, j’ai appris, que tout est permis, malencontreusement. Sans oublier que nos « chers » partis libanais n’ont pas été tendre eux non plus, non pas avec les Syriens, mais avec leurs propres frères ! J’accuse ces avortons qu’on a au pouvoir, qui se réjouissent tous maintenant d’avoir formé un gouvernement. Vous donnez des sièges sur les dépouilles de vos confrères ? Vous êtes contents, bande de cons ? J’en ai assez de vos saletés, vous qui nourrissez vos fortunes des corps de vos compatriotes, et qui désaltérez votre soif à coups de sang versé, passant rapidement l’éponge pour vous baigner dans vos marécages de corruption. J’en ai assez de vos discours fallacieux, de vos sourires abrutis et de vos regards maléfiques. Avec l’annonce d’une information pareille, mes seuls députés et représentants ce sont ces familles qui persévèrent dans leurs causes, qui vous implorent de leur dire la vérité sur le sort de leurs enfants, alors que c’est à vous de vous prosterner à leurs souliers et de vous enfouir sous terre embarrassés par votre impuissance et votre incompétence.

Je m’arrête là. Ne sachant conclure que par le fameux « j’irai cracher sur vos tombes » que j’adresse aux dirigeants du pays des cèdres, je préfère laisser la parole à Violette, qui raconte la disparition de son fils : (texte tiré de Solida.org)

« Mon fils, Johnny Salem NASSIF, né en 1974 à Beyrouth était soldat dans l’armée libanaise. Il a été enlevé le 13 octobre 1990 par l’Armée Syrienne, alors qu’il était sur le front de Daher El Wahech.

Pour le moment mon fils Johnny NASSIF, âgé de 23 ans, est torturé depuis l’âge de 16 ans dans une prison syrienne (à Saydnaya), où il reçoit des pressions physiques et psychologiques depuis sept ans. » Violette Nassif.

Paix à ton âme, Johnny …
Par Carmen B.
Libnanews

Nidal Malik Hasan, I won’t address him by rank because he never earned it. This is a typical case of an individual being moved along because of his religion and ethnicity. Had he been a Christian he would have been discharged years ago and the media, if they said anything at all, would have made him out to be a madman. A religious zealot. Some kind of extremist. Well here’s how it’s shaking down. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS is biting us in the butt right now. Not in the future as everyone is fond of saying.

Nidal Malik Hasan is a madman, a religious zealot and an extremist. This was a hate crime if ever there was one. The B. Hussein Obama military and the government propaganda centers (ABC, CNN, MSNBC et al) are spinning this as not his fault. Write this down and store it away to be opened in two years. This man won’t do any time. After a short stay in the booby hatch, where he knows how the system works, he will be out on the street to pedal his brand of crazy again. You see, he never intended to survive. He was going to be a martyr and get his 73 virgins, but our touchy feely police foiled his plot and just crippled him.

No matter how you spin it this guy committed serious crimes. But that’s not what really bothers me about this whole mess. No, what really bothers me is that he’s being refered to by our liberal media as an “Army Phsychiatrist” instead of the radical mooslim terrorist that he is.

Today we remember Blessed Eugene Bossilkov in the Passionist calendar. He was a Bulgarian bishop executed by the Communists on November 11,1952 after a mock trial in Sophia, Bulgaria. His body was thrown into a lime pit outside the prison and has never been recovered. The Communist persecution of Christians in Bulgaria was especially brutal and harsh, and his death was not confirmed until 1975, when a Bulgarian minister visiting the Vatican was asked by Pope Paul VI what happened to Bishop Bossilkov.

He was declared “Blessed” by Pope John Paul II on March 15,1998 in Rome. You can find his story here.

We have a letter here in Union City which he wrote in 1940 to an American Passionist, Fr. Frederick Harrer, then the rector of St. Michael’s Monastery. The 2nd World War had started and Eugene, then a missionary in Bulgaria, asks for help as his contact with Holland has been cut off. “It is a hell of a time,” he says, “nowadays nobody knows what the day of tomorrow will bring! I hope in the meantime not to die somewhere in the trenches.”

Evidently, Fr. Bossilkov collected stamps for Fr. Harrer. “I have many stamps gathered for you, but don’t dare send them fearing they will get lost. If you get this letter tell my friends I am still alive and try yourself to answer.”

The Bulgarian Passionist, who didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, faced some hellish days indeed until his cruel death twenty-two years later.  I’m sure one of his American friends sent him some help to keep him going, unaware that he was helping a martyr of Christ.

…Not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.
2 Corinthians 1:12

When I get going, I can be pretty straight-talking and candid sometimes. Looking back over my last post I can see I was fired up about pretenders and I hope that it may have helped to stir you up too. But I believe there’s more that needs to be said. On it’s own, that post could have sounded quite militant and me-based, instead being God-based. Instead of, “try harder, be stronger,” we must remember the amazing grace of God; the grace that enables us to do all that we strive to do.

We do need to take up our crosses and deny ourselves, but we can only do that by the grace of God. There are plenty of people around now and from history who have been willing to die for a cause – whether it be war, a religion or protest. So on its own being willing to die for something doesn’t give the cause any particular honour – it shows the loyalty and devotion of the martyr – but not necessarily the value or worthiness of the cause.

So why should anyone be willing to lose everything (in this life) for the sake of our God and Saviour? How do they do that and what makes denying yourself for Jesus any different to doing it for anything else?

Well for one – and it must the primary reason – we have a God who did the same for us. He first denied himself, by clothing himself in frail skin and bones, and then giving his life over to the very people he loved and made, so that they would beat, abuse, whip, spit on, torment, ridicule, batter, mock, torture, pierce and murder him. He says:

“Follow me.”

And the mystery of it all is that while we choose to follow him, somehow it works out that actually he chose us first! God’s grace. That distinctive yet inexplicable phenomenon!

It’s only by his grace that we can choose to die for him, by living holy lives today. Pray for his grace to enable you to stand for him today, for there’s no other way it can be done. No human invention, muscle building program, faith increasing formula or stamina & determination will work.

Grace.

Saint Margarito Flores Garcia, Priest and Martyr
Taxco, Mexico, February 22, 1899 – Tulimán, Mexico, November 12, 1927

He was born in Taxco, Guerrero (Diocese of Chilapa) on February 22, 1899. Pastor of Atenango del Rio, Guerrero (Diocese of Chilapa). His three years in the ministry were enough to know his priestly character. The Vicar General of the Diocese appointed him vicar to act as pastor of Atenango del Rio, Guerrero. Father Margarito set to work. He was discovered and identified as a priest when he was about to reach that goal; he was imprisoned and taken to Tulimán, Guerrero, where orders were given to shoot him. Father Margarito asked permission to pray, he knelt for a moment, kissed the ground and then rose and waited for the shots that destroyed his head and forever united him to Christ the Priest, on November 12, 1927. On May 21, 2000, he was Canonized by Pope John Paul II together with 24 other martyrs of Mexico. The group is known as Christopher Magallanes Jara and 24 companion and is celebrated with an optional Memorial on May 21.Each is celebrated separately, on their martrydom anniversary.

Roman Martyrology: In the city of Tulimán Mexico, Saint Margarito Flores, Priest and Martyr, who, during the great persecution against the Church, was arrested for his priesthood and crowned by glorious martyrdom with the shooting.

Source: Santi e Beati