In this Issue:

• Message from the Rector • Announcements • Time to Build... A Sermon by Saint John of San Francsico • Have we turned God into a phantasm? by Metropolitan George • Homily on the Nativity of the Theotokos by St. Luke of Crimea • September/October Calendar • Русский уголок

This newsletter is published by the

Holy Theotokos of Iveron

Russian Orthodox Church

A Parish of the Western American Diocese

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

ROCOR Official Website: http://www.synod.com

Parish Website: http://www. orthodoxhawaii.org

All services are held at 845 Queen Street,

Honolulu, Hawaii

���� Our Church

Our church is located at 845 Queen Street just a block and a half Ewa of Ward Avenue.

The Sunday services are as follows: Hours at 9 a.m. followed by the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. All Saturday evening services begin at 6:15 p.m. unless otherwise specified in the calendar.

Confessions are heard after the Saturday evening Vespers services or by special prior arrangement during the Hours on Sunday.

Parking is a problem at the church during the week. There are only three reserved parking places for us there. On Saturday evenings and on Sundays, however, only a few neighboring businesses are operating.

Note also that most of our evening services begin af-

ter 6:15 p.m., and that metered stalls on Ward Avenue

and on Coral Street are free after 6 p.m.

Parish Dues:

$25/month for families; $15/month for single members; $10/month for students. In addition, members are encour-aged to pledge monthly contributions towards paying the church’s expenses; all donations are tax deductible.

Dues and pledges may be mailed to our treasurer: Dr Natalia Zagorski, 329 Ilimalia Loop, Kailua HI 96734. Checks should be made out to: Russian Orthodox

Community of Hawaii.

September/October 2016

Holy Theotokos of Iveron

Russian Orthodox Church

845 Queen Street #101

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Priest Athanasius Kone, Rector

(808) 256-9482

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Dear Parish, my family and I would like to thank everyone at the parish for welcoming us here to Honolulu. We are very thankful concerning our being sent here to serve at this parish and we are hopeful that we will continue to increase in our love for Christ and each

other.

First off, we are amazed at the distance that our family has travelled to be here with you all. As we are getting settled, my mind is still amazed at how far we have traveled and how great God help has been for us over the last year. We went from Walla Walla, Washington to Panorama, Thessaloniki, Greece with stops in Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey,

New Orleans, Portland, Oregon and then finally here to Honolulu.

While we enjoyed all of our travel, we are looking forward to finding a home in the Hawaiian Islands. For us a home isn’t simply having a nice house or a good career or job, it means being a part of a community of Orthodox people and an Orthodox parish. With this in my thoughts as we arrived, I was surprised as I am sure all of you were by the possible sale of our current space. A new rector and now a new location for the church. For any parish change like this is difficult and a lot to absorb in a short amount of time. It was for this reason that we began to do a weekly Akathist to St. John Maximovitch. You will see an excellent article from him in this month’s bulletin. Saint John is very aware of the difficulties of managing change and difficulties. My hope is that before we make our

plans that we will garner the help of God in our process of finding a new space.

Over the upcoming two months, there will be an extra liturgy almost every week. When we participate in this Divine Service and all the services of our Church, the Holy Spirit sanctifies all those who are present in the service. This is a mysterious event, but our Liturgy not only changes us, but it even changes the land around us. Please be

encouraged to participate in these weekday liturgies and feast days when they occur.

Our lives are changed by God’s grace and our participation with Him and this grace. This transformation and communion with God, for us Orthodox Christians is a great mystery. This communion with God is the purpose of our lives. For us earthly creatures, it is difficult to understand how the Holy Spirit helps and guides us through our earthly lives. We do know that God has established and built His Church for this exact purpose. The Church is the place where heaven and earth meet, where the grace of God is made manifest, where we receive the very medicine of ‘Immortality’ and it is our place of

refuge.

Message from the Rector

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our Liturgy not only changes us, but it even changes the land around us. Please be

This is why as Orthodox Christians we are called to live liturgical lives. Our lives are not based on the worldly calendar we see around us, with Halloween, Presidents day, black Friday and so many worldly events and holidays, but our lives are to be lived by our Church calendar. For us, this becomes our organizing reality so that we can attune our lives to God’s grace. Over the years, I have found it very common, that the feast, or Gospel reading for the day, or the Saint of that day, contains exactly the message I needed

for that moment in our lives.

So you will see that we have added more services to the calendar, so you can more fully attune your lives to the calendar of the Church. During September and October, we will have extra services for the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a liturgy for the Martyrs Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love, a liturgy for the Protection of the Theotokos and a liturgy for St. Thomas. We will also continue to serve an Akathist every Wednesday for St. John and have several Paraklesis (Moleben) to the Iveron Icon, as

well.

May God bless you all, With Love in Christ, Priest Athanasius Kone, Rector

**ANNOUNCEMENTS**

♦Fr. Athanasius will be away on September 15th - 21st to join in the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Mayfield, PA. You may remember in 2014 when our parish celebrated our 30th anniversary, the Rector, Fr. John Sorochka and a large contingent of clergy and their familes from Mayfield traveled to Hawaii to celebrate with us. It is our turn to return that kindness. We love them dearly, and wish them many continuous and joyous years!! While away on the mainland, Fr. Athanasius will escort the Wonderworking Iveron Icon to St. Herman’s Monastery in Platina, CA, where the Holy Icon will be present for the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Fr. Athanasius and the Holy Icon will return to the islands on Wednesday, Sept. 21st, 2016. Fr. Anatole will lead the services while Fr. Athanasius is away.

●The Parish Council is actively searching for a new property for our church. Please be on the lookout for any available properties. The space we utilize now was found by one of our parishioners who was out on a jog one evening. Our goal is that the next place we move into will be our permanent home. Please add this to your daily prayer list!

♦We are looking for help with organizing our church kiosk. We plan to bring our system up to date, and soon we will be accepting credit cards for all purchases!

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“TIME TO BUILD...”

The following words are from an address

by Saint John Maximovitch on January 3rd, 1963 concerning the

building of the new Cathedral in San Francisco.

Thus saith the Lord of Sabaoth: “The people say, the time is not come that the Lord’s house should be built….” And such was the word of God: “Why are you living in luxurious houses

while this (my) house lies in ruins? [Hag. 1:2-4]

To whom were these words of the Lord addressed? God spoke to the Jews through the Prophet Haggai, after they had returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity, long before the birth of Christ. These words could be direct toward the Orthodox flock in San Francisco also. Do we now hear the words again: “the time is not come that the Lord’s house should

be built?”

Among us are many who are buying houses for them-selves, who live in their own houses in full satisfaction of their

material needs, or who are selling their homes to move into better and better dwellings, increasing assets. It is understandable that such words are heard from unbelievers, but how can they be repeated by believers who themselves go to church? A church is a place that is consecrated and holy, in which there always dwells the Grace of God. At the consecration of Solomon’s Temple, the glory of the Lord, in the image of a cloud filled the house of God. This is what happened in the Old Testament Temple. How much more powerfully does the Grace of God act in the temples of the New Testament, where there is offered a true cleansing from sin, where we partake of the True Body and Blood of Christ, where during the Divine Liturgy the Holy Spirit continually descends upon the Mysteries being consecrated and upon the people present? One can pray anywhere, and God hears prayers from anywhere. But it’s much easier to pray in a church where everything is conducive to prayer. From

there our prayers are sent to God, and the mercies of God are sent down upon us.

The construction of a church is a sacrifice to God: to allocate a parcel of land for church services is to sacrifice unto God a part of your own property, but most of all it is a gift of your love; your zeal. Churches were built under different circumstances and through joyful and sad occurrences,

they were placed like candles from all the faithful upon the face of our homeland.

St. Peter the Metropolitan of Kiev, having visited the (still rather small) city of Moscow, said to Grand-Prince Vandalia to, “build the house of the Mother of God”… “What is the need of a new church?” some might ask today, because even in the small city of Moscow, weren’t there enough church built by Kalita’s father: the venerable Grand-Prince Daniel? Without hesitation, the prince began to build the Dormition Cathedral of the Mother of God. When it was completed, Moscow be-

gan to rise up and her dukes were able to unite around her all of the lands of Russia.

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God, whose throne is Heaven and Whose footstool is the earth, does not need churches, it is we who need them. It is we who benefit from donating towards the building of churches, although the Lord accepts not much of the substances of our alms as much as he does our zeal—the quality of our effort. Christ approved the widow’s mite, saying that she had given more than anyone else, for the rich cast in a great deal from their abundance, but she gave all she had, all her livelihood. Those alms when given in the name of God are received by God Himself. Spiritually, our alms are laid up in the treasuries of heaven, God’s treasuries, from which no one can steal them away, if someone steals any

church possession, he steals from God himself and the Lord God himself punishes him….

The pious Russian people understood this, offering their pennies for the building of the church. During each divine service, those who contributed to the building of the church are com-memorated. In building church here on earth we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven. Decades will pass, our bodies will decay, perhaps our very bones will turn to dust, but our souls will live eternally. Joy comes to one who has prepared a dwelling for his soul in the heavenly mansions. Even if the churches, which have been build, should fall to ruin, the names of those who contributed to their construction will be written in God’s eternal books, and the prayers which arose from within these churches will be sealed. Thus saith the Lord Sabaoth: “Consider your ways. Go up unto the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house: and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified….

I am with your!” saith the Lord {Hag. 1:7-8, 13

“On the will of God”

An excerpt from the Evergetinos

“Usually we try to progress in the spiritual life, not by listening to or accepting the will of God, but by putting forth our own agenda. We take the wrong road, the Fathers are al-ways saying, ‘Thy will be done’ and ‘whatever happens accept it as the will of God.’ If you try to do your own will all the time, you can’t even do it. Whereas if you say ‘Thy will be done.’ Then whatever happens is

your will is being done in a certain sense.”

Rector’s Note: This may sound exaggerated, but be mindful of this: it is possible that Chris-

tians commit a great sin because they use their relationship with God and they make whatever

sacrifices they need to make, in order to realize their wishes and dreams. Their aim is to

please themselves.

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Have We Turned God into a Phantasm??

By Metropolitan GEORGE of Mt. Lebanon

Today’s Gospel reading recounts to us a miracle that occurred after Jesus went up alone to the temple to pray. He spoke to the Father, imploring Him and praising Him. He was alone in prayer. Before this, he had left the boat on the Sea of Tiberius and walked on the water. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water, they were disturbed and said that he was a

phantasm, crying out in fear.

It is normal and expected for us to fear, since we are subject to the vicissitudes of time, to war and to death. We fear each other and we fear things that happen to us from outside. No matter which war or which death, there is a tempest within us because we sense life’s pleasures and seek them. They cause tempests in our soul. They increase and strengthen the attractiveness of this world, even if the Lord passes before us in our mind, in our prayer, in our conscience, we consider Him to be a phan-

tom also, like these winds that beset us.

What really is a sinner’s stance toward God? Deep down, what does it mean for us to live in sin, for us to practice a specific sin day after day, for months or years or an entire life? It means that God has become a phantasm for us. That is, that He does not rule, He is not Lord over our soul. It is in the sinner’s own self-interest to turn God into a phantasm, since if he regarded Him as being truly present, then God is ruling and I am subject to Him, obedient before Him. Every sinner turns God into a ghost that he exploits, lest God have dominion

over him.

If we closely examine the sin within us, we will go to the priest and say, “Read to me the prayer of absolution and place the epitrachelion over my head,” and we think that things pass this simply. If we do not feel that our sins are something terrifying, a deadly tempest, then this means that we do not have knowledge of Jesus Christ. This means that we have not seen Him. If we do not fear a small lie more than we fear war, then we have not seen Jesus Christ. We still fear for our bodies without fearing for our souls, that they be soiled, that they be

killed, that our conscience be bought and sold in vain.

The sinner makes God into a phantasm because God rules and the sinner does not want God to rule over him. When Jesus said to the disciples, “Do not fear,” they saw that the whole of

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the Sea of Tiberius was nothing, and that He was not sinking. They saw that Christ is the sea, that He is the mountain, that He is the stars and the sun and the sky. Thus, when Peter forgot that the sea was a sea, when he did not feel that the storm was a storm, and when he stopped understanding that he would sink because the sea no longer existed, the universe no longer existed and Christ became the universe, he said to the Lord, “Let me come to You upon the

water” and he walked on the water.

But grace does not last forever. Peter denied his Lord, just as he would deny Him later. He disbelieved, just as he would disbelieve after the Transfiguration. He once more became a man of flesh and blood. Jesus did not want any of us to remain of flesh and blood or of man’s lust, but rather for us to be of God. Peter once more saw that there is a sea, that there is a storm, that there is a world and that there is a universe, so he sank in the Sea of Tiberius. That

is, he sank in the world.

Then Jesus entered the boat. That’s how the story goes. That’s how our story goes. The boat of life that each one of us boards comes and goes until the Lord enters it. It is as though Saint Matthew says, “You, O Christians, are liars. You go to a great house that you call a church but you do not go to God because you have erased God from your life.” This is an image of the situation for most people until the Lord enters the boat. That is, until we accept Him and become His disciples. Then there is no longer a storm that disturbs us. We do not fear im-pending death, nor do we lose our minds if we lose a relative. We do not fall terribly because we have sinned, but rather we return to the face of God. We have been reading for days in the Gospel that His face became like the sun, so we return to this sun to be enlightened, to rest, to

become masters of ourselves, giving praise and drunk on Christ.

From the Desk of the Rector...

We live in the age of anxiety. Anxiety has become one of the primary struggles of our modern age. Every-where we turn promises are made, about what we can buy, or what we can eat, a drug you can take or an op-portunity you can invest in or what we can consume, all of these things promise to temper our anxiety. Frankly, for most modern Americans their primary identities have become based not on who they are or their unique cultural heritage, but instead in what they can con-sume. Upon having enough money and freedom to ex-press themselves as a unique person. Yet with all our prosperity, all of our consumption, with all our freedom

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to consume whatever we want, our anxiety has only increased and cemented itself as one of the primary struggles for our modern age. I wonder how much money a modern person

would be willing to spend to ensure they have rest, peace and an absence from anxiety.

Yet, as Orthodox Christians we know that anxiety is a spiritual problem and cannot be solved by material means, it is not solved by having more money. Anxiety is only solved when a person instead gives of themselves freely to God. Only the person who places their trust in

God is free from the effects of anxiety.

Why is this? Because only God has everything under control. As people, we cannot be clever enough, careful enough to figure out the complexities of life. We will always find ourselves in some deficit or some dead end. Only if we leave ourselves to God, will we be able to survive all things, we will be able to realize and see that God is ‘always present and in all things.’ When we realize that all things are under God’s control, that He has allowed all of our circumstances to occur, even the unpleasant ones, then will we be able to be free from anxiety. When then began to trust in God, and have faith that God will work out all things for our benefit. In this place we will also be able to receive consolation from God and become free from the real source of our anxieties: our passions and bad habits. God alone, keeps us from experiencing anxiety, as there is no place that can escape His peace and protection. Then even when we encounter unpleasantness or find ourselves in a dead end, or when all is

lost, we still can be at peace with God. He always sets us upon the path of redemption.

Homily on the Nativity

of the Theotokos

by St. Luke, Archbishop of Crimea

The vast majority of people, millions and billions of people, are common people, whom Holy Scripture calls "people of the earth" (2 Chron. 15:5). Why are they called this? Because they resemble gray grass or undergrowth. They don't have higher goals and aspirations in their lives, their minds are very superficial and only deal with living concerns, earthly goods

and daily problems. But just as hills and mountains, which are covered with grass and shrubs, occasionally grow large cedars and huge oaks, so also among the people of the earth the Lord God reveals some very great people, who have a high intellect, deep thoughts and their words have great power. They have a very strong will and hold all scientific knowledge. Such peo-

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РУССКИЙ УГОЛОК

ple create a new, more perfect life, and they change the relation-

ships between nations and peoples.

This of course is very important, but incomparably more important are those radical changes effected by God by even greater people, through the great ascetics of piety and righteousness, through the great hierarchs, the wonderworkers and venerable ones. In the works of the great philosophers there are many contradictions and often people, who think they could find through them the answer to the ago-old question "what is truth?", become frustrated. The his-tory of science knows many cases when scientific theories, which were considered unwavering, lost their importance when con-

fronted with the new achievements of science.

Things are completely different however in the area of the spirit, in the area of higher theological knowledge. There everything is unwavering and eternal. Not long ago we celebrated the day of the martyric death of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, about whom our Lord Jesus Christ said that among those born of women there has not appeared someone greater than him. In this manner the Lord placed him above all the im-portant scientists, philosophers and artists. He who was maximally a bearer of the Holy Spirit in the greatest degree and a minister of higher truth, was revealed before all of humanity as

the most worthy man.

Not long ago, on the day of the Dormition of the Theotokos, I told you how our Lord and God Jesus Christ placed His Forerunner above all who have been born of women, but this does not apply to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, because she is above even the Cherubim and

Seraphim.

If we honor and celebrate with great respect the birthdays of great people, then with what joy should we celebrate today, where we honor the birthday of her from whom shone the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, Who received from her human flesh. In the dismissal hymn of this great feast we hear the wonderful words: "Your birth Theotokos pro-claimed joy throughout the ecumene...." Not only for the human race, but for the entire ecu-mene, as well as the invisible world, for the world of angels, great joy shone forth today. Above all great people, therefore, even above John the Forerunner, above the Archangels and Angels, the Lord God placed the Most Holy Immaculate Virgin Mary. And rightly did He give her this place, because the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, in order for this woman to be-come the Mother of the Pre-eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Most Holy Spirit of God made the heart of Mary to an unparalleled degree more pure than the hearts of all peo-ple. Our Lord Jesus Christ considers the purity of her heart most important of all, which is why in the Beatitudes He said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). Uninterrupted communion with God, the vision of His face, is the greatest reward our

St. Luke of Crimea

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Lord Jesus Christ promises to those who keep the nine commandments, which we call the

Beatitudes.

Let us remember what our Savior says about the human heart. His words explain why He honors so much purity of heart. The Lord said: "For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come — sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, evil eye, blasphemy, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and de-file a person" (Mk. 7:21-23). If this is the case and, according to the words of Christ, the roots of evil are in the human heart, then certainly from the same heart come all the good and pure thoughts and actions. Because the heart is the center of love and love is the fulfillment of the

law.

The heart of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary scattered light of exceptional purity and love not only throughout the earthly world, but the day of her glorious birth "proclaimed

joy throughout the ecumene", the world of the invisible powers.

Brothers and sisters, let us also guard within our hearts the joy of this glorious and blessed day of her birth. Let us try with all our strength to always keep our hearts pure, that we may be worthy of the love of the Panagia, who always intercedes for us before her Son our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom, together with His Beginingless Father and Most Holy Spirit, belongs

glory, honor and worship unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Какие грехи мы не видим?Какие грехи мы не видим?Какие грехи мы не видим?Какие грехи мы не видим? Разговор о ситуации, когда мы годами исповедуемся в одном и том же, продолжает

протоиерей Александр Балыбердинпротоиерей Александр Балыбердинпротоиерей Александр Балыбердинпротоиерей Александр Балыбердин , благочинный церквей города Кирова, настоятель

храма в честь Федоровской иконы Божьей Матери.

«Прополка души»

Исповедь – это прежде всего часть таинства покаяния, и поэтому рассматривать связанные с ней вопросы необходимо в контексте всего таинства, где священник является лишь свидетелем, а общаемся мы с Самим Богом. Поэтому, если после исповеди мы снова впадаем в тот же самый грех, то вопрос, почему так происходит, надо адресовать не священнику и не Богу, а самому себе. Значит, покаяние наше было недостаточным. Покаяние – по-гречески метанойя , перемена ума, на еврейском – поворот. А у нас,

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получается, никакого глобального поворота не произошло, и поэтому мы снова

возвращаемся ко греху.

Но не надо унывать. Во-первых, исповедь показывает, насколько грех в нас укоренен, вошел в привычку. И постоянное возвращение ко греху должно ужаснуть нас и насторожить. Мы должны переживать от того, что он пустил в нас такие глубокие корни. Ведь и сорняки в саду проще выдергивать, когда они еще маленькие, а когда растения уже пустили глубокие корни, то бывает, все руки изрежешь, изорвешь все стебли, а корень всё

равно остается в земле и потом снова дает всходы.

Но это не повод оставлять работу, не полоть сад. Всё равно надо пропалывать, всё равно надо косить траву и докапываться до корней. Конечно, если ты хочешь, чтобы твой сад не зарос бурьяном. Так и исповедь – это «прополка» души, которой надо заниматься

регулярно, невзирая на то, что иногда приходится вновь и вновь говорить одно и то же.

Даже апостол Павел в одном из посланий сказал про себя, что «доброго, которого хочу, не делаю, а злое, которого не хочу, делаю» (Рим. 7:19). Что же говорить о нас? Если даже личность такого удивительного, святого человека, как апостол Павел, была разделена. Так что силы надо тратить не на уныние, а на ту самую «прополку», которая может иногда

показаться напрасной, но это не так.

Не ждать волшебства

Не надо ждать от исповеди и от таинства покаяния какого-то сказочного, немедленного разрешения проблемы, немедленной перемены. Это невозможно. Потому что человек нередко привыкает ко греху, привыкает не только интеллектуально, а всем своим

существом.

Так, в житии преподобной Марии Египетской сказано, что она грешила в течение 17 лет, а затем столько же, 17 лет, живя в пустыне, страдала от грехов и страстей, которые тянули ее к себе, назад, к прежней жизни. Не общее ли это правило? Сколько грешил, столько и будешь каяться. Согрешил один раз, может быть, будет достаточно и одной исповеди. А если грешил годами, если ты не думал даже, что это грех и это вошло в твою привычку, значит, придется, наверное, столько же лет исповедовать этот грех, сколько он

живет в тебе.

Грех – это нелюбовь

Надо сосредотачиваться не на словах, не на формулировке грехов. Я своим прихожанам объясняю суть исповеди очень просто: «Нам Господь заповедовал жить с любовью к Богу и ближнему. Соответственно, грех – это нелюбовь к Богу и к ближнему. Поэтому давайте

мы подумаем, в чем проявилась наша нелюбовь к Богу и к ближнему».

Понять это, на мой взгляд, несложно. В принципе, что есть любовь? Любовь – это желание быть с тем, кого любишь. Если любишь Родину, будешь жить на Родине и всегда

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стремиться к ней. Если любишь женщину, будешь стремиться жить с ней в браке. Если любишь детей или родителей, будешь стараться жить большой семьей, по крайней мере, общаться и быть вместе. Поэтому, если ты любишь Бога, тебе не трудно утром помолиться, прийти в храм, исповедоваться, подготовиться к причастию. Если же тебе

это трудно, это говорит о том, что в тебе этой любви не хватает.

Так же и с ближним. Если любишь ближнего своего, тебе не трудно с ним быть. Ты его не обижаешь, не отталкиваешь, не гневаешься, не раздражаешься на него, не сердишься, никаким образом не унижаешь. Ты стараешься быть с ним рядом, хранить

единство.

Поэтому и каяться надо не в том, что мы нарушили какой-то пункт правил, а в

состоянии нашей души, в недостатке любви к Богу и ближнему.

У меня недавно умер папа, и хотя я старался регулярно его навещать, но сегодня

всё равно понимаю, что мог бы сделать для него больше. Например, вывести в лес и

погулять с ним, хотя бы на инвалидной коляске. Но я этого не сделал и, значит,

настоящей любви во мне также не хватает, и это также требует от меня «перемены

ума», «поворота», покаяния.

Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church

845 Queen Street #101

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

http://www.orthodoxhawaii.org

email: contact@orthodoxhawaii.org

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