Рожество Христово

It is now December 25th! Christ is born!


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The Solovetsky Martyrs

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Many are unaware of the story of some of the greatest Martyrs that the Church has seen: the holy Saints of Solovetsky Monastery. Above: Family tree of Denisov brothers I here tell the story of the Solovetsky Martyrs with illustrations from the "Sufferings of the Solovetsky Fathers" by Simeon Denisov (Симeон Денисов ), a famous writer who, along with his brother Andrei Denisov ( Андрей Денисов ) wrote the Pomorian Answers, which was an apologetic for Old Believers. They also founded Vygotsky Monastery, which was based on Solovetsky's charter. This monastery remained priestless, a sect that maintained that there was no more earthly liturgy, and split into multiple more branches, many of which practiced self-immolation. Luckily, Simeon and Andrei refrain from defending that tragic and sinful practice. They are often considered Saints by priestless. The book was handwritten, due to the ban on giving printing presses to Old Believers, and due to simple tradition...
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The Icon of Holy Silence/Wisdom

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Above: Icon of Christ "Holy Silence" This post will be regarding the two images of Christ condemned by the Nikonian church and widely used by Old Believers, the icon of Holy Wisdom (Со фия Премудрость Божия ) and Holy Silence ( Спас «Благое молчание»).  The first we will discuss is the icon of Holy Wisdom. The Icon of Holy Wisdom This icon first appeared in Novgorod in the 15th century. Note that the angel is entirely red (To denote it as Holy Wisdom) and that Christ is present above it. This is very important to the canonicity and non-canonicity of the icon. We can see that the empty throne (Sometimes used to symbolize the Father or the Holy Spirit) is present at the top of the icon. The Theotokos and St. John the Baptist stand flanking Holy Wisdom. So, let's begin. This icon is alarming. When I used to see one, I crossed myself, prayed an Our Father, and closed the tab. I thought it a Gnostic icon, asserting a fourth hypostasis - Sophia, a...
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The Whole Story

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Source: The website of the Church of the Holy Ascension, Oregon, USA. Light editing. The Orthodox Church Until The Middle of the 17th Century: The baptism of Russia in 988 by the Equal-to-the-Apostle saint Price Vladimir was the single most important event in our nation’s history. The quest for the True Faith of Christ had already been present in the soul of the Russian people. Princess Olga, the grandmother of Vladimir, had already received the Holy Baptism and, according to the chronicles, “had lead many to the Faith”. Ever since the times of Saint Vladimir, the Russian Orthodox Church had grown and prospered during more than 600 years, while remaining united and in peace.The efforts of the enemies of the Church, who on numerous occasions attempted to subjugate the Russian Church or to break it up, did never succeed: the harrowing yoke of the Tatar invaders which lasted over 200 years never succeeded in destroying or even corrupting Russian Orthodoxy. On many occasions Roman P...
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