LA MULA DE WAMBA TODO LO AGUANTA

 

LA MULA DE WAMBA TODO LO AGUANTA

 

LLUVIA DE SAPOS EN WAMBA

Extraño fenómeno meteorológico. Cuentan las crónicas que tras la tormenta ha caído lluvia de sapos también de culebras en Wamba. Debe de ser una maldición que pesa sobre este pueblo pinciano con nombre visigótico, el mal visigótico, la envidia y la mala hostia, abran ustedes los periódicos, enchufen la tele a ver que dicen los telediarios y sonará la vieja cantinela que dice:

• La mula de Wamba ni caga ni mea ni come ni bebe ni jode ni pee pero siempre anda

Lluevan sapos y culebras, pedruscos del cielo caigan, todo lo sufre España. Cuanta saña, Albañal de políticos trincones, periodistas chorizos, clérigos perversos, cristianos tornadizos. Todos van tirando del carro aguantando coces y pedos de la mula de Wamba que todo lo aguanta

 

VIVA JESÚS MUERA EL PECADO. CONSUELOS Y DESCONSUELOS DE UN ESCRITOR SIN SUERTE

 

Es lo que digo yo, Viva Jesús muera el pecado. Busco en la jaculatoria la divina intercesión para contar la historia del pobre Frutos Cohombro Perales un hombre vapuleado por la vida: periodista sin suerte al que engañaba su parienta, blanco de todas las pullas y soflamas. Su vida fue un constante jugar al chito con la desgracia. Era grafómano, aquejado por la locura de escribir se hizo sospechoso a las autoridades. Ya que en esta sociedad nuestra si escribes y Cohombro siempre rompían lanzas contra el gobierno estás bajo sospecha. Te miran como a un delincuente. Llenó rimeros de cuartillas. Hojas fugaces de pensamientos volanderos, siempre en lucha contra los molinos de viento, un agitador de derechas cuando habían ganado las izquierdas, sufrimientos, enconos, citad judiciales, hombre de Dios, por qué le da la tontuna a Vd. de poner negro sobre blanco cuanto piensa. Trata de arreglar el mundo cuando éste carece de arreglo. Yo voy a mi aire. Yo me entiendo y Dios me entiende, contestaba haciendo valer una cita de Unamuno en justificación de su locura. Ser periodista es un arte cinegético que tiene que ver con el tiro a la cabeza, oficio respetable antaño pero del que se han apropiado esas machorras feminazis que mejor estarían haciendo la carrera o mostrando sus galas naturales por la Red en lugar de estar pontificando y tertuliando en los talking chous o subidas a lo alto de las columnas de algún rotativos que las paga bien. Frutos Cohombro a sabiendas de haber elegido una profesión tan áspera hacía de tripas corazón y sea lo que Dios quiera. Hay que seguir trepando por la cucaña. Aquí el que aguanta gana. Vivir es torear. Cada día lidiar con un miura, quítate de en medio que va pasar la camioneta de mi papá. Todo mentiras, querido don Frutos, súbete al carro de heno del poder, déjate de alicantinas, una cosa segura, tú busca una cosa segura, hijo, le decía su madre doña Cloti y el periodista pegaba un respingo, madre, tú déjame a mí, haré lo que me dé la gana. Sin embargo, las críticas maternales lo descolocaban y acentuaban la inseguridad que sentía hacia sí mismo. Quizás padeciese algo de complejo de Edipo. Two wrongs cannot make a right. Al igual que los grandes soñadores, los poetas chirles, los maridos fracasados, se afligía ante el derrumbe de su existencia. You are a failure, baby. Lo único que le consolaba y le hacía feliz era la cuartilla en blanco. Pero ya nadie aceptaba sus colaboraciones como en su juventud, entonces se podía ganar algún dinerillo. Ahora todo es gratis. Te metes en la Red y no sales. Te pasas la vida sin cobrar un duro por tu brillante literatura. Has de trabajar para el turco. No para el turco sino para los judíos. Este pensamiento a don Frutos Cohombro viejo escritor le traía por la calle de la Amargura. Estaba que lo llevaban los demonios y le hacía albergar a redropelo ciertas inquinas antisemitas. Las estanterías de su biblioteca albergaban miles de folios, en los altillos de sus armarios dormían el sueño de la incomprensión y el olvido sus cuentos, sus novelas, sus poemarios, los esquejes de algún drama que escribiría andando el tiempo, pero que jamás concluyó, algunas ediciones de sus textos impresos pero que rechazaban las librerías por falta de distribuidor. Publish and be damned, le dijo un fantasma pero él había dejado de creer en trasgos y aparecidos. Que salga el sol por Antequera. Tú publica y que te lleven los demonios pero, oiga usted, yo publico ya ve y me tengo que comer enteras mis ediciones. Internet supuso una liberación para los poetas poetisas novelistas e historiadores ensayistas pero no eran sino una engañifa cuando creíamos que nos había venido Dios a ver. El gran sanedrín encontró en la Red de Redes un punto de vigilancia un faro para la observación ideológica de la fraternidad y el compadreo universal, habría que controlar el caos para domar la bestia y ahí estaban los agentes del 666. Escudriño global. Lupa en ristre, y pipa de Sherlock Holmes haciendo pesquisas sobre las huellas del crimen. Pero oiga yo no soy un criminal, soy un pobre escritor sin suerte, sí eres un escritor suerte pero sospechoso, pronto te vamos a ajustar las cuentas.

−Arredro vayas, Satanás− gritó entonces el pobre Frutos Cohombro

 CUMPLIR OCHENTA AÑOS

 

Hoy día de san Juan de Sahagún de Campos el predicador gracioso (Aderita que en los cielos estás reza por mí) cumplo ochenta años. Te Deum laudamus. Un regalo de la providencia haber alcanzado edad provecta. 

No sé ni como he llegado hasta aquí, he comido, he bebido, he fumado cual coracha, traté de ser casto como me enseñaron en el seminario, no sé si lo conseguí. 

Jesús mío no tengas en cuenta mis pecados sino la fe de tu iglesia. Voy a mi aire y por lo segado aunque con frecuencia metíme en tremedales y jardines de los que me sacó una excelsa mano. 

desde niño de la Virgen María, entusiasta y a la vez proclive a depresiones. 

Muchos altos y bajos, caminando en zigzag pero conseguí a fuerza de tesón ser corresponsal en Londres y en Nueva York, el sueño de todo periodista, amé a muchas mujeres, otras me amaron a mí o me dejaron en la estancada pero soy un pájaro de un solo nido como la paloma, la urraca o la cigüeña, que posan en un único palomar.

 Libros, artículos, varias novelas, zurré la badana a la maquina de escribir, a mi país y a veces me zurro a mí mismo. Libré de la cárcel porque tengo miedo a aquel dicho de que nadie se libra de ir a prisiones y de pedir limosna. 

Eso sí todos acabamos en el hospital. El manicomio tampoco lo conocí, caminando siempre por el filo de la navaja y mis chanclos ambulativos se impregnaron del barro de veredas y caminos. 

Soy de la generación del 68, la rebelión de los hippies pero ahora me pregunto ubi sunt qué fue de aquel Cohn Bendit, los Beatles Paul MaCarthy y ringo Star son unos ancianos George Harrison y John Lennon murieron ya. 

Hoy se ha muerto François Hardy la chica francesa de la cual todos nos enamoramos en el guateque. Creo que soy un triunfador por haber  ido por lo libre pero a veces me siento un desastre total. El hombre que no supo amar.

 Suzi Hugh ¿Qué fue de ti? porto tu imagen camino de la tumba y releo tus cartas que quemó mi madre. Oh Jesús mío, habed piedad de mí, ya no soy más que un pobre viejo, memoria de lo que fui.

 

miércoles, 12 de junio de 2024

 

EL PAYASO ROJO YEGVENI CHIRICOV 1864-1932

 

Iba yo y venía cada sábado al tenderete de Riudavets en la Cuesta Moyano, allí cargaba mi escarcela de libros y de sueños descatalogados. Esta semana volvía a leer el Payaso Rojo de Eugenio Chirikov y me di de manos a boca con una novela profética, trata de los padecimientos del pueblo ruso, de su fortaleza, de su acendrada fe en cristo. Escenas descritas con un fulgor iluminado, fue una bajada a los infiernos. En una de las ergástulas de la checa aguardan a ser fusilados las pobres gentes. Rojos y Blancos ¿quién trajo tanto odio? El capitán Alejandro nicolaevich Musayev héroe de la guerra ruso japonesa y condecorado en el frente alemán es un héroe. Había salido graduado de teniente de la academia militar de Frunze. Era hijo bastardo de un alto personaje en la corte del zar y de una de sus domésticas. Arrastrará el estigma toda su vida. Al estallar la revolución se une a los bolcheviques y fusila y encarcela a sus compañeros de armas. Algunos piden ser llevados al paredón luciendo sus charreteras y la laureada de san Jorge. Dentro del ejército rojo era considerado como uno de sus máximos puntales. Se comporta implacable con los adictos al viejo régimen. Un tiempo nuevo había nacido. Museyev había amado a Elena una aristócrata esposa de un general fallecido en combate la cual lo abandona para irse con otro el capitán Cordlitsky. En los calabozos de la NKVD se apiña una multitud de burgueses en espera de ser llevados al paredón. Se los fusila poniendo los motores en marcha de los camiones para que sus ayes no alarmen a la población. Hay hombres ancianos mujeres y niños. El camarada Museyev les manda al patíbulo sin ninguna conmiseración. En uno de los rincones de estas cámaras de tortura yace una señora muy bella de gestos  distinguidos pese a sus harapos. Es Elena. Su antiguo amante la reconoce y se muestra dispuesto a sacrificarse él mismo dándoles patente a ella y a su ex querido Cordlitsky para que huyan a Crimea y de ahí a Turquía.  Sin embargo, este último llevado a declarar ante la checa se despoja de sus charreteras y para salvar el pellejo dice que el zar era un criminal y que él jamás amó a Elena que era una mundana, uno de sus muchos coqueteos en la corte imperial. La condesa que asiste al interrogatorio sufre un desmayo (para salvarla el comisario la había secuestrado y llevado a su casa de Moscú donde es asistida por su madre ancianita) y se da cuenta de que el verdadero amor de su vida era Museyev. He aquí el nudo de la trama del Payaso Rojo –Krasnii Siatogov− un drama de tragedia griega que al releerlo en esta noche de junio a mí me hizo llorar. Elena y Musayev se abrazan pasan una noche de amor y, descubierto el engaño por los espías del NKVD, son pasados por las armas. Labor omnia vincit, de acuerdo con la máxima evangélica. El amor todo lo puede. Su fuerza es divina porque en la tierra es el brazo de Dios. Chirikov que estuvo relacionado con los revolucionarios y fue amigo de Gorki y Andreiev descorazonado con los estragos y crímenes de la revolución cuyos capitostes eran hebreos en su mayor parte, huye al extranjero. Murió en Hungría en 1932. Hoy mi consciencia fue asaltada por una idea mesiánica: si no existiera Rusia habría que inventarla. Volverá a vencer a sus enemigos para bien de la humanidad.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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PILGRIMAGE ORGANIZER, SPEECH THERAPIST, AND THE MOTHER OF A BIG, SECOND FAMILY

Priests’ wives talk about their service in the Church. Part 1

Lada Bayeva

On the feast of the holy Myrrh-Bearing Women, which Russian believers sometimes call “Orthodox Women’s Day” (this year it fell on May 19), we asked the wives of some priests of the Vyatka Metropolia of the ROC to talk about their Christian service in the family, in the Church and in society.

Many matushkas, as priests’ wives are usually called in Russia, perform their multifaceted labors in the sphere of education, developing pilgrimage itineraries, working as teachers, doctors, speech therapists, church choir singers or conductors, glorifying the Lord with their singing, meeting people in the church shop, instilling the gift of faith in children with special needs… And, of course, all of them see a special role of a woman in taking care of her family and helping her spouse. Talking about family traditions, their work and hobbies, these women have sincerely shared with readers what helps them overcome difficulties, what joy they feel when they observe the good fruits of their labors, and how happy they are in their service.

“There are trips that combine my service as an organizer of pilgrims and the family”

Nadezhda Shapoval, head of the “From Vyatka” pilgrimage service:

Fr. John and Nadezhda ShapovalThis May, our pilgrimage service turned twenty. Its work is based on Christian service. Our priority is to familiarize people with our shrines and churches of the land of Vyatka¹ of the Vyatka Metropolia. I think it is important for people to know the history of their churches, icons, and local saints.

I never imagined that I would become a priest’s wife. I married an ordinary layman. Ten years later, at the age of thirty-five, my husband told me: “I want to enter the Vyatka Theological College [now seminary], full-time.” I understood the responsibilities that a future priest’s wife had—both the inward, spiritual, and the outward, in the public eye—but I had to accept his choice. Father John was ordained by Metropolitan Chrysanthos of Vyatka and Slobodskoy. He served as a deacon for six years, and then Metropolitan Mark of Vyatka and Slobodskoy ordained my husband a priest and sent him to serve in the village of Istobensk. And for about twelve years now, batiushka has served as rector of the ancient Holy Trinity Church, which has never been closed.

Nadezhda Shapoval with pilgrims    

There are trips that combine my service as an organizer of pilgrimages and the family. We have the following tradition: for several years in a row, on New Year’s day, I take pilgrims on a trip to the ancient monasteries and convents of Russia. We develop new, interesting itineraries every time. During our trips, we learn about locally venerated saints and attend services in the churches we visit. Fr. John Shapoval, who accompanies the pilgrims with me, supports people with spiritual advice. Among our pilgrims there are those who go regularly on our “prayer trips”, while others may be new to this. Recently, married couples have become more actively involved in such trips.

​Nadezhda Shapoval    

Greetings to all female pilgrims, colleagues, staff workers, priests’ wives and all Orthodox women of Russia on this wonderful feast—the day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, which falls on the Paschal days when we all greet each other especially joyfully with the exclamation: “Christ is Risen!”

“My great-grandmother, grandmother and mother are priests’ wives”

Priest Mikhail Pentin and his wife Galina    

Galina Pentina, singer of the parish choir of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of Kirov and teacher of church singing at the Sunday school of the parish, wife of the rector of the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God of the town of Sovetsk, Priest Mikhail Pentin:

Christian service is always about kindness, the ability to give, to sacrifice from the bottom of your heart, to bring joy to people. It so happened that I became a fourth-generation priest’s wife. My great-grandmother, grandmother and mother were all wives of priests. From childhood we had an awareness that a priest is the pillar in the church, and his wife is the pillar in the family, responsible for the microclimate and comfort at home. But a parish is a big family. A priest celebrates services in church and is engaged in organizational matters, while his wife creates a good atmosphere there, so that people can be drawn to church. For parishioners, she often acts as a guide, a connecting link to the church.

I was born after my mother Tatiana moved from Kostroma to Sovetsk and had begun to arrange the life of the parish. Then Sunday school was born there, which turns twenty this year.

Priest Mikhail Kovalsky with his wife Tatiana and little Galina    

My father was busy with his ministry and was responsible for many practical issues—churches always require attention—and my mother created an atmosphere inside the parish. There were regular parishioners and traditions—organizing Christmas and Paschal concerts. And if my mother devoted herself mostly to classes with children in the Sunday school, I inherited the cause from my father, Priest Mikhail Kovalsky, who as a priest paid great attention to choir service.

My father dreamed of becoming a choir director, but he entered the seminary. But he loved sacred music from his childhood. He selected the repertoire for the services of the church cycle and held choir practices. Sharing his aspirations, I have served in the choir since the age of two. Now that I sing in the church choir, I remember that as a child I listened to this or that spiritual work. In my understanding, the church choir plays a huge connecting role between the priest and the parishioners. The prayerful mood the choir sets will be conveyed to the priest and the parishioners.

​Future Archpriest Peter and Grandmother Marina Bakhtina    

A model of good Christian service in our family is my maternal great-grandmother Margarita. She has eight children, and she is a priest’s wife as well. When my great-grandfather, Archpriest Vladimir Stepanov, was transferred from parish to parish, the whole family moved with him. You must accept that your husband belongs to the Church, and you, his wife and children, are his family and cannot leave him. You should be wise and understand that this is your service—through him you should serve God. My grandparents, Grandmother Marina and Archpriest Peter Bakhtin, are also a model of Christian service.

When it comes to life in general, it is important to do everything for God. Do any work that you undertake for God. This way it will be possible to perform it efficiently, and most importantly—according to your conscience.

“Family comes first”

Ekaterina Churakova with Father Dimitry and children    

Ekaterina Churakova, a speech therapist, wife of the priest of the Church of the holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia in Kirov, Priest Dimitry Churakov:

I see my Christian service in the life I live as a priest’s wife, combining raising the children with my job as a speech therapist. As an active and well-educated woman, I always wanted to do something for the good of society, while living exclusively for household chores is boring. Being a philologist by education, I received by qualifications as a speech therapist over a decade ago. When my children were small, there was no opportunity to take them to a speech therapist, so I decided to become one myself—first of all to help my children. Then I began to help others as well. And now that I’m busy with work, my children understand that their mother is a role model for them, thus she fulfils herself, and at the same time they are given more independence. They do some housework themselves, taking care of each other. Working as a speech therapist has become my vocation, because I love children. It is no coincidence that we have four of them, and I am able to help them and do my share in providing for the family simultaneously.

Ekaterina Churakova with her husband, Priest Dimitry, a cleric of the Church of Sts. Faith, Hope, Love and Sophia in Kirov    

But the family comes first, so I work four hours a day at most. I reserve energy for my children. Our two older daughters and son go to school, and the youngest daughter is a preschooler.

Since weekends together are a rarity for us, because my spouse is a priest and celebrates services in church on weekends, we try to gather in the evenings in our family circle. My husband, Fr. Dimitry, and I try to support each other, and he takes part in raising our children.

We have a family tradition of getting together on the major feasts—Christmas and Pascha. At Pascha, we always bake kulichi (Paschal cakes) according to the old Russian recipe for our family, friends and acquaintances. My eldest daughter Lisa and I baked over sixty kulichi this year. We want people to feel the taste of real pascha cheese, cooked with love from exclusively natural, good products: butter, raisins, candied fruits and nuts.

We celebrate Victory Day with our family; we always place flowers at the eternal flame, sing military songs at home, and invite guests.

In the summer we try to take trips together. For example to Diveyevo Convent or to Blessed Matrona in Moscow. For the children, a trip to another city is always an occasion for joy. We try to think about our trip ahead of time, and to make it merry, interesting and informative for the children (with visits to museums, zoos, puppet theaters; the Nikulin Circus in Moscow made a special impression on them). On the other hand, these trips educate them in patriotic and spiritual terms, since they familiarize themselves with holy and meaningful places.

When planning my days, I keep a balance between my job, the children and myself, and my inner state. When there are many children, everyone needs to be given time and attention. You always keep your finger on the pulse so that you as a mother can provide support. And all this requires inner strength, so it is especially important for the mother of a large family to stay healthy, fit and balanced.

“Family traditions are about being all together”

​Lyubov Boyarintseva with Fr. George and children    

Lyubov Boyarintseva, director of the Nika children’s church choir, teacher of the First Children’s Music School in Kirov, wife of the priest of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Fr. George Boyarintsev:

I met my future husband when we were students of the conducting and choral college. In our last year of school we registered our marriage and got married in church. We had a student wedding: a male student quartet sang at the church; Vladimir Stromov—the bell-ringer of St. Seraphim’s Church, and then a second–year student who sang with us in the united student choir, rang the bells; and the cameraman was our classmate, now Priest Igor Shilyayev. The car for the newlyweds was provided by the then ruling hierarch, Vladyka Chrysanthos. It was very joyful, warm and sincere.

Lyubov Boyarintseva and the Nika children’s choir at the service in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Kirov    

I have been studying music all my life, and my choice of this profession was obvious. I started teaching from the age of nineteen, and so far my occupation has not changed. It had always been a children’s choir. However, three or four years ago I began to lead an adult mixed choir, which consists of parents and graduates. It’s an amateur choir of people who can’t live without music.

A husband and a wife are a single whole, one mind and one vision of the world, and they complement each other. One other half always feels what is happening with the other and thinks about how to help him or her. Sometimes words of support are vital—it is very important that you are not alone in your vision of the world, that someone is ready to defend you with might and main. My husband is our choir’s father-confessor. He knows all my students, their interests and hobbies. He taught me how to edit videos of my students for competitions, type parts in computer programs, and write music; he also helps me organize concerts.

Fr. George and Lyubov Boyarintseva with childrenMy husband is a clergyman of the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist of our city, and as part of his duties he sometimes travels to serve in churches of the district, where there are often no singers. Then I always accompany him, and we sing the service with the children’s choir.

Music is a subtle guide to the spiritual world. At the service, children feel their involvement in what is happening through music and spiritual singing, and it is easier for them to stand through the service and understand it. We so wanted our children to sing in church so that they could find friends and like-minded children in the choir. After all, who your children communicate with is very important.

For us, family traditions mean being all together: at work, at services, at children’s contests or competitions, or just spending weekends together. If we manage to organize a family trip, it is a great joy.

“For me the main thing is when love reigns in the parish and in the family”

Elena Izhik. Celebration of the blessing of a new belfry in the village of Sredneivkino    

Elena Izhik, wife of the rector of the Holy Trinity Church in the village of Sredneivkino of the Verkhoshizhemye district, the Kirov region:

For seventeen years now I have been Father Stephen’s wife and the mother of three wonderful daughters. For me the parish is a large, second family—not only in Sredneikino, but also in Verkhoshizhemye, Zonikha and Voronye. For me, life as a priest’s wife has proved to be very unique, yet difficult.

Elena Izhik with Fr. Stephen and childrenI try to share in all the difficulties that Fr. Stephen has to face as a clergyman, and my daughters and I try to support him. I help my husband in the service (I sing in the choir), I am always involved in the preparations for church events, and support charity works organized at the parish. Father and I try to bring our children to God and kindle the fire of faith in their hearts.

For me, the main thing is that love reigns in the parish and in the family. Because family is the most important thing in our lives. It is the most precious and valuable gift from God. I believe that a real family is built when the people dearest to each other support each other and do not abandon each other in difficult times, which motivates you to move forward and reach new heights. This makes them really happy for you.

Faith in God and trust in Him help me overcome various difficulties in life. And family is a place where you can be real, yourself; it is a reliable support that helps you solve any problems in life; it is a strong home and harmony.

“Church is a place where I sacrifice myself to God through singing”

Natalia Pistsova with her youngest daughterNatalia Pistsova, singer at St. John the Baptist Church in Kirov, wife of the cleric of St. Seraphim’s Cathedral in Kirov, Priest Vasily Pistsov:

I started singing in the choir when I was a child. From the age of five I mastered singing and reading. I grew up in an Orthodox family—my parents raised me accordingly, instilling in me the most important ideas about God and my neighbor. Singing and Church are an integral part of my life, because as long as I can remember, I have always sung—this is my second self. The church is my home: it is a place where I offer myself to God fully through singing and serving Him.

Batiushka and I are raising four children—three girls and one boy. The oldest is sixteen, and the youngest is three.

Natalia Pistsova with her husband, Fr. Vasily, and childrenThe priest brings a moral element into raising children, instilling in them the most valuable concepts about God and people, and gives answers to their questions. I try to instill in them the right habits, the right approach to life and different situations, and most importantly, I help them learn how to make good decisions. It is a very interesting and complex process (because there is a struggle, free will is manifested, with each of them having his own). At the same time, it is important to understand that every child is an individual and needs an individual approach; and of course, I have the task of remaining a true friend and example for them.

My hobbies are drawing, academic singing and sports. I also really like needlework.

We love to relax together outdoors, which allows us to take a break from the fuss of life. The great Orthodox feasts greatly unite us, because each of us contributes to the creation and preservation of family traditions. The most important thing is to keep in mind that love, joy, humility and piety must accompany us along our life’s paths.

To be continued…

Prepared by Lada Bayeva
Translation by Dmitry Lapa

Pravoslavie.ru

6/4/2024

EL PATRIARCA BARTOLO DE CONSTANTINOPLA CAUSANTE CON FRANCISCO DE ROMA DEL CISMA UCRANIANO AMBOS SON AGENTES DE LA CIA

 

EL PATRIARCA BARTOLO DE CONSTANTINOPLA CAUSANTE CON FRANCISCO DE ROMA DEL CISMA UCRANIANO AMBOS SON AGENTES DE LA CIA

 

RUSSIAN SYNOD FORBIDS CONCELEBRATION WITH BULGARIAN HIERARCHS WHO CONCELEBRATED WITH SCHISMATICS

Moscow, May 31, 2024

Photo: patriarchia.ru    

By decision of the Holy Synod of Moscow Patriarchate yesterday, there can be no concelebration with the hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church who recently themselves concelebrated with two “hierarchs” of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

On May 19, five Bulgarian hierarchs, Metropolitans Nicholas of Plovdiv, Cyprian of Stara Zagora, Iakov of Dorostol, and Bishops Zion of Velichka and Vissarion of Smolyan, served in Istanbul with various hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and “Archbishop” Evtstraty (Zorya) and “Bishop” Avraamy (Latish) of the OCU sect.

Latish is the sole monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra who decided to leave the Church, in order to become the “abbot” of the schismatics’ Lavra brotherhood, and subsequently a “bishop.”

The Moscow Patriarchate Synod heard a report on the matter yesterday by His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations, and “expressed deep sorrow” over the incident, “which has seriously damaged relations between the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches,” reports Patriarchia.ru.

“The participants of the session stated the impossibility of concelebration with the mentioned hierarchs who entered into ecclesiastical communion with the schismatics. It was noted with regret that the Patriarchate of Constantinople continues to take actions aimed at deepening the division in Orthodoxy.”

The schismatic concelebration also caused some degree of outrage amongst the clergy and faithful of the Bulgarian Church, many of whom sent letters of protest to the Holy Synod.

There was also a tense moment in Russian-Bulgarian Church relations when the former rector of the Russian representation church in Sofia was evicted from the country in September, having been deemed a threat to national security.

With his expulsion, the church, which is home to the relics of the Holy Hierarch and wonderworker St. Seraphim (Sobolev), was closed, and debates began about who legally owns it: Bulgaria or the Russian embassy in Sofia, and who was responsible for appointing clerics and reopening the Church: the Bulgarian or Russian Church.

His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria appointed Bulgarian clerics to serve there, but the church never reopened under them. Then, in mid-October, the Russian Holy Synod appointed a new rector.

On November 10, the doors of the church reopened and the new rector served a moleben of thanksgiving.