fathers of the 7th ecumenical council - st. theodosius

A friendly Orthodox Christian ‘Zine OctOber 2011Volume VI, Number 10

Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council

2 THE FRUIT BASKET OCTOBER 2011

ThE FRUIT BASKET Edited and published monthly by An Orthodox Christian The goal of this publication is to provide a friendly, light, Or-thodox Christian ’Zine (a mini-magazine) that contains a blend of “something to exercise our minds, something to make us laugh, and something to make us meditate on spiritual matters.” Articles or comments from our readers are welcome. We reserve the right to edit for suitability, clarity and space. Printing of items does not imply endorsement by the church or the priest or even the editor of this publication. Please call if you need more info.Send comments or articles

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Click Parish Publications for back issues.www.sttheodosius.org

Today the Church remembers the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council under the holy Patriarch Tarasius (February 25). The Synod of 787, the second to meet at Nicea, refuted the Iconoclast heresy during the reign of Empress Irene and her son Constantine Porphyrogenitos.

The Council decreed that the veneration of icons was not idola-try (Exodus 20:4-5), because the honor shown to them is not directed to the wood or paint, but passes to the prototype (the person depicted). It also upheld the possibility of depicting Christ, Who became man and took flesh at His Incarnation. The Father, on the other hand, cannot be represented in His eternal nature, because "no man has seen God at any time" (John 1:18).

http://oca.org/fslives.asp

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A Meditation

Bless Your Heart Each New Day calendardonated by Kathy Z.

On PRAyERIf you want to be a just person, assign to each aspect of your-self—to your soul and your body—what accords with it. To the intelligent aspect of the soul, assign spiritual reading, contemplation, and prayer;to the incensive aspect spiritual love, the opposite of hatred; to the desiring aspect, moderation and self-control; to the fleshly part, food and clothing, for these alone are necessary (1 Timothy 6:8). St. MaxiMoS the ConfeSSor ii, fourth Century on Love, SeC. 44

“OnE-LInER” PRAyERS —Lord, teach me not to remember wrongs, but to remember that all wrongs are the work of Satan. —Lord, encourage me to repent harder, for to offend You, the liv- ing and loving God, is a monstrus evil. —Lord, help me to persevere in my daily spiritual struggles.Taken from a handout given in the class on prayer presented by Fr. Andrew Harmon of St. Matthew Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Anxious hearts are very heavy but a word of en-couragement does wonders! Proverbs 12:23 TLBFather, what power is available in a few simple words of encouragement. Give me the words to speak when I see somebody who needs encourage-ment today. Amen.


Why thE CounCils arE so important The Seven Councils.The conciliar principle of deciding matters of doctrinal and disci-plinary importance began with the Council of Jerusalem, described in Acts 15, where the Apostles met to decide whether Gentile converts should be subject to the Mosaic Law. (They were not!). With this Council in mind, and the various local councils which met at diverse parts of the Empire in the period prior to Nicea, the Church established an important principle: In council, the members of the Church, so to speak, can together claim an authority which individually none of them possess. The Seven Ecumenical Coun-cils which met in the period from 325 to 787 performed two basic tasks: 1) They formulated the visible, ecclesiastical organization of the Church, setting the ranking of the Five Patriarchates; and 2) they defined, once and for all, the teachings of the Church on faith, formulating the basic dogmas concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation.

Nicea I (325).• This Council condemned the heresy of Arianism, which had

contended that the Son was inferior to the Father and was, in fact, created. The Fathers here declared that the Son is one in essence (homoousios) with the Father, and formulated the first part of what eventually became the Creed the Symbol of Faith. In addition, three great Sees were singled out Rome, Alexan-dria and Antioch (Canon 6), and the See of Jerusalem, although still subject to the Metropolitan of Caesarea, was given the next place in honor after Antioch (Canon 7).

Constantinople I (381).• This Council expanded the Nicene Creed, developing the

teachings concerning the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father; Who, with the Father and Son, is worshipped and glori-fied..., against the heresy of the Pneumatomachi (Spiritsmash-ers) and the Macedonians (followers of Macedonius), who could not accept the Third Person of the Trinity as equal to the other Two. It was in this period that we see the activities of the

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great Cappadocian Fathers, St. Gregory Nazianzus (the Theo-logian), St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa, as well as the great Alexandrian Father, St. Athanasius the Great. The First Council of Constantinople also decreed that Constanti-nople, the new capital, should hold the next place of honor after Rome, since it was now the New Rome (Canon 111).

Ephesus (431).• This Council met to discuss the heresy of the Nestorians, who

could not accept that God and Man had been united in one Person, Christ, refusing to call the Virgin Mary, Theotokos (or Birthgiver of God). Supported primarily by St. Cyril of Alex-andria, this Council affirmed that Mary was truly Theotokos, since, as the Evangelist had proclaimed, the Word was made flesh (John 1:14), and the Virgin had borne a single and undi-vided Person Who is, at the same time, God and Man.

Chalcedon (451).• This Council met to discuss the heresy of the Monophysites

who held that in Christ the human nature had been merged into the divine, so that there was, after the divine union, only one nature. The Bishops of this Council accepted the so-called Tome of Pope St. Leo the Great of Rome, which affirmed the belief that the one and the same son, perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, [is] truly God and truly man...acknowl-edged in two natures unconfused, unchanged, undivided and inseparable. In addition, the place of Constantinople after that of Rome was confirmed, as was that of Jerusalem in the fifth place of honor.

• A tragic result of this Council (and that of Ephesus prior) was the splitting apart from the main body of a large group of Chris-tians adhering to either the Nestorian or Monophysite view. The Nestorians were found basically in Persia and Mesopota-mia, and were especially decimated by the Islamic and Turkish onslaughts, whereas the Monophysites were strong in Africa (Egypt and Ethiopia the present Coptic Church), Armenia, and India (the Jacobite Church).


(Councils continued)Constantinople II (553).• This Council met to further reinterpret the decrees of Chalce-

don, seeking to explain how the two natures of Christ unite to form a single person. It affirmed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one of the Holy Trinity, one and the same divine Per-son (hypostasis), Who has united personally (hypostatically) in Himself the two natures of God and Man, without fusing them together and without allowing their separation. Certain teachings of Origen, including his teaching concerning the pre-existence of the soul, among other things, were also expressly condemned.

Constantinople III (681).• This Council met to condemn the Monothelite heresy which

held that in the union of the two natures in Christ, the human will was merged into the divine as one will, since the two na-tures were united into one person. The Council, however, held that if Christ has two natures, he also has two wills human and divine.

Nicea II (787).• This Council met to affirm the belief of the Orthodox that

veneration of the Holy Icons was proper and necessary for a correct understanding of the Incarnation of Christ, against those who held that Icon-veneration was idolatry and that all Icons should be destroyed (Iconoclasts). This Seventh Council was also the last of the Ecumenical Councils accepted as such by the Orthodox Church, although the possibility does ex-ist that, in principle, more could be convened. The Iconoclast controversy did not end until after another rising of the heretics beginning in 815, which was finally suppressed by the Empress Theodora in 843. This final victory of the Holy .Icons in 843 is known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy, and is commemorated on the First Sunday of Great Lent. Thus, with the resolution of the Iconoclast controversy, the Age of the Seven Councils came to an end.

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• During this same period, there were two other major currents that were to have a profound effect on the Byzantine Empire and Orthodoxy. The first of these was the rise of monasticism. It began as a definite institution in Egypt in the 4th Century and rapidly spread across the Christian world. It literally began at a time when the persecutions had ended, and the Monks, with their austere life, were, in a real sense, martyrs when martyr-dom of blood had virtually ceased. At a time when people were in danger of forgetting that life in the world the earthly king-dom was not the Kingdom of God, the Monks and their with-drawal from society, reminded Christians that God's Kingdom, in fact, is not of this world.

• The second major current in this period was the rise and rapid spread of Islam, the most striking characteristic of which was the speed of its expansion. Within fifteen years after the death of Mohammed in 632, his followers had captured Syria, Pales-tine and Egypt, and in fifty years, they were already at the gates of Constantinople. Within 100 years, they had swept across North Africa and through Spain. The Byzantine Empire lost the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and until the actual fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Empire was never free from attack.

Excerpt taken from These Truths We Hold - The Holy Orthodox Church: Her Life and Teachings.Compiled and Edited by A Monk of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. Copyright 1986 by the St. Tikhon’s Semi-nary Press, South Canaan, Pennsylvania 18459. To order a copy of These Truths We Hold visit the St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary Bookstore.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:6-7


The Protection of the Most holy TheotokosCommemorated on October 1The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos: "Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Church, and with choirs of Saints she invisibly prays to God for us. Angels and Bishops venerate Her, Apostles and prophets rejoice together, Since for our sake she prays to the Eternal God!"

This miraculous appearance of the Mother of God occurred in the mid-tenth century in Constantinople, in the Blachernae church where her robe, veil, and part of her belt were preserved after be-ing transferred from Palestine in the fifth century.

On Sunday, October 1, during the All Night Vigil, when the church was overflowing with those at prayer, the Fool-for-Christ St Andrew (October 2), at the fourth hour, lifted up his eyes towards the heavens and beheld our most Holy Lady Theotokos coming through the air, resplendent with heavenly light and surrounded by an assembly of the Saints. St John the Baptist and the holy Apostle John the Theologian accompanied the Queen of Heaven. On bended knees the Most Holy Virgin tearfully prayed for Chris-tians for a long time. Then, coming near the Bishop's Throne, she continued her prayer.

After completing her prayer she took her veil and spread it over the people praying in church, protecting them from enemies both visible and invisible. The Most Holy Lady Theotokos was re-splendent with heavenly glory, and the protecting veil in her hands gleamed "more than the rays of the sun."

The Ever-Blessed Mother of God implored the Lord Jesus Christ to accept the prayers of all the people calling on His Most Holy Name, and to respond speedily to her intercession, "O Heavenly King, accept all those who pray to You and call on my name for help. Do not let them go away from my icon unheard." The Primary Chronicle of St Nestor reflects that the protective intercession of the Mother of God was needed because an attack

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of a large pagan Russian fleet under the leadership of Askole and Dir. The feast celebrates the divine destruction of the fleet which threatened Constantinople itself, sometime in the years 864-867 or according to the Russian historian Vasiliev, on June 18, 860. The Primary Chronicle of St Nestor also notes the miraculous deliverance followed an all-night Vigil and the dipping of the garment of the Mother of God into the waters of the sea at the Blachernae church, but does not mention Sts Andrew and Epipha-nius and their vision of the Mother of God at prayer. These latter elements, and the beginnings of the celebrating of the Feast of the Protection, seem to postdate St Nestor and the Chronicle. A further historical complication might be noted under (October 2) dating St Andrew's death to the year 936.

The year of death might not be quite reliable, or the assertion that he survived to a ripe old age after the vision of his youth, or that his vision involved some later pagan Russian raid which met with the same fate. The suggestion that St Andrew was a Slav (or a Scythian according to other sources, such as S. V. Bulgakov) is interesting, but not necessarily accurate. The extent of Slavic expansion and repopulation into Greece is the topic of scholarly disputes.

On the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos we implore the defense and assistance of the Queen of Heaven, "Re-member us in your prayers, O Lady Virgin Mother of God, that we not perish by the increase of our sins. Protect us from every evil and from grievous woes, for in you do we hope, and venerating the Feast of your Protection, we magnify you."

Excerpts taken from the article, “The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos” at http://oca.org/fslives.

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person , a beautiful thing.” —Mother Theresa


From Ancient Christian Devotional edited by Oden, Thos. C.

ThE IMAgE OF gOd So let us always reflect the image of God in these ways:• I do not swell up with the arrogance of pride;• nor do I droop with the blush of anger;• nor do I succumb to the passion of avarice;• nor do I surrender myself to the ravishes of gluttony.• nor do I infect myself with the duplicity of hypocricy;• nor do I contaminate myself with the filth of rioting;• nor do I grow flippant with the pretension of conceit;• nor do I grow enamored of the burden of heavy drinking;• nor do I alienate by the dissension of mutual admiration;• nor do I infect others with the biting of detraction;• nor do I grow conceited with the vanity of gossip;Rather, instead, I will reflect the image of God in that I feed on love; grow certain on faith and hope;• strengthen myself on the virtue of patience; • grow tranquil by humility;• grow beautiful by chastity;• am sober by abstention;• am made happy by tranquility;• and am ready for death by practicing hospitality. It is with such inscriptions that God imprints his coins with an impression made neither by hammer nor by chisel but has formed them with his primary divine intention. For Caesar required his image on every coin, but God has chosen man, whom he has cre-ated, to reflect his glory. — Incomplete Work of Matthew, Homily 42

on prayerEach time a godlike thought comes to us spontaneously, suddenly, and without our knowing how, ...we should always at once aban-don every worldly concern and even our rule of prayer. We should do this in order to guard, as the apple of our eye, whatever spiri-tual knowledge or compunction it may bring, until, through God’s providence, it withdraws from us. St. Peter of DaMaSkoS

iii, a treaSury of Divine knowLeDge, SPuriouS knowLeDge

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PHILOKALIA, The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts, translation by G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Bisho Kallistos Ware.Annotation by Allyn Smith.

On PRAyERThe fourth form of discipline consists in the recital of psalms—that is to say, in prayer expressed in a bodily way through psalms and prostrations. This is in order to gall the body and humble the soul, so that our enemies the demons may take flight and our allies the angels come to us, and we may know from where we receive help. Oth-erwise, in ignorance we may grow arrogant, thinking that what we do is due to ourselves. If that happens, we will be forsaken by God so that we may recognize our own weakness. The fifth form of discipline consists of spiritual prayer, prayer that is offered by the intellect and free from all thoughts. During such prayer the intellect is concentrated within the words spoken and, inexpressibly contrite, it abases itself before God asking only that His will may be done in all its pursuits and conceptions It does not pay attention to any thought, shape, color, light, fire, or anything at all of this kind; but, conscious that it is watched by God and communing with him alone, it is free from form, color, and shape. Such is the pure prayer appropriate for those still engaged in ascetic practice; for the contemplative there are yet higher forms of prayer. St. Peter of DaMaSkoS

iii, a treaSury of Divine knowLeDge, introDuCtion

Annotation: Peter gives voice here to the Eastern understanding of prayer as physical, as well as spiritual. Orthodoxy sees the human being as psychosomatic—that is, as an embodied soul or an en-souled body. Thus, the physical affects the spiritual and the spitual affects the physical. For this reason Orthodox worship is very physical, not only in effort (as with prostrations) but with all five senses. The church is filled with icons of Christ and the saints, lit candles, the smoke and smell of incense, and so on.


WORd SEARCh FOR OCTOBER

humor oF thE Day“A girl phoned me the other day and said, ‘Come on over, there’s nobody home.’ I went over. Nobody was home.” —Rodney Dangerfield

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WORd SEARCh LIST FOR OCTOBER

BIBLE BRAIn WORKOUT FOR OCTOBER

answers on page 19How did you score? 6 or more correct—A+; 5 correct—A Superior; 3+correct—B+ Pretty good; 2 correct—C Fair; Less than 2 correct— an opportunity to make reading the Bible daily a wondeful habit!

Apostle JamesApostle JamesApostle LukeApostle PhilipApple cider Bird feedersChilly weatherCorn shocksFalling leavesFirst frostGather mushroomsIndian Corn

Katydids singPearsProphet HoseaProtection of TheotokosPumpkinsSt InnocentSt TabithaSt TikhonSummer birds goneWinter squashWinterize garden

491.Which prophet confessed that his cogitations troubled him?492. Which prophetess described herself as a mother in Israel?493. Who mistook the singing of a multitude for the noise of war:494. Which prophet compared Israel to a swift dromedary?495. Which prophet is described as a hairy man?496.Which is the only chapter in Scripture that mentions arches?497. Where are we told that a blunt axe taxes the strength of the woodcutter?498. When did water gush out of the bone of a dead animal?499. Where do we read of the defeat of a million Ethiopians?500. What king of Israel exacted a capital levy of fifty shekels of silver from each of his wealthy subjects?


ThE CEnTER FOR dISEASE COnTROL - medical alert

The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically. This virus is called Weary Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else by any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT.

This virus will wipe out your private life completely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises. Take two good friends to the nearest grocery store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been com-pletely eliminated from your system. You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life. —Submitted by Mickey

FAmoUS WoRdS“Now there are more overweight people in America than aver-age-weight people. So overweight people are now average...which means, you have met your New Year’s resolution.” —Jay Leno

“Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else’s can shorten it.” —Cullen Hightower

”Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other who never forgets them.” —Ogden Nash

Submitted by SC

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The following message is written in code using regular letters.Your task is to figure out which real letters the code letters stand for.

CRyPTOgRAM ChALLEngE FOR OCTOBER

CHEAT CHART--it giveS you SoMe of the LetterS.

Tougher Challenge for the Whiz Kids!

Real letteRs

Code letteRs e i h o m n s l g

A Z J Y R U d G T

To make this more of a challenge cover up or have somebody cross out some or even all of the Cheat Chart!!!

From Jumbo Bible Word Games donated by Barbara Shepard.

Q A A S CYFIDAGBAD ZU MJA GYBA

YX TYL, GY Y Q Z U T XYI MJA

R A I E C YX YFI GYIL VADFD

E J I Z D M FUMY A M A I U O G G Z X A.

W U P RT Y N NRUYU ATYU, N R D N,

AWYJ N TA D I I, J L BB I W M D N W T C J,

BY DH UYJ, WC N UY M U JJ W T C J, D C K

Z W F W C Z TA N R D C O J, QU G D K U

A T Y D I I G U C.

U=e More clues are on page 19 if needed.


Submitted byAugie

These graphic pictures of overdose victims are being shown, not for shock value, but rather in the hope that you will have a frank discussion with friends and family about respecting moderation, understanding limits, and knowing when to just walk away.

VICTIMS

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italian tomato GarDEnAn old Italian lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days. Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son. Dear Pop, Don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apolo-gized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you, Vinnie

humor of the day A three-year-old gave this reaction to her Christmas dinner.“I don’t like the turkey, but I like the bread he ate.”


dRAFTIng gUyS OvER 60New Direction for any war: Send Service Vets over 60! I am over 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing backwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 55. For starters, researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concen-trate on the enemy. Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep, I'm tired and hungry.' We are impatient and maybe letting us kill some jerk that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for awhile.. If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser. Boot camp would be easier for old guys.. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling. They could lighten up on the obstacle course however... I've been in combat and never saw a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after complet-ing basic training. Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too... I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet. Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terror-ists. The last thing an enemy would want to see is a couple million ticked off old fogies with attitudes and automatic weapons, who know that their best years are already behind them. HEY!! How about recruiting Women over 50...in menopause!!! You think MEN have attitudes?? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness!!! If nothing else, put them on border patrol. They'll have it secured the first night! Submitted by Kathy B.

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J= s C= n

• If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth.

• To make one pound of honey, bees must collect nectar from

over 2 million individual flowers • Heroin is the brand name of morphine once marketed by

'Bayer'. • Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restau-

rant is considered an insult! • Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952,

but he declined. • Astronauts can't belch - there is no gravity to separate liquid

from gas in their stomachs. • Ancient Roman, Chinese and German societies often used

urine as mouthwash. • The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. In the Renaissance era, it was

fashion to shave them off.• It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means

it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!

• Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years

• Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end

• If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

answers to Bible Quiz

FUn FACTOIdS—vERIFIEd And UnvERIFIEd

Submitted by Augie

• 491.Dan. 7:28• 492. Judg. 5:7• 493 Ex. 32:17-18• 494. Jer. 2:23• 495. 2 Kings 1:8

• 496. Ezek. 40• 497. Eccles. 10:9-10• 498. Judg. 15:17-19• 499. 2 chron. 14:9-12• 500. 2 Kings 15-20

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fathers of the 7th ecumenical council - st. theodosius

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