XXI Orthodox Conference in Munich

The Annual Orthodox Conference was held at the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Witnesses of Russia and St. Nicholas from 26-28 December, in which over a hundred people participated.

As has been the custom, the Conference began with a service of supplication. It was conducted before a large Icon of St. Nicholas, which was painted in its time by order of the New Martyr, the Duchess St. Elizabeth Fyodorovna for the church of St. Alexander Nevsky in the Holy Land.

Now it has been temporarily given from the bequeathment of the daughter of the famous composer Alexander Glazunov, Elena. E. Glazunova lived not far from the cathedral and was buried literally right beside it, 50 meters away in the nearby cemetery. The mother of E. Glazunova became a nun in the Holy Land after the death of her husband. In 1948, after the collaboration between Israel and the USSR, church property came into the possession of the Soviet government, some nuns saved many of the holy items, among them this icon of St. Nicholas. It has been kept since by the Jerusalem Patriarchate. The Patriarch of Jerusalem gave the icon to the former benefactor of monastics in the Holy Land, now nun Alexandra (Glazunova), who also received a cell at the church of the Resurrection of Christ. In 2003, the icon of St. Nicholas the "Consoler," was by bequeathment to be given to one of the Carpathian monasteries. (Photo: Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, Archbishop Mark and Bishop Agapit.)

The first lecture, on the Seventh Ecumenical Council, was read by Archbishop Mark. Clarifying at the outset that a Council is considered Ecumenical whose decisions are accepted by the entire Catholic (Universal) Orthodox Church, Vladyka concentrated on the history of the Iconoclastic movement and the essence of the theological debates of the time on the veneration of icons. Iconoclasm was based, on one hand, on the speculative imaginings on the indescribability of Divinity, and on the other hand: on those superstitions and abuses that existed with regard to icons. The Fathers of the Council determined in their "oros" that the veneration of icons was based on the Traditions of the Church, and that a inarguable prototype of the veneration of icons was the veneration of the True and Life-Giving Cross. Veneration imparted to an icon rises to its First-image, the image of the Lord, the God-Man Jesus Christ and His saints. Materials were indicated for the painting of icons, and the circle of individuals to be depicted by them as well: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, the holy angels and the saints.

The goal of the veneration of icons of saints, as the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council saw it, was for the faithful, through frequent beholding and veneration of icons, would recall the acts and works of the saints and would imitate them. Vladyka pointed out to the audience that today, as in ancient times, one comes across superstitions about the veneration of icons, so pastors must teach their flocks the correct and beneficial attitude the holy icons and holy relics.

Another important question the Fathers of the Council had to address was the question of bishops who took part in the Iconoclastic persecutions. Vladyka detailed how the repentant iconoclasts were once again received into communion in their existing rank, and, as a rule, were left on those same cathedras which they occupied. Archbishop Mark noted that the thought-out reasoning of this experience in the spirit of the Holy Fathers may help in the resolution of similar problems, which could arise of the present movement to achieve unity among the sundered parts of the Russian Church would further develop in that direction.

Upon the end of the lecture, vespers commenced, conducted by Priest Dimitry Kolachev. Archbishop Mark, Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff and Priest Sergei Kisilev took confessions. Many took advantage of the opportunity to partake of the Mystery of Confession.

As always during these Conferences, all the services were held in the Cathedral. The physical nourishment of the conferees--breakfast, lunch and dinner--was tended to by the local Sisterhood.

The next day, Friday 27 December, matins began at 6 a.m., before sunrise, as Church rule stipulates, in a half-darkened church, illuminated by a few candles. Liturgy, conducted by Archbishop Mark along with Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff and Priests George Seide and Dimitrii Kolachev, had many people partake of Communion.

After breakfast, Prof. Alexander Gavrilin of Riga gave a lecture on the state of the Orthodox Church in Latvia and Estonia. The participants of the conference first viewed a film brought by the lecturer, who then showed charts displaying the development of Church life in the Baltics, and finally gave a voluminous description of the contemporary situation.

After lunch and a recess, Archbishop Mark read a lecture entitled "Monasticism and its Meaning for the Church." From the very beginning, the lecturer outlined the meaning of monasticism, saying that in the Church there were only two types of people:

• 1. Those who had experience in the manifesting of the Gospel into life. These people reject wealth, human glory, unnatural pleasures of this world, and submitted to the guidance of more experience teachers, and
• 2. those who did not experience this, but respecting those who do. This respect and love make such people participants in the Truth. Those who are outside of these categories place under question their belonging to the Church.
  
  

The external form of the monastery reflects its inner state of the monk: in the center of the monastery is the main monastery church, around which are simple monastic residential cells. The divine service is the point of concentration of the monastic life, the food for the soul. But the physical nourishment in the monastery is blessed by the divine service, the monks move from the church directly to the refectory [trapeza], the Lives of the Saints or other spiritual teachings are read during the meal. The Holy Fathers of the Church saw in the monastery where the abbot tended first of all to the spiritual success of his brethren in Christ as an Orthodox prototype, an image of the social life of mankind.

Vladyka explained that monasticism is a more logical attempt to manifest the Christian ideal. Mankind, damaged by the fall of sin, is in need of healing, and the monastery is a spiritual hospital, where those who recognize their illness go. The world and life led in accordanc with the world develops in man the seed of pride: the most terrible sin, which turned an angel into the devil and leadin man out of Eden. The monastic life is established in such a way so that gradually, through prayer and obedience, one may restore the original beauty of God's creation, of which the Lord Himself said, that it is "exceeding good."

Covering three stages of the spiritual path in turn: the cleansing of the heart of passion, the illumination of the mind and making it divine, the monk strives to passionlessness.

But this cannot be confused with mortifying. Passionlessness is attained by directing one's energies to higher matters through the "complete neglect of all evil and adhering to all that is good." The part of the soul that feels passion is not mortified, but transformed. After the Fall, the part of the soul that feels passion began to operate unnaturally. It must be redirected to the normal action by nature and above nature. Those who reject this teaching reject the possibility of eternal life in the body. If in the afterlife, the body will take part along with the soul in all good, then it is apparent that in this life it must also take part "in blessedness given by God to the purified mind." The body senses blessedness and participates together with the purified mind in the divining grace of God.

That is why spiritual struggle, asceticism, repentance, humility, tears and sorrow are vital for making man divine.
Vladyka recounted the history of monasticism (calling to mind that in the New Testament Church, the first monk was the Forerunner and Baptizer of the Lord John, and the first nun was the Most-Holy Mother of God), on the different types of monasteries and on the Munich monastery of St. Job of Pochaev, of which he is abbot. Vladyka emphasized that there can be no complete and healthy church life without monasticism and monasteries.
In the question and answer session, Archbishop Mark, in part, detailed the struggle with the passion of accusation, saying that intolerance must be first and exclusively applied to one's own sins. If we notice the sin of our neighbor, this means that the same sin lives in us, otherwise we would not notice it. In judging our neighbor, we commit blasphemy, placing ourselves in the role of God and usurping the Judgment that belongs to God. The truly repentant prays over the granting of sight of one's sins and has no time nor energy to notice the sin of his neighbor. Even when the sin committed by a neighbor is apparent, one must hate the sine, but love and have mercy on the sinner.

After the lecture and following discussion, everyone once again returned to church for vespers, which by the Church's clock belongs to the next day, 15/28 December, when the Church marks the memory of the Hieromartyr Eleutherius, Bishop of Illyricum. Since the Munich cathedral possesses a part of his relics, embedded in his icon, a polyeleos service was required. Vespers were solemn, with the reading of the proper paremii for the Hieromartyr. Matins on Saturday was led by Archbishop Mark, along with Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff and Priests Eugene Skopintseff, Dimitrii Kolacheff and George Seide, and Protodeacon George Kobro. Archbishop Mark along with the clergy emerged into the middle of the church for the polyeleos and the reading of the Gospel. The worshipers venerated the Hieromartyr's icon in turn, and Vladyka anointed them with blessed eleos. As on all services during the Conference, the choir sang under the direction of Nun Vassa (Larin). During liturgy, almost all the worshipers partook of Holy Communion. United church prayer and the partaking of the Mysteries is a very important part of the Conference, since they give the participants a living Mysterious sense of communion with the one Body of Christ and spread this sense of Mystery to all the Conference proceedings.

After breakfast, a lecture entitled "On Death" was given by Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, who has often had to counsel the dying, sharing his experiences with people who were on the threshold of death and who crossed to the other side, and expounded on the Orthodox understanding of this event in the life of man. Through the Canon on the passing of the soul, part of which Fr. Nikolai read aloud, it is seen how the Orthodox Church prepares Her children to the passing into eternal life. This approach, full of holy trepidation and utter seriousness, has nothing in common with the primitive, consoling "rosy" picture which non-Orthodox writers write about in various books on dying. The fear of death is a natural fear, because death is no part of God's intention for creation. But in contemporary society, natural fear of death has been perverted, as have other human feelings which are torn away from Christ. Communion with the dying is necessary for us no less than for the dying themselves, for through love, it relates to us, in all its reality, the experience of dying and the defeat of death through Christ.

There were many questions for the lecturer afterwards. Among other things, he was asked how Orthodox Christians should view non-Orthodox practices concerning death and the afterlife (cremation, etc.).

This discussion ran past its allotted time, and the last lecturere, Maria Tervo of Stuttgart, was left with less time to talk about Russian bell ringing. The bell tower in Munich was completed not long before the beginning of the Conference, and was equipped with 13 bells poured in Romanov-Borisoglebsk in Russia. The Conferees, over the course of some 20 minutes, were given the opportunity to enjoy various Russian bell-ringings under the direction of the experienced ringer M. Tervo of Stuttgart. (Photo: Maria Tervo.)

After lunch, topics for the next Conference were discussed, and several participants stayed in the bell tower to study the rudiments of Russian bell ringing. Upon the final ringing, the 21st Annual Orthodox Conference ended with the usual parish all-night vigil...