Ukraine-Russia Conflict v.5

A friend received this message from her Ukrainian friend. I have translated it into English from the Russian:

On Monday of the first week of Great Lent, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrated Compline with the reading of the Great Canon of the Holy Trinity. St. Andrew of Crete in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrated Vespers with the rite of forgiveness at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow
In the Week of cheese-and-cabbage, the Primate of the Russian Church celebrated the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Patriarchal sermon in the Week of cheese after the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
Patriarchal sermon in the Week of cheese after the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

March 6, 2022 13:31

On March 6, 2022, the Week of Syropustnaya, commemoration of Adam's exile (Forgiveness Sunday), His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. At the end of the service, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church delivered a sermon.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

I cordially congratulate all of you, my dear bishops, fathers, brothers and sisters, on today's Sunday, on the Forgiven Sunday, on the last Sunday before the beginning of the Holy Lenten Lent!

Great Lent is referred to by many ascetics of piety as spiritual spring. It coincides with the physical spring and is simultaneously perceived by the consciousness of the Church as a spiritual spring. And what is spring? Spring is the rebirth of life, it is renewal, it is new forces. We know that it is in the spring that a powerful sap breaks through to a height of ten, twenty, a hundred meters, animating the tree. This is really an amazing miracle of God, a miracle of life. Spring is the rebirth of life, it is a kind of great symbol of life. And therefore it is not by chance that the main spring holiday is the Lord's Easter - also a sign, a sign, a symbol of eternal life. And we believe that this is so, which means that the whole Christian faith that we share with you is a faith that affirms life, which is against death, against destruction, which asserts the need to follow Divine laws in order to live, in order not to perish either in this world or in the world to come. But we know that this spring is overshadowed by grave events related to the deterioration of the political situation in the Donbas, almost the beginning of hostilities. I would like to say something on this topic.

For eight years there have been attempts to destroy what exists in the Donbas. And in the Donbas there is a rejection, a fundamental rejection of the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim to be world power. Today there is such a test of loyalty to this power, a kind of pass to that "happy" world, the world of excessive consumption, the world of visible "freedom". Do you know what this test is? The test is very simple and at the same time terrible — it's a gay pride parade. The requirements for many to hold a gay pride parade are a test of loyalty to the most powerful world; and we know that if people or countries reject these demands, then they do not enter that world, they become strangers to it.

But we know what this sin is, which is propagated through the so-called dignity marches. This is a sin that is condemned by the Word of God - both the Old and the New Testament. Moreover, the Lord, condemning sin, does not condemn the sinner. He only calls him to repentance, but in no way to ensure that through a sinful person and his behavior, sin becomes a standard of living, a variation of human behavior - respected and permissible.

If humanity recognizes that sin is not a violation of God's law, if humanity agrees that sin is one of the variants of human behavior, then human civilization will end there. And gay pride parades are designed to demonstrate that sin is one of the variations of human behavior. That's why in order to enter the club of those countries, it is necessary to hold a gay parade. Not to make a political statement "we are with you", not to sign any agreements, but to hold a gay pride parade. And we know how people resist these demands and how this resistance is suppressed by force. This means that we are talking about imposing by force a sin condemned by God's law, which means by force to impose on people the denial of God and His truth.

Therefore, what is happening in the sphere of international relations today is not only of political importance. This is about something else and much more important than politics. We are talking about human salvation, about where humanity will end up, on which side of God the Savior, who comes into the world as a Judge and Creator, is on the right or on the left. Today, many, out of weakness, stupidity, ignorance, and most often unwillingness to resist, go there, to the left side. And everything connected with the justification of the sin condemned by the Bible is today a test of our faithfulness to the Lord, of our ability to profess faith in our Savior.

All that I am saying has not just some theoretical meaning and not only a spiritual meaning. There is a real war going on around this topic today. Who is attacking Ukraine today, where the suppression and extermination of people in Donbass has been going on for eight years; eight years of suffering, and the whole world is silent — what does this mean? But we know that our brothers and sisters are really suffering; moreover, they may suffer for their loyalty to the Church. And that is why today, on Forgiveness Sunday, on the one hand, as your pastor, I call on everyone to forgive sins and offenses, including where it is very difficult to do this, where people are at war with each other. But forgiveness without justice is surrender and weakness. Therefore, forgiveness must be accompanied by the indispensable preservation of the right to stand on the side of light, on the side of God's truth, on the side of Divine commandments, on the side of what the light of Christ reveals to us, His Word, His Gospel, His greatest covenants given to the human race.

All that has been said indicates that we have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical meaning. I know how, unfortunately, Orthodox people, believers, choosing the path of least resistance in this war, do not reflect on everything that we are thinking about today, but go obediently along the path that the powerful of this world point out to them. We do not condemn anyone, we do not invite anyone to ascend to the cross, we just say to ourselves: we will be faithful to the word of God, we will be faithful to His law, we will be faithful to the law of love and justice, and if we see violations of this law, we will never put up with those who destroy this law, blurring the line between holiness and sin, and even more so with those who propagandize sin as a model or as one of the models of human behavior.

Today, our brothers in the Donbas, Orthodox people, undoubtedly suffer, and we cannot but be with them - first of all in prayer. We need to pray that the Lord will help them to preserve the Orthodox faith, not to succumb to temptations and temptations. At the same time, we must pray that peace will come as soon as possible, that the blood of our brothers and sisters will cease to flow, that the Lord will incline His mercy to the long-suffering Donbass land, which has been bearing this mournful seal generated by human sin and hatred for eight years.

Entering the field of Lent, we will try to forgive everyone. What is forgiveness? If you ask for forgiveness from a person who has broken the law or done something evil and unfair to you, you thereby do not justify his behavior, but simply stop hating this person. He ceases to be your enemy, which means that by your forgiveness you betray him to the judgment of God. This is the true meaning of forgiving each other of our sins and mistakes. We forgive, we renounce hatred and rancor, but we can't erase human untruth there, in heaven; Therefore, by our forgiveness, we deliver our offenders into the hands of God, so that both judgment and mercy of God may be accomplished over them. So that our Christian attitude towards human sins, delusions and insults will not be the cause of their death, but that God's just judgment will be performed on everyone, including those who take on the heaviest responsibility, widening the gap between brothers, filling it with hatred, malice and death.

May the merciful Lord make His righteous judgment on all of us. And in order not to stand on the left side of the Savior who came into the world as a result of this judgment, we must repent of our own sins. Approach your life with a very deep and impartial analysis, ask yourself what is good and what is bad, and in no case justify yourself, they say, I quarreled with this or that, because they were wrong. This is a false argument, this is the wrong approach. One should always ask before God: Lord, what have I done wrong? And if the Lord helps us to realize our own untruth, then repent of this untruth.

It is today, on Forgiven Sunday, that we must perform this feat of self-denial from our own sins and our unrighteousness, the feat of surrendering ourselves into the hands of God and the most important feat is the forgiveness of those who have offended us.

May the Lord help us all to pass the days of Holy Lent in such a way that we can worthily enter into the joy of the Bright Resurrection of Christ. And we will pray that all those who are fighting today, who are shedding blood, who are suffering, will also enter into this joy of Resurrection in peace and tranquility. Because what kind of joy will there be if some are in peace, and others are in the power of evil and in the tribulation of internecine warfare?

Sounds like Soros is trying to impose his deviant values on Ukraine and the Orthodox Christians don't like it. From the article:

For eight years there have been attempts to destroy what exists in the Donbas. And in the Donbas there is a rejection, a fundamental rejection of the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim to be world power. Today there is such a test of loyalty to this power, a kind of pass to that “happy” world, the world of excessive consumption, the world of visible “freedom”. Do you know what this test is? The test is very simple and at the same time terrible — it’s a gay pride parade. The requirements for many to hold a gay pride parade are a test of loyalty to the most powerful world; and we know that if people or countries reject these demands, then they do not enter that world, they become strangers to it.

 

But we know what this sin is, which is propagated through the so-called dignity marches. This is a sin that is condemned by the Word of God – both the Old and the New Testament. Moreover, the Lord, condemning sin, does not condemn the sinner. He only calls him to repentance, but in no way to ensure that through a sinful person and his behavior, sin becomes a standard of living, a variation of human behavior – respected and permissible.

If humanity recognizes that sin is not a violation of God’s law, if humanity agrees that sin is one of the variants of human behavior, then human civilization will end there. And gay pride parades are designed to demonstrate that sin is one of the variations of human behavior. That’s why in order to enter the club of those countries, it is necessary to hold a gay parade. Not to make a political statement “we are with you”, not to sign any agreements, but to hold a gay pride parade. And we know how people resist these demands and how this resistance is suppressed by force. This means that we are talking about imposing by force a sin condemned by God’s law, which means by force to impose on people the denial of God and His truth.

 

Arthur, I think you live in Canada, right?  But you translated this sermon from the original Russian?  And you seem to know a lot about the history of the area.  Do you have family or relatives over there?

Sean Osborne - Eschatology Today - March 7, 2022   9:33 pm

By the way and before anyone asks, not mentioning the Trump Administration of January 2017 to January 2021 was deliberate.

President Trump was an emergency brake applied to the Global elites plans wrt Ukraine and Russia. Remember how a normal phone call between Trump and Zelenskyy resulted in a completely bogus impeachment attempt. Remember the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax that dogged the Trump Administration for 4 years.

And now that Special Counsel John Durham has his focus on the Clinton campaign of 2016 - how convenient the threat of a New World War is.

Tom Clancy wasn't this good of a political thriller writer.

March 8, 2022  - 6:15 am

What were the three purposes/objectives behind the founding of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO)?

1. To deter Soviet (Russian/USSR) expansionism.
2. To forbid the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent.
3. To encourage (strengthen) European political integration.

Have these purposes/objectives been achieved.

1. Yes! Soviet expansionism was deterred, so much so that the Soviet Union collapsed and ceased to exist in 1991.
2. Yes and No. In Western NATO militant nationalism was largely suppressed. With the Eastward expansion of NATO to include former Soviet Republics and former Warsaw Pact nations (Eastern NATO) this has been a work in progress. In northern and eastern nations wishing to join NATO this rremains an issue yet to be dealt with.
3. Yes! NATO is the primary reason (backed by US military power) that the stability existed to permit the European Union to become a central government for the whole of Europe. NATO is the army/navy/air force of the European Union.

I'm no longer waiting to see the rise of the "ten toes." They rose and unified into a political and military alliance concurrent with the establishment of the State of Israel, that is between 1947 and 1949.

These European nations rose together from the ashes of WWII. In 1955 the 10 Nations of the Western European Union (WEU) associated together in political and military alliance (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom).

In reality the WEU was an expansion of smaller alliances after WWII. The first was the military alliance of the UK and France in 1947.

In 1948 Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg joined to form the Western Union.

Then in 1949 the WEU was created and formalized in 1955 with the addition of Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. These 10 nations were joined in 1949 by the US and Canada to form the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO.

- Fair Use -

Per Amir’s telegram

March 7th

March 8th

No problem … to the rescue is … :popcorn :popcorn :popcorn :popcorn

- Fair Use -

"Natural gas pipeline from Israel to Europe" --- wow its all playing out just as we've all been talking about here for years.   So amazing to see it unfolding.   All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go....

Well, I used a translation program. 😉

I am no means an expert on the area but I grew up on the Prairies where there are a lot of Ukrainian immigrants. Russian, too. So, I am became familiar with their culture and became interested in their history. Not to mention their food is amazing. :good:

I also have a Jewish friend who was born in the Ukraine during the time of the Soviet Union who keeps me in the loop.