#14&Makarios

[darkncold88]

Ne Reste Pas Sur Ta Fin

[nightsidewrestling]

D.U.D.E Bios: Macario Marino / Mac Marino

The Fifth of Damien's Hounds Mac Marino (2020)

The brother of Billie and one of Damien's Hounds, Macario Marino, is a very confident man. Macario is a wrestler and a third generation wrestler, being part of the youngest generation of wrestlers in the Marino family.

"Rule seven of wrestling, Finishing moves should have names."

Name

Full Legal Name: Macario Hermes Marino

First Name: Macario

Meaning: Spanish form of the Latin name 'Macarius', derived from the Greek name 'Makarios', which was in turn derived from Greek 'Makar' meaning 'Blessed, Happy'

Pronunciation: ma-KA-ryo

Origin: Spanish

Middle Name: Hermes

Meaning: Probably from Greek 'Herma' meaning 'Cairn, Pile of Stones, Boundary Marker'

Pronunciation: EHR-mehs

Origin: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek, Spanish

Surname: Marino

Meaning: Derived from the given name 'Marino' which itself is the Spanish and Italian form of 'Marinus'. 'Marinus' comes from the Latin word 'Marinus' meaning 'of the sea'

Pronunciation: ma-REE-no

Origin: Spanish

Alias: Mac Marino

Reason: Ring Name

Nicknames: Mac, Cari, Rio, Herm

Titles: Mr

Characteristics

Age: 22

Gender: Male. He/Him Pronouns

Race: Human

Nationality: Cuban

Ethnicity: Hispanic / Latino

Birth Date: August 17th 1998

Symbols: Leather Gloves, Leather Jackets

Sexuality: Bisexual

Religion: Catholic

Native Language: Spanish

Spoken Languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese

Relationship Status: Engaged

Astrological Sign: Leo

Theme Song: 'Why Can't We Be Friends' - Smash Mouth (2016-)

Voice Actor: Adam Irigoyen

Geographical Characteristics

Birthplace: Bayamo, Granma Province, Cuba

Current Location: On the road / Bayamo, Granma Province, Cuba

Hometown: Bayamo, Granma Province, Cuba

Appearance

Height: 5'7" / 170 cm

Weight: 170 lbs / 77 kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black

Hair Dye: None

Body Hair: Shaves when wrestling

Facial Hair: Clean shaven

Tattoos: (As of Jan 2020) 2

Piercings: None

Scars: None

Health and Fitness

Allergies: None

Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker

Illnesses/Disorders: None

Medications: None

Any Specific Diet: None

Relationships

Allies: N/A

Enemies: N/A

Friends: Adam Nye, Joseph Winter, Enrico Di Napoli, Heddwyn Pritchard, Padrig Llewellyn, Fabian Rhydderch, Macaulay Rhydderch, Pace Rhydderch, Hale O'Hannigan, Matháin Wallace, Grant MacDaniel, Walker Rhydderch, Mungo MacChruim

Colleagues: Too many to list

Rivals: N/A

Closest Confidant: Barbara Di Napoli

Mentor: Yago Marino

Significant Other: Barbara Di Napoli (19, Fiancée)

Previous Partners: None of note

Parents: Yago Marino (57, Father), Florencia Marino (58, Mother, Née Palomo)

Parents-In-Law: None (yet)

Siblings: Bienvenida Marino (37, Sister), Urbano Marino (34, Brother), Judith Ibarra (31, Sister, Née Marino), Quirino Marino (28, Brother), Natividad Marino (25, Sister), Rosaura Marino (19, Sister), Isaac Marino (16, Brother)

Siblings-In-Law: Hortensia Marino (35, Urbano's Wife, Née Lozano), Xavier Ibarra (32, Judith's Husband)

Nieces & Nephews: Emperatriz Romero-Marino (17, Niece), Antonio Huerta-Marino (14, Nephew), Triana Santos-Marino (11, Niece), Lorenzo Marino (14, Nephew), Paz Marino (11, Niece), Casilda Ibarra (11, Niece)

Children: None

Children-In-Law: None

Grandkids: None

Great Grandkids: None

Wrestling

Billed From: The Underworld

Trainer: Sabas Marino, Yago Marino, Tercero Marino, Ramiro Marino, Pastor Marino, Olegario Marino, Nicanor Marino, Jair Marino, Heliodoro Marino, Facundo Marino, C.R.C Wrestling School

Managers: Florencia Marino

Wrestlers Managed: None

Debut: 2016

Debut Match: Mac VS Bano. Mac won via pinfall

Retired: N/A

Retirement Match: N/A

Wrestling Style: Grappler

Stables: The Lucifarians (2016-)

Teams: The Hounds (Mac & Bano / Judi / Rino / Nat / Rosaura / Isaac)

Regular Moves: Inverted Atomic Drop, Belly To Back Suplex, Double Underhook Suplex, Gutwrench Suplex

Finishers: Airplane Spin, Sidewalk Slam

Refers To Fans As: The Watchful Eyes

Extras

Backstory: Macario is the second youngest son of 'disgraced luchador' Yago Marino, wrestling is in his blood and he grew up around luchadores. He joined the Lucifarians as one of Damien's hounds in 2016, being a hound means he's mindless and does everything Damien orders him to.

Trivia: Nothing of note

[yhwhrulz]

A Bible Devotional 16th September 2023

The Happy God

1 TIMOTHY 1:11 NKJ 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

I knew that one meaning of "blessed" was happy. The Greek word is "makarios" (Strong's #3107) and 5 times the KJV translates it as "happy."

But I had never thought about how this word is used in First Timothy 1:11 to describe God.

A few translations even call Him "the Happy God."

(Concordant Literal Version) in accord with the evangel of the glory of the happy God, with which I was entrusted."

(Rotherham) According to the glad-message of the glory of the happy God, with which entrusted am, I.

I had usually thought of God being serious and somber, not being happy and laughing.

After all, there are a lot of problems in the world. It seemed reasonable for a God who knows every problem -- even when a sparrow falls, or a hair is lost from a head -- to be quite serious.

So I have not pictured God as someone who would have much joy or laugh much.

Certainly God is not uncaring, or not touched by our problems. Yet it seems that He walks in faith and rejoices because He knows He will eventually solve every problem and make everything right. Therefore He is not burdened down with sadness and woe, but instead is able to laugh and rejoice.

I don't think God would tell us to do what He does not do Himself. And Scripture repeatedly tells us to rejoice.

Romans 14:17 says God's Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy. For joy to describe God's Kingdom, it must be a happy place.

PSALM 16:11 NKJ 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

If there is fullness of joy in God's presence, it must be a happy place. If being in God's presence is a happy place, then He must be a happy God.

We are His people and we are to become more and more like Him. It is God's plan that we be conformed to the exact image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). So we should become more happy as we grow spiritually. God's people should be happy people!

Circumstances will not always be favorable. But we can walk by faith and laugh and rejoice with God, knowing He is working things out.

We do find a glimpse of the Happy God in the Psalms where three times it mentions Him laughing.

PSALM 2:4 NKJ 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision.

PSALM 37:13 NKJ 13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.

PSALM 59:8 NKJ 8 But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in derision.

ZEPHANIAH 3:17 NKJ 17 The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah tells us God rejoices over His people with joy and gladness, even rejoicing with singing!

SAY THIS: I serve a happy God so I should be a happy person.

To give: http://aDevotion.org/give

Devotions in book form: http://CFApublications.com To hear audio teachings by the author of this devotional, visit https://adevotion.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5ccca9ca3fa78afdf489a2454&id=9a22b79684&e=22c78815cb

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thursday, July 27, 2023

july 27_july 14

VENERABLE NICODEMUS THE HAGIORITE FROM Mt ATHOS (1808)

Saint Nikodemos (Νikόdēmos) of the Holy Mountain was born on the Greek island of Naxos in 1748 and was named Nicholas in Holy Baptism. As a child, he was well-behaved, avoiding lousy company and everything which might harm the inner man. He was zealous in his love for that which is good and beneficial, and he loved sacred and secular learning. His first education on Naxos came from the village priest, who taught him to love Christ and His Church. He also assisted the priest during the Divine Liturgy and other Services.

Later Nicholas attended the school at Naxos, where Archimandrite Chrysanthos, the brother of Saint Cosmas Aitolos (August 24), taught him sacred and secular letters.

At age twenty-six, he arrived on Mount Athos and was tonsured at Dionysiou Monastery with the name Nikodemos. As his first obedience, Father Nikodemos served as the monastery’s secretary. Two years after entering Dionysiou Monastery, the Metropolitan of Corinth, Saint Makarios Notaras (April 17), arrived there and assigned the young monk to edit the manuscript of the Philokalia, which he had found in 1777 at Vatopedi Monastery. Editing this book began many years of literary activity for Saint Nikodemos. He soon moved to Pantokrator Skḗtē, where he was under obedience to Elder Arsenios of the Pelopónnēsos, under whose guidance he studied Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers.

According to the testimony of his contemporaries, Saint Nikodemos was a simple man, without any malice, unassuming, and distinguished by his profound concentration. He possessed remarkable mental abilities: he knew the Holy Scriptures by heart and remembered the chapter, verse, and pages they were on. Moreover, he could recite long passages from the writings of the Holy Fathers from memory.

In 1783 Saint Nikodemos was tonsured into the Great Schema and spent the next six years in complete silence. On his next visit to Mount Athos, Saint Makarios gave Nikodemos the obedience of editing the writings of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (printed in three volumes: Syros, 1790). This meant giving up his silence and occupying himself once more with literary work. From that time until his death, he continued to devote himself to such endeavors.

One of the ascetic's remarkable books was his Exomologitarion (Manual of Confession), published in 1794. This was the first book of its kind in the Orthodox Church. Drawing from Holy Scripture and from the Fathers of the Church, Saint Nikodemos lists the qualifications a confessor must have if he is to be a true confessor and offers advice on how one should prepare for Confession, how to confess, and how one ought to guard himself against sin after Confession.

The Saint also made great contributions by publishing liturgical books. Using materials from the manuscript collections on Mount Athos, he published sixty-two Canons to the Most Holy Theotokos under the title, New Theotokarion (Venice, 1796).

The wisest Nikodemos is also known as a composer and interpreter of hymns. His Canon in honor of the "Quick to Hear” Icon of the Mother of God (November 9) and his “Service and Encomium in Honor of the Fathers who Shone on the Holy Mountain of Athos” are used even beyond the Holy Mountain. Some of his other books include the Heortodromion, an interpretation of the Canons which are sung on Feasts of the Lord and of the Mother of God (Venice,1836), and The New Ladder, an interpretation of the 75 Hymns of Degrees (Anabathmoi) of the liturgical book called the Oktoekhos (Constantinople, 1844).

It is readily apparent that the literary work of Saint Nikodemos was multi-faceted, representing more than half a dozen fields of theology: ascetical-mystical theology, ethics, Canon Law, exegesis, hagiology, liturgics, and hymnography. He wrote the preface to the Philokalia, and brief Lives of the ascetics whose writings are included therein. Among the Saint’s ascetical works, his translation of Lorenzo Scupoli’s book, Unseen Warfare (1796), is well known and translated into Russian, English, and other languages.

Saint Nikodemos had a special love for hagiography, as attested by his work, New Eklogion (Venice, 1803), and his posthumous book, The New Synaxarion (1819). He completed a Modern Greek translation of Saint Paul's Fourteen Epistles in three volumes (1819) as interpreted by the Hierarch Mētrophánēs, Saint Theophylaktos, the Archbishop of Bulgaria (December 31).

Saint Nikodemos also wrote An Interpretation of Saint Paul's Seven Catholic Epistles (published in Venice in 1806).

In 1799 Nikodemos edited the New Martyrologion, which he and Saint Makarios of Corinth seem to have prepared together to demonstrate that the Orthodox Church continues to produce Saints, particularly Martyrs, who were subjected to the same trials, torments, and death as the ancient Martyrs. The example of the Saints whose Lives appear in this book strengthened and encouraged the Orthodox to remain faithful to Christ and not convert to their oppressors' religion.

Saint Nikodemos prepared a new edition of the Pedalion or Rudder in collaboration with Hieromonk Agapios. This was printed in 1801, and contained the Canons of the Holy Apostles, those of the Holy Ecumenical and Local Synods, and of the Holy Fathers.

His most edifying book, Christian Morality, was published in Venice in 1803. In it, he says: "Those monks who are strong in body and soul ... should occasionally go into the world to preach and counsel. Those who cannot go into the world, either because of the passions that assail them when they are in the midst of society or because they are physically infirm, should seek the good of their brethren through prayer and by offering counsel to those who visit them, and if they are learned, by writing edifying books."1

Not long before his repose, Father Nikodemos, worn out by his literary work and ascetical struggles, went to live at the Kelli of the iconographers Hieromonks Stephen and Neophytos Skourtaίos, who were brothers by birth. He asked them to help with the publication of his works because he was hindered by his infirmities.

The day before he went to the Lord, he could make his Confession, receive Holy Unction, and then Holy Communion.

His first biographer, Father Euthymios, describes the Saint's repose: "When the sun rose on the earth that day (Wednesday, July 14, 1809), the intelligible sun of the Church set. The fiery pillar, the guide of the New Israel into piety disappeared; the cloud which refreshed those melting in the heat of sin, hid.”

His many friends and acquaintances mourned, and the words of a confident Christian were typical of the thoughts of many individuals of that time: “Oh, my Fathers, it would have been better for a thousand Christians to have died today and not Nikodemos.”

Saint Nikodemos reposed peacefully at sixty on July 14, 1809, and was glorified by the Church of Constantinople in 1955.

1 Constantine Cavarnos, Modern Orthodox Saints Volume 3, Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite, pages 46-47. (Belmont, Massachusetts, 1974).

1 CORINTHIANS 10:28-11:7

28 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience' sake; for "the earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness." 29 Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience? 30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? 31Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man. The head of Christ is God. 4 Having his head covered, every man praying or prophesying dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. 6 If a woman is not covered, let her be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but a woman is the glory of man.

MATTHEW 17:10-18 

10 His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke of John the Baptist to them.��14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; he often falls into the fire and the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour.

[orthodoxiaonline]

Ιερά Μητρόπολη Λαρίσης Στον Ιερό Ναό Αγίου Νικολάου Λαρίσης, θα λειτουργήσει την Κυριακή 14 Μαΐου 2023, ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αυστραλίας κ.κ. Μακάριος. Στο Αρχιερατικό συλλείτουργο που θα τελεστεί προεξάρχοντος του Αρχιεπισκόπου, ο οποίος και θα κηρύξει τον θείο λόγο και συνιεργουργούντος του σεπτού μας... https://orthodoxia.online/ekklisia/o-archiepiskopos-afstralias-makarios-sti-larisa/?feed_id=31335&_unique_id=645d0de8a1c66

[ct-offical-sexyman]

The Troubled Soul - His Dark Materials OC Masterlist

Louise Makarios

Age: 14

World: Lyra's world

Dæmon: Ezra

Lousie was the older sister of Tony Makarios, and the eventual apprentice of Iorek Byrnison. Her dæmon was Ezra, who settled as a Snowy Owl when Lousie became Iorek’s apprentice.

[antoine-roquentin]

If every language is acquirable, its acquisition requires a real portion of a person’s life: each new conquest is measured against shortening days. What limits one’s access to other languages is not their imperviousness but one’s own mortality. Hence a certain privacy to all languages. French and American imperialists governed, exploited, and killed Vietnamese over many years. But whatever else they made off with, the Vietnamese language stayed put. Accordingly, only too often, a rage at Vietnamese ‘inscrutability,’ and that obscure despair which engenders the venomous argots of dying colonialisms: ‘gooks,’ ‘ratons’, etc.12 (In the longer run, the only responses to the vast privacy of the language of the oppressed are retreat or further massacre.) Such epithets are, in their inner form, characteristically racist, and decipherment of this form will serve to show why Nairn is basically mistaken in arguing that racism and anti-semitism derive from nationalism – and thus that ‘seen in sufficient historical depth, fascism tells us more about nationalism than any other episode.’13 A word like ‘slant,’ for example, abbreviated from ‘slant-eyed’, does not simply express an ordinary political enmity. It erases nation-ness by reducing the adversary to his biological physiognomy.14 It denies, by substituting for, ‘Vietnamese;’ just as raton denies, by substituting for, ‘Algerian’. At the same time, it stirs ‘Vietnamese’ into a nameless sludge along with ‘Korean,’ ‘Chinese,’ ‘Filipino,’ and so on. The character of this vocabulary may become still more evident if it is contrasted with other Vietnam-War-period words like ‘Charlie’ and ‘V.C.’, or from an earlier era, ‘Boches,’ ‘Huns,’ ‘Japs’ and ‘Frogs,’ all of which apply only to one specific nationality, and thus concede, in hatred, the adversary’s membership in a league of nations.15 The fact of the matter is that nationalism thinks in terms of historical destinies, while racism dreams of eternal contaminations, transmitted from the origins of time through an endless sequence of loathsome copulations: outside history. Niggers are, thanks to the invisible tar-brush, forever niggers; Jews, the seed of Abraham, forever Jews, no matter what passports they carry or what languages they speak and read. (Thus for the Nazi, the Jewish German was always an impostor.)16 The dreams of racism actually have their origin in ideologies of class, rather than in those of nation: above all in claims to divinity among rulers and to ‘blue’ or ‘white’ blood and ‘breeding’ among aristocracies.17 No surprise then that the putative sire of modern racism should be, not some petty-bourgeois nationalist, but Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau.18 Nor that, on the whole, racism and anti-semitism manifest themselves, not across national boundaries, but within them. In other words, they justify not so much foreign wars as domestic repression and domination.19 Where racism developed outside Europe in the nineteenth century, it was always associated with European domination, for two converging reasons. First and most important was the rise of official nationalism and colonial ‘Russification’. As has been repeatedly emphasized official nationalism was typically a response on the part of threatened dynastic and aristocratic groups – upper classes – to popular vernacular nationalism. Colonial racism was a major element in that conception of ‘Empire’ which attempted to weld dynastic legitimacy and national community. It did so by generalizing a principle of innate, inherited superiority on which its own domestic position was (however shakily) based to the vastness of the overseas possessions, covertly (or not so covertly) conveying the idea that if, say, English lords were naturally superior to other Englishmen, no matter: these other Englishmen were no less superior to the subjected natives. Indeed one is tempted to argue that the existence of late colonial empires even served to shore up domestic aristocratic bastions, since they appeared to confirm on a global, modern stage antique conceptions of power and privilege. It could do so with some effect because – and here is our second reason – the colonial empire, with its rapidly expanding bureaucratic apparatus and its ‘Russifying’ policies, permitted sizeable numbers of bourgeois and petty bourgeois to play aristocrat off centre court: i.e. anywhere in the empire except at home. In each colony one found this grimly amusing tableau vivant: the bourgeois gentilhomme speaking poetry against a backcloth of spacious mansions and gardens filled with mimosa and bougainvillea, and a large supporting cast of houseboys, grooms, gardeners, cooks, amahs, maids, washerwomen, and, above all, horses.20 Even those who did not manage to live in this style, such as young bachelors, nonetheless had the grandly equivocal status of a French nobleman on the eve of a jacquerie:21 In Moulmein, in lower Burma [this obscure town needs explaining to readers in the metropole], I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police officer of the town. This ‘tropical Gothic’ was made possible by the overwhelming power that high capitalism had given the metropole – a power so great that it could be kept, so to speak, in the wings. Nothing better illustrates capitalism in feudal-aristocratic drag than colonial militaries, which were notoriously distinct from those of the metropoles, often even in formal institutional terms. 22 Thus in Europe one had the ‘First Army,’ recruited by conscription on a mass, citizen, metropolitan base; ideologically conceived as the defender of the heimat; dressed in practical, utilitarian khaki; armed with the latest affordable weapons; in peacetime isolated in barracks, in war stationed in trenches or behind heavy field-guns. Outside Europe one had the ‘Second Army,’ recruited (below the officer level) from local religious or ethnic minorities on a mercenary basis; ideologically conceived as an internal police force; dressed to kill in bed-or ballroom; armed with swords and obsolete industrial weapons; in peace on display, in war on horseback. If the Prussian General Staff, Europe’s military teacher, stressed the anonymous solidarity of a professionalized corps, ballistics, railroads, engineering, strategic planning, and the like, the colonial army stressed glory, epaulettes, personal heroism, polo, and an archaizing courtliness among its officers. (It could afford to do so because the First Army and the Navy were there in the background.) This mentality survived a long time. In Tonkin, in 1894, Lyautey wrote:23 Quel dommage de n’être pas venu ici dix ans plus tôt! Quelles carrières à y fonder et à y mener. Il n’y a pas ici un de ces petits lieutenants, chefs de poste et de reconnaissance, qui ne développe en 6 mois plus d’initiative, de volonté, d’endurance, de personnalité, qu’un officier de France en toute sa carrière. In Tonkin, in 1951, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, ‘who liked officers who combined guts with “style,” took an immediate liking to the dashing cavalryman [Colonel de Castries] with his bright-red Spahi cap and scarf, his magnificent riding-crop, and his combination of easy-going manners and ducal mien, which made him as irresistible to women in Indochina in the 1950s as he had been to Parisiennes of the 1930s.’24 Another instructive indication of the aristocratic or pseudo-aristocratic derivation of colonial racism was the typical ‘solidarity among whites,’ which linked colonial rulers from different national metropoles, whatever their internal rivalries and conflicts. This solidarity, in its curious trans-state character, reminds one instantly of the class solidarity of Europe’s nineteenth-century aristocracies, mediated through each other’s hunting-lodges, spas, and ballrooms; and of that brotherhood of ‘officers and gentlemen,’ which in the Geneva convention guaranteeing privileged treatment to captured enemy officers, as opposed to partisans or civilians, has an agreeably twentieth-century expression. The argument adumbrated thus far can also be pursued from the side of colonial populations. For, the pronouncements of certain colonial ideologues aside, it is remarkable how little that dubious entity known as ‘reverse racism’ manifested itself in the anticolonial movements. In this matter it is easy to be deceived by language. There is, for example, a sense in which the Javanese word londo (derived from Hollander or Nederlander) meant not only ‘Dutch’ but ‘whites.’ But the derivation itself shows that, for Javanese peasants, who scarcely ever encountered any ‘whites’ but Dutch, the two meanings effectively overlapped. Similarly, in French colonial territories, ‘les blancs’ meant rulers whose Frenchness was indistinguishable from their whiteness. In neither case, so far as I know, did londo or blanc either lose caste or breed derogatory secondary distinctions.25 On the contrary, the spirit of anticolonial nationalism is that of the heart-rending Constitution of Makario Sakay’s short-lived Republic of Katagalugan (1902), which said, among other things:26 No Tagalog, born in this Tagalog archipelago, shall exalt any person above the rest because of his race or the colour of his skin; fair, dark, rich, poor, educated and ignorant – all are completely equal, and should be in one loób [inward spirit]. There may be differences in education, wealth, or appearance, but never in essential nature (pagkatao) and ability to serve a cause. One can find without difficulty analogies on the other side of the globe. Spanish-speaking mestizo Mexicans trace their ancestries, not to Castilian conquistadors, but to half-obliterated Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs and Zapotecs. Uruguayan revolutionary patriots, creoles themselves, took up the name of Tupac Amarú, the last great indigenous rebel against creole oppression, who died under unspeakable tortures in 1781. It may appear paradoxical that the objects of all these attachments are ‘imagined’ – anonymous, faceless fellow-Tagalogs, exterminated tribes, Mother Russia, or the tanah air. But amor patriae does not differ in this respect from the other affections, in which there is always an element of fond imagining. (This is why looking at the photo-albums of strangers’ weddings is like studying the archaeologist’s groundplan of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.) What the eye is to the lover – that particular, ordinary eye he or she is born with – language – whatever language history has made his or her mother-tongue – is to the patriot. Through that language, encountered at mother’s knee and parted with only at the grave, pasts are restored, fellowships are imagined, and futures dreamed. 12. The logic here is: 1. I will be dead before I have penetrated them. 2. My power is such that they have had to learn my language. 3. But this means that my privacy has been penetrated. Terming them ‘gooks’ is small revenge. 13. The Break-up of Britain, pp. 337 and 347. 14. Notice that there is no obvious, selfconscious antonym to ‘slant.’ ‘Round’? ‘Straight’? ‘Oval’? 15. Not only, in fact, in an earlier era. Nonetheless, there is a whiff of the antique-shop about these words of Debray: ‘I can conceive of no hope for Europe save under the hegemony of a revolutionary France, firmly grasping the banner of independence. Sometimes I wonder if the whole “anti-Boche” mythology and our secular antagonism to Germany may not be one day indispensable for saving the revolution, or even our national-democratic inheritance.’ ‘Marxism and the National Question,’ p. 41. 16. The significance of the emergence of Zionism and the birth of Israel is that the former marks the reimagining of an ancient religious community as a nation, down there among the other nations – while the latter charts an alchemic change from wandering devotee to local patriot. 17. ‘From the side of the landed aristocracy came conceptions of inherent superiority in the ruling class, and a sensitivity to status, prominent traits well into the twentieth century. Fed by new sources, these conceptions could later be vulgarized [sic] and made appealing to the German population as a whole in doctrines of racial superiority.’ Barrington Moore, Jr., Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, p. 436. 18. Gobineau’s dates are perfect. He was born in 1816, two years after the restoration of the Bourbons to the French throne. His diplomatic career, 1848–1877, blossomed under Louis Napoléon’s Second Empire and the reactionary monarchist regime of Marie Edmé Patrice Maurice, Comte de MacMahon, former imperialist proconsul in Algiers. His Essai sur l’Inégalité des Races Humaines appeared in 1854 – should one say in response to the popular vernacular-nationalist insurrections of 1848? 19. South African racism has not, in the age of Vorster and Botha, stood in the way of amicable relations (however discreetly handled) with prominent black politicians in certain independent African states. If Jews suffer discrimination in the Soviet Union, that did not prevent respectful working relations between Brezhnev and Kissinger. 20. For a stunning collection of photographs of such tableaux vivants in the Netherlands Indies (and an elegantly ironical text), see ‘E. Breton de Nijs,’ Tempo Doeloe. 21. George Orwell, ‘Shooting an Elephant,’ in The Orwell Reader, p. 3. The words in square brackets are of course my interpolation. 22. The KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger) was quite separate from the KL (Koninklijk Leger) in Holland. The Légion Étrangère was almost from the start legally prohibited from operations on continental French soil. 23. Lettres du Tonkin et de Madagascar (1894–1899), p. 84. Letter of December 22, 1894, from Hanoi. Emphases added. 24. Bernard B. Fall, Hell is a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, p. 56. One can imagine the shudder of Clausewitz’s ghost. [Spahi, derived like Sepoy from the Ottoman Sipahi, meant mercenary irregular cavalrymen of the ‘Second Army’ in Algeria.] It is true that the France of Lyautey and de Lattre was a Republican France. However, the often talkative Grande Muette had since the start of the Third Republic been an asylum for aristocrats increasingly excluded from power in all other important institutions of public life. By 1898, a full quarter of all Brigadier-and Major-Generals were aristocrats. Moreover, this aristocrat-dominated officer corps was crucial to nineteenth and twentieth-century French imperialism. ‘The rigorous control imposed on the army in the métropole never extended fully to la France d’outremer. The extension of the French Empire in the nineteenth century was partially the result of uncontrolled initiative on the part of colonial military commanders. French West Africa, largely the creation of General Faidherbe, and the French Congo as well, owed most of their expansion to independent military forays into the hinterland. Military officers were also responsible for the faits accomplis which led to a French protectorate in Tahiti in 1842, and, to a lesser extent, to the French occupation of Tonkin in Indochina in the 1880’s . . . In 1897 Galliéni summarily abolished the monarchy in Madagascar and deported the Queen, all without consulting the French government, which later accepted the fait accompli . . .’ John S. Ambler, The French Army in Politics, 1945–1962, pp. 10–11 and 22. 25. I have never heard of an abusive argot word in Indonesian or Javanese for either ‘Dutch’ or ‘white.’ Compare the Anglo-Saxon treasury: niggers, wops, kikes, gooks, slants, fuzzywuzzies, and a hundred more. It is possible that this innocence of racist argots is true primarily of colonized populations. Blacks in America – and surely elsewhere – have developed a varied counter-vocabulary (honkies, ofays, etc.). 26. As cited in Reynaldo Ileto’s masterlyPasyón and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–1910, p. 218. Sakay’s rebel republic lasted until 1907, when he was captured and executed by the Americans. Understanding the first sentence requires remembering that three centuries of Spanish rule and Chinese immigration had produced a sizeable mestizo population in the islands.

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities

[aphrodithine]

Bibili ka lang naman ng para sa anak mo arti arti mo pa dyan 🤣😅 ✨ iba talaga yung glow pag masaya ka kahit buntis ka. Para lang ako 14 yrs old na maagang nabuntis kahit 29 yrs old na. 🤦‍♀️ Masaya in a senses na nakawala ka na sa mga iniintindi at bigat, magaan sa pakiramdam at yung level ng peaceful life na to eh thankful ako. No stains kasi kahit nun pa man hindi ko hinahayaan na mabuhay na may iniipon o nakatago na bagay na nagpapasikip sa dibdib. Win or lose its doesnt matter dahil hindi talaga sya counted sa buhay ko. "Remember that a kind act and love can sometimes be as powerful as a words. We are made kind by being kind." ✨🤍

Magaan kasi ito;

✔️nakalipat na akong OB at hospital na masasabi kong Ok na ok at kaya. I got a kind hearted OB binigyan din nya ako referral for Covid Vaccine and si ate leanne na daw bahala sa akin for schedule.

✔️1 item left na lang kulang ni makarios. Hopefully sana dumating na ngayong katapusan.

✔️ from office : committed pa din ako sakanila and October pwede na daw ako 'agad' bumalik dahil starting July to september (120 days maternity leave) ang Maternity leave ko. Kaso hindi ko pa pala agad agad mukukuha yung SSS benefits ko. After pa manganak and need ipresent muna ang birthcertificate. At least sila ang nag asikaso lahat para sa Maternity benefits ko. Isang bwan lang ipapahinga ko sabak ulit ako.

And here is my solo picture in public sa camera hahahaha. Oo ganun na nga na eenjoy ko talaga tong stage na to na mag isa ay hindi nga lang pala ako solo meron nga pala akong kasama na makulit sa loob ng tiyan ko 🤣🤍 Picture of two a 31 weeks baby abokado at mapag mahal na mama abokado.

Andyan na sya sa tabi ko soon or naka sakay na din sa cart habang nag go grocery 🤣 and i cant wait for that moment to happen. ✨

[thegreatcallofgod]

TRUE BLESSING-A FULLY SATISFIED LIFE - God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion - Philippians 1:6 We talk about blessing, we pray for blessing, we read in the Bible about blessing, but have you ever stopped to ask – WHAT IS BLESSING, EXACTLY? From a Biblical point of view, a 'blessed' person is one who is in a close relationship with God through Jesus Christ & who no longer submits to the world but now completely submits to God & His will. That means, BEING 'BLESSED' IS ATTRIBUTING ANY GIVEN SITUATION TO THE GOODNESS OF GOD. Some Bible teachers preach what may be called a 'health & wealth gospel', claiming that God always rewards his people with prosperity in this world & His blessings are always material things. But, IN THE BIBLE, WEALTH IS NO INDICATION OF GOD'S FAVOR OR BLESSING & NEITHER POVERTY AN INDICATION OF GOD'S PUNISHMENT. For instance, if you look at the richest people in this world today, most of them are either atheists or agnostics! On the other hand, most Christians are sick & poor! The word 'blessed' Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) is from the Greek word 'makarios', which means a self-contained happiness, blissful or living a fully satisfied life. This is only possible when you defeat temptation every time & you become more like Christ (Heb 4:15). Yes, IT IS ONLY WHEN YOU BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS, YOU EXPERIENCE TRUE BLESSING. Please understand, while salvation from the penalty of sin happens at the moment a person accepts Christ, the process of becoming more like Jesus is exactly that: A LIFE-LONG PROGRESSIVE SANCTIFICATION PROCESS (Rom 8:29). It's a priceless one concerning God's commitment to complete in us the wonderful work of salvation that HE began at our new birth. Never forget, it is God who has begun a good work in you, not a human being. WHEN GOD BEGINS A WORK IN YOU, NOTHING CAN STOP HIS PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE & HE DOES NOT STOP UNTIL HIS WORK IS FINISHED (Isa 14:27). Surely, you will have a fully satisfied life. Amen & Blessings. The Great Call of God Ministries (TGCG) https://www.facebook.com/TheGreatCallofGodMinistries #bless #blessing #goodvibes #life #God #jesus #happy #love #help (at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIbl8XoHKH0/?igshid=1s002mr0tome3

[dethijssens]

Zeilen...hoezo...saai....

Zaterdag 12 september – dinsdag 15 september

Of je nu veel of weinig zeilt, qua mijlen dan, dit avontuur is nooit saai...Er gebeurt toch altijd weer van alles waar je misschien niet op gerekend hebt en dan op moet inspelen. Alhoewel we dit jaar, door Corona, dezelfde plaatsen aandoen als vorig jaar is het weer adembenemend mooi, en dat vooral op het water. De enorme kusten, vergezichten, strak blauwe luchten, super helder water, soms een opspringende vis en hier en daar in de verre verte een boot. De kreet “vandaag niet druk op de plas” is erg vaak van kracht. In de havens toch nog wel wat reuring, maar de terrassen zijn vrijwel leeg.

Kennelijk is augustus een drukke maand geweest, maar nu is het toch écht aan het aflopen.

Ook de havenplaatsjes en ankerbaaien zijn leuk , het (bad) water bijzonder aangenaam om in te zwemmen. Zelfs voor Jeroen...! Anders dan in Spanje zijn hier geen grote hoge hotel “paleizen”met alles erop en eraan. Dat maakt de aanblik vanaf het water ook nog steeds erg vriendelijk.

Na Sivota naar Ithaca, Vahti. Een nachtje voor anker in een rustige, winderige hoek. Hoera, het anker pakt in een keer goed en de wind gaat uiteindelijk liggen.

We worden zondagmorgen gewekt met het gebeier van een van de lokale kerkjes en hier en daar zie je nog een makarios rondlopen.

Van daar door naar Fiskardo, op de noordelijke punt van Cephalonia. Het ankeren daar wordt een heel avontuur, met name bij vertrek. We liggen vast met een vooranker en achter met lange lijnen aan een hoge kade. Zo liggen er uiteindelijk heel wat boten op een rij redelijk dicht bij elkaar. Prima als de wind gaat liggen. Deze keer begint ’s nachts de wind al een beetje aan te trekken en de volgende ochtend vlagerig tot 20 knts, eigenlijk ongewoon voor hier. De wind komt van opzij. Niet alle ankers van onze buren blijken vast te (blijven) liggen en dus begint het geschuif. Iedereen alert. Maar niet allemaal ervaren zeilers op de gecharterde schepen om ons heen dus houd je toch je hart vast. Wij helpen onze buurman via onze stootwillen naar buiten te rollen. Zijn achterlijnen moet hij achterlaten en later met de bijboot gaan ophalen. Vervelend als dan ook nog je bb motor er onderweg de brui aan geeft en je geen peddels bij je hebt. Onze strategie is om rustig af te wachten tot er wat ruimte komt aan onze lijzijde. Dan kunnen wij ons anker, dat dit keer diep in de klei lag ingegraven, een stukje ophalen, zodat wij vrij van onze buren de havenkom kunnen inzwaaien. Het losmaken van de achterlijnen van de kant is dan een koud kunstje voor superzwemmer Anneke (wat is de paalsteek toch een fantastische knoop, die ook na een nacht onder spanning te hebben gestaan moeiteloos los te maken is).

Daarna de hele boel (lijnen + zwemster) weer aan boord getrokken en anker op. Na deze ochtendgymnastiek voor lichaam en geest zijn wij vroeg op pad. De havenkom rustig verlaten en in de “Straat van Ithaca” weer de orde hersteld en ontbeten. Daarna koers bepaald richting Eufemia.

Ca. 14 knp. wind tegen, dus heerlijk kruisen door die prachtige zee-engte. Hoezo saai?

[unpinguino]

The Under alarm concerts, del 14 de marzo al 2 de mayo de 2020

Un pequeño balance de los ocho conciertos en cuarentena de estos dos meses. La verdad es que cuando empecé, el 14 de marzo, nunca pensé que tendría que hacer tantos, de hecho podría haber seguido, y quién sabe si lo retomaremos, pero bueno, de momento, lo dejamos aquí. Me impuse como reglas, 7 canciones por concierto y no repetir ninguna. Sólo las rompí en el concierto número 8, donde volvieron a sonar cinco clásicos, a modo de Greatest hits, así que en total, han sido 52 canciones.

Under Alarm 1

El apocalipsis final, Foie gras, foie gras, El balneario, El sangriento final de Bobby Johnson, Pitis, Espiando a mi vecina, En la variedad está la diversión

Under alarm 2

Juegas con mi corazón, Llueve, Perestroika, Un disco del Fari, Exigí tu liberación, 41 películas porno, Mi café

Under alarm 3

Tu me induces al mal, Las greñas de Bob, El poderoso influjo de la luna, Eres más complicada que armar un mueble de Ikea, No es correcto el abandono, El sendero luminoso me persigue sin reposo, Vuelo en RyanAir

Under alarm 4

La venganza de Miss Melilla, Arqueología en mi jardín, Te he prometido, Piernas ortopédicas, Secuestrado por tu amor, Quiero ser un teenager norteamericano, El arzobispo Makarios y su botella de Larios

Under alarm 5

He-man y Barbie, Por la mañanita, Mándame un giro, Recogiendo el algodón, Óscar, Atrapados en el ascensor, Television star

Under alarm 6

Cállate, Me olvidé de todo excepto de ti, CAMP, La balada de Benito Carrizosa, No es el mejor momento para hacerse perroflauta, Me han sodomizao, Sangre en museo de cera

Under alarm 7

El ama de casa estafada por la publicidad, Jota Jota, No hay nada más frustrante que hacer anuncios de suavizante, Pruebas de paternidad, Me cuesta tanto ir a Marte, El club de tenis, Un hombre en mi nevera

Under alarm 8

Juegas con mi corazón, Si yo fuera un poeta, El balneario, El último hombre sin barba, Espiando a mi vecina, 41 películas porno, El sangriento final de Bobby Johnson, Vicky

A modo de estadística, estas son las que han sonado de cada disco:

Un pingüino en mi ascensor: 6 (todas)

El balneario: 9

Disfrutar con las desgracias ajenas: 7

La sangre y la televisión: 3

En la variedad está la diversión: 4

Piromanía: 7

Sex & drugs & Nasal pop: 4

Espantapalomas: 7

El fascinante universo de Un pingüino en mi ascensor: 2

Versiones: 3

[quotesfromscripture]

The time is near

“Blessed (makarios) is the one who reads aloud (anaginosko) the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart (tereo) what is written in it, because the time is near (eggys).” - Revelation 1:3 NIV

“ ‘If you love me, keep (tereo) my commandments.’ “ - John 14:15 NIV 

“ ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near (eggys).’ “ - Matthew 24:32 NIV

[samkamuh]

Berkat Buku Wahyu

Uang tidak membeli kebahagiaan, tetapi para peneliti telah mempelajari orang seperti apa yang secara konsisten bahagia—yaitu mereka yang mempraktekkan keyakinan mereka. Ini tidak mengejutkan bagi para pelajar Alkitab, karena ayat kita hari ini yang merupakan ilham dari surga, menyatakannya.

Kata Yunani untuk "diberkati" adalah makarios, kata yang sama yang digunakan Kristus dalam khotbah-Nya di atas bukit. Artinya "berbahagia". Ada tujuh berkat seperti itu dalam kitab Wahyu (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14).

Perhatikan bahwa mereka yang diberkati bukan hanya yang mendengarkan, tapi yang juga memeliharanya. Apa artinya "memelihara" Firman Tuhan? "Simpanlah hal-hal itu" di dalam hatimu (Ibrani 8:10); "menjaganya ada upah yang besar" (Mazmur 19:11). Ya, orang-orang yang berbahagia, mempraktekkan iman mereka. Ketika mereka "mendengar suara [Kristus], ... mereka mengikuti [Dia]" (Yohanes 10:27). Seperti yang dijelaskan Yakobus, "Jadilah pelaku firman, dan bukan pendengar saja, sebab jika tidak demikian maka kamu menipu dirimu sendiri" (Yakobus 1:22).

Ayat hari ini juga memberikan bukti tentang maksud dari buku ini. Wahyu dimaksudkan untuk dibaca oleh orang lain dan yang paling mendesak adalah bagi mereka yang adalah anggota "tujuh gereja" (Wahyu 1:4), yang kemudian dicatat oleh Yohanes dalam pasal 2 dan 3. Di gereja Kristen mula-mula, merupakan kebiasaan bagi satu orang untuk membacakan korespondensi semacam itu dengan lantang kepada seluruh jemaat. Jadi, ada satu "yang membaca" dan banyak "yang mendengar". Tapi jangan salah. Nubuatan buku Wahyu adalah untuk kita semua, dari orang percaya di abad pertama sampai hari ini.

Jika Anda membaca pasal terakhir dari Wahyu, Anda akan menemukan kesamaan dengan pasal pertama ini. Misalnya, bandingkan Wahyu 1:1 dengan 22:6 dan ayat hari ini dengan 22:7, 10. Seperti dua ujung buku, pasal-pasal "alfa dan omega" ini menggarisbawahi urgensi untuk memahami dan mempercayai pesan-pesan nubuat ini. Mereka memang, seperti Penulis spiritual mereka, "setia dan benar" (ay. 6). Peristiwa masa depan yang diungkapkan di dalamnya memang akan segera terjadi, karena Kristus "segera datang" (ay.7). Dan kita dipanggil untuk "tidak menyimpan kata-kata" (ay. 10) tetapi untuk mengumumkannya ke seluruh dunia!

Yesus yang terkasih, jangan biarkan aku melupakan kata-kata nubuat-Mu di sini atau tujuan saya di saat yang mendesak ini. Semoga saya bisa mengikuti jalan kebahagiaan sejati-Mu.

Untuk Studi Lebih Lanjut: Matius 7:24; Lukas 11:28; Roma 13:11

Wahyu 1:3

Berbahagialah ia yang membacakan dan mereka yang mendengarkan kata-kata nubuat ini, dan yang menuruti apa yang ada tertulis di dalamnya, sebab waktunya sudah dekat.

Doug Batchelor

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Wed., July 27, 2022

July 27_July 14

SAINT AQUILA, APOSTLE FROM THE 70 (1st.c)

It is possible that he was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, a native of Pontus and a Jew, living in the city of Rome with his wife Priscilla (they are commemorated on February 13 on the Greek Calendar). During the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-54) all the Jews were banished from Rome, so Saint Aquilla and his wife were compelled to leave. They settled in Corinth. A short while later, the holy Apostle Paul arrived there from Athens preaching the Gospel. Having made the acquaintance of Aquila, he began to live at his house and labored together with him, making tents.

Having received Baptism from the Apostle Paul, Aquila and Priscilla bacame his devoted and zealous disciples. They accompanied the apostle to Ephesus. The Apostle Paul instructed them to continue the preaching of the Gospel at Ephesus, and he himself went to Jerusalem, in order to be present for the feast of Pentecost. At Ephesus, Aquila and Priscilla heard the bold preaching of a newcomer from Alexandria, the Jew Apollos. He had been instructed in the fundamentals of the Faith, but knew only the baptism of John the Forerunner. They called him over and explained more precisely about the way of the Lord.

After the death of the emperor Claudius, Jews were permitted to return to Italy, and Aquila and Priscilla then returned to Rome. The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans recalls his faithful disciples, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, who put forth their heads for my soul, whom I do not alone thank, but also all the Church of the Gentiles and the church of their household” (Rom. 16: 3-4). Saint Aquila did not long dwell in Rome: the Apostle Paul made him a bishop in Asia. Saint Aquila zealously labored at preaching the Gospel in Asia, Achaia and Heraklia. He converted pagans to Christ, he confirmed newly-converted Christians in the faith, he established presbyters and destroyed idols. Saint Priscilla constantly assisted him in the apostolic work. Saint Aquila ended his life a martyr: pagans murdered him. According to the Tradition of the Church, Saint Priscilla was killed together with him.

ST. NICODEMUS OF MT. ATHOS, SPIRITUAL WRITER (1809)

Saint Νikόdēmos of the Holy Mountain was born on the Greek island of Naxos in the year 1748, and was named Nicholas in Holy Baptism. As a child he was well-behaved, avoiding bad company and everything which might harm the inner man. He was zealous in his love for that which is good and beneficial, and he loved sacred and secular learning. His first education on Naxos came from the village priest, who taught him to love Christ and His Church. He also assisted the priest during the Divine Liturgy and other Services.

Later Nicholas attended the school at Naxos, where Archimandrite Chrysanthos, the brother of Saint Cosmas Aitolos (August 24), taught him sacred and secular letters.

At the age of twenty-six, he arrived on Mount Athos and was tonsured at Dionysiou Monastery with the name Νikόdēmos. As his first obedience, Father Νikόdēmos served as the monastery’s secretary. Two years after entering Dionysiou Monastery, the Metropolitan of Corinth, Saint Makarios Notaras (April 17), arrived there, and assigned the young monk to edit the manuscript of the Philokalia, which he had found in 1777 at Vatopedi Monastery. Editing this book was the beginning of many years of literary activity for Saint Νikόdēmos. He soon moved to Pantokrator Skḗtē, where he was under obedience to Elder Arsenios of the Pelopónnēsos, under whose guidance he studied Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers.

According to the testimony of his contemporaries, Saint Νikόdēmos was a simple man, without any malice, unassuming, and distinguished by his profound concentration. He possessed remarkable mental abilities: he knew the Holy Scriptures by heart, and even remembered chapter, verse, and the pages they were on. Moreover, he could recite long passages from the writings of the Holy Fathers from memory.

In 1783 Saint Νikόdēmos was tonsured into the Great Schema, and spent the next six years in complete silence. On his next visit to Mount Athos, Saint Makarios gave Νikόdēmos the obedience of editing of the writings of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (printed in three volumes: Syros, 1790). This meant giving up his silence and occupying himself once more with literary work. From that time until his death, he continued to devote himself to such endeavors.

One of the ascetic's remarkable books was his Exomologitarion (Manual of Confession), which was published in 1794. This was the first book of its kind in the Orthodox Church. Drawing from Holy Scripture and from the Fathers of the Church, Saint Νikόdēmos lists the qualifications a confessor must have, if he is to be a true confessor, and offers advice on how one should prepare for Confession, how to confess, and how one ought to guard himself against sin after Confession.

The Saint also made great contributions by publishing liturgical books. Using materials from the manuscript collections on Mount Athos, he published sixty-two Canons to the Most Holy Theotokos under the title, New Theotokarion (Venice, 1796).

The most wise Νikόdēmos is also known as a composer and interpreter of hymns. His Canon in honor of the "Quick to Hear” Icon of the Mother of God (November 9) and his “Service and Encomium in Honor of the Fathers who Shone on the Holy Mountain of Athos” are used even beyond the Holy Mountain. Some of his other books include the Heortodromion, an interpretation of the Canons which are sung on Feasts of the Lord and of the Mother of God (Venice,1836), and The New Ladder, an interpretation of the 75 Hymns of Degrees (Anabathmoi) of the liturgical book called the Oktoekhos (Constantinople, 1844).

It is readily apparent that the literary work of Saint Νikόdēmos was multi-faceted, representing more than half a dozen fields of theology: ascetical-mystical theology, ethics, Canon Law, exegesis, hagiology, liturgics, and hymnography. He wrote the preface to the Philokalia, and brief Lives of the ascetics whose writings are included therein. Among the Saint’s ascetical works, his translation of Lorenzo Scupoli’s book, Unseen Warfare (1796), is well known, and has been translated into Russian, English, and other languages.

Saint Νikόdēmos had a special love for hagiography, as attested by his work, New Eklogion (Venice, 1803), and his posthumous book, The New Synaxarion (1819). He completed a Modern Greek translation of Saint Paul's Fourteen Epistles in three volumes (1819) as interpreted by the Hierarch Mētrophánēs, by Saint Theophylaktos, the Archbishop of Bulgaria (December 31), and others.

Saint Νikόdēmos also wrote An Interpretation of Saint Paul's Seven Catholic Epistles (published in Venice in 1806).

In 1799 Νikόdēmos edited the New Martyrologion, which he and Saint Makarios of Corinth seem to have prepared together in order to demonstrate that the Orthodox Church continues to produce Saints, particularly Martyrs, who were subjected to the same trials, torments, and death as the ancient Martyrs. The example of the Saints whose Lives appear in this book strengthened and encouraged the Orthodox to remain faithful to Christ, and not to convert to the religion of their oppressors.

Saint Νikόdēmos prepared a new edition of the Pedalion or Rudder, in collaboration with Hieromonk Agapios. This was printed in 1801, and contained the Canons of the Holy Apostles, those of the Holy Ecumenical and Local Synods, and of the Holy Fathers.

His most edifying book, Christian Morality, was published in Venice in 1803. In it he says: "Those monks who are strong in body and in soul ... should occasionally go into the world to preach and to counsel. Those who cannot go into the world, either because of the passions that assail them when they are in the midst of society, or because they are physically infirm, should seek the good of their brethren through prayer and by offering counsel to those who visit them, and if they are learned, by writing edifying books."1

Not long before his repose, Father Νikόdēmos, worn out by his literary work and ascetical struggles, went to live at the Kelli of the iconographers Hieromonks Stephen and Neophytos Skourtaίos, who were brothers by birth. He asked them to help with the publication of his works, because he was hindered by his infirmities.

The day before he went to the Lord, he was able to make his Confession, receive Holy Unction, and then Holy Communion.

His first biographer, Father Euthymios, describes the Saint's repose in this manner: "When the sun rose on the earth that day (Wednesday July 14, 1809), the intelligible sun of the Church set. The fiery pillar, the guide of the New Israel into piety disappeared; the cloud which refreshed those who were melting in the heat of sin, hid itself.”

His many friends and acquaintances mourned, and the words of a certain Christian were typical of the thoughts of many individuals of that time: “Oh, my Fathers, it would have been better for a thousand Christians to have died today, and not Νikόdēmos.”

Saint Νikόdēmos reposed peacefully at the age of sixty on July 14, 1809, and was glorified by the Church of Constantinople in 1955.

1 Constantine Cavarnos, Modern Orthodox Saints Volume 3, Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite, pages 46-47. (Belmont, Massachusetts, 1974).

Source: All texts Orthodox church in America

MATTHEW 14:35-15:11

35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick,36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. 3 He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' 5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God"- 6 'then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " 10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand: 11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

1 CORINTHIANS 7:12-24

12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. 13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? 17 But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches. 18 Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. 20 Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. 22 For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.

[seekfirstme]

The following reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager © 2021. Don's website is located at Dailyscripture.net

Meditation: Who can explain suffering, especially the suffering of innocent children? Herod's massacre of children who gave their lives for a person and a truth they did not know seemed so useless and unjust. What a scandal and stumbling block for those who can't recognize God's redeeming love. Why couldn't God prevent this slaughter? Suffering is indeed a mystery. No explanation seems to satisfy our human craving to understand.

First martyrs for Christ

These innocent children who died on Christ's behalf are the first martyrs for Christ. Suffering, persecution, and martyrdom are the lot of all who chose to follow Jesus Christ. There is no crown without the cross. It was through Jesus' suffering, humiliation, and death on a cross, that our salvation was won. His death won life - eternal life for us. And his blood which was shed for our sake obtained pardon and reconciliation with our heavenly Father.

Suffering can take many forms - illness, disease, handicap, physical pain and emotional trauma, slander, abuse, poverty, and injustice. Paul the Apostle states: We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called to his purpose (Romans 8:28)? Jesus exclaimed that those who weep, who are reviled and persecuted for righteousness sake are blessed (Matthew 5:10-12). The word blessed [makarios in the Greek] literally means happiness or beatitude. It describes a kind of joy which is serene and untouchable, self-contained and independent from chance and changing circumstances of life.

Supernatural joy in the face of suffering

There is a certain paradox for those blessed by the Lord. Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God. That blessedness also would become a sword which pierced her heart as her Son died upon the cross. She received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and his promises. Jesus promised his disciples that "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22).

The Lord gives each of us a supernatural joy which enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take way. Do you know the joy of a life fully given over to God with faith and trust?

"Lord Jesus, you gave your life for my sake, to redeem me from slavery to sin and death. Help me to carry my cross with joy that I may willingly do your will and not shrink back out of fear or cowardice when trouble besets me."

The following reflection is from One Bread, One Body courtesy of Presentation Ministries © 2021.

conformed to christ

Herod “ordered the massacre of all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem.” —Matthew 2:16

Each baby boy killed that morning over two-thousand years ago in Bethlehem died because he was mistaken for Jesus (Mt 2:13-16). The soldiers who killed the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem thought they were killing Christ, or someone who could be Jesus. To the killers, the children were indistinguishable from Christ.

The child-martyrs we call the Holy Innocents are thus a model for us. We are to bear the light of Christ in our lives to such an extent that Jesus could call us “the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). Our lives are to be so conformed to Jesus that the world, in a sense, might confuse us for Christ (see e.g. 1 Cor 11:1). This makes us a threat to the world as was Jesus, and so we risk being persecuted (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 530). Yet “blest are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slander against you because of” Jesus (Mt 5:11).

“I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect” (Rm 12:1-2).

Prayer:  Father, mold and fashion me into the image of Christ.

Promise:  Broken was the snare, and we were freed. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” —Ps 124:7-8

Praise:  “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones” (Ps 116:15). Let the Holy Innocents inspire you to strive for holiness.

Reference:  (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)

(For a related teaching on Hope and Healing Through Aborted Children, view, download or order our leaflet or listen to, download or order our CD 94-3 or DVD 94 on our website.)

Rescript:  "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from December 01/2021 through January 31, 2022 Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 5, 2021"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements

[aphrodithine]

Makaka gala na tayo sa South at North Makarios.

Sabe ko kay pat kung pwede mag tagaytay kame sa 14 dahil 13-14 naman off ko at sabado ang 14 para makasama kapatid ko gusto ko itreat sina mama, kapatid ko at pat dahil hooo pang Apat na taon ko na tong mag stay ng Christmas at New Years Eve sa Company habang nag ta-trabaho pauuwiin ko muna din si mama para ma enjoy nya ang Christmas at New Year nya kasama ng mga iba pa naming mga kamag anak tulad dati masaya at sabay sabay salubungin ang pasko at bagong taon. Pinaka paborito ko ang pasko mga ganitong buwan sa probinsya ramdam na ramdam mo na ang pasko sa lamig at simoy duun kaya dati napaka sipag ko mag attend ng simbang gabi dahil yung lamig at pakiramdam pagtapos ng misa ay kakaiba sa lahat ng buwan. Simula naparito ako sa lugar na to hindi ko na naramdaman yung tinatawag nilang "spirit of christmas" kaya pag nataon na andito si pat kaugalian din nya ako dalhin sa makati ayala triangle para iparamdam sa akin na 'pasko na at kasama mo ako' . And for this year bago matapos ang taon na to masasabe ko kahit ganun masaya ako at malaking pasasalamat ko ano pa bang irereklamo ko kung ang laking regalo sa akin taon taon dahil sa sinop, pasensya, at pasasalamat. Binabalik ko na lang din yung ibang parte ng taon para sa kompanya dahil kung deserved ko lahat ng to deserved din nya ang mga sakripisyo na to kahit pa sabihin na nating madaming taong ipapalit sa akin pero may mga tao talagang sobrang grateful sa lahat.

#It’s the most beautiful time of the year 🎉🥳🌸🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨