The Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas

In Sha Tin, a town in the New Territories, in Hong Kong, is located the Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas. It isn't an actual monastery since there are no monks residing there. However it is the home place of about 13.000 statues of Buddhas of all shapes and sizes. 

In order to reach the monastery one needs to climb over 400 steps up the hillside. The Buddhas located on this path are life sized. Each statue is unique including thin, chubby, bald, hairy Buddhas; they even have walking sticks, dogs, dragons and frogs.

Buddhas are found everywhere, in the garden, the pavilion, the tower and of course within the temple itself. 

This unique monastery was founded by Yuet Kai in 1951, who was a monk who preached Buddhism in a nearby monastery. Despite being an old man, the monk carried the materials needed for the building on his own, from the foot of the mountain, together with his disciples. The building was erected within 8 years and the Buddha statues took another 10 years to complete. The monk is currently venerated in the main hall of the monastery in a glass case, where he is preserved. 

Despite Constant Murders, Christians are increasing in Iraq

Despite constant murders taking place this year in Iraq, around 200, Christianity is spreading and Christian believers are increasing.  Iraqi Anglican Canon, Andrew White, explains how his Baghdad Church is 4000 people strong. He states "So many Christians have been killed, yet the church in Iraq is so happy - miraculously happy. The fact that the church is like this is incredible. And they've got a huge amount to teach us". 

Andrew White serves at St George's Church, located in Baghdad's Red Zone, which has grown to become the country's largest church. White believes that about 550 Muslims attend St. George's, however the number could be larger given that Muslims in Iraq face the threat of death upon confessing publicly Jesus as Lord. In 2010 White baptised 13 Muslims. Unfortunately within a week 11 of them were murdered. 

It feels like they are the modern martyrs. When explained that a baptism is dangerous and could result in them getting dead most reply, "We just love and want to follow Jesus". Its important to see if we, who belong to an established Church within the Western world, would react in the same way. 

The Vicar of Baghdad, as Andrew White is also known, does a serious and magnificent job, in a difficult and dangerous region, where not many priests or lay people would visit or establish a mission. Lets only hope that this war and the religious war within Iraq will soon end.

Mandala, Buddhist Art

Mandala is a fantastic art form, made with colourful sand. They are made by Buddhist monks and are a form of prayer. It is a tradition which exists for the last 2.500 years. 

In the beginning the outline is drawn and after the monks cover them with various colourful sand by using small tubes and cones in order to be precise in what they are doing. 

To finish the Mandala the monks have to work on them for many hours. Some, due to the complexity of the shape and colours, the monks need a couple of weeks to find the final form. After the completion, the monks destroy the Mandala. The sand is then discarded. 

This tradition wishes to point out to the Buddhist that nothing is permanent in life. 

Mount Athos on CBS

60 Minutes on CBS has just broadcasted a very appealing story on Mount Athos. It is interesting to see this video, since it is a very good advertisement both for Agion Oros and Orthodoxy.

As they explain, it's called Mount Athos and prayers have been offered there every day, with no interruption for more than a thousand years. It was set aside by ancient emperors to be the spiritual capital of Orthodox Christianity and has probably changed less over the centuries than any other inhabited place on the planet. The monks come to Mount Athos from all over the planet and have no contact with the rest of the world.

Maybe it is a good idea to allow more reporters, channels, newspapers into Mount Athos in order to spread awareness, not only to Christians but to everyone in the world.  

Just before Easter...

Every Easter we find out about a knew discovery concerning the life of Jesus Christ. Many believe that through these new discoveries Christianity could and should change or cease to exist. These past few years various individuals have discovered Judas' Bible, which was clearly a gnostic book, Jesus' Coffin, found by Steven Spielberg, which had written on it the name Jesus believing that it was Christ's without taking in to account that it is a very common name, especially 2000 years ago, and now Jacobovici has found the nails used by the Romans soldiers to crucify Jesus in Caiaphas' Tomb but without any proof. 

It is interesting to ask why all these discoveries are published and actually found during the period just before Easter. Many of these findings have brought unrest to the Christian world. But they have not interfered with the existence, life and practice of the Church. Christianity promotes knowledge and these are seen as promoting but also interfering with the peaceful existence of the Church's life. Christianity has not seen these as facts that could destroy its exist....far from it. But a serious issue to reflect on is why are these negative, in most cases, facts and discoveries promoted during the biggest feast within the Christian Calender and by whom? Is it the secular, modern world that is combating religion or is it a case of religious groups going against other religious groups? 

The 12 Greek Popes

In the entire history of the Papacy and the See of Rome there have been 265 Pontiffs. Looking at the Church History we can identify that the descendants of Peter were not only Italian but also French, Spanish, Syrian, African, Dalmatian and Greek. The official records of the Vatican show that 12 of them were Greek. This brings them in fourth place behind the Romans (114), Italians (94) and French (14).

The Greek Popes lived before the Great Schism (1054). They were:

1. Saint Evarestos from Jerusalem, 97-105

2. Saint Telesforos from Taranto, 125-136

3. Saint Iginos from Athens, 136-140

4. St. Eleftherios from Nikopolis (Iperos), 175-189

5. St. Anteros from Greece, 235-236

6. St. Sixtos II from Athens, 257-258

7. St. Eusebios from Greece, 309

8. St. Zosimos from Cappadocia, 417-418

9. Theodoros I from Jerusalem, 642-649

10. Ioannis VI from Ephesus, 701-705

11. Ioannis VII from Southern Italy

12. Saint Zacharias from Southern Italy, 741-752

The work of the Pontiff has always been a difficult one, especially for those who lived during the first millennium, where persecution, heresy and violence were part of daily life. Great was the contribution by the 12 Greek Popes, some of whom were martyrs. 

Evarestos became Pope in 97 AD, 30 years after St. Peter's death. In a period where Christians were persecuted he was able to organise his flock into parishes. He was the one who first recommended the priestly offices, which later formed the body of the cardinals.

Telesforos was a hermit, that is why he is still venerated by the monks of Karmilou. Iginos was the first to state that the churches should be dedicated to saints and that they had to receive their names. Eleftherios was Pope during a period when Christianity was vastly spread within the Byzantine Empire. However Eleftherios had to face Montano's heresy which stated that the Church should abolish the bishops and return to the Apostolic practice and era. However he was beaten by the Pope and was eventually exiled.  

Anteros was Pope only for 43 days because he was assassinated by the prefect Maximus. He was the first Greek Pontiff to be buried in the Crypt of the Popes. Sixtos II was martyred when pagans forced him to sacrifice to the Pagan Gods; after his refusal they beheaded him.  

Eusebios was only head of the Roman Church for four months due to the fact that Emperor Maxentios sent him in exile to Sicily. During his reign there was a great issue with many Christians who renounced their faith due to the persecutions. Hiraklios was a fair believer of returning them back to Christianity without any formality. Pope Eusebios was against this view. This argument was magnified within the Empire and was only dissolved when both Eusebios and Hiraklios were exiled. 

Zosimos was a monk from Cappadocia, Asia Minor. He had to come against the heresy of Pelagianismos, he went against slavery and made it possible for priests and believers to come in contact and refer to the Roman See. 

Theodoros I became Pope at a hard time in the relations between Rome and Constantinople. Theodoros went against the Emperors Constantine X and Consta II and deposed Patriarch Pyrros for his monothelitic beliefs. 

During Ionanni's VI Papacy Rome was becoming more and more independent from the Byzantine Empire, taking its own decisions on many matters, even going against external threat on its own, without the help from the Byzantine army. Ioanni's VII reign was also a period where relations between the two cities, Rome and Constantinople, were not the best. The Emperor, Justinian II asked the Pope to examine the canons from the Quinisext Council and to reject anything he did not agree with, however he refused.

In the course of his Zacharia's Papacy an independence of Rome was in discussion, which would not be under the Byzantine lord of Italy. He became Bishop of Rome without asking for approval from Byzantium. This was due to the fact that Emperor during that period was Leon III, an iconoclast and then Constantine V, again an iconoclast. In 751 the Pope was the one who decided and crowned the King of the Franks. With this initiative Pope Zacharia inaugurated the right to crown and depose the secular rulers, hence after this action the Roman Church emancipated from the influence of Byzantium.

Hitler depicted in a Church in France

In a church in Montgeron, South of Paris, a depiction of Hitler is clearly evident on a window. Specifically the depiction is supposed to reflect King Herod ready to kill Apostle Jack with a big sword.  This window was placed at that church in July 1941, after the invasion of France from the Nazi army, as a symbol of the French against the invaders. 

As Dominique Guerin, the priest at the specific church explains: "The figure has Hitler's hair but the moustache is hidden behind his arm, in order to not make the depicted figure obvious to the invaders". 

French Historian Renaud Arpin states: " A few people noticed that it was Hitler since it was placed there 70 years ago".  The window was created by the brothers Maumejean who had worked on many churches in France during that period. This depiction is seen as a national treasure, a symbol of the resistance, in a country which was considered by many as a 'chicken' since it had no resistance, not until the allies landed in Normandy. 

The largest statue of Jesus

The small Polish city Swiebodzin wishes to become the new Rio since it has constructed the largest statue of Jesus in the world.

 The statue is 33 metres high, weighs 440 tones and was finished in November 2010. The whole project cost 1 million euros. Most of the amount was collected through charity. 

The Dalai Lama resigns

Since 1960 the Dalai Lama has repeatedly stated that Tibet needs a leader, elected freely by the people of Tibet to whom he can give his authority too. He submitted his resignation from his position of political leader of the exiled Tibetan Government which is currently located in the North part of India. 

The Dalai Lama will seek and amendment that will allow him to resign during the next meeting of the Tibetan Parliament in March. This, however, does not mean that he will abandon his spiritual role. 

A nun was dismissed from a monastery because she was addicted to facebook

A nun, called Maria Galan from Spain,  was dismissed from a monastery because she was addicted to facebook. She was not only addicted to facebook but to the internet in general. She had also 600 friends on her facebook list, with whom she kept in contact 24/7.

She felt that this was another way of expressing her love to other people and was amazed when she was informed of her dismissal, since she was at her monastery for 35 years. However this has given her the opportunity of a life time, to travel all around the world. 

Sagrada Familia became a Church

Last summer I visited Barcelona, but before my visit I had never heard of  Sagrada Familia church or Gaudi, an excellent Catalan architect, who has built all of the 'wierd' but fantastic buildings in the Catalan capital. Seeing and visiting the Church of Sagrada Familia I was astonished at how different, unique and in a way scary this building was. Going in the interior I felt I was in a Harry Potter / Lord of the Rings movie...the columns are built like trees, the windows are magnificently unique, the roof is breathtaking, the height is overwhelming and the space within the church is massive. But the most 'scary' part of it is the exterior with the sky high towers and the mysterious sculptures of saints, angels and figures from the Bible, including Christ's life.

128 years after the foundation of this building it was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI and became a Basilica, meaning that now it is a Church where mass can take place. It is still being constructed but when it will, eventually, be finished it will be able to receive 10.000 people.   

The Pope greeted the "faith" of Antonio Gaudi, who combined the traditional architecture of the big Cathedrals with his special creativity. Although Gaudi died in 1926, knowing that he will never see this masterpiece finalised, the works follow his plans and orders.

Russia requests from Turkey to allow the Byzantine Churches to re-open

In the recent meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe in Strasbourg Ivan Savvides, member of the Russian delegation, talked about the spiritual, Byzantine legacy referring especially to the Panayia Soumela monastery in Pontos, Northern Turkey. Mr. Savvides thanked the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul for allowing the Orthodox Church to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the historic Monastery of Panayia Soumela on the 15th of August, 88 years after the last Eucharist took place there.

In a letter sent to the President of Turkey he asks if the Monastery of Panayia Soumela could be brought under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in order to preserve it and to be able to use it as a religious centre, according to Orthodox traditions. He also referred to other churches and monuments which could be given back to the Orthodox Church, and reminded the President of the current unsatisfactory situation concerning the Theological School of Chalki.

If these issues are seriously dealt with by Turkey it will bring close the two people, Orthodox and Muslim, promoting tolerance and acceptance. Abdullah Gul promised Mr. Savvides to examine the issue of cooperation on a dialogue between the two civilizations and religions. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a fruitful and lasting cooperation between the Turkish Government and the Orthodox Church.

The only concern is that this is happening during a time where facts are arising involving the bad restoration project taking place in Agia Sofia, in Constantinople. Due to the bad maintenance and restoration it is believed that many historic mosaics will rot due to humidity, as found by the local Planning Commission. The newspaper Sabah analyses this issue by stating that " Agia Sofia is rotting because they scratched the plaster off". According to this report many mistakes have taken place on the restoration project.

The Department of Foundations a year ago decided to scratch the external plaster off in order to renovate the front of the Church. However many omissions on behalf of the Department will cost massive damages to Agia Sofia.

This for me indicates that it is time for all the Churches to be returned to the Ecumenical Patriarchate so the proper measures can be enforced to maintain and preserve these unique and important centres of Orthodoxy.

The Cross Hill

This hill is located 12 km from Siauliai in Lithuania. It is full of thousands of crosses, that represent the Christian identity of the country and its people. This city was founded in the 13th century AD. This tradition was introduced from its foundation, maybe to symbolise the resistance of the people against foreign rule. During the course of time this Cross Hill marked a peaceful location and was considered a way of reacting against the Nazi Germans and Communist Russians especially in the 20th century, when people continued placing crosses of all sizes.

This tradition continues to this day by locals and travellers visiting this unique place. The variety of crosses is vast. Some crosses are three meters high and some are so small that they hang from the larger ones.

Oldest known icons of apostles found

The oldest known icons of the Apostles Andrew and John have been discovered in catacombs under the city of Rome and specifically situated beneath an office building in Rome's Ostiense area. The catacombs date back to the 4th century AD.

The paintings were found in the same location where the oldest known painting of St. Paul was discovered last year. These icons are part of a group of paintings around an image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd on the ceiling of what is believed to have been a noblewoman's tomb.

The images of the apostles' heads and shoulders against a deep red background were uncovered after two years of work, Vatican experts stated. The ancient art was revealed by lasers that burned off inches of calcium carbonate, which had accumulated on the paintings over the centuries in the humid chamber without disturbing the paintings.

This project, restoration, cost the Vatican 60.000 Euros.