www.byzcath.org

DA!

Or in the words of one of Anna Russell's comic songs: "Da Niet!"

Russian can be difficult.

For example you can say things like

Da net zhe!

That would just mean NO!

Why say something with one word when you can use three? Besides, it's much more trinitarian.

I cried when I read your post's headline... even before I opened the message you wrote. . .

I am a Roman Catholic of the Latin rite and live in Canada and I can tell you than even in our own country many churches got burned here at the hands of criminal arsonists. St Paul Church in Gatineau, Québec (my parish) was burned down about four five years ago and I felt a gut-wrenching pain inside of me when I saw our beautiful church burn down. The large bronze statue of St Paul and the front of the church is all that remained... Another church years before that was also burned in the lower part of our city. A church in the St-Foy area of Québec City, another in Montreal and several more have also burned... - all in the space of a few years and this is NO 'accident'... - I fear that the hate that is within the people who do this is blinding them ...it is causing so much harm to communities and all the more resentment form many when they see mosques sprout in their midst. . . Muslims are not going to create a peaceful world by acts of violence and hate. Christians will rise up and defend their communities and churches for as long as they live. . .

May God send his greatest angels to wrap the churches of Christianity and protect them form harm... they are the homes of Christ upon earth... our places of worship into which we walk into His divine home on earth. . .

Best,

Christine

Dear Dr. Eric,

I have learned from a world-class Roman Catholic archeologist who also studied theology for many years and 'educated' me in the Quran and told me that Islam is very close to Christianity in fact. . . Many people misinterpret the writings of the Quran and twist it into self-serving interpretations to give credence to their hate propaganda and go against Christianity. The many verses which prone killing the 'infidels' in the Quran actually refer to a specific group of Islam in old times and do not refer to people today. . . Far too many jihadists and extremists read this to literally mean to kill anyone who does not follow Islam - wrongfully so. This is what is 'demonic' in this entire picture. . . People get misinformed and jump on the bandwagon of hate without stopping to think WHERE it all comes from and start pointing at the Quran as the 'culprit' in this when in fact the problem is the PEOPLE who promote hate. . .

I do not know much about Islam and the Quran but this I do know... Ignorance is the biggest of our barriers and the biggest reason for so much hate in the world. . . We need to learn about other religious traditions and respect others if we are to ever attain peace in this world. . .

Best,

Christine

[I indicated the names of Saints and Beatified individuals here in bold font...]

Greetings Father Borislav,

Technically St Alexander Nevskij, Great Prince of Vladimir, Novgorod and Kyiv (Grand Prince) was not a monk during his lifetime as a soldier... he became a 'monk' a short time before his death in the last days of his life. . . So, technically speaking he was not a 'monk soldier'... despite I am certain he was moved by faith in God...

My ancestors actually fought against each other... and in the course of time their descendants married among each other. . .

I am a distant relative of St Alexander Nevskij (what language uses this spelling please with a 'j' at the end of his name? ...I have several forms of spelling for his name...). Here are the spellings I have (if anyone else has other forms do please send them to me!):

• Alexander Nevskii;
• Alexander Nevsky;
• Aleksy [Alexis] (‘Tonsured’ into monastic life as – a short time before his death)
• Aleksandr Nevsky;


St Alexander Nevskij was:


• Son of Yaroslav II, Prince of Pereslavl-Zalessk [Theodore in Baptism] younger son of Vsevolod III Large Nest and his third wife Blessed Theodosia Igorevna, a Ryazan princess, daughter of St Mstislav the Brave;

• Husband of Alexandra (Baptismal name), daughter of the Polotsian prince Briacheslav;

• Brother of:
• [Younger brother of] St Theodore Yaroslavich [Holy Prince Theodore (honoured by the Orthodox Church in America)], husband of St Euphrosyne of Suzdal (Born: Theodosia), daughter of St Micheal;
• Basil of Kostroma;
• Andrei (Andrew) Yaroslavich;
• Yaroslav III (Yaroslav Yaroslavich), Prince of Tver and Grand Prince of Vladimir, husband of St Xenia of Tarusa

• Uncle of:
• St Mikhail of Tver;
• Sofia Yaroslavna;
• Basil (Vasily) of Vladimir;
• Sviatoslav Prince of Tver Grand Prince of Vladimir;
• Daniil (Daniel) Yaroslavich;

I belong to the descendants of the Rurikid dynasty and all of the people above are distant relatives of mine. . . You can see at a glance how many Saints, Blessed individuals were in his immediate and close family. . .

Best,

Christine

Dear Christine,

I too am a descendant of St Alexander Nevsky (Alexander Yaroslavich of Volodymyr and Kyiv).

He was also linked, if I'm not mistaken, to St Michael of Chernihiv, his son St Roman and his grandson, St Oleh of Briansk.

St Alexander was a direct descendant of St Vladimir the Great and all the royal saints of St Vladimir's line including Sts. Boris and Hlib, St Olha, St Yaroslav the Wise and St Vladimir Monomachos.

As you know, it was a tradition for Orthodox royals to receive the Great monastic Schema towards the end of their lives and the veneration of St Alexander is that of a Venerable Monastic as a result.

His veneration was initially that of a local saint but it was increased by Tsar Peter I to set an example of a warrior-saint. His veneration was similarly highlighted during World War II.

Although he is referred to as a "Grand Prince," this is a bad translation of "Knyaz" which is a Slavic version of the Scandinavian "Konigyaz" or "king." There were both "sub-kings" and "grand" or "high" kings in Kyivan Rus' (much like in Scotland).

My neck Cross bears an image of St Alexander Nevsky.

Christ is in our midst!!

Nine years ago yesterday this thread was begun. The second post is almost prophetic. "In less than ten years . . ."

Bob

Wow...indeed prophetic.

In addition, it was nice to see the days when there was so much friendship and conversation in response to posts. It was bittersweet to see posters who have since passed on, or just plain stopped coming here.