Written in Greek, the tablet holding the curse was dropped into a well in Antioch, then one of the Roman Empire’s biggest cities in the East, today part of southeast Turkey, near the border with Syria.

The curse calls upon Iao, the Greek name for Yahweh, the god of the Old Testament, to afflict a man named Babylas who is identified as being a greengrocer. The tablet lists his mother’s name as Dionysia, “also known as Hesykhia” it reads. The text was translated by Alexander Hollmann of the University of Washington.

Read the rest of this interesting article here

 

Andon Parisyanos, Elpida Davul, Kutsiye Eudoksia Karadaş and Yorgo Kasapoğlu (from L to R) are all members of the Antiochian Christian community. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

The recognition of a Christian community in Antioch in the southern province of Hatay as “Rum” (Anatolian Greeks) is fuelling debate within minority circles as to who exactly constitutes the country’s true Rum-Orthodox population.

January/03/2012
by Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The following are excerpted selections from a delightful article by Mother Alexandra: “Mother Alexandra’s Pilgrimage to Syria and Lebanon” The Word Magazine Vol. 55 No. 1 Jan 2011, pp. 16-22.

Recently I returned from a pilgrimage to Syria and Lebanon. When embarking on such a journey, we often have expectations. My expectations were simple: I wanted to visit the holy Shrine of St. Thekla and monasteries, gleaning information and experience to provide consistency and to ensure the transmission of the Antiochian ethos within the life of the Convent of St. Thekla in Pennsylvania.

My first expectation was fulfilled immediately, as I had been blessed by the Abbess, Mother Pelagia, to stay at the Convent of St. Thekla in Maaloula, Syria. With the Convent as a base for my pilgrimage, I had monastic stability and a daily rhythm of prayer and community life. To my surprise, the first visit to the tomb of St. Thekla was private– no crowds of pilgrims who visit her tomb daily. I walked up the cascade of stone steps, anticipating what I had seen in photos of the Shrine, and received my first blessing of wide space transformed by the presence of the Saint.

There was a depth beyond what any camera can capture. I took photos myself, but they do not communicate my impression. The actual tomb is a small room with a door for entry and a door to exit. Inside the entrance are reminders of miracles bestowed: crutches and walkers no longer needed. On the walls and in front of the tomb are memorial medals donated by people in thanksgiving for healing and answered prayers. I was touched by these and returned in my thoughts to St. Thekla and my purpose for visiting: prayers and blessings for the Convent of St. Thekla in Pennsylvania. My request was without words and her answer assured by her indescribable presence.

One of the highlights of my stay in Maaloula were the two days I spent with nuns harvesting olives in their orchards. In our Orthodox tradition, monastic work can take many forms, from agriculture and domestic work to hospitality and ministry. What is common in all of these forms of work is the prayer of the heart which accompanies the work of the hands. Sometimes the prayer is the Jesus prayer and at other times perhaps a recitation of the Holy Scriptures…

The people I encountered are memorable. I was able to visit with His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV, and with metropolitans and bishops who all encourage the growth of Antiochian monasticism in the United States… Other Hierarchs recounted their experience as monastics, the necessity of addressing the needs of the faithful, and the meaning of being open to the will of God in all its manifestations – not just the ones we want!

Another memorable person was a farmer from Maaloula, Butros, who is able to speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. He provided me with many examples, first in Arabic and then in Aramaic so I could hear the difference. After his basic explanations, I engaged him in a conversation on Matthew 5–6, the Sermon on the Mount, and was delighted to hear the words of Our Lord in the original language. Butros knew many passages from the Gospel by heart and I was not able to exhaust his memory…

History was to be found in all of the churches, sites and monasteries I visited, but in the end, it is the lived expression of the history, the visible and readily available connection with our past lived in daily life or tradition that is most important. In other words, these places are holy sites and live on because of the community of the faithful. Tradition is a way of life and, void of community, it does not exist. Thus, we are connected to these places. In my visits, I experienced this connection and was deeply aware of the place we all hold in the continuity of our Orthodox faith. This expression of continuity, a translation of tradition into modernity, was boldly evident when I visited the Balamand Monastery and University.

From the ancient ruins and buildings of the original Cistercian monastery to the new buildings, such as the Cultural Center, donated by the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America, the message is clear: the Balamand University seeks this translation and right ordering of the relation between theology and the modern culture.

If this sounds academic and apropos only for a university, then allow me to rephrase: we are all called to translate the theology, the words and revelation given to us by God, into everyday language and action.

Mother Alexandra
Monastery of St. Thekla
Bolivar, Pennsylvania

The Saints of the Syriac-speaking Church are Saints of the Church universal, so far as their fame reached the West. Nevertheless there is a real difference between the Church of Edessa and the Church of Antioch and of Rome. They were divided by one of the greatest of all divisions between man and man—the barrier of language. During the years we shall chiefly consider this barrier simply acted as a partition, as a dividing line. It did not estrange the Syriac-speaking Christians from their brethren over the border, but it separated them, so that the Church of which they were members grew up to some extent under influences different from those which helped to mould the Greco – Roman Church of the Empire.

In this lies the importance for us of Early Syriac-speaking Christianity. It is the nearest thing we can get to an experiment in Church History, to a history of the Church as it might have been, had its environment been different. We shall not expect therefore that the value of our study will consist chiefly in noting improvements in the fabric of our own Church which we can adopt from the Syrians. Such direct importations are not likely to fit themselves organically into our Western conditions of life and thought…

I would rather suggest that our study will help us to modify our view of the ancient Church. We shall learn how difficult it is to apply the test quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus. We shall learn that it was possible for an orthodox Christianity to grow up, which had in some respects a different theory of the Christian community and of social life from that which prevailed in the West. We shall learn, above all, the great lesson that a living Christianity is not tied down to a set of forms imposed from without.

The century that saw Syriac-speaking Christendom unified in externals with the West by men who saw the power and the influence of external unity, saw also the permanent dismemberment of that branch of the Church into dissenting and hostile sects. I trust that what are called ” our unhappy divisions ” may never be healed over in this unreal fashion.

F.C. Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity: On the Syriac Speaking Church. St. Margaret’s Lectures New York: EP Dutton & Company, 1904. (pp. 4-6)

Liturgikon: The Book of Divine Services for the Priest and Deacon by Bishop Basil Essey

You can find some discussion at biblicalia and on Monachos.net

Secondly there is the Book of the Epistles: An Orthodox Lectionary translated from the Arabic Apostolos by Fr. Charles Baz.

Developing this kind of expertise within our jurisdiction is one solid step that will strengthens the “gene pool” of Antiochian clergy and keep us from devolving into soft episcopalianism and liturgical evangelicalism.

You may ask what is meant by liturgical evangelicalism.  For better or worse, it is the only term I could devise to describe a mentality we sometimes find in our churches.  If you have parish members who prefer non-denominational Bible studies because “its not Baptist, its not Catholic, its not Orthodox… its just the Bible!” or if you have parishioners who want to sing Christmas carols together in the nave during liturgy… this is what I mean by the term liturgical evangelicalism.

It is a great thing to have clergy who understand how to write in the liturgical context for it requires contemplation across many areas: historic liturgical use, consistency with Patristic sources, and the subtle nuances of language translation.  The archdiocese will survive the future of our atheistic culture with the grace of God and by the labors of such clergy.

The [news/devotional] column “Dots on the Letters” will not appear this week in protest of the forgery of the Synod’s recent decision about the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America, unknown to most of the fathers of the Holy Synod. We ask our readers and our beloved in Christ to fast and pray for the preservation of our faithful brothers in that Archdiocese from the dangers and painful consequences resulting from the forgery.

Thanks to Samn! at araborthodoxy.blogspot.com for translating this for us and bringing it to our attention.
Thanks to Flavius Josephus at Byzantine Texas for helping spread the news.

It’s silly to think that putting priests in Roman collars is going to make them more attractive to an average American than allowing them to wear cassocks. After the 1960′s, do you think anyone is put off by long hair and beards? Do you think our pierced, tattooed, tribally decorated American youngsters are going to be put off by that sort of thing? No. Maybe the issue is you don’t want those people-you only want people with deep pockets who wear really nice business suits.

This has been an ongoing discussion at Fr. Milovan Katanic’s excellent blog as well…

http://frmilovan.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/no-means-no/

This reiterates exactly what I’ve written before:

Even issues of order and clerical appearance are decided according to what pleases the eyes of people who spend their off hours in “country club casual”. But this is the west, riassas and jibbis will alienate Americans. They will think we are Muslims or something. No, these are unfounded excuses. Americans are more sophisticated than that. Believe me- the culture that gave you hippies, punk rockers, and cowboys can handle seeing a priest in a riassa.

Cassocks and clergy dress are not worth obsessing about, yet in this case it points to a larger issue…

…image-obsessed Antiochians want their priests to conform to professional aesthetics. They are afraid of losing face or making a bad impression in front of business associates and politicians. This over-concern for status and professional relationships is also the reason why some wealthy Antiochians do not make donations to Palestinian Christian relief or even to their own distant relatives in war-torn Lebanon.

If “The Ancient Church” is our marketing slogan, why begrudge people who want something which is actually more ancient?  …We shouldn’t advertise “The Ancient Church” if we aren’t going to offer it.

It must be pointed out that you cannot paint all Antiochians of Lebanese, Palestinian, or Syrian descent in the same way. There are plenty of cradle Antiochians who look to their church for an authentic spiritual life and path to salvation. And…

Give me one priest with beard and rasso, and I will take him to parts of America where he will attract the lost like moths to a flame.

Time: Monday, November 8 · 8:30am – 12:00pm

A couple survival tips for the general Orthodox Christian in navigating the oddity that is North American Orthodoxy, in no particular order:

• Do not be easily moved. Your first love should ideally be your only love. Stay in the parish you convert in, stay with the priest who received you, do not let your curiosity wander into other parishes and jurisdictions (they are different enough in various and sundry ways to confuse and scandalize you).

It’s easier to believe in God and Orthodoxy when you assume your clergy believe in God and Orthodoxy, too. This is not always easy. Therefore:

• Don’t know too many other priests, deacons or monastics; avoid bishops in general and avoid talking to your own if at all possible. This is so they can more easily remain icons of Christ to you, especially in the services and relative to the sacraments.
• Orthodoxy in America cannot be your whole life. Monasteries structure the lives of the monks to be mostly focused on God, mostly, ideally; in mythically homogeneous Orthodox cultures and villages everyone is focused only on God, the services, the canons and the virtues, there is no sin – you do not live in this magical place. Your priest, your parishioners, the choir, that old lady, that weird guy, those brats, the building, the bishop, the curriculum from the chancery, etc. all fall short of the glory of God, you too. So, take your hot mess of a self outside so everyone can forget about you for awhile and assume you are better next time.
• Idiorrythmia is evidence of a fallen, lax spiritual state. This is not solely in reference to the monastics in idiorrythmic establishments but to the general state of the Church. Orthodoxy in America is in a fallen and lax spiritual state. You cannot assume every parish or jurisdiction, priest or bishop is healthy spiritually. When you find a good one, look no further, do not wander; if he’s a long way away, visit as often as practical or correspond and embrace idiorrythmia (the same is true if you can’t find “a good one”). That is, your spiritual work will be done primarily outside of a parish, but like the Desert and idiorrhythmic Fathers do not be absent from the assembly (synaxis) on the Lord’s Day and major Feasts for Liturgy – any Orthodox Liturgy will do, it’s easy to ignore stupidity once a week/month and often increases the fervor of one’s prayers at home. It is helpful to chalk up your purposeful idiorrythmia to your own weakness in forgiving and looking spiritually on the failings of others rather than to others’ spiritual failings.

- posted on the Ochlophobist blog