Post-Liberalism: The West in Search of Romeosyne

 

Democratic Patriotic Popular Movement NIKI 

In the contemporary West, an interesting and revealing phenomenon is unfolding.
After decades of radical liberalism, individualism, and the dismantling of every tradition, a new current of thought is beginning to emerge — one described as “post-liberalism.” Among its principal exponents are Patrick Deneen, John Milbank, and Alasdair MacIntyre.

Western thinkers themselves now openly acknowledge that a society without moral bonds, without community, without a sacred center, collapses. When man deifies the individual, he loses all meaning. Freedom cannot survive in a society that has dissolved every moral tie, every tradition, and every sacred cell — such as the family. Liberalism, in attempting to liberate man from his roots, has left him defenseless, stranded in a life devoid of substantive meaning.

What the West (Europe and the broader Euro-descended world) today baptizes as “post-liberalism” is not a new wisdom. It is the awkward admission of its failure. Having dismantled community, family, and faith, it now seeks — even unconsciously — the very Romeike roots it lost through the centuries, primarily under the weight first of Frankish domination and subsequently of Papalism. It seeks the roots that we have known for centuries as Romeosyne.

Romeosyne is neither an ideology nor a political current. It is the living mode of existence of our Genos (sic) — our historic peoplehood.

For Romeosyne, freedom is not license but virtue and purification of the heart. It is liberation from the passions. It is the fruit of ascetic life and divine Grace. It is not the removal of every limit, but the voluntary self-binding of man to the good. What Western thinkers today rediscover as the need for a “moral framework” and self-restraint, our tradition has lived for centuries as philotimo — the inner impulse to do what is right not out of fear of the law, but out of love for God, for one’s neighbor, and for the Genos.

Romeosyne has never known the isolated individual, the autonomous self of modernity. It knows only the Person — and the Person exists only in relationship: in the family, the parish, the ecclesial community, the Genos. There, man does not merely “connect” sociologically; he communes existentially. What the West now calls “the search for community” is simply a belated discovery of a truth we have lived for centuries. The freedom of the Romeos is a freedom of love, service, and sacrifice — not of selfish isolation.

The economy must serve the needs of the community, not the reverse. What some Western thinkers today formulate as a “new principle,” the Romeike tradition always regarded as self-evident. Production and wealth exist to sustain the family, the parish, and the Genos — not to subjugate them. A contemporary, realistic patriotism must translate this principle into action. Thus, for example, the complete tax exemption of large families and the stable support of households with many children are not mere social policy; they are elementary justice. The Romeike tradition understands the family as the foundation of society, and the economy must protect it, not crush it. The economy exists to safeguard the hearth, not to liquidate it.

Our homeland [and the whole world] today needs a true return to its roots. It needs a Romeike rebirth — a spiritual and ecclesial awakening that will first free us ourselves from the dead ends of modernity’s ideology and, at the same time, illuminate the path for the West, which increasingly finds itself searching.

Romeosyne does not propose theories. It generates a way of life. From this way of life, the necessary political orientations naturally emerge, structured around four main axes:

a) Economy as service to need, grounded in the Gospel and in the example of our Saints — men and women who lived love and communion in practice. Not accumulation, but sharing. Not treasures on earth, but treasure in heaven.
“He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none…” and “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth…”

b) Education with roots — not mere transmission of information, but initiation into truth, the cultivation of ethos, faith, and living historical memory.

c) Productive self-sufficiency — for a people is free only when it can feed itself, shelter itself, and create by its own labor, without dependence on foreign powers. The economy serves man and community, not the reverse.

d) Sovereignty and dignity — the protection of the homeland, of borders, and of strategic structures is not a technical administrative matter but a sacred trust and a duty toward both our ancestors and our children.

The West, exhausted by its spiritual and social decay, gropes awkwardly for a way out. Yet we have no new ideology to offer it. What we offer is the witness of our way of life — our Romeosyne: our faith, our philotimo, the love and the freedom born of communion with God, which unites the Genos.

This inheritance must once again become the ground upon which not only tomorrow’s Greece, but all those — personally or collectively — who seek truth already lived and embodied in practice, may stand.

Christodoulos Molyvas
Head of the Development and Investment Policy Department of NIKI
Ioannis Kon. Neonakis
Head of the Romeosyne Policy Department of NIKI

Articles on the tag Romeosyne 

Notes: (a) The term “Romeosyne” was preferred over “Romanitas”, as it better expresses the culture of the Roman Empire after the prevalence of Christianity.
(b) For reasons of more accurate phonological rendering and simplification, the term “Romeos” was preferred over “Rhomaios” and “Romeoi” over “Rhomaioi”
(c) romeike (adjective): of the Romeos/Romeoi

Faith and Science: Contradictory or complementary meanings?

By Michael G. Houlis
Theologian, professor, special associate of the Holy Metropolis of Syros
Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries
More articles (in Greek) by prof. Michael G. Houlis can be found here: http://www.im-syrou.gr/poimantikes_drastiriotites/keimena/xoulis/

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ: Πίστη και Επιστήμη: Έννοιες αντίθετες ή αλληλοσυμπληρούμενες;

 

Photo

Over the past few years, there has been an unnecessary return to essays and articles at the forefront of research, even by various positive scientists, on the old, misunderstood topic of the “enmity” between Science and Faith, or, Logic and Religion.

This phenomenon is being fuelled once again, mostly by representatives of the positive sciences, with quite a number of new and more heated books opposed to Christianity, but also by circles of the more conservative Protestants of America, who are opposed to the contemporary findings of Biology, Astronomy, Physics, etc. with their verbatim interpretation of the first Chapter of the Holy Bible (Genesis) and who are also against certain branches of Science with scientific and religious criteria.

We must make it clear from the very start, that Theology and Science do not oppose each other by nature, given that Science concerns itself with the structure and the functions of Nature, whereas Theology deals with God’s revealed truth and with the Holy-Spiritual meaning of Life.  Science can answer questions about how the world and the universe are made, but it cannot of course answer the questions of who created the universe and why.  These last questions are the business of Theology and by extension, of the Church.  The great contemporary scientist Stephen Hawkins had stated that “even if science could manage to explain everything that happened from the birth of the universe to this day, it will not be able to explain why.” (FOCUS magazine, vol.2, April 2000, p.80-84).

Science does not have the right to formulate methodologies by resorting to metaphysics (i.e., by accepting or rejecting God), regardless whether each and every scientist is personally faithful or faithless.  On the other hand, it is the duty of Theology to help us – from within the spiritual experience of the Church – to reach the (spiritual) heavens.  Similarly, Theology does not have the right to concern itself scientifically, either with how the “cosmic” heavens were created, or how Man appeared on Earth, because these are matters that preoccupy Science, not Theology.

The purpose of the first chapters of the Book of Genesis is to reveal that the entire universe has a Creator-God - that it did not just happen to appear, as though by magic - and also, that the heavenly bodies and all of Creation are not “gods”, as was the belief of the numerous idolatrous nations that surrounded Israel at the time.  The intention, therefore, of the divinely-inspired authors was not to project any kind of science but rather, a sublime theology, for which purpose they utilized the religious and scientific knowledge that existed at the time.  One cannot therefore regard the (purely auxiliary) scientific world-images of the divinely-inspired authors’ times as “divinely-inspired images”; only the theological message of the Bible is considered divinely-inspired. That is the ONLY sector of the Holy Bible that can be called infallible, and not necessarily the scientific knowledge that has been utilized therein.    We can therefore understand why the representatives of either side are not justified in their reactivation of situations and settings that had been contained over 100 years ago.  Given the above, one discerns how Science actually betrays itself, if and when it strives to discover the uncreated God through physical means, because by doing so, it is going beyond the boundaries of its own research.   But certainly Theology is also not obliged to accept each and every scientific theory that conflicts with the Christian world-theory on God and the world.

In this context, Atheism does not have the right to use Science as its vanguard against Christianity and religions in general, because when Science embarks on researching an absolute knowledge, it lacks the instrument, the object and the method respectively that can even come close to understanding the meaning of “God”, since the essence of God is beyond everything absolute and is entirely inapprehensible.  Atheist scientists, therefore, are not atheists thanks to any findings of their science, but on account of a specific, materialistic ideology that they believe in.

Faith and Logic, Religion and Science are not seen as conflicting, by well-meaning persons.  Only the erroneous placements of the representatives of each side are in conflict. Proof of this is the fact that eminent Christians, clergymen and laymen, as well as the major Fathers of the Church, were also well educated for their time and some of them – for example Saint Basil the Great – were also well versed in all the sciences.  Wasn’t the Belgian scientist Georges Lemaitre – the “father” of the “Big Bang” theory on the Beginning of the Universe – a priest?  Weren’t many of the Teachers of our Nation during the Turkish Occupation, such as: Eugene Bulgaris, Nikephoros Theotokis, Methodios Anthrakites, Benjamin of Lesvos, e.a., also the first teachers of positive sciences in our homeland, and at the same time priests?

On the other hand, there have been very important scientists who were also religious:  Keppler, Pascal, Newton, Leibnitz, Volta, Ampere, Gauss, Carrell, Faraday, Maxwell, Pasteur, Lister, Jung and so many others; all of them were exceptional scientists and at the same time people with deep religious faith.  Their science did not and does not negate their faith; in fact, one could say that it complemented it.  This is because scientists examine with their Science the natural and the empirical world, throughout Time, while with their faith and their prayers, they communicate with the “One Who Is” – the personal, Triadic God – and from Him, they draw their courage in their lives and their work.  When, in the course of his observations and his research, a scientist realizes the grandeur of Nature as a creation of Divine Providence, he does not necessarily have to respond with a display of conscience, crying out “How great are Your works, o Lord; You have created everything with wisdom” (Psalms). In view of this, the English Physicist Paul Davis wrote: “The fact that the natural laws of the universe have allowed the development of complex biological structures which have led to the appearance of conscience, to me constitutes obvious proof that there is something in nature that surpasses us. I am convinced that behind the miracle of the universe, there is a divinely-inspired plan”. (FOCUS magazine, as above)

The very significant scientist and studier of the human genome, Francis Collins, in his book “The Language of God” writes: “The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. He can be worshiped in the cathedral or in the laboratory." (http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0702/voices.html) -  Interview with John Horgan.

Furthermore, the English astronomer, prof. Smart, submitted the following thoughts: “When we study the Universe, we take into account its size and its regularity and are thence led to acknowledging a Creative Power and a Cosmic Purpose, which transcends all the boundaries of human comprehension.” (D.Kotsakis, “The astronomical Universe – Creation, or chance?”, Zoe publications, 1983, page 108).

But even the great mathematician Einstein wrote: “Every researcher of nature is overcome by a kind of religious awe in the presence of the order that prevails in nature, which cannot be a chance thing. The universe reveals to Man an unlimited superior intelligence.” (Ferdinand Krenzer, SYNOPSIS OF CATHOLIC FAITH, Spiritual Course Publications, p. 32-33).

The existence of the infinitely perfect God can in no way be proven by scientific means and much less can His essence be made known, because if that were the case, Man would have been perfect, and God imperfect.  God is not a cadaver laid out on an operating table for forensic examination; He is a Person – an actual, existent Person – with Whom we can come in contact and communicate.  The inability to logically prove the existence of God does not mean that God does not exist. It only means that our own intellect is not able to grasp the infinite God.  Intellectual logic functions under the same laws and the same infrastructure as Nature.  God, however, (as far as His Nature and His essence are concerned) is the “entirely Other”, when it comes to our cosmic laws. He cannot be comprehended with only our ideological and scientific capabilities. A scientist - devout or agnostic - but also every faithful Christian, can detect only the traces of His presence in the world; His Providence and His energies in Creation (His “circum-essence”), but not His essence per se – that is, His unfathomable depth.  God is not a unit, an individual atop a throne in the sky. He is the source of life; He is the meaning of “being” per se, and He is not revealed by anyone; instead, it is He who reveals Himself, through His uncreated energies, to the humble and the spiritually sound (=with a cleansed heart), in response to their prayers and their worship, whereas the self-opinioned mind usually requires God to adapt Himself to its own, personal theories, without that person displaying any humility whatsoever.  This is how an autonomized and obscured mind is, when it cannot see God’s things, because it is in a fallen state.  Obversely, salvation is attained through catharsis of the heart, through ascetic labor and the upholding of Christ’s commandments, through Whom and in Whose Person God revealed Himself and ever reveals Himself to the world.  Such is the experience of the Prophets, the Saints and the Fathers of the Church. And we Christians know in our hearts that this is the truth and the path that orientates us towards the personal, Triadic God.

Nowadays, Man has succeeded in placing Nature in his service through Science and Technology, which has given him the impression that this has made the presence of God redundant.  But the fact that someone can utilize electricity does not mean that he has actually created it.  For someone to solve a mathematical problem, he must follow the correct mathematical method for solving problems.  In order for an experiment to succeed in Chemistry, we must combine specific materials in correct proportions. In order for a piece of equipment to work, it must have the instructions of its manufacturer.  For someone to learn to dance, it is imperative that they follow the teacher’s steps.  To learn how to play a musical instrument, we need to understand the notes and acquire dexterity in our hands.  Thus, in order for one to attain faith, but also the state of seeing God (which is the only perfect, divine miracle), it is imperative that he follow, step by step, the guidelines of the Church (Christ’s guidelines), Who is the only one that can responsibly show us the way: that is, through humility, acts of love, sacramental living, ascesis and the orientation of one’s will towards God.  It is futile to ask “cerebrally” if God exists, if we haven’t first embarked on the road that leads directly to His own revelation of Himself.

Science mainly provides knowledge and the technological implementation of that knowledge, for the health and the well-being in people’s lives, while Theology –and especially the Church- provides psychosomatic therapy and salvation, sanctification and deification (theosis), through ascesis, sacramental life and love. The work, therefore, of the Church has a much broader spectrum than Science. And the genuine scientist or intellectual does not reject the miracle – should he encounter it in his life – because neither Intellect nor Science blocks the paths and the means of research, nor do they stagnate and crystallize into irrevocable recipes and solutions. Everyone has a right to declare himself an agnostic, however, he is betraying his quest and his very self, if he declares himself an atheist.  The truth may exist in the future of Science, but Christ always comes from the future as well - in some bend of our existential road - and never from the past. 

These two supreme magnitudes in people’s lives – Faith and Science – we can therefore discern as not being in conflict, but rather, that they are in a harmonious collaboration for mankind’s benefit.  In other words, they most definitely complement each other – especially in our day, when the problems that rear their heads are multilateral and in need of a multilateral handling.  If mankind wants to survive, it needs to be in a phase of synthesis and reconciliation, and not in a phase of unproductive confrontation and division. The future of our planet and our universe should concern us, and not the pseudo-advantageous pursuits of various representative individuals.

It is a fact, that wherever Religion is attacked by Science, that is where certain representatives of Science respond with ideological and metaphysical -and not scientific- warfare.

Science is neutral in its research. It should have no materialistic or theistic presuppositions during its search for the objective truth.

Hence, wherever Science’s work is made difficult by religious representatives of various confessions, that is where the role of Religion has become misunderstood and unorthodoxically interpreted.

Of course, it has by now become clear to scientists that each Science is not a kind of magic with unlimited potentials, nor does it claim to possess –without any weaknesses whatsoever- the extreme certainty, in an absolute knowledge, based on its findings.  Natural reality has many aspects, just like a building. And it has now become part of our conscience that the scientific view of the world and nature indicates only one of the many functions of the world.  Besides, the source of every knowledge is undoubtedly the faith in the potentials of that knowledge, even when our basic scientific beliefs are as yet unproven. Furthermore, every world theory is –deep down– an esoteric and religious one.  You begin from the point that you believe in, deep down inside you, and you continue on, with faith in the result.  Philosopher E. Block mentions:  “There are some knowledges that we cannot acquire, except only if we desire to” (Ferdinand Krenzer, as above, page 31). We must not forget that all scientists, during their work, daily put their trust in the positions and the research of others, of colleagues who have preceded them, without trying to prove everything, from the very beginning.  (see Chorepiskopos of Arsinoe George: RELIGION AND SCIENCE IN OUR DAYS, A Homily at the Union of “Friends of Saint Menignos the Cloth-dyer”, patron saint of Chemists, Athens 23.11.2003).

Given the above, collaboration is becoming evident in our day, on every level, between Science and Religion, and especially for us, between Science and Christianity.  Without Religion, Science stands only on one leg. This is because “every science, separated from virtue, appears as cunning and not as wisdom”, according to Saint Gregory the Theologian. In fact, humility is the only thing that can save Science from its self-sufficiency and its isolation, when it finally admits that it is aware of its boundaries and its limitations, and that it does not always have a ready answer to all the problems and questions in life.

Nobody can live with scientific knowledge alone.  Morality, meaning and quality of life, the perception of beauty, of sanctity, of everything lofty and just are equally necessary.  When the Third World and millions of our fellow-men are living below the levels of mere survival, they are most assuredly not interested in chromosomes, DNA, or the number of protons and neutrons that comprise the nucleus of their cells.  When someone is dying of hunger, he will not satisfy his hunger with quarks and sub-atomic particles. Christianity, Science and Technology are, for that reason, the servants and the deacons for the benefit of the world, especially in view of the rapid development of the bio-sciences and bio-technology, in the wake of the critical impasses that are encountered. The German Physics Nobelist, Max Planck, actually states that: “the paths of science and religion move parallel to each other, and they meet in the vast infinity, in other words, God.” (SCIENCE AND CHURCH, Archmandrite Timothy Kontoyannis, www.imlarisis.gr).

Subsequently, “Science and Technology are both instruments given by God, which, if used properly, will extend our potentials for the better… it is the misuse and not the temperate use of Science that causes harm. If, on the other hand, there are those who from the standpoint of Science…present themselves as atheists, they will need to remember that their atheism cannot be founded in Science, but will continue to be simply an existential placement on their part.... The relationship between Christianity and the Positive Sciences is a relationship of a common course, because all the factors that shape it are positive ones.” (Chorepiskopos of Arsinoe George, as above)

The dilemma therefore of “Science, or Faith?” is a pseudo-dilemma.

“Science and Faith” is the answer, for all time.

Translation by A. N.

You can see also the tags

PAGANISM

ATHEISM

 

PHILOSOPHY

 

Orthodox Churches in Thessaloniki

 

Agios Demetrios

Greeka.com

Thessaloniki offers many religious attractions among which are the abundant Byzantine churches found in the upper town and the wider region. Visitors have an opportunity to admire a thousand years of unique architecture and well-preserved monuments.

One of the closest churches to the town that still stands proudly to this day is Agia Sofia, the largest and most famous Byzantine church in Thessaloniki. It was built in the 8th century over the ruins of a paleo-Christian church that was destroyed from the earthquake. It used to be a Turkish mosque. Along with other churches from Istanbul [Contantinople], Agia Sofia represents the Byzantine architecture.

The church of Agios Dimitrios lies in the heart of the old town, on the homonymous street. It was initially a small Byzantine church built over the ruins of a Roman spa. Bishop Ioannis founded the five-aisled basilica and between 1493 and 1912 it was used as a Turkish mosque. In 1917, the church was entirely burned out and in 1949 it was completely renovated. Today it is one of the most famous pilgrimages in Greece and the patron saint of the town.

One of the most valuable examples of Byzantine architecture is the church of Panagia Chalkeon dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was founded in 1208 at the center of the town, near the ancient agora. It is well decorated with carved marble and well-preserved frescoes.

The 5th-century church of Panagia Achiropoitos is one of the best surviving monuments that exist in the city of Thessaloniki. It was the first Orthodox Church to be converted into a Turkish mosque. It hosts many beautiful frescoes from the 13th century and is open to the public.

The 14th century Church of Agios Nikolaos Orphanos is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and visitors are impressed by the surrounding environment and its well-decorated interior. Nearby is the monastery of Vlatadon, the only surviving monastery from the Byzantine era. It offers a breathtaking view to the entire town of Thessaloniki. Other churches in the town of Thessaloniki are Agios Panteleimonas, Agios Athanasios, Agios Antonios, and Agia Ekaterini.

 

Click on the titles:

Church of Agios Dimitrios

​ Egnatia

The church of Agios Dimitrios (Saint Demetrius) is the most famous in Thessaloniki and is dedicated to the city's patron saint. It dates back to the Byzantine Times and was built on the exact location of Saint Demetrius’ martyrdom.

Church of Agia Sofia

​ Egnatia

Located in the city center, this is among the most important churches of Thessaloniki. Built sometime around the 7th to 8th centuries, its design was influenced by the namesake grand church in Constantinople.

Church of Agios Nikolaos Orfanos

​ Old Town Ano Poli

The church of Agios Nikolaos Orfanos is one of the oldest in Thessaloniki. It was built in the 14th century and contains valuable frescoes from Byzantine times.

Church of Panagia Halkeon

​ Egnatia

On the southwest of the archaeological site of Roman Market, there is the Byzantine church of Panagia Chalkeon. Its name means "Virgin Mary of the Copper Smiths" in Greek, because of the many copper workshops that once resided in the area.

Monastery of Vlatadon

 

Old Town Ano Poli

Constructed in the 14th century, the Monastery of Vlatadon is one of the oldest and most historically important Byzantine Monuments in Thessaloniki, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

Church of the Holy Apostles

​ Town Centre

The church of the Holy Apostles is representative of the Palaiologian Era’s prosperity and art. Two chapels lie next to it.

Church of Profitis Elias

​ Old Town Ano Poli

Dated to the late 14th century, the Church of Profitis Ilias presents significant examples of Palaeologan-era architecture and art and has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Church of Panagia Acheropoietos

 

 

​ Egnatia

The Church of Panagia Acheropoietos is one of the city’s most important religious buildings. Despite the several reconstructions it has undergone, it remains one of the most well-preserved examples of early Byzantine architecture.

Church of Agios Gregorios Palamas

​ Egnatia

The church of Agios Gregorios Palamas is the Metropolitan church of Thessaloniki. Its basic architectural plan was designed by the eminent architect Ernst Ziller.

Church of Kyrillos and Methodios

​ Beach Promenade

This imposing church is located on the Waterfront of Thessaloniki. It is a large building reminiscent of the architecture of Eastern European Orthodox churches.

Church of Agia Aikaterini

​ Old Town Ano Poli

The church of Agia Aikaterini is a hidden gem in the western area of Ano Poli. Since 1988, it has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Monastery of Latomos

 

​ Old Town Ano Poli

The monastery of Latomos in Ano Poli is a paleochristian religious monument in Thessaloniki. An impressive fresco depicting the Vision of Ezekiel is found inside it.

Church of Ipapanti

​ Egnatia

The Church of Ipapanti houses beautiful icons representative of its long history, going back to the 10th century.

Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos

​ Egnatia

The Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. It houses an iconostasis with beautifully painted icons and a lovely icon of Mary holding infant Jesus.

Church of Agios Charalambos

​ Egnatia

The Church of Agios Charalambos dates to the early 20th century and is a dependency of the Monastery of Simonopetra of Mount Athos.

Church of Pammegistoi Taxiarches

​ Old Town Ano Poli

Founded in the 14th century, the Church of Pammegistoi Taxiarches saw many alterations throughout its lifetime. It is notably one of the only churches in Thessaloniki that presents Byzantine and neo-Byzantine architectural elements.

Church of Agios Panteleimon

​ Rotonda

The Church of Agios Panteleimon is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the city. It has been through a lot, yet restoration works have aided it to be preserved.

Church of Agios Minas

​ Town Centre

The church of Agios Minas is one of the oldest churches in the city. It has been through a lot of destruction, yet has maintained its design and beauty to a large extent.

Church of Agios Athanasios

 

​ Egnatia

Dated to the early 19th century, the Church of Agios Athanasios is a small, three-aisled basilica emblematic of post-Byzantine architecture.

Monastery of Agia Theodora

​ Town Centre

The Monastery of Agia Theodora is situated in the center of Thessaloniki. It has a long history behind it and is dedicated to Saint Theodora who resided and died there.

Church of Agios Antonios

​ Town Centre

The church of Agios Antonios has a charming exterior, with stone features and roof tiling. During the Ottoman occupation of Thessaloniki, it was used as a psychiatric asylum.

Church of Nea Panagia

​ Town Centre

This small church was built on the site of a Byzantine Monastery. Inside it, one can admire beautiful icons and ceiling paintings.

Church of Panagia Laodigitria

​ Old Town Ano Poli

The Church of Panagia Laodigitria was constructed in the 14th century and renovated in the 19th century. It presents wonderful architecture and houses the miraculous icon of Panagia Tricherousa.

Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus

​ Egnatia

The Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture in the city and a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site.

 

From Ancient Hellenic to Romeiko Civilization

 

Ioannis Kon. Neonakis
Head of the Romeosyne Policy Department of NIKI

ΝΙΚΙ 

The transition of our Genos (sic) from Ancient Hellenic to Romeiko civilization constitutes a pivotal development in the historical course of our people. Countless scholars across generations have concerned themselves with this transition. Here we shall simply mention eminent contemporary thinkers, such as the late Professors Fr. John Romanides, Fr. George Metallinos, Christos Yannaras, as well as the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios, Fr. Hierotheos Vlachos.

All human communities, sooner or later, are led to an inevitable, foundational regulation of relationships and modes of life, aimed at satisfying innate needs (nutrition, pleasure, health, security, companionship, religion, etc.). The concept of need is broad. It is not limited to the bodily sphere but extends also to the psychic dimension. The instinctive search for the divine, for example, and the consequent formation of religion by man, which psychologically secures the individual, belongs to this same cycle of need and its satisfaction. Communities formed for the purpose of meeting needs thus shape what may be called “societies of necessity.”

Over the course of history, and depending on particular parameters (power structures, political systems, division of labor, technological development, education, artistic cultivation, etc.), countless variations of this model have emerged. Yet their central axis and primary objective remains the individual and the satisfaction of his needs. The more impersonal the individual becomes and the greater the uniformity achieved within such a society, the more effectively regulation, control, and systemic equilibrium are ensured. Despite the significant achievements of such societies (primarily in technological advancement or artistic production), the greatest good one may hope to attain—rarely realized—is merely well-being: that is, the orderly and uninterrupted satisfaction of individual needs. And yet this is the limit. Such a society can never existentially liberate itself from the oppressive bondage of necessity, nor escape the darkness of corruption and the ultimate tyranny of transience and death.

Standing as an exception in its time, ancient Hellenism—after centuries of historical maturation—managed to approach, if only briefly, imperfectly, and fragmentarily, another mode of existence: another kind of society, described by ancient thought and by modern thinkers alike as the “society of the true,” or alternatively as a “relation-centered communitarian civilization.” Here, the primary axis of life was no longer the satisfaction of needs but rather the relationship between persons, the safeguarding of otherness, and the harmonious integration of persons into a novel body: the Ecclesia, understood as a mode of living and illumination of relationship. The Ecclesia of the Demos was not merely an electoral assembly, but a way of life and a manifestation of relationship as the supreme value. The healing of need was not abandoned but was integrated into the service of preserving and elevating personal communion. Though imperfect, this civilization of relationship fertilized the Hellenic soul and rendered it fertile ground for further developments.

What the Hellenic intellect had long awaited was fulfilled—indeed fulfilled in perfection—when the God of the Christians was revealed to the Hellenic world. For this God bestowed upon the Hellenic soul the two things it most deeply desired: freedom from all necessity and an inconceivable model of personal communion. This God possesses an incomprehensible freedom, subject to no limitation. His Incarnation constitutes a transcendence of nature itself, while His Resurrection constitutes liberation from the ultimate necessity of death. Yet most astonishing of all is this: this God is not merely a person who has relationships; He Himself is relationship. The God of the Christians is defined as relationship—indeed, as relationship of ecstatic love: an indivisible, loving, ontological unity of three persons (“without division”), without confusion or absorption of otherness (“without confusion”). The Hellenes received this God with joy and were intoxicated with the “sober intoxication” of revelatory light. They tasted and celebrated the endless feast of the ecclesial event and sought, as far as they were able, to shape their relationships—both individually and collectively—according to the Trinitarian mode of “without confusion and without division.” Thus Hellenism evolved into a new way of life, into a new Hellenicity, into a new civilization: that of Romeosyne.

Much could be written concerning the specific elements and axes that constitute what we describe as Hellenic identity across time—elements of the “society of relationship” which existed in embryonic form within ancient life and found their full meaning and fulfillment within Orthodoxy. Here we shall confine ourselves to a concise presentation of certain central axes, using the formulation of the late Professor Fr. George Metallinos.

(a) A foundational element of Hellenic identity is religiosity as theocentricity. The Hellene is a theocentric being. He lives in constant reference to God. The Hellene was never atheist; rather, he always engaged in an unceasing quest for the true God. From Homeric times, the divine element permeates every aspect of daily life. This is precisely what led Saint Paul to describe the Athenians as “most religious,” that is, most reverent.

(b) The second element is ethics as humanism. Hellenic civilization affirms the human person, recognizes him, and honors him. Despite its shortcomings, it does not possess a racist spirit. It continually seeks truth and virtue, presenting moral exemplars and striving to educate toward the “good and noble.” It offers powerful paradigms of virtue, such as Antigone, who nearly touches Christianity itself.

(c) Simultaneously, Hellenism manifests a consciousness of the unity and universality of life. The Hellene affirms life in its entirety—all its dimensions, earthly and heavenly. He rejects nothing. This is what he would later proclaim more fully as a Christian: “Let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life unto Christ our God.” It is the affirmation and sanctification of life in its unbroken and ongoing journey.

(d) Hellenic civilization also possesses a profound awareness of the limits of human reason. It knows that human reason and human capacities are finite. Any transgression of these limits is understood as hubris. Hellenism never accepted any form of absolutized rationalism or the absolutization of reason. The absolutization of reason—or even further, the absolutization of efficiency (to use a modern term)—which today has been elevated to supreme value, is regarded by Hellenic civilization as deviation and dead end. This understanding would later be expressed most fully by the great Cappadocian Fathers and by Saint Gregory Palamas. Human wisdom is clearly distinguished from divine wisdom. The created can analyze only the created. The uncreated is revealed only within divine grace. The God of the Christians is not grasped intellectually but reveals Himself freely within the salvific body of the Church.

(e) A central place in Hellenic civilization is held by the communal understanding and communal experience of truth. Heraclitus expressed that truth is realized through participation. The Hellene has always believed that only by sharing—both his goods and his very being—does he live in truth. This is expressed among others in warmth of manner, joy of coexistence, philotimo, and the proverbial Greek hospitality.

(f) A sine qua non characteristic of Hellenicity is its powerful capacity for assimilation and transformation. Hellenism not only affirms otherness but rapidly absorbs and creatively transforms whatever the outside world offers—ideas, goods, structures. One recalls here Chrysostom’s phrase: “What is not assumed is not healed.” Historically, however, Hellenism assimilated only those elements compatible with its identity and tradition, elements that would not distort its unique character. Tragically, over the past two centuries, serving foreign interests, the political and academic elite imposed institutions that not only fail to correspond to our identity but actively oppose it, gravely distorting the people’s innate sense of authenticity.

(g) Finally, we mention the universality of Hellenism. Hellenicity is not confined to the artificial borders of a protectorate-state or Balkan province, as some seek to impose. It is a soteriological reality that concerns every human person. But this reception must be mature—within freedom, love, and light—not an imposed, chaotic “multiculturalism” engineered deceitfully by the rulers of this dark age. Hellenism united with all peoples partially through the light of the Hellenic spirit, and fully through the uncreated light of the eternal Pentecost, with Christ Himself as Shepherd. From the incomplete universality of Alexander the Great to the true universality of Saint Paul and Constantine the Great. From ancient Hellenicity to the new Hellenicity: Romeosyne.

 

A Modern Lent

 

 

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Fr. Stephen Freeman / Glory 2 God for all things 

Few things are as difficult in the modern world as fasting. It is not simply the action of changing our eating habits that we find problematic – it’s the whole concept of fasting and what it truly entails. It comes from another world.

We understand dieting – changing how we eat in order to improve how we look or how we feel. But changing how we eat in order to know God or to rightly keep a feast of the Church – this is foreign. Our first question is often, “How does that work?” For we live in a culture of utility – we want to know the use of things. Underneath the question of utility is the demand that something make sense to me, and that I be able to ultimately take charge of it, use it as I see fit and shape it according to my own desires. Perhaps the fast could be improved?

Our modern self-understanding sees people primarily as individual centers of choice and decision. A person is seen as the product of their choices and decisions – our lives are self-authenticated. As such, we are managers.

Of course there are many problems with this world-view from the perspective of Classical Christianity. Though we are free to make choices and decisions, our freedom is not unlimited. The largest part of our lives is not self-determined. Much of the rhetoric of modernity is aimed towards those with wealth and power. It privileges their stories and mocks the weakness of those without power with promises that are rarely, if ever, fulfilled.

Our lives are a gift from God and not of our own making. The Classical Christian spiritual life is not marked by choice and self-determination: it is characterized by self-emptying and the way of the Cross.

When a modern Christian confronts the season of Lent – the question often becomes: “What do I want to give up for Lent?” The intention is good, but the question is wrong. Lent quickly becomes yet another life-choice, a consumer’s fast.

The practice of the traditional fast has been greatly diminished over the past few centuries. The Catholic Church has modified its requirements and streamlined Lenten fasting (today it includes only abstaining from meat on the Fridays of Lent – which makes them similar to all the other Fridays of the year). The Protestant Churches that observe the season of Lent offer no formal guidelines for Lenten practice. The individual is left on their own.

Orthodoxy continues to have in place the full traditional fast, which is frequently modified in its application (the “rules” themselves are generally recognized as written for monastics). It is essentially a vegan diet (no meat, fish, wine, dairy). Some limit the number of meals and their manner of cooking. Of course, having the fast in place and “keeping the fast” are two very different things. I know of no study on how Orthodox in the modern world actually fast. My pastoral experience tells me that people generally make a good effort.

Does any of this matter? Why should Christians in the modern world concern themselves with a traditional practice?

What is at stake in the modern world is our humanity. The notion that we are self-authenticating individuals is simply false. We obviously do not bring ourselves into existence – it is a gift. And the larger part of what constitutes our lives is simply a given – a gift. It is not always a gift that someone is happy with – we would like ourselves to be other than we are. But the myth of the modern world is that we, in fact, do create ourselves and our lives – our identities are imagined to be of our own making. We are only who we choose to be. It is a myth that is extremely well-suited for undergirding a culture built on consumption. Identity can be had at a price. The wealthy have a far greater range of identities available to them – the poor are largely stuck with being who they really are.

But the only truly authentic human life is the one we receive as a gift from God. The spirituality of choice and consumption under the guise of freedom is an emptiness. The identity we create is an ephemera, a product of imagination and the market. The habits of the marketplace serve to enslave us – Lent is a call to freedom.

A Modern Lent

Thus, a beginning for a modern Lent is to repent from the modern world itself. By this, I mean renouncing the notion that you are a self-generated, self-authenticating individual. You are not defined by your choices and decisions, much less by your career and your shopping. You begin by acknowledging that God alone is Lord (and you are not). Your life has meaning and purpose only in relation to God. The most fundamental practice of such God-centered living is the giving of thanks.

• Renounce trying to improve yourself and become something. You are not a work in progress. If you are a work – then you are God’s work. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in” (Eph 2:10).
• Do not plan to have a “good Lent” or imagine what a “good Lent” would be. Give up judging – especially judging yourself. Get out of the center of your world. Lent is not about you. It is about Christ and His Pascha.
• Fast according to the Tradition instead of according to your own ideas and designs. This might be hard for some if they are not part of the traditional Church and thus have no fasting tradition. Most Catholics have differing rules for fasting than the Orthodox. If you’re Catholic, fast like a Catholic. Don’t admire other people’s fasting.

If you’re Protestant but would like to live more traditionally, think about becoming Orthodox. Short of that, covenant with others (family, friends) to keep the traditional fast. Don’t be too strict or too lenient, and if possible keep the fast in a manner that is mutually agreed rather than privately designed. Be accountable but not guilty.

• Pray. Fasting without praying is called “the Fast of Demons,” because demons never eat, but they never pray. We fast as a means of drawing closer to God. Your fasting and your prayer should be balanced as much as possible. If you fast in a strict manner, then you should pray for extended periods. If you fast lightly, then your prayers may be lighter as well. The point is to be single – for prayer and fasting to be a single thing.
• To our prayer and fasting should be added mercy (giving stuff away, especially money). You cannot be too generous. Your mercy should be as invisible as possible to others, except in your kindness to all. Spend less, give away more.

Eating, drinking, praying and generosity are very natural activities. Look at your life. How natural is your eating? Is your diet driven by manufactured, processed foods (especially as served in restaurants and fast food places)? These can be very inhuman ways of eating. Eating should take time. It is not a waste of time to spend as much as six hours in twenty-four preparing, sharing, eating and cleaning up. Even animals take time to eat.

• Go to Church a lot more (if your Church has additional Lenten services, go to them). This can be problematic for Protestants, in that most Protestant worship is quite modern, i.e. focused on the individual rather than directed to God, well-meant but antithetical to worship. If your Church isn’t boring, it’s probably modern. This is not to say that Classical Christianity is inherently boring – it’s just experienced as such by people trained to be consumers. Classical Christianity worships according to Tradition and focuses its attention on God. It is not there for you to “get something out of it.”
• Entertain yourself less. In traditional Orthodox lands, amusements are often given up during the Lenten period. This can be very difficult for modern people in that we live to consume and are thus caught in a cycle of pain and pleasure. Normal pleasures such as exercise or walking are not what I have in mind – although it strikes me as altogether modern that there should be businesses dedicated to helping us do something normal (like walking or exercising), such that even our normal activities become a commodity to consume.
• Fast from watching/reading the news and having/expressing opinions. The news is not presented in order to keep you informed. It is often inaccurate and serves the primary purpose of political propaganda and consumer frenzy. Neither are good for the soul. Opinions can be deeply destructive to the soul’s health. Most opinions are not properly considered, necessary beliefs. They are passions that pass themselves off as thoughts or beliefs. The need to express them reveals their passionate nature. Though opinions are a necessary part of life – they easily come to dominate us. Reducing the need to express how we feel about everything that comes our way (as opposed to silently weighing and considering and patiently speaking what we know to be true) is an important part of ascesis and self-control.

I could well imagine that a modern person, reading through such a list, might feel overwhelmed and wonder what is left. What is left is being human. That so much in our lives is not particularly human but an ephemeral distraction goes far to explain much of our exhaustion and anxiety. There is no food  for us in what is not human.

And so the words of Isaiah come to mind:

Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isa 55:1-2).

“Let your soul delight itself in fatness…” the irony of Lent.