The creation of an icon: From an iconographer's studio to the church

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How did the saints earn a living?

A fisherman and a tax collector

It is widely known that before the Descent of the Holy Spirit the apostles were fishermen and thus they earned money for a living. However, not all of them were, as there was also a tax collector among them - Apostle Matthew. At that time such people were referred to as the publicans and were not especially liked by other people.

A craftsman

Apostle Paul was taught to make tents (Acts, 18:3). Before his conversion to Christianity, he was going to become a rabbi. According to the Jewish law, a rabbi could not take money for teaching Torah, and that is why he had to find another way to earn money. Later, when Apostle Paul started to preach the Gospel, he continued to make tents, so that he would not burden the Christian community with the needs for bare necessities. The same rule was intact at the dawn of monasticism. Every hermit had to care about his subsistence himself, making floor mats, baskets or any other basketry for sale. That is how Makarius the Great (300-391), Abba Agathon (the second part of the 4^th century), Abba Pimen and many others lived.

A farmer

Saint Philaretos (700-792) lived in the Byzantine Empire and was quite rich. He owned fields, vineyards and large herds of cattle. A lot of people had an opportunity to work on his plantations. He had only one “weakness” – love towards other people. He could not help but give money to those people who were in need.

Once a misfortune happened to him. The army of Osman devastated his lands, took all his cattle and slaves, which lead to a sudden life of poverty for him and his family. Saint Philaretos endured that trial with great firmness, thanking God for everything and helping the other people, despite the fact he was now poor himself. At that time, the emperor sent his messengers all over the Empire, so that they would find a bride for him. One of them came to Saint Philaretos’ house, where he was generously welcomed. The servant of the emperor was pleased by such a warm welcome and asked Philaretos to show him his granddaughters. Soon Maria, the eldest one, became the emperor’s wife. The Saint was invited to the emperor’s palace and received honor and wealth. The Saint ordered to organize a great feast, on which he called all the poor people of the capital. Right before his death, Saint Philaretos asked to give all his wealth to charity. By the example of his own life the Saint showed us how we can better “invest” our money.

A businessman

Few know the story of Innocent Sibiryakov (1860-1901), the millionaire-monk and gold industry entrepreneur. He was born in Irkutsk in a rich family and recieved a large inheritance, which allowed him to do active charity work. Innocent Sibiryakov opened libraries, helped children from poor families to get an education, invested money in researches and scientific laboratories, helped monasteries and built hospitals. With his money it became possible to build the St. Andrew’s Cathedral at St. Andrew Skete on Athos.

Despite the fact Saint Innocent contributed large sums of money, he did not just waste his parents’ money, but augmented it. Before he went to Athos to became a monk, he owned a 10 million ruble fortune, although he had inherited only 900 thousand from his parents. On November 6, 1901, the millionaire and schemamonk Innocent Sibiryakov passed away on the Holy Mountain after unction and recieving Communion. After his death people began to venerate him as a local saint. Today the Russian Orthodox Church is discussing the issue of his canonization.

A fund manager

Saint John of Kronstadt, who was well-known all over the Russian Empire even while alive, “earned” money due to his own reputation. Rich people from the whole country came to him to thank the wonder-worker. Father John had an unusual plan how to realize his capital – he just handed out his money. One of the Saint’s contemporaries, General Ivanov-Lutsevin, witnessed once that a woman came to Father John and asked for help. He answered that he had nothing. At the exact moment someone gave him a package with money, and Father John gave it to the woman without hesitation. Later it was discovered, that the amount given was in the sum of 5,000 rubles (today this sum equals 10,000 USD). According to the stories of other eyewitnesses, Father John handed out about 150,000 rubles per year. Besides, Saint John of Kronstadt was the founder of the first organization dealt with the development of people in the workforce, rehabilitation, education and charity in Russia. Any person in need could get help there, regardless of the person's religious beliefs. This was a non profit organization where with the exception of the proceeds from sales of the various goods such as twines, ropes, hammocks, mattresses, packages and boxes, the only other income of the organization came from private donations. It is known, that Father John invested about 40,000 rubles of his own money, every year.

A surgeon

Saint Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky) (1877-1961) earned money with his own hands and mind. With his hands he operated on people as a general surgeon (usually he did that free), and with his mind he made discoveries in the sphere of medicine. During World War II, two of his science works were published - “The Study of Purulent Surgery” and “The Late Reactions of the Infected Ballistic Wounds of the Joints”. Those two works brought the saint a special financial grant of the 1^st degree which amounted to 200,000 ruble. From the total sun he recieved the saint donated 130,000 rubles to help injured children.

Source: http://foma.ru/kak-svyatyie-zarabatyivali-dengi.html

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The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

The Gospel reading for the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday before Christmas is "the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham", taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. This genealogy lists the generations of people from Abraham to David, to the Babylonian captivity of the people of Israel, to the birth of Jesus. It is a selected genealogy, ending in the appearance of "Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ" (Matthew, 1:16). It differs from the genealogy presented in St. Luke's Gospel, which begins with Jesus "being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph", and goes back all the way not simply to Abraham but to Adam (Luke, 3:23-38).

There are many purposes for presenting the genealogy of Jesus in the gospels, chief among which is the affirmation that Jesus, being in truth the Son of God, as all the gospels testify, has come "in the flesh" as a real human being. This affirmation was critically important in the time of the apostles and the first Christian generations because, unlike today, the temptation of the early period of Christianity was not to deny Jesus' divinity, but to deny His real and authentic humanity.

As a matter of historical fact, the first Christian heretics were those who said that Jesus was some sort of divine being (how this was explained had many variations and versions) who only appeared to be a true man, but was not really one since "flesh and blood" were taken to be intrinsically degrading if not downright evil. Thus the apostle Paul had to insist that in Jesus, who belongs to the Jews "according to the flesh" (Romans, 9:5), the "whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians, 2:9), and that it is the same Jesus who died and was buried and raised in the flesh as a real man, who is Messiah and Lord. […]

The genealogies in the gospels of Saints Matthew and Luke are made to and from Joseph. This is not to give the impression that Jesus came from Joseph's seed. Both gospels are absolutely clear on this point. Jesus is born from the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. The point is rather that Joseph is Jesus' father according to the law, and it is from the father that one's lawful descent is to be traced. Jesus' legal father is "Joseph, son of David", the legal husband of Mary (Matthew, 1:20).

One other important point is made in listing the human generations which led to the birth of Jesus. This is the fact that God is faithful to His promises even though His chosen people are often not faithful. Among the people from whom Jesus came are both sinners and heathens. In a word, Jesus comes not only from the righteous and holy, but from the wicked and sinful. And He comes not only from Jews, but from Gentiles. The names of the four women specifically mentioned in St. Matthew's list - Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba) - were noted, not to say notorious, Gentiles, including one of David's own wives, the mother of Solomon. The point to be seen here is one beautifully made in an early Christian hymn quoted in the Bible in the second letter to Timothy:

If we have died with Him,

we shall also live with Him;

If we endure,

we shall also reign with Him;

If we deny Him,

He also will deny us;

If we are faithless,

He remains faithful –
for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy, 2:11-13)

This is the wonderful witness of the genealogies of Jesus: If we are faithless, the Lord God remains faithful – for he cannot deny Himself!

Behold, the time of our salvation is at hand.

Prepare yourself, O cavern,

For the Virgin approaches to give birth to her Son.

Be glad and rejoice, O Bethlehem, land of Judah,

For from you our Lord shines forth as the dawn.

Give ear, you mountains and hills

And all lands surrounding Judea,

For Christ is coming to save the people

Whom He has created and whom He loves.

An excerpt from "The Winter Pascha", by Fr. Thomas Hopko

Source: http://www.antiochian.org/node/18658

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Two homes for the homeless

The Sisterhood provides rehabilitation for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. In addition to that, we help the homeless or recently released prisoners. There is a rehabilitation centre for men since 2000 in v. Lysaja Hara 19 miles from Minsk. Approx. 200 brothers stay here under the monastic sisters’ supervision. The Convent supplies them with everything they need: clothes, food, and medications. The men are busy looking after cattle and growing various crops. They also work in several workshops. A priest comes to talk with the brothers every week. They attend a Liturgy every Saturday and take part in religious education classes on Sundays. A church in honour of the Inexhaustible Chalice icon of the Mother of God was consecrated in the rehabilitation centre in 2010. Four of the brothers took monastic vows on that day.

More and more people keep coming to the rehabilitation centre. Today we need to build a new dormitory for more people. We also plan to build new workshops and service buildings and supply them with tools and equipment.

We opened a similar rehabilitation centre for women in 2011 near v. Višnieŭka, nine miles from Minsk. Women who have come up against difficult situations can find shelter here. Among them are those who were released from jail, lost their homes, their relatives and jobs, abandoned by their husbands with small children. They work in the garden, do handicrafts, look after chickens, rabbits, and goats. The female residents of this rehabilitation centre do everything with prayer.

There used to be a church in honour of St Sergius of Radonezh on the territory of this rehabilitation centre. Long ago, it was destroyed by fire. Currently, Liturgies are celebrated in its basement. Many of the sisters see the texts of prayers and read Gospel for the first time in their lives. They get baptised and take part in the Sacraments of the Church. It supports them spiritually as they struggle with sins and helps them to recover.

Marina who lives in this rehabilitation centre says, “The Convent is the life-saver. You see, there are many of us here, and each one of us has some character traits that others might not like. The only thing that matters is that I live with God now. If I went off this track, where would I be? In jail again. But here I can control myself a little bit.”

The sisters dream of building a new church on the foundation of the old one. They pray to St Sergius of Radonezh daily and ask everyone to help them to build the new church and to improve the rehabilitation centre.