Martyr Moment: The Venerable Father Maximus the Greek

 

Maximos [1556] was born Michael Tivolis in 1470. In his early youth he traveled to Italy, where many scholars had fled to preserve Hellenic culture despite the fall of Constantinople. After completing his studies in Florence, he went to the Holy Mountain in 1507 and entered Vatopedi Monastery, where he received the name of Maximos. Ten years later he was sent to Russia in answer to a request of Grand Prince Basil Ivanovich, who sought someone to translate works of the Holy Fathers on the Psalter, as well as other Church books, into Slavonic. Maximos completed this work with such success that he was made to stay in Russia to correct the existing translations (from Greek to Slavonic) of the Scriptures and liturgical books, and to preach. His work aroused the jealousy of some native monks, and Maximos was falsely accused of plotting against the Prince. In 1525 he was condemned as a heretic by a church court and banished to the Monastery of Volokolamsk, where he lived as a prisoner, not only suffering cold and extreme physical privation but being denied Holy Communion and the use of books.

One day an angel appeared to him and said 'Have patience: You will be delivered from eternal torment by sufferings here below.' In thanks for this divine comfort, St Maximus wrote a canon to the Holy Spirit on the walls of his cell in charcoal, since he was denied the use of paper and pen. (This canon is sung on Pentecost Monday in some Russian and Serbian Monasteries). Six years later he was tried again and condemned to indefinite imprisonment in chains at a monastery in Tver. Happily, the Bishop of Tver supported him, and he was able to continue his theological work and carry on a large correspondence despite his confinement. He endured these grim conditions for twenty years.

Toward the end of his life, he was finally freed by the Tsar in response to pleas on his behalf by the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria and the intervention of pious Russian nobles. He was received with honor in Moscow, and allowed to carry on his theological work at the Lavra. The Tsar Ivan IV came to honor him highly, partly because the Saint had foretold the death of the Tsar's son. When the Tsar called a Church Council to fight the doctrines of some who had brought the Calvinist heresy into Russia, he asked St Maximos to attend. Too old and weak to travel, the Saint sent a brilliant refutation of the heresy to the Council; this was his last written work.

He reposed in peace in 1556, aged eighty-six. Not long after his death, he was glorified by the Church in Greece as a Holy Confessor and 'Enlightener of Russia.'

Martyr Moment: The Venerable Father Maximos the Confessor

Maximos [662] was born to a noble family in Constantinople in 580. (But, according to a recently-discovered account, he may have been born in Palestine.) He showed uncommon piety and depth of theological understanding from an early age, and wrote some of the Church's most profound theological works. He became the chief secretary of the Emperor Heraclius and his grandson Constans. But when the Monothelite heresy took hold in the royal court, Maximos could not bear to be surrounded by this error and left for the Monastery at Chrysopolis, where he later became abbot.

From the monastery, he battled Monothelitism in homilies and treatises that exercised a considerable influence; so much so that the Emperor Constans ordered him either to accept Monothelite belief or keep silence. Maximos refused to do either, and he was arrested. His tongue was torn out, his right hand cut off, and he was sentenced to exile. He died of his wounds and torments while still in prison awaiting deportation, at the age of eighty-two, in the year 662.

 The Great Horologion comments that "at that time only he and his few disciples were Orthodox in the East." Nonetheless, his lonely and costly stand, whose fruit he did not see in his own lifetime, preserved the Orthodox Faith when emperors and patriarchs alike had fallen away.

Saint Maximos' right hand is venerated today at the Monastery of St Paul on Mt Athos.

Soccer Moms Run The World

 

"There is more power in a mother's hand than in a King's scepter." -Billy Sunday

A mother is one who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.. A mother is uniquely designed to think of the future and the consequences of actions taken, because they give birth to those who will inherit them.. Moms will determine the rise and fall of emperors, empires, and mask mandates.. 

Every single soldier in a ruler's army was raised by a mother. They create the population, and they determine its obedience. They hold the keys to power, whether or not we want to admit it or speak it out loud.

"Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons." -Napoleon Bonaparte

Those who raise the youth, control the future.. Which is why mothers have more power in the home than nobility have over their lands. The might of the mother is beyond measure, but they fail to rule over principalities directly as they tend to lack a cohesive, organized, united front. However, when the mothers can agree on particular issues or agendas, there is almost nothing a crown or congress can do to stop them from implementing the change they choose or even demand.

The ruling class loses control over the masses when they lose the will of the soccer moms.. 

The Wuhan Flu would have been a temporary news story or just another internet conspiracy theory if enough moms did not buy into it. If the fear had not resonated enough with them to take the supposed outbreak of a virus seriously then there would be no masks worn, no lockdowns, no massive spike in amazon deliveries or door dash orders. The mothers of the western world decided to buy into the fear campaigns, deeming the stated pandemic as a credible threat to lives, and the resulting irrational reactions caused a "new normal" for the rest of us.

The soccer moms were hooked into the presented narrative by the manufactured toilet paper shortages in March of 2020. These mothers could physically see with their own eyes the empty shelves when shopping at grocery stores, and reacted by choosing to not take their kids to school or soccer practice for a few weeks.. Of course those 14 days to flatten the curve turned into weeks, then months, and now we are approaching the 1 year anniversary of "stop the spread" and the total upheaval of our society. The moms caused massive societal changes by just agreeing to comply with the fear campaigns on their screens and taking action to protect their children. Weak fathers and the children were led into obeying the matriarchs as they chose to submit to the nonsense coming out of our screens. 

The mothers did not cause the Kung Flu. However, their reactions to it caused unprecedented and unimaginable changes on the macro level.. The fallout of which is going to be costly, damaging, destructive, and even deadly for many years to come.

As we head into this new year and towards another societal shifting situation, the opinions and actions taken by these same moms could determine the future/existence of our civilization.. 

Rigged election or not, it appears to have been stolen by tens of millions of American citizens. Whether the democrats truly did steal this election or not, if the soccer moms perceive it to be so then they will act accordingly. Somebody will assume power over this nation next week, and the opinions of the mothers will determine how smooth that transition will be.

The opinions and actions taken by the moms in these upcoming few weeks and months will likely determine the destiny of our nation.  A global super power could be toppled, world wars could break out, a great economic reset could emerge, or we could just return to our normal lives..

But whatever happens in these coming days, the influence of the matriarchs over the outcome will not be discussed, highlighted, or even mentioned on your screens. For the true might of the mom is often hidden or disguised by the ruling class.. They don't want these moms to realize their true power and influence over the entire population. Our rulers seek to keep the mothers divided on and distracted from issues that matter, vocal and activated when it helps to push their own agendas, and always left unaware of the threat that they truly pose to the institutions of power. 

If the democrats can't find a way to convince the soccer moms and Karens that this election was in fact legitimate, and that a Biden/Harris administration is going to pave the way for a better future for their children, then the leftists are headed for some major road-blocks and even outright revolution. Good luck out there!

"Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws." -Barbara Kingsolver