Western Rite Orthodoxy: Saint Willibrord, Apostle of the Frisons, of Holland, Zeeland, Flanders and Brabant(739+)

Πέμπτη 29 Μαρτίου 2012

Saint Willibrord, Apostle of the Frisons, of Holland, Zeeland, Flanders and Brabant(739+)

The Saint was born in Northumbria in England around 638. At the age of seven he was sent to the monastery at Ripon for education under St Wilfrid (April 24), the abbot.

At the age of twenty he travelled to Ireland to live among the holy monks of that land; he spent twelve years there as the spiritual child of St Egbert (also April 24).

In 690 St Egbert sent Willibrord as head of a company of twelve monks to take the Gospel to the pagan lands around Frisia.

The holy missionary first went to Rome to receive the blessing of Pope Sergius, then with his fellow-monks preached the Gospel throughout Holland and Zeeland.

In 695 Pope Sergius consecrated Willibrord Archbishop of Utrecht, instructing him to organize the Church throughout that area.

As Archbishop, Willibrord continued to labor tirelessly for the spread of the Gospel in those pagan lands; his missionary travels took him as far as Denmark.

He reposed in peace in 739 at Echternach Monastery (located in present-day in Luxembourg), having served for forty-four years as a bishop and for most of his life as a monastic. His tomb soon became a place of pilgrimage.

Kontakion, First Tone

With wreaths of praise let us crown the glorious Willibrord as a luminary who shone forth, a herald who proclaimed the glad tidings of the triune God, an unshakable pillar of the Orthodox Church, and the merciful intercessor for the Low Lands, who abolished the demonic worship of idols therein, and who prayeth to Christ God, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy.

Oikos:

Thou shonest forth in a heathen land as a beacon of holiness, a brilliant lamp of grace, a light shining in the wilderness with the grace of God; wherefore, we who honor thy memory cry aloud unto thee: Rejoice, O holy hierarch, who didst increase in sanctity from thy youth; rejoice, thou who wast vigilant in all things with a good conscience! Rejoice, O most lauded luminary of Christ; rejoice, thou who didst teach all to keep the commandments of God! Rejoice, thou who didst shine forth like the sun, from the West even unto the North; rejoice, thou who, seeing the Frisians languishing in demonic idolatry, didst piously yearn for their conversion to the Faith of Christ! Rejoice, O ever-memorable wonderworker; rejoice, healer of souls and bodies! Rejoice, O Willibrord who art unceasing in thine entreaties to the Lord, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy!

(Source: http://www.abbamoses.com/months/november.html

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Western Orthodox Church

THE PRE-SCHISM ORTHODOX SAINTS WHO EVANGELIZED WESTERN EUROPE & THE SCANDINAVIAN LANDS

The Western Europe in our Holy Orthodox Faith, in the person of all the Saints who had evangelized its inhabitants during the first millennium A.D., is the only secure foundation upon which European unity should be built and continued.

Orthodoxy is that form of Christianity which gives right glory or right worship to God the Holy Trinity. Orthodoxy is the Christian Church, in succession to the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Priests of the Old Testament, which was founded by our Lord Jesus Christ when He Ordained His Apostles and sent the Holy Spirit upon the faithful gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost. The followers of the Way were first called Christians at Antioch; and the Christians were first called Catholics in a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch in about the year AD 98. The Orthodox are the original Christians, the first Catholics, the Church of the Apostles, and the Community of the New Testament.The Western Churches, including that of Rome, were part of the unity of Orthodoxy through the whole of the first 1,000 years. Rome only separated from the unity of the church by making extraordinary claims for the earthly powers of her patriarch (Pope) at the beginning of the 11th century and completed the break with the Orthodox by the 13th century. The usual date of the great schism is given as AD 1054. The ancient churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople are all Orthodox. About 250 million people now living are members of the Orthodox churches around the world with about 5 million in the USA.The Orthodox Church is universal (catholic), has Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Laity, and a rich Monastic life with Communities of Monks and of Nuns in nearly every country. Most Priests and Deacons are married. Bishops are not married because they are elevated from celebate monastic life for the most part.

Western Rite Orthodoxy or Western Orthodoxy or Orthodox Western Rite are terms used to describe congregations and groups which are in communion with Eastern Orthodox Churches using traditional Western liturgies rather than adopting Eastern liturgies such as the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. While there are some ancient examples of Western Rite churches in areas predominantly using the Byzantine Rite (the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Latins, often referred to as Amalfi, is a common example), the history of the movement is often considered to begin in the nineteenth century with the life and work of Julius Joseph Overbeck. Less commonly, Western Orthodoxy refers to the Western Church before the Great Schism.

Currently, there are Western Rite parishes within the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) as part of the ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America as a part of the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate (AWRV). Western Rite parishes are found almost exclusively in countries with large Roman Catholic or Protestant majorities. Among the Old Calendarists, there is currently only one jurisdiction using Western Rites. There are also numerous devotional societies and publishing ventures related to the Western Rite. Despite having a place within many Orthodox jurisdictions, the Western Rite remains a contentious issue for some.