islam

"The work of the Church is not exclusively to battle with heretics [and heresies - like Islam, and those who say Muslims worship the same True God as we do], but also to train the faithful so that at the appropriate moment they might become confessors of Christ and martyrs out of their love for Him..." See also: Perfected by the Sword - The Way of Martyrdom in Our Times, by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos Posted to YouTube by Nicodemos Hagiorite

"We very well know our path, we know our place very well is in faithful hands. Our God is a strong God. He is a God of love. He gave us to love and not to hate." Samia the Confessor Translated by M.G., Coptic Orthodox Scientist , May 29, 2017 (Thanks to Fr Steven): English transcript of  an interview  with one of the survivors of the shooting that occurred on May 26, 2017 in Minya, Egypt against the Coptic Christians. Samia lost most of her family and she continues to reflect the light of Christ, confessing her faith and love. (0 minutes to 10:03 minutes): Interviewer: I want you to tell me your name. Samia: Samia Adly Ibrahim Interviewer: Madam Samia, this isn’t easy, right? Samia: Thank God. Believe me, we are comforted. I am not upset about those who went to heaven, believe me. I placed them in safe hands, better than the world and the problems of the world, all the bad things in the world. They left on the feast of the Ascension. And their dad came from America to have th...

If you're a regular reader of this blog, or have my book, Facing Islam , you'll recall this was the bold statement of St Gregory Palamas, whom we commemorated last week on the Second Sunday of Great Lent. Here is the full quote: "It is true that Muhammad started from the east and came to the west, as the sun travels from east to west. Nevertheless he came with war, knives, pillaging, forced enslavement, murders, and acts that are not from the good God but instigated by the chief manslayer, the devil."    ( The Lives of the Pillars of Orthodoxy , Holy Apostles Convent & Dormition Skete, Buena Vista CO, 1990, p. 352.) It is not really a secret, yet I would suppose that most Orthodox Christians have no idea that St Gregory, during his later years as Archbishop of Thessalonica, was abducted by the Muslim Turks and held for ransom (an income generating crime still used by Muslims to this day, which observers of the Middle East will have to admit). Suffering cruel hards...