Khristianstvo na blizhnem Vostoke

4-21

Authors: Yaroslav V. Sovgira

In 2017 in Syria and Iraq a number of cities with a previously significant Christian presence were liberated from the terrorists. We mean, first of all, Aleppo and Homs in Syria, as well as the cities on the Nineveh Plain in Iraq: Mosul, Qaraqosh, Karamlis, El-Qosh and others. In this regard, the issue of possible return of Christians in places, from where they had to flee, became very essential. This problem has a wide range of tasks: the restoration of churches, the support of refugees, educational and medical projects. After the meeting of the Roman Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in Havana in February 2016, one can see clear tendencies of the development of inter-church cooperation for the Christians of the Middle East. In spot of these events, it is important to consider the experience of Catholic charities in the Middle East region. This experience is relevant as in the light of the Orthodox-Catholic interaction, as well as in itself, because it is barely studied in Russian science, and in the context of the Middle East problems it has not been studied at all. In this article, we will consider the features of the work of the leading structures associated with the Catholic Church: Caritas, Aid to the Church in need, the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Knights of Columbus. For example, in the Middle East, Caritas regulates the funding and aids coming through the Catholic Church. Branches of Caritas work with refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. Aid to the Church in need provides, in addition to restoration of churches, the extensive analysis for the support of Christians in the Middle East. The community of Sant'Egidio, inspired by the experience of studying new martyrs by its founder A. Riccardi, is attracting the attention of the international community to the problem of persecution of Christians. Knights of Columbus, being very solid in their field in the United States, protect the interests of Christians before the American elites and collecting funds for certain humanitarian actions.

90-101

Authors: Maxim О. Kryukov

The article is devoted to the study of a unique story from the Gospel of Matthew about the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt from the theological and historical points of view. The research details the route of the Savior's family in Egypt with the use of data of apocryphal evidence, itineraries of western and eastern travelers, as well as local Christian traditions. Besides, the article analyzes the role of Saint Joseph in the journey of the Holy Family, which is rarely mentioned in science, but extremely important and remarkable for the Church tradition. The use of the entire body of available written texts about this exceptional gospel story allows us to analyze the little studied circumstances of the life of the Holy Family in Egypt, which can be useful for historians of early Christianity and orientalists as well as for specialists from other humanitarian disciplines.

115-126

Authors: Natalia V. Perunova

The actual problem of the present is the problem of preserving the life of the soul and the development of human consciousness. In the light of purely philosophical discourse, this problem is not solved, whereas in the philosophical-theological synthesis it has a solution. The aim of the article is to study the Christian anthropology of Gregory of Nyssa with the aim of constituting the structure and content of consciousness in the way a Christian theologian perceives it. The focus of the article is on the idea of a deep contradiction in the spiritual potential of man, his God-given nature and the state in which he resides at his own will-a state of ignorance and darkness. The study of the discovery of the activity of the mind of St. Gregory of Nyssa, its role and place in the structure of the soul, allows us to see the deep contents of consciousness that make up the essence of man and which, due to the anti-spiritual orientation of modern civilization, are not perceived by man. The way a person sees himself is not it, it is rather an artificial mask, which replaces it not only in the external, but also in the inner life. The life of the soul is hidden from man, but not hidden from the soul itself, which continues to exist in its entirety. But, hidden and depressed, unknowable, it can not direct a person to its path, and itself plunges into sleep and spiritual death. The result of the research makes it possible to introduce new knowledge into the philosophy of consciousness and to outline the ways of awakening the human consciousness.

135-154

Authors: Ioann N. Kudlasevich

The article discusses the spiritual experience of the Russian pilgrim who visited Mount Athos in the second half of the 19th century. The examination of the manuscript from the collection of documents about pilgrimage by scholar in the realm of Church history, writer and archaeographer archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) makes it possible for one to find a number of overarching Christian terms that the value-semantic perception of the Holy Mountain as «the vineyard of the workers of Christ» is based on. The author’s interpretation of the biblical mythologemes that helps to create the symbolic perception of Mount Athos as the image of the Kingdom of Heaven is also worth considering. The study of the manuscript by monk of the New Jerusalem Monastery Nikodim makes it possible for one to see the aspiration of the Russian clergy to preserve the ancient traditions of the Orthodox pilgrimage and to familiarize those who need a soul-saving doing with them. The authentic content of the experience of the author-pilgrim does not lose its religious, moral and educational significance and turns out to be highly required for the revival of the traditional Orthodox pilgrimage as one of the most important directions of the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the modern world.

161-172

Authors: Natalya A. Dorogova

Balamand Assumption patriarchal monastery is located 80 kilometers north of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The monastery is one of the most ancient in the Antiochian Patriarchate, it is more than 850 years old. Founded in the XII th century, during the Crusades, by the Latin Cistercian monks, Balamand was one of the prosperous Catholic abbeys in the Middle East. The Mamluk invasion in the XIII century led to the destruction of the monastery. However, in the XVII th century, during the era of the Ottoman rule in the Middle East, it was revived as an Orthodox monastery of the Antiochian Church, inhabited by Greek and Arab monks. A theology school for the arabic speaking clergy training was established at the Balamand monastery in XIX century. Thanks to the efforts of the Metropolitan of Lattakia Ignatius Hazim, who became later on the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Balamand monastery developed and became the most important spiritual and educational center during the 70–80's in the XX century. Theological Institute of St. John of Damascus was founded, followed by the University of Balamand (UOB) with several faculties in different fields of study. This was a great contribution from the Antiochian Church to the spiritual and cultural development of the country. Lebanon was split by the civil war, and UOB played a big role in creating conditions to stimulate dialogue between representatives of all religious sectors in the country. Theological Institute at the Balamand Monastery prepares future clergy not only for the Patriarchate of Antioch. There are students from other countries, including Russia. Russian students come to Lebanon in the direction of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, to study orthodox theology in the traditional Arabic language. Furthermore, the Balamand monastery has many ancient and valuable shrines, and a unique collection of Arabic-Christian manuscripts.