Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



May 5, 2023

The Veneration of Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri in Romania

Radu-Vodă Monastery

In the working session of May 22, 2014, which took place at the Patriarchal Residence, under the presidency of Patriarch Daniel, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided to register in the Calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church the Holy Great Martyr Ephraim the New of Nea Makri, who had been previously canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and his feast day was designated for May 5.

Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharist
 

Radu-Vodă Monastery

In the Archdiocese of Bucharest, parts of the relics of the Holy Martyr Ephraim the New are found at the historical Chapel of Saint George the Great Martyr within the Patriarchal Residence, as well as at the Radu-Vodă Monastery and at the Doamna Chiajna Monastery in Ilfov county. The Patriarchal Cathedral has the hand of the Saint.


A newly established parish by the Archdiocese of Bucharest in the town of Mogoşoaia, Ilfov county, is dedicated to Saint Ephraim the New. The Saint Dionisie Exiguul Monastery in Târguşor, Constanţa county, also has a second patron saint, Saint Ephraim the New. Thanks to the nuns from the Monastery of Nea Makri and the priest, the abbess gave to Dobrogea Monastery slippers that were put on the feet of Saint Ephraim, according to the tradition already there, and recently also a vestment. The consecration of this monastery began on the evening of Monday, May 4, 2015, when the Vigil service was held in honor of Saint Ephraim, performed by His Eminence Father Teodosie, Archbishop of Tomis. The garments that were on the holy relics of Saint Ephraim the New are placed in a specially made reliquary, consecrated by the local bishop on the occasion of the patron saint. In the Lower Danube Archdiocese, there are two churches that received the second patronage in honor of Saint Ephraim the New: the Church of Saint Demetrios the Great Martyr Myrrhgusher in Galaţi and the Church of Saints Nektarios and Saint Ephraim in Bărboşi.
 

In 2021, the church of the Hermitage of Saint Ephraim the New in the locality of Cristian, Brașov county, was consecrated on Saint Thomas Sunday by Archbishop Laurențiu of Sibiu and the Metropolitan of Transylvania. The consecration service was attended by pilgrims and believers from Brașov and the localities close to the monastic settlement, which was built since 2016 a few kilometers from the town below Tâmpa.
 
 

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