Η νέα ιστοσελίδα της Ιεράς Μητρόπολης Χονγκ Κονγκ – New website of ORTHODOX METROPOLITANATE OF HONG KONG AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Με αφορμή την έκθεση για τη νοερή προσευχή της Ιεράς Μητρόπολης Χονγκ Κονγκ, ψάξαμε και ανακαλύψαμε τη νέα ιστοσελίδα of Orthodox Church in Xong Kong , με πλούσιο υλικό στα ελληνικά, αγγλικά και κινέζικα. Προσευχόμαστε στο Θεό να δώσει πλούσια πνευματική καρποφορία στις Ορθόδοξες εκκλησίες που ανήκουν στη Μητρόπολη Χονγκ Κονγκ, να ευλογεί και να αυξάνει τους Ορθοδόξους πιστούς. Αλλά για να επιτελεστεί ένα έργο σε 23 χώρες, με, συνολικά, πάνω από το μισό πληθυσμό της ΓΗΣ χρειάζεται και η ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ και η δική μας ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΚΗ ΕΝΙΣΧΥΣΗ ( ατομικά ή οργανωμένα από μεγάλες ενορίες, Μητροπόλεις και μοναστήρια ), και λογικά, θα υπάρχει ανάγκη νέων Ορθοδόξων ιεραποστόλων για τις άλλες χώρες που δεν έχουν γνωρίσει ακόμα Χριστό και Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία. Ο Θεός να οδηγήσει τα βήματα κάποιων …

Η Ιερά Μητρόπολις Χόνγκ Κόνγκ και Άπω Ανατολής διοργανώνει από 2 έως 18 Απριλίου Έκθεση με θέμα: «The Orthodox Prayer Rope – The Orthodox Tradition of Jesus’ Prayer», σε κεντρική Γκαλλερί του Χόνγκ Κόνγκ.

Η Έκθεση έχει σκοπό την προβολή της Ορθοδόξου νηπτικής Παραδόσεως της καρδιακής Προσευχής και γενικώτερα την προβολή του ασκητικού χαρακτήρα της Ορθοδόξου Πνευματικότητος.

Τα εγκαίνια της Εκθέσεως πραγματοποιήθηκαν την Πέμπτη 2 Απριλίου. Παρόντες ήσαν εκπρόσωποι των Ρωμαιοκαθολικών και των Αγγλικανών, η Γενική Πρόξενος της Ελλάδος στο Χόνγκ Κόνγκ, δημοσιογράφοι, και πλήθος επισκεπτών διαφόρων εθνικοτήτων και θρησκευμάτων.

Ο Σεβασμιώτατος Μητροπολίτης Χόνγκ Κόνγκ κ.Νεκτάριος, στον σύντομο χαιρετισμό του, εξήγησε την σημασία του Κομποσχοινιού και αναφέρθηκε στην Ορθόδοξη Παράδοση της νοεράς Προσευχής και ευχαρίστησε όσους συνέβαλαν για την πραγματοποίηση της Εκθέσεως.

Ως ενθύμιο μοιράσθηκε σε όλους ένα μικρό κομποσχοίνι και φυλλάδια στα Αγγλικά και τα Κινεζικά, με κείμενα για την νοερά προσευχή και τον ασκητικό χαρακτήρα της Ορθοδοξίας.

Speech
of His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios
of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
in the opening of the Exhibition
«Orthodox Prayer Ropes- The Jesus Prayer»

Dear guests,
I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for coming here tonight.
This exhibition has as main subject the orthodox prayer ropes.

What is a prayer rope?

The prayer rope is not some kind of amulet with magic or exorcising powers but it is a purely Orthodox holy object used only for praying and nothing else. We use the prayer rope in order to pray secretly. Of course as usually happens in the Church everything that we use for the worship of our God it is also a piece of art. The same thing happens with the prayer ropes. Some of them are very simple. Others are masterpieces and we use them to decorate icons or Crosses inside the Church or in our houses.

The orthodox prayer rope is made of wool, every node is constructed of 7 crosses, so the symbol of Jesus the cross is everywhere, and the prayer rope usually has 33 nodes, the years Jesus lived in earth.
The prayer rope usually is black, the colour of mourning and sorrow, and this remind to us to be sober and serious in our lives. We are sorry for our sins and our weakness and failings before God, our fellow men and ourselves; but in Christ, this sorrow becomes a source of joy and comfort.

The prayer rope is knotted from wool, that is, it has been sheared from a sheep, a reminder that we are rational sheep of the Good Shepherd, Christ the Lord, and also a reminder of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. The cross likewise speaks to us of the sacrifice and victory of the life over death, of humility over pride, of self-sacrifice over selfishness, of light over darkness. And the tassel? To remind us the tears of repentance.

The tradition of the prayer rope began from Saint Pachomius, the founder of the Coenobitic monasticism in Egypt. He established his first monastery between 318 and 323. In the life of Saint Pachomius we read that he once had a vision of an Angel, who recommended the use of the Jesus Prayer on a knotted cord of one hundred knots. From that time until now the prayer rope is one of the items given to an Orthodox Christian monk at the time of tonsure: it is given to him as his spiritual sword with which he, as a soldier of Christ, must make war against our spiritual enemy, the devil. For this exhibition we chose some photos of Orthodox Monasteries in Greece and Mount Athos which continue this tradition of Jesus prayer and some photos of hermits in Mount Athos which live on the desert and have dedicated their lives to the worship of God. Though they look poor, with old clothes, like homeless, they are famous monks and each of them has the reputation of a great spiritual guide.

Of course the prayer ropes there are not only for monks but for every one Christian. At any time of the day when we have free time, without being seen by anyone, secretly, we hold the prayer rope with our left or right hand and move from knot to knot with our thumb whispering simultaneously the prayer: «Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me». We can use also others short prayers: the prayer to Mother of God: «Most Holy Theotokos intercede for us», or other short prayers to the Guardian Angel, to individual saints or to all the saints. By changing the words of these short prayers and saying: «have mercy on us», or «pray for us», or by including the name or names of persons we want to pray for, we can also use the prayer rope for intercessory prayers. This also applies to those already departed this life: «Give rest O Lord to the soul of Thy servant.»

I don’t want to tire you with a long speech so you can find much more for the prayer of Jesus and the prayer ropes in the booklets that we have prepared to give you. One can find the whole teaching of the Orthodox Church about Jesus’ Prayer in the collection of the texts about Jesus’ prayer, texts from the Holy Fathers and ascetics that published Saint Nicodemos the Athonite. The book-name is «Philokalia» which means in Greek love for beauty, because the ultimate beauty is the inner one, the beauty of soul, and this prayer, helps the soul to acquire this holy beauty. There is an English translation and if somebody decides to translate it into Chinese, he will make history!

Before the conclusion I would like to emphasize that the Jesus’ prayer is not a replacement of the Divine Liturgy or of the Holy Sacraments or of the common prayer inside the Church. It is a simple way to pray secretly in every moment of the day. And of course the Jesus’ prayer is not a kind of yoga or meditation. The Christian prayer and especially the Jesus’ Prayer, has a totally different meaning from all these eastern religious practices.

I would like to thanks all of you for honour us with your distinguish presence. I would like to thanks fr. Kostas for the preparation of this Exhibition. I would like to thanks the Fridge Club for their hospitality. Thanks a lot. God bless you all.

( http://www.omhksea.org/resources/homily+exhibition.pdf )

Events of Metropolis of Xong Kong.

March 27-28, Metropolitan Nektarios visited Jakarta, Indonesia

On Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28, His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia visited the Orthodox Community in Jakarta, Indonesia. During his visit in Jakarta Metropolitan Nektarios had the opportunity to visit the Greek Ambassador in Indonesia, to attend the Divine Liturgy which was served on Saturday morning at the Holy Epiphany Orthodox Church, to have a meeting with all the Orthodox Priests and to discuss with the Orthodox faithful about the problems that they are facing.In Indonesia the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia has 9 Priests and 11 Orthodox Communities.

March 26, Metropolitan Nektarios visited Singapore

On Thursday, March 26, His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia travelled to Singapore to visit and bless the new place of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection. After the polite request from the Honorary General Consul of Greece in Singapore, Metropolitan Nektarios served a thanksgiving Doxology for the Greek Independence Day on Thursday evening at the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Seragoon.

March 12, Archieratical Presanctified Liturgy in Philippines

Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia visited Philippines and had the opportunity to celebrate the Presanctified Lirturgy at the Annunciation Cathedral in Paranaque Manila, on Wednesday March 12th. During his stay in Philippines Metropolitan Nektarios had several meetings about ecclessiastical affairs. (  Y.Γ.  Παρόλο που ήταν μέρα εργάσιμη, αρκετοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί των Φιλιππίνων συμμετείχαν στη Λειτουργία. Ο Θεός να οδηγήσει και άλλους Φιλιππινέζους στην Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία και πίστη).

HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN NEKTARIOS AND THE ORTHODOX METROPOLITANATE OF HONG KONG AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
CORDIALLY

INVITE YOU TO

«THE ORTHODOX TRADITION OF JESUS PRAYER AN EXHIBITION OF ORTHODOX PRAYER ROPES»

APRIL 2-18, 2009

AT THE ECONOMIST GALLERY
AT THE FRINGE CLUB
2 LOWER ALBERT ROAD
CENTRAL, HONG KONG

EXHIBITION OPENING: APRIL 2, 7.00p.m.

(   http://www.omhksea.org/resources/INVITATION+KOMPOSXOINI+3.pdf )