Ishtar's Gate: Philokalia

St. Constantine XI Drageses "the Ethnomartyr"

The Last Emperor of Byzantium:
Canonically recognized as a Saint of both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, St. Constantine XI Drageses “the Ethnomartyr” and last of the Palaeologian dynasty is said to have upheld the Union established at the Council of Florence to the very end – he died in Communion with the Apostolic See of Rome and the Ecumencial Patriarchate of Constantinople; in one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!

On the morning of May 29th, 1453, after six weeks of brutal siege, St. Constantine, received our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist for the last time in his earthly life. The brave emperor then embraced his family and the members of his royal court asking each of them forgiveness for any sins or transgressions he committed against them in life. He then rode off on his white horse to the Theodosian Walls along with the Genoese Captain Giustiniani Longo and his 700 Catholic Soldiers from Genoa, Rhodes and Chios. Later that morning, Guistiniani was mortally wounded and retreated to his ship. The defenders, completely demoralized from this loss broke rank, the Turk breached the city walls for the final time and St. Constantine died valiantly at the Gates of his beloved City and Christian Capital, Constantinople. What was left of the original 4,773 Greek, Genoese, Rhodesian and Chiosian defenders were slaughtered by 200,000 Turkish Muslims and their minions of submission.

Within hours of his heroic death, Mehmet II and his Ottoman Hoard, sacked the city and defiled the Great Church of Holy Wisdom by slaughtering the last Catholic & Orthodox concelebration of the Eucharist. The Church, which stood for over 1,000 years, was converted into a mosque within 24 hours. The rest is history: the Christian populace became second class citizens “dhimmi” in their own country under Sharia law (or some form of it) until this very day. In 1923, the city was renamed “Istanbul” – a Turkish vernacular distortion of the Greek “Stan Poli” or “To the City.”

Luitiprand of Lombard wrote in the 11th Century that the City boasted over 410 churches and monasteries. Of the 410 Churches mentioned, only one today remains in Greek hands, St. Mary of the Mongols, all others were desecrated by conversion into mosques or were destroyed. At the height of its civilization, over 1,000,000 Christians lived within its 27 kilometers of land and sea walls. Today, approximately 6,000 Christians live in Istanbul... this is a testament and a warning to the world.

A PRAYERSt. Constantine, pray, we beseech you, that God may grant us the same divine strength and moral courage inspired by your last act of devotion for your friends in the face of annihilation; that we will always receive the Grace to be faithful to the Gospel and to stand fast for its Truth and Defense of the Catholic Faith, if necessary, by persecution and death. Amen.

Ishtar's What?

Ishtar's Gate is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ; to foster unity in the Catholic Church among the Apostolic Churches, and the Christian diaspora through love and prayer; to spread the Gospel and the Teaching of the Church to Muslims, Bhuddists, and people of all faiths and backgrounds; to promote morality and justice in Western society that is in accordance with the Natural Law given us by the Holy Trinity, God; and to pose warning to those "who have eyes to see and ears to hear" of the demonic war of enslavement and doom waged against us the by its vast and powerful legions.

There is a reason why occult symbols are buried and/or destroyed. Ishtar's Gate was the processional gate of the Ancient City of Babylon. Named after Ishtar, the Assyrian demon goddess of sexuality & war. It is highly probable that the Ancient Hebrew people passed through her gauntlet and into slavery during the Babylonian captivity. The gate was discovered by archeologists in the late 19th and early 20th Century and was shipped piece by piece to Berlin, Germany; it was reassembled in the Pergemon Musem, once again, standing albeit symbolically, in a city through whose gateway imposed another Great Captivity & Slaughter - the Holocaust. It survived the Allied Air Raids and the Soviet Assault in the mid 1940's, and stood in a 'house divided' during the Cold War -- during which time the "errors of Russia" spread through the gates of a divided Berlin and after reunification, a united and secular European Union.

Ishtar's Gate stands as a visible reminder that there are ramparts that stand against the People of God and of our responsibility to endure and struggle in the war against the bondage of sin, especially sins committed against the Holy Trinity, who is God, and abominable sins of the flesh. As Christians, we are called to speak for and stand for the "Truth" which "sets us free." It is only through the Cause of the Saints which will defeat the corruption and disintigration of our civilization - only through Christ that a soul can be saved and it is through the Church that this made possible.

Are we warriors, refugees or prisoners led to enslavement or slaughter? The time to enlist is now! We must arm ourselves with a sacramental and prayerful life lest we be destroyed. To use our Free Will for the advancement of the Gospel is a Grace we all must pray for and practice. The alternative is unthinkable.

Through the Prayers of Mary, the Immaculate Ever-Virgin & Mother of God, may these postings assist us on our journey to fight and escape demonic darkness and bondage... may they help guide and transfigure us toward and into the Light of Christ... "For fierce is their struggle against us." (St. Mary of Egypt).

Pseudo-Dionysius - Beginning of the "Mystical Theology" Chapter One

"Trinity! Higher than any being, any divinity, any goodness! Guide of Christians in the wisdom of Heaven! Lead us up beyond unknowing and light, up to the farthest, highest peak of mystic scripture, where the mysteries of God’s Word lie simple, absolute and unchangeable in the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence. Amid the deepest shadow they pour overwhelming light on what is most manifest. Amid the wholly unsensed and unseen they completely fill our sightless minds with treasures beyond all beauty. For this I pray; and, Timothy, my friend, my advise to you as you look for a sight of the mysterious things, is to leave behind everything perceived and understood, everything perceptible and understandable, all that is not and all that is, and, with your understanding laid aside, to strive upward as much as you can toward union with Him who is beyond all being and knowledge. By an undivided and absolute abandonment of yourself and everything, shedding all and freed from all, you will be uplifted to the ray of the divine shadow which is above everything that is.”

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Philokalia - Various Texts

Evagrios the Solitary on Prayer (Vol I)

A summary of what Prayer is…
–The Flower of Gentleness & freedom from anger
–The Fruit of Joy and Thankfulness
–The Remedy of Gloom and Despondency
–The ascent of the Intellect of God
–Undestracted, it is the highest intellection of the intellect.
–The Shedding of thoughts; material things and worldly cares
–More Divine than all of the virtues
–Hateful and offensive to demons

–Bread: food for the body
–Holiness: food for the soul
–Prayer: food for the intellect

Elias the Presbyter: Gnomic Anthology III (Vol III): "The three most comprehensive virtues of the soul are prayer, silence and fasting, Thus, you should refresh yourself with the contemplation of created realities when you relax from prayer; with conversaton about the life of virtue when you relax from silence; and with such food as is permitted when you relax from fasting."

St. Gregory of Sinai: On Commandments and Doctrines (Vol VI): "There are five ways in which the passions may be aroused in us and our fallen self may wage war against our soul. Sometimes our fallen self misuses things. Sometiems it seeks to do what is unnatral as though it were natural. Sometimes it forms warm friendship with the demons and provide it with arms against the soul. Sometimes under the influence of the passions it falls into a state of civil war, divided against itself. Finally, if the demons have failed to acheive their purpose in any ways just mentioned, God may permit them in their malice to wage war against us in order to teach us greater humility."

Ishtar's Gate

Weekly Readings

St. Constantine XI Drageses "the Ethnomartyr"

Ishtar's What?

Who Am I?

Boom Sounds the Terror War!

Pseudo-Dionysius - Beginning of the "Mystical Theology" Chapter One

Alternative Information, Action & News Resources

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Philokalia - Various Texts

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