Russians Flock to See Virgin Mary Relic

MSNBC ^ | 11/23/11 | Mansur Mirovalev

[marshmallow]

Tens of thousands wait for hours in freezing temperatures to kiss belt that Christians believe was worn by Jesus' mother

MOSCOW — Braving freezing cold temperatures and ice-covered sidewalks, tens of thousands of Russians stood in line Wednesday to see and kiss a newly arrived relic of the Virgin Mary in Russia's largest Orthodox cathedral.

The Virgin Mary's Cincture, a belt that Christians believe was worn by Jesus' mother, was brought to Russia last month from Mount Athos, a monastic community in Greece.

Kissing the relic, which is encased in an ornamental box, is believed to help barren women conceive and heal other ailments.

The line of people, mostly women, waiting to enter the golden-domed Christ the Savior Cathedral stretched for 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) along the Moscow River despite temperatures that dropped to below minus 5 Celsius (23 Fahrenheit).

[smvoice]

Let's start with your first question: "Do you believe the Church began at Pentecost? Yes or No".

Now let's read what Scripture has to say about the day of Pentecost and the Church.

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were ADDED UNTO THEM about three thousand souls." Acts 2:41.

For something to be ADDED TO, it MUST have already existed. So you tell me, did the Church begin at Pentecost?

[Quix]

How any RC's

can read the mess that the church fathers left

and pretend, even to their mirrors,

that such results in ANYthing

CLOSE

to a homogeneous, rational, Biblical, congruent, consistent

set of theology

is beyond me.

That would take more mental gymnastics than an Einstein in contortionism could manage.

NO WONDER y'all desperately need an old boy's club of power-mongering magistericals to arbitrarily decree what pretend truth is. And even that doesn't work worth a hoot. The contradictions and factions still abound.

That y'all try and pawn that off as a rational foundation is beyond extremely absurd.

[terycarl]

Other than the fact that Peter had just confirmed that Jesus was the “Christ the son of the living God” to which Jesus referred back to when He said “upon this rock I will build my church”.

nonsense, Christ renamed Simon Bar Jonah Petros (rock)Peter etc...you are Petros, and upon this rock........

[CynicalBear]

>> Do it yourself popery is an awesome concept.<<

It sure beats the one in Rome who uses all those Babylonian pagan simbles.

[metmom]

LOL!!!

[CynicalBear]

>>Are you genuflecting yet?<<

I did feel somthin but I had spicy food fer supper so thought it was just gas. I took a tums and it seems to have gone away. Is that a bad thing?

[editor-surveyor]

Don’t you wish you could make the rules, instead of God!

Too bad.

[editor-surveyor]

P.S. Read John Ch 6 some day.

[terycarl]

Do you pray to her? Hmmm

no, we pray through her....for example, the Hail Mary quotes biblical verses in the first half...the second half says, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen...We plead with Mary to put in a good word for us to her Son....sounds like a plan to me!!!

[HossB86]

I did feel somthin but I had spicy food fer supper so thought it was just gas. I took a tums and it seems to have gone away. Is that a bad thing?

No... but was the Tums blessed?

;)

Hoss

[metmom]

You actually have NO IDEA what my “belief system” is. You want to put people into boxes, label them, tie a bow around the box and put it on the shelf. It’s comforting when a person THINKS they know exactly what another believes. It makes it easier to dismiss their words. “Oh, he’s a...” or “she MUST be a...”. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m a follower of Christ. Who is saved by grace through faith. Who has been reconciled to God by the finished work of Christ. Who cares to be an effective workman for God, who will not be ashamed when I stand before Him. Who doesn’t have a religion ribbon to wear, saying “I’m a ...”

[don-o]

What I am after is how your fringly beliefs stack up with other sola scriptura beliefs. Don’t you really believe that the Church that you are a part of began when Paul was imprisoned in Rome?

Other sola believers are welcome to take a break from Catholic bashing and see if we can figure what smvoice actually believes IN.

[metmom]

Here, your authoritative source of the opinions of men.

http://www.wikipedia.org/

[RnMomof7]

Wow, it’s awesome to see the Holy Spirit at work from the very beginning, in the Church now, and til the end of time, just as Jesus promised. I thank thee, Lord!

Depends on what lord you are thanking... The Nt church was not the Roman catholic church ..nothing like it.. In order to make the scam work they needed to SEEM to trace their linage back ...so at that point they made a fable out of whole cloth ...

That NT church had no mass, There was no priesthood, no altars. The Lords table was not considered a sacrifice in the early church, so there were no need for those things that one needs for a sacrifice. no "eucharist, no vestments , no confessions, no 7 sacraments, no priesthood, no pope, no immaculate conception , no assumption, no relics, no purgatory, no indulgences, no "holy water", no such animal as "apostolic succession... nada... nothing ...

Catholics like to repeat the mantra that they were the the church of the NT..but that claim lays completely on the non biblical role of pope and the non biblical practice of apostolic succession ... not on the actual historic record presented in the NT

I praise God for His word..ever consistant and ever true on which to know God and build our faith..

[smvoice]

No. What you are “after” is not answering the question I asked you about the Church on the day of Pentecost. Didn’t like the Scripture I gave you? See, you asked the question. I gave you Scripture, and now you’ve moved on to “beliefs in general”. That’s no way to try to pigeon hole people. Nice try, though.

[RnMomof7]

It is just one more way to keep the roman cult together.. if they have the sole power to forgive sins and force jesus into a piece of bread so you can eat him..how could you leave?

[D-fendr]

I have no hesitancy in saying it is an absolutely Satanic perversion of the truth. Instead of rightly dividing the Word, I shall seek to show that these teachers wrongly divide the Word, and that their propaganda is anything but conducive to spirituality and enlightenment in divine things.

And that's from another Dispensationalist…

[D-fendr]

When you ‘dispense’ with the Church and then Jesus’s Ministry, you’re lucky to have even one trick pony left.. :)

[Jvette]

Did Jesus EVER *NOT* forgive someone who repented and confessed????

In the NT, no one ever comes to Jesus and confesses their sins. No, He simply knew them and forgave them, just as God already knows all of our sins, past present and future.

Confession is not for God, who knows all before all.

Confession is for the sinner, who humbles himself to admit his sin, accept his need for a Savior and therefore, repents and asks forgiveness.

****Then why, in heaven’s name, would He impart that power to mortal, corruptible men? And where did He ever instruct them to pass that power down through any kind of succession?****

You will have to ask Jesus about that when you see Him. For these are His words, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

And I already related the story of Ananias and Sapphira who refused to confess their sin and repent before Peter and were then struck dead.

Pretty powerful image.

****Even if a priest has the power to forgive ALL a person’s sins, if they continue in rebellion against God, they immediately fall back into sin and are again condemned.****

But, if they had been saved, then they could not then be condemned again because they fell back into sin.

Which is it? One’s faith saves one for all time? Or one must remain in Christ to be saved?

[smvoice]

How very clever.."dispense"...

When you "dispense" with the truth of God's Word, then all you have left are false "ASSUMPTIONS".