November: Day 15: Teaching 2: Holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus

 

November: Day 15: Teaching 2:
Holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus
 
(On the Severity of the Sin of Adultery)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the feast of the Holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus, who appeared as terrible punishers of one Goth for adultery, combined with a false oath and perjury, it will be appropriate, my brethren, for us to reflect on the gravity of the sin of adultery, which is forbidden by the seventh commandment of the law of God and which, to the great sorrow of all true Christians, is quite often committed in our time with the sad weakening of Christian faith and piety.

II. We must speak to you, brethren, about this sin with extreme caution, so that its very censure does not become like the light of those lighthouses that contribute to the destruction of ships, although, in turn, they were intended to save them.

Prologue in Sermons: November 15

 

Even Sorrows Are Beneficial

November 15

(A Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In one of the Church teachings, the Prologue (August 7) says, among other things: “Let us not be indignant, but rejoice in sorrows; for they are medicines useful for our wounds, and although on the one hand they are bitter, on the other they are sweet... Let us be grateful to God for sorrows; for He does not send them without reason, but rather He does through them what is useful to our souls.” Is this true, brethren, what is said in the Prologue about sorrows? Is it true that they are medicines useful for our wounds? Is it true that they are, on the one hand, bitter, and on the other sweet? Is it true, finally, that God does not send them without reason, but rather He does through them what is useful to our souls? Yes, all this is absolutely true, brethren, as we will now prove to you from the words of the ecumenical teacher Saint John Chrysostom.

The Silence and the Speech of Saint Gregory Palamas

By George Mantzarides

Two days of the year are dedicated to the commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki: the Second Sunday of Great Lent and November 14. On the Second Sunday of Great Lent, which comes as an extension of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the victory of his teaching over the heretical views of his opponents is celebrated. On November 14, his departure to the Lord is commemorated. The Second Sunday of Great Lent reminds us more of the words of Saint Gregory. November 14th reminds us more of his silence. 

On November 14th, 1359, Saint Gregory Palamas, who illuminated the archiepiscopal throne of Thessaloniki for twelve and a half years and guided its faithful with wisdom and self-denial, fell silent for good. The bearer of his silence is his holy relics, which constitute a priceless legacy for the Church of Thessaloniki. But the words of Saint Gregory Palamas, which are preserved to this day in his numerous writings, often refers to silence and quiet, which he himself practiced with such diligence in his life as a hesychast monk.

Saint Philip the Apostle in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The hymns of our Church naturally emphasize, since he is an Apostle of Christ, and indeed one of the Twelve, “the foundations of the Church,” his election by the Lord – “Christ included him in the choir of disciples” – his participation in the flame of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, so that “filled with this flame, he might give life with the fervor of faith to those who had been frozen by atheism,” his presence in the world in general as “divine salt, in order to dry up the terrible rot of humanity worn out by passions,” and of course his glorified position in the Kingdom of God, in which “he sees Christ Himself not enigmatically, but clearly face to face.”

Prologue in Sermons: November 14

 

To the Orthodox Living Among Schismatics

November 14*

(From the Life of Saint John Chrysostom)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Why is it, O Orthodox, that those who live among you, who call themselves Old Believers, never experience miracles? And why is it that, while believing according to the same old printed books, they constantly quarrel among themselves and curse each other, and some are called Popovtsy, others Priestless, others Wanderers, others Begunys, others Undergrounders, and so on? This is why: because the Old Believers who live among you are heretics and schismatics. Heretics: for they mix their false teachings with the Orthodox Faith. Schismatics: for they have separated themselves from the Orthodox Church. And know this: such people never have had, nor ever will have, miracles, and the wrath of God, as it was before upon them, so it always will be.