Prologue in Sermons: December 15

To the Young Monks on How One Should Conduct Oneself in Order To Be Saved

December 15
 
(A Teaching From the Sayings of Father Moses, Which He Sent to Abba Poemen)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Young, inexperienced monks often get carried away in their judgments about salvation, giving free rein to their fervent imaginations. Some seek miracles, others interpret the words of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers as they please, and still others engage in fruitless debates about faith with hot-blooded and unreasonable people. And what comes of this? Such monks become like poisoned fish, often going mad or becoming a laughingstock to others. How can we reason with such people, and what can we say to them? We say simply: believe with simplicity of heart, do not be too clever, and you will be saved. They will ask: what should we do then? We answer: here's what.

Homily Two on the Eleventh Sunday of Luke (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Two on the Eleventh Sunday of Luke
(28th Sunday After Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

“A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses" (Luke 14:16–18).

Today, my brethren, the Gospel parable was read about a very rich and hospitable man who hosted a magnificent evening or dinner and invited many to it. However, despite the kindness and hospitality of the host and the richness of the dinner itself, those invited, as if by agreement, all began to decline for various, though rather disrespectful, reasons. One replied that he had bought land and was going to see it; another that he had bought five yoke of oxen and was going to test them; a third that he had married and therefore could not come. 

Prologue in Sermons: December 14

 

With the Lord, Everything, Including Trials and Tribulations, is Wisely Arranged and Serves for our Salvation and Blessedness.

December 14*
 
(Commemoration of our Venerable Father Nikon, Disciple of Blessed Sergius, the Abbot and New Wonderworker)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

When grief and misfortune befall us, especially severe ones, we often lose faith, murmur, complain, and say, "Why do I endure such sorrows? Why does the Lord allow them to befall me? Why is He punishing me? Where is the truth, where is the mercy?" Thus we usually cry out during times of sorrow, but we cry in vain; for with God, everything, not excluding misfortunes and sorrows, is wisely arranged, and everything serves our salvation and our blessedness. We will prove this to you, brethren, both by the word of the universal teacher and by example.

New Booklet Offer and Other Updates

Dear Readers:

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 booklet 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, and especially timely for the Christmas season.

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 booklet). 

Please also subscribe to my free weekly newsletter, if you haven't already, which can be done from this website, where more updates will be given in the next few days. To subscribe to my daily newsletter, you need to be an annual financial contributor of at least $60 a year or a monthly subscriber of $5. 

Thank you for keeping this ministry going this past year and in the coming new year. Without your help, none of this would be possible.

 

 

Other payment options are also available through this website, such as Patreon, Venmo and Cash App.

 

Christmas and Moses

By Archimandrite Vassilios Bakoyiannis

Jesus is called the “son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:2) because He was born from Abraham’s lineage. He was born a Jew thanks to Abraham.

Abraham’s descendants left Canaan, Abraham’s homeland, and migrated to Egypt, where they remained for four hundred years (Acts 7:6). When the right time came, the Lord led them back to Canaan, today’s Israel, for one single purpose: to prepare the “ground” for Christ’s birth.

It was a journey undertaken and carried out by God through Moses. God Himself provided for the Israelites’ food; every morning they found their meal at the door of their tent (Exod. 16:35). Their clothes and shoes never wore out, and their feet never developed calluses (Deut. 8:4; Num. 12:3). And there were many other wondrous and unprecedented things like these.