Homily on Bright Friday, When We Honor the Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily on Bright Friday, When We Honor the Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring

 

By Saint Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride

Christ is Risen!

This week, brethren, is in itself very abundant in streams of grace flowing from the tomb of Christ, therefore the Church invites us daily to a new delight, exclaiming: "Come, let us drink a new drink!" But behold, at the end of the bright days, when one should expect a decrease in the streams of grace, a new, life-giving source of mercy and generosity is revealed from the person of the Mother of the Risen Lord. Truly, amidst so many celebrations in honor of the Son, there ought to be a celebration in honor of His Mother, who, at Golgotha, just like the Son, had her own "sword" pass through her heart (Luke 2:35), as Symeon foresaw.  The triumph of the Son is all for our good, and the triumph of the Mother is all for us and our salvation. This feast is called the Life-Giving Spring because the Most Holy Virgin once gave to a spring near Constantinople the power to heal all kinds of illnesses and to pour out life and consolation for all who suffer.

The Sixth Day of Pascha: Teaching 10 (Approaching the Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring)

 

The Sixth Day of Pascha:
Teaching 10

Commemoration of the Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring

(With Which Prayers, When and How Should One Approach the Theotokos?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today is the celebration in honor of the icon of the Life-Giving Spring. Let us set forth the history of the present feast of the Life-Giving Spring and draw from it lessons of edification that we can learn.

In the middle of the fifth century, in the environs of Constantinople, the capital of the Greek kingdom, there was a beautiful place, shaded by a grove of various trees and watered by a pure and bright spring; but with time it died out and the spring itself closed up. The Greek Emperor Leo the Macedonian, when he was still a simple private man, was walking one day in this place and met a man who was blind from birth. Being compassionate by nature, Leo gave his hand to the blind man and led him; but the blind man, being scorched by the strong heat of the sun, asked for a drink. In vain Leo, having seated the blind man in the shade, looked for water; there was none anywhere. But when he returned tired from his useless search to the blind man, he suddenly heard a wonderful voice from heaven: “Do not be sad, Leo! The water is near you.” Struck by this voice, Leo was confused and saw nothing around him. Then again the gentle voice was heard: “Leo, king! Enter this thick, shady grove, take the water you find there and give it to the thirsty man, and put the mud from the spring on his eyes. Who I am, the long-time inhabitant of this place, you will learn later, and with My help you will not hesitate to build a temple in My name on this place, in which those who come here and call upon My name with faith will receive the fulfillment of their petitions and complete healing from illnesses." The frightened Leo immediately hurried to the indicated place, and first, taking mud from the spring, applied it to the eyes of the blind man, then, taking water from the spring, gave it to the half-dead blind man, who was immediately refreshed. But as soon as he sprinkled water on his own eyes, he suddenly regained his sight and, no longer requiring a guide, went alone into the city, preaching the miracles of the Mother of God.

April: Day 25: Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark

April: Day 25:
Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark
 
(On Why the Path to Heaven is a Sorrowful Path)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Mark the Evangelist and one of the Seventy Apostles is celebrated today. He was a Jew by birth. Saint Peter in one of his epistles (1 Peter 5:3) calls Mark his son, from which we can conclude that Mark was Peter's disciple. He was with him in Rome, and there, twelve years after the Ascension of the Lord, he wrote his Gospel. The Holy Apostle Peter sent Mark to preach in different cities and countries.

Mark's last apostolic labor was in Alexandria, where he suffered a martyr's death. Not far from the seashore he built the first Christian church of that nation. The Egyptians, fearing the increase of Christians, decided to kill the Evangelist. They chose for this villainy the feast of the pagan god Serapis; on that very day, April 25, fell the Resurrection of Christ, and the day before Saint Mark had admonished the people not to participate in the sinful, pagan celebration. The pagans broke into the church during the service, led the Saint out and, tying a rope around his neck, dragged him through the city streets with shouts and blows. The Saint's blood stained the sharp stones of the pavement, but he did not cease to pray and repeat: "I thank You, my Savior, that You have granted me to endure suffering for Your sake." Towards evening the Holy Apostle was put in prison. At night an angel appeared to him and said that his name would be written in the Book of Life with the names of the other Apostles, and his memory would be preserved on earth. The Savior Himself then appeared to Saint Mark and said to him: "Peace be with you, my evangelist!"

April: Day 24: Teaching 2: Venerable Elizabeth the Wonderworker

April: Day 24: Teaching 2:
Venerable Elizabeth the Wonderworker
 
(Against Slander)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Elizabeth, whose memory is celebrated today, labored in a women's monastery in Constantinople. She was sent there by her parents in her youth, and in her mature years she took a vow of lifelong virginity and began to lead a strict ascetic life of fasting, labor, and prayer. She ate only plants, did not eat bread, did not use oil, and often did not eat food for forty days. In both winter and summer she wore only one garment - a coarse hair shirt; her body was frozen from the cold, but the fire of zeal for her salvation and love for God burned within her with a bright flame. The severity and loftiness of her ascetic life, mixed with humility and kindness, earned her universal love and respect, and she soon became the abbess of the women's Monastery of Saints Kosmas and Damian.

April: Day 24: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Savvas the General and His Companions

 

April: Day 24: Teaching 1:
Holy Martyr Savvas the General and His Companions
 
(On the Reasons That Motivate Us To Love Our Neighbors)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyr Savvas, whose memory is celebrated today, was a Goth by birth, and was a Stratelates, or Military General, under the Roman Emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century. Having accepted the true faith and becoming a zealous servant of Christ, he "visited Christians imprisoned in prison, helped them with alms, and exhorted them to patience and steadfastness." Aurelian, having learned that Savvas was a Christian, summoned him to trial. Savvas boldly confessed his faith and, having removed the insignia of his military rank, threw them down and declared that he was ready to suffer for the name of Christ. He was subjected to terrible tortures: they beat him cruelly, scorched his wounds with fire, and lowered him into a cauldron of boiling resin. But the Lord guarded and protected His faithful servant. Strengthened by power from above, Savvas bravely endured the suffering and emerged unharmed from the boiling resin. Seeing this miracle, seventy soldiers believed and began to loudly confess Jesus Christ. By order of the emperor, they were executed and joyfully accepted death for their faith.