Holy Prophet Zechariah, Father of John the Forerunner, in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Zechariah, whose feast we celebrate today, is a Hebrew name meaning “he who remembers the Lord.” He is distinct from the Prophet Zechariah who belongs to the group of the twelve so-called Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. He too is characterized as a prophet because he truly possessed the prophetic gift, and the matters concerning him are recorded by the Evangelist Luke, who relates that during the period of his priestly service in the Temple, as a priest, he received a vision of the Archangel Gabriel, who announced to him beforehand the birth of his son John, despite all the logical obstacles: his own old age, and the old age and barrenness of his wife Elizabeth. Because of his disbelief, the archangel “punished” him with muteness, which was removed with the birth of John, an event that led Zechariah to hymns and glorifications, as well as to a prophecy concerning his child. His end was martyric, as is also noted in the New Testament: namely, his countrymen killed him, according to their well-known custom, between the Temple and the altar.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 5

The Month of September

Day 5

6. To What Terrible Crimes Apostasy from the Faith Can Lead a Person

(The Sufferings of the Holy Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnos, and those with them; and of the Holy Martyrs Juventinus and Maximinus. September 5, Menaion)

To Parishioners Living Among the Old Believers

It is known that, in general, all the Old Believers have no love for Orthodox Christians, and almost all of them seek to do them harm. But it is also known that those who are distinguished by a particular hatred of the Orthodox are not those who were born and raised in the schism, but those who themselves abandoned Orthodoxy and entered into it because of their own foolish convictions. Why is this latter the case? Why, brethren, do those among the Old Believers who themselves departed from the Orthodox Church into schism show particular hatred toward you? Know that this is because the devil draws especially close to those who have apostatized from Orthodoxy; he takes away from them all love for their neighbors and fills them with every kind of malice. And with such malice, naturally, they become capable of every kind of crime, and in fact they commit such crimes. It is not difficult to prove this truth.

An Account of a 19th century English Traveler to Crete Regarding Saint Anthimos Kourouklis

Robert Pashley (1805–1859), the English classical scholar and traveler, visited Crete in 1833–1834 and later published the results of his journey in his two-volume Travels in Crete (Cambridge, 1837). The work remains an important nineteenth-century firsthand account of the island, combining observations of its geography, antiquities, villages, monasteries, customs, and inhabitants with information gathered from local sources. In the following passage from the second volume, Pashley records his thoughts on Saint Anthimos Kourouklis, the Blind Ascetic of Kefallonia (+ 1782), providing a valuable contemporary glimpse into nineteenth-century Cretan life, as well as how he viewed the oral legends of a holy elder he heard from a local. Following this description, he goes on at some length describing another "holy elder" who he actually saw with his own eyes.

Saint Babylas of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Great Fathers of the Church, such as the thrice-great Saint John Chrysostom, not only concerned themselves with Saint Babylas and his three spiritual children, but also wrote important discourses in order to emphasize their holy example and their fervent faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the culmination of which was the offering of their blood for His sake and, consequently, their glorious entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Among these discourses is that of the holy hymnographer Theophanes, who, referring to the Holy Bishop Babylas, emphasizes what is usually stressed when speaking of holy hieromartyrs: the Saint was both the one who offers the sacrifice and the one who is offered as the sacrifice. The one who offers the sacrifice, because as a high priest he ministered Jesus Christ in the Divine Liturgy; the one who is offered as the sacrifice, because he was called by grace to offer his own life precisely for the sake of his faith. The verses of the Synaxarion are very expressive: 

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 4

 

The Month of September

Day 4

5. To Schoolchildren: On the Love of God

(From the Life of the Holy Hieromartyr Babylas. September 4, Menaion)

You know, children, that the benefits bestowed upon us by God are great and beyond number. You know that God gives us life; that He sends the holy Angels to guard us; that He gives us the earth as our dwelling place; the sun, moon, and stars to give us light; the air, water, plants, and animals, so that we may have everything necessary and beneficial for life; that He has revealed His will to us, so that we may fulfill it and be pleasing to Him; that He has granted us the saving Mysteries, so that by making use of them we may be cleansed from our sins, draw near to Him, and receive salvation and eternal life in Him. You know that everything good which we possess, beginning with life itself, we have from God, and that, as the word of God says, “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Thus, you know all these things. But why, I ask, have you been given this knowledge? Do not forget that it has been given so that, seeing and knowing the boundless love of God for you, you yourselves might repay God with love and thanksgiving. Our Savior also calls you to such love. He says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength—this is the first commandment!” (Mk. 12:30) Yes, do not forget, children, that the first commandment for you, your first duty, must consist in loving God, your Creator and Benefactor; and, as you see, not simply loving Him, but loving Him, according to the word of the Savior, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. But what, you may ask, does this latter mean? What does it mean to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength? The following example will give you the answer.

Orthodox Resistance to Nazism: The Church of Czechoslovakia and the Martyrdom of Bishop Gorazd

By Archimandrite Athenagoras Soupourtzis,
Professor of Ecclesiastical and Canon Law, Volyn Academy of Theology

On June 18, 1942, exactly 84 years ago, hundreds of SS men surrounded an Orthodox church in Prague.

The battle that followed lasted for hours. None of the seven resistance fighters hiding in the crypt surrendered.

The story that led to that day, and the ethos of the Church that defined it, deserves to be brought back to memory.

When resistance against Nazism is discussed, historical memory usually turns to the military operations of the Allies, the resistance movements, and the governments that continued the struggle from exile.

Far less well known is the contribution of certain ecclesiastical communities, which chose to defend human dignity at the cost even of the lives of their pastors.

Perhaps the most characteristic example is the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

The Civil Registry Death Record of Saint Nektarios

The Civil Registry Death Record of Saint Nektarios:
The Celebration of the Translation of His Relics and the Construction of His Church on Aegina

Estia, 
Friday, November 9, 2018

By Eleutherios G. Skiadas

“A Saint Among Us” was the common sentiment and customary expression of the faithful when, in 1961, the Ecumenical Patriarchate canonized Metropolitan Nektarios of Pentapolis, known in the world as Anastasios Kefalas (October 1, 1846 – November 9, 1920). And rightly so, since many were still living who had known him, had conversed with him, and had heard his teachings or spiritual counsel. Moreover, the fact that the likeness of a Saint had been preserved in photographs was an additional reason for the strange feelings this evoked.

Yet long before the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, it was the faithful themselves — the people bearing the name of Christ — who had already accorded him the honors of a saint. Apart from Aegina, where he ended his earthly life and left behind blessed memories, his reputation had spread throughout the entire country. For this reason, at the initiative of the people of Aegina, he was already being commemorated as a Saint during the 1940s and 1950s. In Athens, on the very day of his repose, services were held at the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries in Thissio and at the Church of Saint Eleutherios in Pedion tou Areos.

Holy Hieromartyr Anthimos of Nicomedia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Anthimos was led in chains before the emperor Maximian for interrogation, while all the instruments of torture had been brought there. And when he was questioned and boldly confessed Christ, they severed his tendon, wounded him with red-hot irons, and stretched him out naked upon a potsherd, whereupon they beat him with rods. Then they put red-hot bronze supports on his feet as footwear and bound him to a wheel, while at the end they cut off his head. And even after his head had been cut off, his hair continued to grow.

2. Saint Anthimos belongs to the company of the holy hieromartyrs, who possess the grace of God in twofold measure: that of the priesthood and that of martyrdom. In both he excelled to such a degree that not only do the faithful in this world rejoice and glorify his memory, but so do the angels and the martyrs who preceded him—and thus the whole Church, both the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant, as they are called. For, “Having first offered sacrifice to God, the bloodless sacrifice, as a priest most law-abiding, and afterward, as a most true Martyr, you offered yourself to Christ as an acceptable sacrifice through blood”; that is, as a priest who lived wholly according to the law of God, he first offered the bloodless sacrifice to Him; afterward, as a most true martyr, he offered himself to Christ as an acceptable sacrifice through his blood. And not only this: as has also been noted on another occasion, he was a trainer of many martyrs, that is, through his word, his exhortations, and his prayers, but above all through his life, he guided others to remain steadfast in their faith and to become martyrs of the Lord themselves. “You offered armies of martyrs to Christ, Father Anthimos, through your teachings and exhortations, admonishing, teaching, and, as one wise in God, presenting yourself as a clear example.”

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 3

The Month of September

Day 3

4. Against Falsehood

(From the Life of the Hieromartyr Anthimos. September 3)

It seems to us that in recent times no sin has become so widespread among people as the sin of falsehood. They lie everywhere and about everything. They lie simply by knowing the truth and concealing it; they lie by presenting a matter not as it actually is; they lie with the aim of harming one person or another; they lie out of greed and bribery, in order to obtain something for themselves through falsehood; finally, they lie out of flattery and the desire to please people, in order by lying to curry favor with someone. In a word, words flow everywhere like rivers, yet there is nothing with which to quench one’s thirst, because the water is rotten. But this sin of falsehood, which, incidentally, is now given so little attention, is in reality a grave sin before God, hateful to Him and severely punished by Him. Thus the word of God says: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22). And in another place: “The Lord shall destroy all those who speak lies.” For this reason we, too, must not give ourselves over to the sin of falsehood, but avoid it in every way and always speak the truth alone. But in order to acquire the habit of the latter, what must we do? We must, precisely, first of all remember that falsehood is a grave sin and one severely punished by God; secondly, we must remember also that whoever lies imitates the devil, who, according to the word of the Lord, “did not stand in the truth ... and is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44); and thirdly, we must learn the truth from the saints, who stood for it even when, for its sake, they had to lay down their very lives. Yes, brethren, regarding the truth, the saints can always give us saving lessons, and by their example can always turn us away from falsehood. Therefore, for a lesson in truth, we intend now to direct you to the saints as well, and we hope that the lesson they give you will not remain without benefit for you.