Holy Martyrs Menas the Kallikelados, Hermogenes and Eugraphos in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

According to Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, the Saints we celebrate today are “multi-luminous stars” for the Church. Stars that illumine all creation, first with the light of their wondrous struggles, and then with the radiance of their miracles:

“As multi-luminous stars…you illumine all creation, victorious martyrs, with the light of your contests and the radiance of your miracles.”

What raised these Saints to such heights, according to our Church, and enabled them to extinguish the fire of atheism, was the flame of their God-inspired zeal:

“Burning with divine zeal, they extinguished the fire of atheism.”

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Thomas Dephourkinos

St. Thomas Dephourkinos (Feast Day - December 10)

Verses

Thomas has shown himself to be an unshakable foundation of God,
Stronger than the machinations of the demons.

He had as his homeland the region lying at the foot of Mount Kyminas; and his parents were simple folk, living in self-sufficiency. Having despised all worldly things while still vigorous and in the prime of life, he aspired to the monastic life. For from childhood he was accustomed to accompany his father to the monasteries, and, being placed with a teacher in one of the holy institutions, he was given over to the training of learning. In a short time he mastered the Psalter, the words of the Apostles, and the rest of the ecclesiastical services. Such, then, were the beginnings of his life, and from this point the first fruits of the life of virtue began to appear.

The Sacred Skull of Saint Menas the Kallikelados

1734 reliquary

The silver reliquary for the Sacred Skull of Saint Menas the Athenian, also known as Kallikelados, has a dated inscription from 1734, and is from the Monastery of Dryanou in Zervati of Northern Epirus. It was kept at the Benaki Museum in Athens, where today only the outer casing remains. 

 

The Metropolis of Fthiotida, through the coordinated efforts of the late Metropolitan Nikolaos towards the administration of the Benaki Museum and the Holy Synod, received in 2006 a fragment of the Sacred Skull of the Holy Martyr Menas Kallikelados. It is kept in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Lamia.

Sermon 3 on the Fast of Advent (St. Leo the Great)

By St. Leo the Great

(Sermon 14: On the Fast of The Tenth Month, III)

CHAPTER I - How the field of the heart is to be cultivated and made fruitful.

In the Lord’s field, beloved, of which we are the laborers, we must prudently and vigilantly carry out the spiritual cultivation, so that, by persevering diligence, we may accomplish the tasks that must be done at their appointed times and rejoice in the harvest of holy works. For if these tasks are neglected through slothful idleness and sluggish laziness, our soil will produce no noble growth, and being covered with thorns and thistles, will yield not what is to be stored in barns, but what must be burned with fire.

Prologue in Sermons: December 10

There is Nothing Worse Than When a Monk Becomes Infected With Spiritual Pride and Decides to Live According to his Own Will.

December 10
 
(Kosmas the Presbyter on Monks Who Do Not Wish To Be With the Brethren and Subject Themselves to Monastic Labor.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Our word shall be to you, brother monks, and here is what we shall tell you. It seems to us that for a monk there is nothing more detrimental than when he is infected with spiritual pride, departs from obedience to his abbot, and resolves to live according to his own will. What usually follows from this? Most often, it is that such a monk neglects his direct monastic duties, subjects his mind to his evil will, becomes vain and slothful, frequently engages in acts either dishonorable or foolish, and ultimately falls entirely under the dominion of the devil. Is this truly the case? Indeed, brethren, it is, and there ought to be no doubt about it. Listen now to a teaching of a Teacher of the Church, and you will recognize the truth of our words.