October: Day 17: Teaching 3: Commemoration of the Miraculous Rescue of the Sovereign Emperor on October 17, 1888

October: Day 17: Teaching 3:
Commemoration of the Miraculous Rescue of the Sovereign Emperor on October 17, 1888
 
(Lessons From This Event:
a. It is Necessary to Thank God for the Miraculous Salvation of the Life of the Sovereign Emperor, and
b. It is our Duty to Nourish Feelings of the Most Selfless Devotion to the Sovereign)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. 1888 October 17, all of Russia, as one person, shuddered "with great horror" at the terrible news of that mortal danger from which the support, hope and happiness of the entire Russian land almost perished - the most pious and beloved Sovereign of Russia with his entire august family, but immediately afterwards was filled with feelings of the most ardent gratitude to Divine Providence and boundless joy when she learned that among the wreckage of the railway carriage crushed to pieces, among a thousand dangers from which many who were traveling with the royal train that had suffered a wreck perished and suffered, only the Sovereign Emperor with his royal family, saved by a miracle of the omnipotence and mercy of God, remained unharmed.

This great Tsar-Peacemaker, who reposed in God on October 20, 1894, mourned and lamented not only by Russia, but also by all the friends of peace in all countries, now - we firmly believe - dwells with his righteous soul, as his whole life was righteous, after a truly Christian death, in the heavenly chambers and intercedes before God for his beloved Russia together with his namesake, the holy faithful Prince Alexander Nevsky and other royal and God-glorified leaders of Russia.

October: Day 17: Teaching 1: Venerable Martyr Andrew the Cretan

 October: Day 17: Teaching 1:

Venerable Martyr Andrew the Cretan
 
(On the Beatitudes)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The now glorified Holy Martyr Andrew the Cretan lived in the 8th century during the time of the iconoclast Emperor Constantine Kopronymos, who persecuted holy icons. He lived on the island of Crete as a hermit, and was highly respected for his holy life. He heard rumors of the desecration of holy icons and the sufferings of the faithful servants of Jesus Christ, so he decided to go to Constantinople in order, if possible, to turn the emperor away from his impious actions. Everything he saw along the way inflamed his zeal even more: the most respected bishops were being imprisoned, the dungeons were full of prisoners, torture was everywhere, executions were daily. Andrew's heart was inflamed with indignation. Having arrived in Constantinople, he immediately went to the Church of Saint Mamas, where the emperor was then. Pushing his way through the crowd, he appeared before the emperor himself and began boldly to reproach him for his criminal actions. “Why do you call yourself a Christian,” he said, “and a servant of Christ, if you mock the images of Jesus Christ and oppress His servants?” The soldiers seized the hermit and began to beat him, but the emperor stopped them and ordered that Andrew be brought to his palace.

Saint Longinus the Centurion Resource Page

St. Longinus the Centurion (Feast Day - October 16)

Verses  

 

Prior to his beheading Longinus once again, 

Called on you O Christ as the Son of God. 

On the sixteenth Longinus was slaughtered with the sword.

 

Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion

 

Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion  

 

Saint Longinus the Centurion as a Model for our Lives

October: Day 16: Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion

 

The Chapel of Saint Longinus the Centurion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

 

Hymns and Prayer Upon Entering the Chapel of Saint Longinus at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

 

Synaxis of All Saints of Cappadocia 

Saint Longinus the Centurion as a Model for our Lives

St. Longinus the Centurion (Feast Day - October 16)

Protopresbyter Father George Papavarnavas

Saint Longinos came from Cappadocia and lived in the years of Christ. He was a centurion under Pilate, the ruler of Judea, and received an order from him to be present at the crucifixion and burial of Christ. When he saw the way in which Christ "expired" on the Cross, as well as the earthquake, the change of the sun into darkness and the stones that split, because he was a good-willed man, the Grace of God overshadowed him, changed him, and then with faith he cried out: "Truly this was the Son of God." That is why he did not accept the silver given to him by the Jews, in order to lie about the Resurrection of Christ. He returned to his homeland, together with two of his soldiers who believed in Christ, and preached the gospel with pride. Pilate, when informed of this, reported him to Tiberius, who ordered his beheading, as well as his two soldiers.

October: Day 16: Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion

October: Day 16:
Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion

(About Honesty)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the memory of Saint Longinus the Centurion is celebrated. Longinus, a pagan, was appointed as a centurion by order of Pilate, with the soldiers under him, to serve during the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And he was so struck by the extraordinary event that took place before his eyes, that although he had no idea until then of either the Holy Scriptures or the prophecies about Christ, he suddenly understood the truth, and with all his soul believed in the Divinity of the Savior (as the evangelists Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39 and Luke 23:47 testify about him):

“The centurion and those who were with him guarding Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and all that happened, were greatly afraid, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’”

“The centurion, seeing what had happened, glorified God and said: 'Truly, this was a righteous man.'”