Homily for the Commemoration of the Apostle John the Theologian (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Commemoration of the Apostle John the Theologian 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

I congratulate you on the day of the memory of the Apostle John the Theologian — the apostle of love, a very mysterious apostle. Today his feast is connected neither with his death nor with some missionary labor of his, but with those events that took place at the tomb of John the Theologian in Ephesus up until the very beginning of the twentieth century. It was an annual miracle that occurred precisely on this very day.

On the eighth of May, a rose-colored dust would yearly appear upon the empty tomb of John the Theologian, and this dust healed many sick people. One could say that it was a regular miracle, like the miracle of the Holy Fire. The Church even established a feast in honor of this event.

If we look closely at the mysterious image of Saint John, we will see a mystery. The apostolic age is coming to an end — the close of the first century and the beginning of the second. Most of the apostles — eleven out of the twelve — have already been executed for the name of the Lord. Most of the Seventy Apostles have also been executed. By that time the Apostle John remains the only living witness of the Risen Christ.

May: Day 8: Teaching 2: Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

May: Day 8: Teaching 2:
Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(Examples of how Christians depart from the law of Christian love, and the necessity of living according to its spirit.)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. What shall we say to you, brethren, on today’s feast? The beloved disciple of the Lord — the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, whose memory we celebrate today — spoke more than anything else during his apostolic ministry about love. Therefore let us also speak today about love.

II. You yourselves know very well that the Lord commanded us to love God and then all people, and said that upon these two commandments rests the whole law (Matt. 22:40). You know that only he who has love toward all is a true Christian (John 13:35). You also know that without love one cannot inherit eternal life, for “he who does not love his brother abides in death” (1 John 3:14); that “without love all gifts profit nothing to those who possess them,” as John Chrysostom says; and that without it all our good deeds mean nothing (1 Cor. 13:3).

You know this, you have heard it many times, and you yourselves reason that it would be good if all loved one another; you yourselves realize that we must love others. But unfortunately, all this is mostly only in words and not in deeds. In words we love, but in deeds — in deeds we are far from love.

Prologue in Sermons: May 8

One Must Not Seek Out Persecution

May 8

(A Word of Saint Peter of Alexandria. Prologue for May 7. From the Paterikon)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

People of bad character and spiritual pride, unable to live peacefully with those around them, imagine themselves to be martyrs worthy of a martyr’s crown. What a pitiful delusion!

A person who constantly irritates others and brings troubles upon himself certainly suffers sorrows and hardships — but who is to blame for them if not he himself? Yet such a person says to everyone:

“To be saved, one must suffer — and I suffer; therefore I am a martyr.”

And everywhere he stirs up quarrels and discord, making life bitter both for others and for himself. Is there any meaning in seeking sufferings in this way? Is it pleasing to God? Will the sufferings of such a person have any value in the eyes of God?

Without doubt, no.

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PASCHA - SUNDAY OF THE PARALYTIC

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

The Healing of the Paralytic at the Sheep Pool

There was in Jerusalem a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, that is, House of Mercy. It was remarkable because an Angel of the Lord descended into it from time to time and stirred the water; and the sick person who entered the pool first after the Angel would immediately be healed, whatever his illness might be.

Once Jesus Christ was in Jerusalem during the feast of Passover. Passing by the pool, He saw a multitude of sick people lying around it. There were the lame, the blind, the withered; each one waited for the moment when the Angel would stir the water, so that he might be the first to enter it. Among the other sick there was one man who had lain paralyzed for thirty-eight years. The Savior saw him, had compassion on him, and said to him: “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered Him: “Yes, Lord, but I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred; for while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him: “Rise, take up your bed, and walk” (cf. John 5:6–8). The man was immediately healed, took up his bed, and walked away. The Jews who were there became indignant and said to the healed man that he ought not to carry his bed, because it was a feast day.

The Bright Heavenly Appearance of the Cross Over Jerusalem During the Reign of Constantius in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

Commemoration of the Sign of the Honorable Cross Which Appeared in Heaven, at the Third Hour of the Day, During the Reign of Emperor Constantius, Son of Constantine the Great

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. During the days of Holy Pentecost, on the seventh day of the month of May and around the ninth hour of the morning, the honorable and life-giving Cross appeared — consisting of light, while all the people looked on — stretching from holy Golgotha to the holy Mount of Olives. This Cross, by the brilliance of Its light, overshadowed the rays of the sun. Therefore every age, both young and old, together with infants and even nursing babes, came to the church, and with immeasurable joy and fervent compunction offered glory and thanksgiving to God for this wondrous sight.

2. If September 14 is the feast of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross — the feast on which human hands, Patriarchal and Imperial, raised up the Honorable Cross, presenting It as the symbol of the Christian faith and “the key of Paradise,” because It is the sign pointing us to Him Who poured out His all-holy blood upon It — then May 7 constitutes another feast of Its Exaltation, not by human hands this time, but by the “hands” of God Himself. For He willed, when the Christian faith had already been accepted and spread abroad, to reveal the Cross in Heaven, as a continuation, we might say, of Its manifestation in the days of Constantine the Great, with the well-known words, “By this conquer.” The hymnography of our Church presents this event and proclaims it in all its dimensions:

Synaxis of All the Venerable Russian Saints of the Holy Mountain

 

On May 7/20, the Russian Saint Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos prayerfully commemorates the Synaxis of All the Venerable Russian Saints of the Holy Mountain.

This day for honoring the memory of all the Russian Athonite saints who shone forth on the Holy Mountain was established in 2016 by the Council of Elders of the Panteleimon Monastery, with the blessing of the monastery’s abbot, Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah (Alekhin), because ancient Russian liturgical tradition assigns to this day the repose of Anthony of Kiev, the “founder of Russian monasticism.”

In addition, on this same day the memory is celebrated of other Russian Athonite saints: Nil Sorsky and Pachomius the Russian. The feast of Nilus the Myrrhgusher is also kept on this day.

Altogether, the Synaxis of All the Venerable Russian Saints of the Holy Mountain includes more than sixty Athonite ascetics glorified at various times by one or another Local Church (the list, which began with over forty saints, is evolving). Some of them were Serbs, Greeks, and Georgians, yet their lives were connected in one way or another with Holy Rus’ or with Russian monasticism on Mount Athos.

Prologue in Sermons: May 7

Do Not Conceal Your Sins in Confession

May 7

(A homily about the robber who confessed all his sins before everyone in repentance.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In the Church’s exhortation by the confessor to the penitent before confession, we read among other things: “Behold, my child, Christ stands here invisibly, receiving your confession; do not be ashamed, nor afraid, and hide nothing from me, but without concealment tell everything you have done, that you may receive forgiveness from our Lord Jesus Christ…; but if you hide anything from me, you will have a double sin.” Therefore, whoever hides his sins in confession doubles them. And so it is; for such a person adds another sin to the one he has hidden: he lies before God, Who Himself stands invisibly, receiving our confession. But, unfortunately, many Christians are not instructed by this; some out of false shame, others out of pride, others through lack of faith, and still others simply through not understanding the great importance of the most holy Mystery of Repentance, hide their sins in confession, and thus leave confession not only not cleansed of their sins, but even more burdened by them and condemned. How can such people be led to correction? How can they be instructed so that in the future they will be fully open in confession? Let us try to encourage and instruct them by an example.

Santorini Officially Celebrated Its Patron Saint Irene for the First Time

The Sacred Metropolis of Thera, Amorgos and the Islands solemnly celebrated the sacred memory of the patron and protectress of Santorini, the holy and glorious Great Martyr Irene.

This marks the first official celebration of Saint Irene as patron and protectress of Santorini following the publication of the relevant Presidential Decree (Government Gazette 160/A/18-9-2025), by which May 5 has been established as a local holiday for all schools and public services on the island.

The recognition of Saint Irene as patron saint highlights the island’s spiritual identity, especially since the very name “Santorini” derives from “Santa Irene.”

This official recognition strengthens the bond between the local community and Orthodox tradition, establishing a new annual celebration that is expected to become an important point of reference for both inhabitants and visitors alike.

The festive events took place at the Metropolitan Church of the Reception of the Savior (Ypapanti) in Thera.

Church of Cyprus Statement on Former Metropolitan Tychikos of Paphos

 

ANNOUNCEMENT

Because in recent days many claims have been made public that distort reality and the truth, we wish, for the sake of restoring the truth, to point out the following:

1. Clergy who are under suspension (argia) are not permitted to wear the vestments proper to their rank, nor to commemorate (do the proskomide) at the Holy Prothesis. The suspended former Metropolitan of Paphos, Tychikos, last Sunday wore an epitrachelion and omophorion and commemorated at the Holy Prothesis of the Church of the Holy Apostles Paul and Barnabas with the portion and the holy lance. His lawyer, as a former cleric, should be well aware of what the penalty of suspension entails for a clergyman.

2. When the presiding priest of the church pointed out that such actions are not permitted, the former Metropolitan struck and pushed him at the same time. There is testimony to this effect from the second priest of the church. No one prevents the former Metropolitan from praying or chanting in various churches, especially since he possesses the qualifications of a chanter and has a melodious voice. Indeed, he has recently been doing so, visiting churches celebrating their feasts. However, he is not permitted “to perform the Proskomide” at the Holy Prothesis, something which, for unclear reasons, he did for the first time this past Sunday.