Homily for the Commemoration of the First and Second Finding of the Head of John the Baptist (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

 

On the Commemoration of the First and Second Finding of the Head of John the Baptist 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you all on the feast of the first and second finding of the honorable head of John the Baptist. In our Church there are three feasts in honor of the finding of the head of John the Baptist. By God’s providence it came to pass that over the many centuries since the time when John the Baptist bore witness to his faithfulness to God — when Herod executed the Forerunner at the instigation of Herodias — his head appeared in various places.

The head of the Forerunner was cut off and taken to Herodias, who in fury and malice seized it, pierced the tongue that had denounced her lawlessness, and buried it in an unclean place on the Mount of Olives. The steward of the palace was a man faithful to God, and his wife became one of the Myrrhbearing women. He washed the head of John, placed it in a large clay vessel, and buried it near Jerusalem, on his estate on the Mount of Olives. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the burial place was lost.

Homily on the Fourth and Fifth Days of the Creation of the World (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

On the Fourth and Fifth Days of the Creation of the World

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

During these days, God created the luminaries from nothingness. By His will, the primordial light created on the first day of Creation was collected into the luminaries, as if into vessels. The planets were placed like mirrors to shine upon the earth. We also heard of the creation of the first beings, endowed with a living soul. On this day, I would like to reflect on what some current teachings oppose. 

Nowadays, many people, even those who consider themselves Christians, profess a false doctrine of the planets. How many people do we have today who believe that their lives are somehow determined by the positions of the luminaries in the sky! And with the advent of the fashion for celebrating Chinese New Year, many Christians have begun calling themselves all sorts of animals. And this frenzy in our country reaches its peak with the arrival of the civil New Year.

This would be understandable if they were atheists, for an atheist is "a slave to all the elements," as the Apostle Paul says; such a person works for all the elements of the world. But a Christian, who has been freed from slavery to the elements of the world through the Blood of Christ the Savior, how dare he return to these feeble elements and think that they will somehow influence him?! Nevertheless, I have seen dozens, if not hundreds, of Orthodox Christians who sincerely believe that the stars influence, if not their fate, then their character. As if there are bad days and good days (if the day starts badly, it will continue to be bad). All these superstitions are spread with complete seriousness. There are countless people who consider themselves Orthodox, yet in reality they worship not God, but the luminaries. Because a real person who believes in horoscopes, who believes that he is subject to the voice of these luminaries, can he really be called a Christian? He is an idolater in the literal, not figurative, sense of the word. How did paganism itself originate? People worshiped the celestial bodies. Seeing the terrible, catastrophic impacts of celestial bodies on Earth (humanity has witnessed asteroid impacts and floods caused by cosmic objects), people decided that the celestial bodies themselves governed the world and were supposedly animate beings. There were even heretics in the Church — Origen, for example — rwho claimed that the Moon, the Sun, the stars, and even planet Earth itself were living bodies endowed with intelligence.

Fr. Stephanos Anagnostopoulos Has Reposed

Today, February 24, 2026, the Orthodox world mourns the passing of a spiritual giant, Protopresbyter — and in his final days, Hieromonk — Stephanos Anagnostopoulos. His repose on this Clean Tuesday marks the end of an era for thousands of faithful who looked to him as a beacon of liturgical depth and hesychastic practice in the midst of the modern world.

Brief Biography

Fr. Stephanos was born in Drama, Macedonia, in 1930, to a Greek father and a Romanian mother. He completed elementary school and high school in Drama, spending his childhood in poverty and with many hardships. He served in the Greek Army for 30 months as a reserve second lieutenant. After his military service he worked as an accountant. In 1957 he married Eleni Liaskopoulou (later the nun Ephraimia) from Thessaloniki, with whom he had seven children — six daughters and one son. Rejecting a significant scholarship to study classical vocal music in France, and having a calling to the priesthood, he entered in 1958 the Higher Ecclesiastical Tutorial School of Thessaloniki.

Prologue in Sermons: February 24

The Holy Servants of God Themselves at Times Indicated the Places for their Monasteries

February 24

(From the Lemonarion, the story of John the monk, whom Saint John the Forerunner healed of illness.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some monasteries flourish, are adorned, and prosper because the places on which they stand were beloved by the saints to whom they are dedicated, and these saints themselves chose even their abbots. This we shall now prove by the following example.

There was a certain hieromonk, very pious and loving toward the brethren, who lived in a monastery near Jerusalem. Archbishop Elias wished to make him abbot of that monastery, but the elder, seeking solitude, departed with one of his disciples for Mount Sinai. On the way, near the Jordan, he was seized with a fever and could go no farther. With great difficulty he reached a cave and settled there.

At night, in a dream, a certain man appeared to him and asked: “Where are you going, elder?”

“I am going to Mount Sinai,” replied the elder.

The one who appeared said: “I beg you, do not go.”

Saint Polycarp of Smyrna in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Polycarp was a disciple of John the Theologian and Evangelist together with Saint Ignatius the God-bearer. After Boukolos, the most holy Bishop of Smyrna, he was ordained by the bishops, for the blessed Boukolos had foretold his entry into the priesthood. He was arrested during the persecution of Decius and was brought before the proconsul. He endured his martyric contest through fire and became the worker of sublime miracles. For even before his ordination he filled, by his prayer, the grain stores of the woman who had raised him — stores which he had previously emptied in order to provide for the needs of the poor. Moreover, after his elevation to the priesthood he halted the force of a wildfire; and by his supplication to the Lord he brought rain down upon the parched earth, and again stopped it when it rained without ceasing.

The Christ-centeredness of the life of Saint Polycarp is the principal element highlighted by the hymnography of his feast. Making use of his very name — Polycarp (“much-fruited”) — the Hymnographer sees the Saint as the richly-fruited ear of grain that sprang up from the seed planted in the earth by Christ, and also as the richly-fruited branch extending from Christ the Vine. Already in the first stichera of Vespers we hear: 

“When the Fruit of the Virgin and life-originating Seed fell to the earth, then He caused you to spring forth as a richly-fruited ear of grain.”  

“When the true Vine that was hung upon the wood of the Cross was lifted up, then He extended you as a heavily-laden branch, cut by the sickle of august martyrdom.” 

Adam, the Twilight, the Footsteps and the Voice of God

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani

Adam is man. It is the name of the first man, according to Holy Scripture. He is the first-formed, our forefather, the representative of the human race. He is the most perfect divine creation. Adam — man — is the crown of the entire creation of the all-wise God.

Undoubtedly, in the Book of Genesis, the first three chapters are foundational. They describe the creation of the world, of irrational creation, but also the creation and formation of man. They also speak of his original state, as well as of his fall. They recount the exile of Adam and Eve from Paradise and make reference to the divine promise concerning restoration. Certainly, in the sacred text, the expressions are anthropomorphic, so as to be accessible to our understanding; yet within the words and explanations are hidden profound and most subtle symbols and realities. The ultimate purpose is the realization of the content of “according to the image” and the journey toward “according to the likeness.”

Thus, in the narrative of Genesis, both the greatness and the wretchedness of man are presented and revealed. First, we shall write about the greatness of man. This consists in the fact that man is a divine creation of the infinite love of the One and Triune God, who is truly Love. Consequently, man is not the result of random coincidences of blind, mindless forces. The creation of man was decided by the three Persons of the one Godhead. “Let us make man,” says Genesis (1:26) in the plural number. And God formed man as a psychosomatic being — body and soul. This is the dual composition of man, the spiritual and the material element in one harmonious unity.

Prologue in Sermons: February 23

One of the Effective Means for the Conversion of Schismatics to Orthodoxy

February 23

(A Homily from the Paterikon on Melchizedek)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Why is it, brethren, that among us there are few who convert from schism to Orthodoxy? There are many reasons for this. But one of the chief reasons, in our opinion, is our hot-tempered zeal. When Orthodox Christians and the so-called Old Believers meet to discuss matters of faith, the matter rarely ends in peace. They argue, quarrel, and part ways. Of course, in such a case no benefit for the cause can be expected. From evil comes only evil. But if the discussion were conducted under different conditions — if it were carried on meekly and thoughtfully — then the outcome would be different.

There once lived a monk in the land of Egypt who was distinguished by coarseness and ignorance, because of which he told everyone that Melchizedek was the Son of God. This was reported to Archbishop Cyril, and the latter summoned the monk to him. Being a wise man and knowing that by meekness one can best turn a person from evil to good, Cyril did not enter into dispute with the monk, but gently said to him:

Homily for Cheesefare Sunday -- The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for Cheesefare Sunday 

The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise 

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

"But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men to be fasting” (Matthew 6:17).

Beloved faithful,

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to obey His Father and to serve in the salvation of the human race, delivering it from the bondage of the devil and of death. Throughout the entire Gospel He ceaselessly taught people how to do the will of God and how to perform good works for His glory and for the salvation of their souls. In today’s divine Gospel, among other teachings, He shows us how to fast and where to gather treasure for our souls. Behold what He says concerning fasting, so that it may be for the glory of God and for the salvation of our souls: “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:17–18).

But the Savior commanded us not only to fast in secret, in order to escape the glory of men, but also to give alms, to pray, and to perform all good works in secret. For behold what He says: “Take heed that you do not do your righteous deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 6:1). “Therefore, when you do a righteous deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your almsgiving may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:2–6).

Homily on the Commemoration of Adam's Expulsion (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily on the Commemoration of Adam's Expulsion 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

Today, on Forgiveness Sunday, our Church remembers the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. From the Paradise of sweetness in which we dwelt, from that beautiful Garden where we were with God. Where we could draw infinite knowledge from the infinite mind of God, and from His infinite strength we drew infinite power, from His life we drew our eternal life. From His joy we drew our eternal joy. But we were expelled from there in Adam and Eve, for we are all blood descendants of the first man. Our entire nature is the nature of Adam and Eve, which was expelled from Paradise. We remember how we were deprived of blessedness as a result of the sin of the first people. But if you pay attention to the order in which sin unfolded, you will see that nothing has changed since then.

When we prepare people for Holy Baptism, we rehearse the meaning of each episode of the exile from Paradise. I think it would be good for us to repeat this. The first woman walks through Paradise and approaches the Tree of Knowledge. According to ancient tradition, this tree was not an apple tree, as many believe, but a fig tree. It was not for nothing that our Lord cursed the fig tree in order to wither the tree of sin. So, she approaches the tree forbidden by God, because God did not want us to know good and evil at that moment. God does not want us to try to be our own judges of good and evil, to try to determine for ourselves what is good and what is bad. God wanted us to act based on His point of view, not on our own, which is limited in knowledge and understanding.