Tsiknopempti: Hypocrisy Smells Worse Than Charcoal

Every year around these days the same play is performed. The same articles, the same announcements, the same “concerns.” About Tsiknopempti (Barbecue Thursday). About what children are eating. About whether it smells like meat on the streets. About whether it “fits” in schools. About whether it “promotes the wrong messages.” And somewhere there always appears the same protagonist: the morally superior one — usually vegan, automatically animal-loving, permanently annoyed by anything that resembles tradition that hasn’t passed through an activism filter.

Suddenly, Tsiknopempti is labeled a problem. Not because it threatens health or safety, but because it doesn’t fit their ideological mold. Schools, they say, are not taverns. Correct. But neither are they spaces of ideological re-education, nor places where a minority choice becomes the rule for everyone. Nor halls of guilt because a child ate a souvlaki.

Saint Meletios of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Meletios, because of his very great virtue and his pure love for Christ, became so beloved by many that from the very first day of his ordination, when he entered Antioch, every believer, moved by longing for him, invited him into his home, believing that the Saint would sanctify it by his entrance. He did not complete thirty days in the city before he was expelled by the enemies of the truth, for the emperor had then been led astray — and, of course, God permitted this. When he returned after that unlawful persecution, he remained for more than two years in Constantinople. Again the emperor summoned him by letters, not somewhere nearby but to Thrace. Other bishops from many regions also gathered there, called likewise by imperial letters, because the Churches, which had emerged from trials as from a long winter, began to find peace and calm. Then this great Meletios, after being praised by all, committed his soul into the hands of God and rested in peace in a foreign land. This blessed man was also honored with encomiums by the honorable Chrysostom and Gregory of Nyssa.

Two themes occupy the Church hymnography of the day, written by Theophanes the Hymnographer: the orthodox faith of Saint Meletios — something not at all self-evident in Antioch of that time (4th century A.D.) — and his sanctified life.

Indeed, Saint Meletios, though not a great theologian according to patrologists, was a man who quickly embraced the right dogma of the First Ecumenical Synod (325), became a fervent preacher of the truth concerning the Holy Trinity, and prepared the ground for the Second Ecumenical Synod (381). His Orthodox instinct and struggle for Orthodoxy are properly understood when one considers that Antioch in his time was torn by ecclesiastical divisions, which great ecclesiastical figures such as Saint Athanasios the Great and Saint Basil the Great labored intensely to overcome. Thus Saint Meletios preached what Athanasios and Basil had fought to show the Church — the genuine apostolic tradition — something that Saint Theophanes demonstrates extensively in his hymns.

“Having become by grace a son of God, you did not irrationally reduce the Word of God from God to a creature, but you glorified Him as co-eternal and enthroned with the Father, Creator and Maker of all things, O divinely-inspired one.” (Ode 3)

His struggle was therefore also against the heretical distortions of Arius and his followers, who by their ideas essentially abolished the revelation of Christ and the teaching of the Apostles.

“Illumined by divine radiance, you theologized that the Only-begotten Word from the beginningless Father is uncreated and eternal; therefore you confounded the allies and like-minded followers of Arius, fortified by divine power.” (Ode 1)

He may not have been a great theologian in the sense of solving ecclesiastical controversies, yet he possessed a strong Orthodox phronema (mindset), gained both through his holy life and through constant study of Holy Scripture. The Hymnographer even uses his very name — Meletios (“meditation,” a favorite technique of hymnographers) — drawing on the image from the first Psalm about the tree planted by streams of water:

“You meditated, blessed Hierarch Meletios, on the saving law of God, as it is written, and you appeared like the tree planted by the waters of ascetic struggle, bringing forth fruits of virtues by grace.” (Vespers sticheron)

The hymns also emphasize his sanctified life, even comparing him to the Holy Apostles, whose manner of life he sought to follow and therefore inherited their throne:

“Through your virtues you were likened to the Apostles of Christ and clearly received their authority and throne, all-glorious Meletios.” (Ode 3)

One Vespers hymn records nearly all stages of his ascetic life:

“By self-control you withered the impulses of the flesh; you subdued the passions, Meletios, and brightened yourself with the splendor of dispassion; and you ministered to Christ in purity and cleanness.”

Saint Theophanes takes the life of Saint Meletios as a foundation and states axiomatically: no one can minister to Christ — that is, offer his life as a sacrifice to Him with his whole being (remember that all the baptized, not only clergy, share in the general priesthood) — unless he struggles to attain dispassion, the overcoming of sinful passions. And this is achieved through self-restraint.

Especially in view of Great Lent, this is most timely: the self-control emphasized by this blessed period, when practiced in the manner of the Church, leads to mastery over the passions and thus to direct communion with Christ — the liturgical offering of our life to Him.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

Prologue in Sermons: February 12

The Benefits of Praying for the Dying

February 12

(From a Homily of Saint Gregory, Pope of Rome, about a monk who was given to a serpent as food because of sin, and was delivered by the prayers of the brethren.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

All of us, brethren, by Christian love are obliged to pray for one another at all times, as the Apostle says: "Pray for one another" (James 5:16); but our prayer must be especially fervent and heartfelt for those of our neighbors who are approaching death. The dying are in particular need of prayer, and earnest prayer for them frees them from the terrors of the hour of death, and sometimes even brings them recovery.

Saint Gregory, Pope of Rome, relates the following:

“In my monastery there lived a devout monk. One day his brother came to him and also asked to be admitted into the monastery. He was accepted. But alas! the newcomer lived quite differently from his brother. He showed no concern for his soul, did not keep the rule, judged others, dressed finely, and could not bear it when anyone began speaking to him about the life to come and repentance. Several times they intended to expel him, but each time, unwilling to grieve his pious brother, they left him.

Holy Hieromartyr Blaise of Sebaste in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Blaise lived during the reign of Emperor Licinius (early 4th century A.D.). He was Bishop of Sebaste and dwelt in one of the caves of Mount Argaeus. On this mountain the wild animals were tamed by the Saint’s blessing and appeared gentle. Because he was also skilled in medical science, he performed many healings, having received from the Lord the grace of working miracles.

However, he was arrested and brought before the governor Agricolaus. He confessed the name of Christ, and for this the governor ordered that he be beaten with rods, suspended on a cross, and torn with iron claws. Then, as they were leading him to prison, seven women followed him; their heads were cut off as well, because they too confessed that Christ is God. As for Saint Blaise, after they threw him into the depths of a lake — without his suffering any harm whatsoever — they eventually cut off his head, together with two infants who were in the prison.

It is said that he was the steward of the decree of the Great Martyr Eustratios at the time of that martyr’s suffering, as Saint Blaise is depicted standing on an old cloth among the five holy martyrs, very near Saint Eustratios, receiving from his hand the scroll of the decree. 

Prologue in Sermons: February 11

 

The Lord Always Receives the Truly Repentant

February 11

(A homily about one who robbed the dead and was again saved through repentance.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

People who have fallen into grave sins, but have washed them away with tears, sincerely repented of them, and firmly set themselves on the path of correction, should never think that the Lord will not forgive their former heavy sins or show them His mercy. Let them know that if they persevere on the path of virtue, the Lord will certainly forgive them and will no longer remember their former iniquities.

The abbot of one of the monasteries of Jerusalem, named John, related the following:

“A young man came to me,” he said, “who, weeping bitterly, said: ‘Father, receive me; I wish to repent.’ Seeing him in terrible sorrow, I said to him, ‘Why are you so distressed? Reveal to me the cause of your grief, and the Lord will ease it for you.’

The young man answered, ‘Oh, I have sinned terribly.’ And sighing deeply, he began to beat his breast and, from intense agitation, could speak no further. I did not cease urging him on, giving him examples of sinners who had repented and been forgiven, and at last I succeeded. The young man confessed.

The "Sweat" of Saint Haralambos and Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva said:

“Listen, Dimitri. I go down, I grab the child and say to her, ‘Get things ready so we can do a sanctification of the waters.’

She spread a towel on a table, put down a plate, and I read the Service of Sanctification. Her son, Yiannis G., well, he was mute — he couldn’t speak. I read the prayer with all my heart, with all my soul, and at the end, when I sprinkled him, as I said, ‘having the Holy Unmercenaries as a fountain of healings,’ Yiannis spoke.

Overjoyed, he kissed me, and I kissed him too; his mother kissed me as well — the wife of Hadji-G., you know, the one who had the coppersmith’s shop. Yiannis was healed, and afterward he came up to Saint Haralambos. Little Yiannakis wanted to stay with me - Yiannis G.

Listen, Dimitri! In those very days when this miracle happened, he came here to Achladeri and baptized a child and named him Porphyrios.”

Homily for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son -- On True Repentance and the Mercy of God (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the 34th Sunday after Pentecost
(Sunday of the Prodigal Son)
On True Repentance and the Mercy of God

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” (Luke 15:18)

Beloved faithful,

In Holy Scripture God is called the “Father of mercies” (2 Corinthians 1:3), because He continually shows mercy to sinners who return to Him with all their heart through true repentance. God says through the Prophet Isaiah: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). In another place, through the same Prophet, God says: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes; cease to do evil… Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:16–18).

This truth was also fulfilled in the case of the prodigal son from the Holy Gospel that was read today. First, he came to himself; he longed for the happiness he had enjoyed when he was in his father’s house; then he said: “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!” (Luke 15:17). These were the words of the prodigal son when he came to himself — that is, when he began to recognize the weight of his sins. Without this feeling and awakening, none of the sinners can return with all their heart to the all-good God.

Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Haralambos lived during the reign of Severus, when Lucian was governor in the city of Magnesia. Because he was a priest of the Christians and taught the way of truth, the tyrants ordered that he be stripped of his priestly vestments and then that the skin of his entire body be flayed. As the governor saw him patiently enduring the tortures, he became enraged and attempted to scrape the Saint with his own hands; immediately his hands were severed and remained suspended upon the body of the Martyr. The Saint, however, prayed and restored him to health. When the executioners, who were named Porphyrios and Baptos, saw this miracle, they renounced the idols and believed in Christ. The same also did three women from among those who were present there. The governor arrested all of these, and after subjecting them to tortures, mercilessly beheaded them. For although he was healed, he nevertheless remained in unbelief.

Saint Haralambis, more popularly known as Haralambos, is regarded, according to the hymnography of our Church, as the pride of Greece — of that Greece which bears the name of Christ; which is Christian and acknowledges and honors the saints; which considers the existence of their relics, such as the skull of the Holy Hieromartyr, as the greatest blessing and a most precious treasure; which hastens with faith and longing to the churches to celebrate their memory.

Prologue in Sermons: February 10

Fasting, the Reading of the Gospel, and the Struggle Against Evil Thoughts Drive Away the Devil

February 10

(A Discourse on the Abba Makarios the Great)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Speaking to you about the means given to us for combating the devil — means that serve to shame him and drive him away from us — we have already pointed to prayer, humility, the reading of the Psalter, diligence in labor, and prayer to the Holy Archangel Michael. Now we intend to speak of the benefit of several others as well, namely: fasting, the reading and study of the Gospel, and the struggle against evil thoughts.

Once, as Venerable Makarios was sitting by the roadside, he saw the devil in the form of a man, hung about with various vessels and heading toward a nearby monastery. By his prayer the Venerable one stopped the demon and asked him, “Where are you going?”