Introduction to the Life and Miracles of the Holy Great Martyr Euphemia (St. John of Kronstadt)

St. John of Kronstadt wrote the following introduction to the Life of Saint Euphemia that appears to have been published during his lifetime.

"God is wondrous in His saints" (Ps. 68:36).

"Praise God in His saints" (Ps. 150:1).

In the present age, the age of materialism, one can often meet among Christian people those who reject the existence of spirits and do not believe in the rational and conscious existence of human souls after the death of the body; in the eternity of blessedness for the righteous and the eternity of torment for sinners; in the miraculous incorruptibility of holy relics and in the miracles performed by them through the power of the Holy Spirit. One can meet people who treat holy relics and holy icons with disrespect in their speech, and call their due veneration idolatry. Finally, there are people who assert that all our torments and pleasures are only here on earth, and that therefore we must use time to enjoy everything that comes our way, more and faster, while we are alive and death has not overtaken us: for after death we, many of them say, will be destroyed, as if we had never existed. For such carnal people, who do not have the spirit, who "count it pleasure to revel in the daytime" (2 Pet. 2:13), in order to heal them from this disease of the spirit, called materialism, or simply sensuality, carnality ("My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh" - Gen. 6:3), one must advise abstinence, and with abstinence there should be prayer and diligent reading of the word of God and the lives of the saints. Abstinence and prayer will thin the carnality of their hearts ("For the hearts of this people have grown fat" - Matt. 13:15), humble their proud spirit and give access to the grace of the Holy Spirit to their hearts; the word of God will open and enlighten the eyes of their hearts, blinded by unbelief and carnality; and the lives of the saints will confirm to them by their very deeds the truth of the word of God written and given, for example: the truth of the existence of the spiritual world, the truth of the existence of human souls after the death of the body ("For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him" - Lk. 20:38), the possibility of their communication with us living on earth, the truth of future reward, the truth of the veneration of holy relics and holy icons, etc. 

 

September: Day 16: Teaching 1: Holy Great Martyr Euphemia

September: Day 16: Teaching 1: Holy Great Martyr Euphemia
 
(On the Education of Children in the Spirit of Faith and Piety)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Great Martyr Euphemia. She suffered during the most severe persecution of Diocletian. She was a virgin and at a very young age. All 49 Christians were taken with her. The other Christian martyrs feared for the young maiden Euphemia and exhorted her to be firm in the faith. When they were brought before the judge, he soon noticed the young maiden Euphemia, who, raising her eyes and hands to heaven, cried out: "Do not abandon me, Lord Jesus Christ. I trust in You, strengthen me, Your weak servant." The judge meanwhile turned to her with an admonition to renounce Christ. But she firmly answered: "Do not think that I am deceived by your words. Of course, I am a woman and by nature weak in body and young in years, but my heart is strong, faith strengthens my weakness, and by this faith I am stronger than you and wiser than the wise men who worship soulless gods." The judge ordered the girl to be tied to a wheel on which there were many sharp knives. Euphemia prayed and suddenly the wheel stopped. The torturer ordered her to be thrown into a fiery furnace, but the soldiers saw two angels and refused to fulfill the judge's command, and they themselves believed in Christ, while the others who threw her in were themselves scorched, and the Saint glorified God in the fire. The torturer condemned Euphemia to be devoured by wild beasts. The Saint, when brought to them, began to pray: "Lord of hosts! You have shown Your invincible power in me, now stop my suffering, accept my sacrifice, brought with a contrite heart and a spirit of humility, and grant rest to my soul, for You are blessed forever." While she was praying, animals, lions and bears were released upon her. But instead of attacking her, they licked her legs. Finally, one bear slightly wounded her leg. The Saint heard a voice from heaven and immediately gave up her soul to God. Suddenly, a terrible storm with an earthquake arose and everyone ran home in fear. Her parents buried her body.

September: Day 15: Teaching 1: Holy Great Martyr Niketas the Goth

Day 15: Teaching 1: Holy Great Martyr Niketas the Goth
 
(Sorrows Must be Borne with Magnanimity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The now glorified Holy Great Martyr Niketas, was a Goth by birth, lived on the banks of the Danube and, having accepted the Christian faith, spread it among the Goths. At that time, there was an internecine war among the Goths. Two Goth kings, Fritigern and Athanaric, competed for power. Fritigern was a Christian, and Athanaric worshiped idols. Fritigern was defeated, fled to Greece, and, having gathered an army here, returned to the banks of the Danube. The military banners of his regiments were decorated with the sign of the cross. Having defeated Athanaric and taken the throne, Fritigern began to convert his subjects to the Christian faith. Bishop Ulfilas contributed to this matter by inventing the Gothic alphabet, and likewise Niketas by preaching and the example of a holy life.

Homily on the Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on the Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord

By St. John of Kronstadt

“Whoever desires to come after, let him deny himself, 

take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).

On this Sunday, which is called in the Church the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross, the Church prescribes that the Gospel be read about self-denial and the bearing of the cross, which the Gospel requires of everyone who wishes to follow Christ (Mark 8:34–38). And so, let us now talk about this for the glory of Christ and for our enlightenment and salvation.

"Whoever desires to come after Me," says the Lord, "let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." The Lord does not force anyone to follow Him, but leaves it to the free will of each one - to follow or not to follow Him, whether to live for Him, for righteousness and holiness, to eternally co-reign with Him, or for oneself, for the flesh and for the indulgence of one's passions, the adulterous and sinful world and the devil, and for eternal shame and torment. The Lord leaves our free will inviolable; for He wants us to voluntarily, according to the conviction of the heart, love Him, fulfill His commandments and turn away from absurd, pernicious passions; and not as slaves, under duress and involuntarily. But how can we not follow You, sweetest Jesus, our eternal Life, our breath, our Light, our Joy and blessedness! Whoever follows You irrevocably, here too, anticipates heavenly blessedness and will certainly inherit eternal blessedness with You. This is an immutable, all-joyful truth, striking, so to speak, in everyone's eyes with its obviousness.

Homily on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

By St. John of Kronstadt

"We venerate Your Cross, O Master, 

and we glorify Your holy Resurrection" 

(Troparion to the Holy Cross).

The Cross of the Lord is being raised! How many important memories, sad, terrible and at the same time joyful, are awakened in souls at the sight of the raised Cross of Christ, at the mere sight of the Cross! On it was crucified the God-man, the only begotten Son of God, who deigned by His sufferings and death on the Cross to redeem the human race from eternal torment; it was stained with the most pure blood, one drop of which is the purification of the world! For three hundred years it was hidden in the earth, for three hundred years the Church of God, the believers in the Lord were under a terrible cross; for three hundred years the earth was flooded with the blood of Christians: they were crucified on crosses, and often head down, cut, burned, drowned with whole crowds, torn apart piece by piece. The swords blunted and the hands of the executioners weakened - so many heads, arms and legs, various members of Christian bodies had to be cut off. This is how Satan has armed himself against the Church of Christ, acquired by the blood of Christ! The shameful and terrible death of Christ on the Cross was, as it were, a forerunner and indication of the death of His faithful servants. O, terrible mystery of the Cross! O, all-destroying sin, which brought down to earth the Son of God Himself, that He became incarnate and suffered in His flesh for us! O, immutable, eternal justice of God, which demanded such a terrible sacrifice for the sins of the world! Glory to You, most righteous Master, punishing sin and having mercy on repentant sinners! And so - repentance and repentance! No one should be stagnant in a single sin! - Immediately bring ardent repentance, so that you will incline to the mercy of the merciful God and not perish in your sins!

September: Day 14: Teaching 1: Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord

Day 14: Teaching 1: Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
 
(What Does It Mean To Take Up Your Cross?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Church solemnly remembers today the finding of the Honorable Cross of the Lord. This joyful event took place, as is well known, three centuries after the Resurrection of the Lord, and was accomplished by Saint Helen, the mother of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine. When this pious queen visited the places sanctified by the life and sufferings of the God-man, the Holy Spirit aroused in her heart the desire to find the cross of the Lord, which until that time, due to the troubled circumstances of the Church, oppressed by persecution, remained unknown. It was difficult for the purple-bearing seeker to make this discovery; for the Jews and pagans, not tolerating the worship of the Crucified One, tried to erase all traces of His life. The cross of the Lord, together with the crosses of those crucified with Him on Golgotha, was buried in the ground, and on that very spot the Romans later erected a temple to a pagan deity. But the zeal of the queen and Equal-to-the-Apostles overcame all difficulties. The place of the cross was found, at the direction of a certain Jew, and the temple that stood on it was destroyed. When they then began to dig up the earth, at first an indescribable fragrance was sensed; then three crosses were discovered, on one of which was an inscription, the very one that Pilate had placed on the cross of the Lord. Despite this indication, the enlightened piety of the queen sought a still more reliable sign. Saint Makarios, then Patriarch of Jerusalem, used for this such a means as only the most living faith in the Crucified One could inspire. By his command, a sick man, who was at the point of death, was brought. The Saint touched him first with one, then with another cross, but without any effect; but when he touched with the third, on which was the inscription, the sick man stood up and became completely healthy. This miracle taught everyone that this was the true cross of Him Who is the resurrection and the life. The cross thus found was transferred with triumph to the temple of Jerusalem, where the holy patriarch raised it before the people from the pulpit, so that all, both great and small, could enjoy the sight of the life-giving tree. The holy Church, rejoicing at the discovery of the divine treasure, decreed that the memory of the discovery of the cross of the Lord should be celebrated annually on this day. Such is the origin of the present celebration (Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 1, Ch. 7).

Church of the Holy Sepulchre Resource Page

 

Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem in 335 

 

Homily on the Dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

 

On the Consecration of the Temple of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem (St. Justin Popovich) 

 

Day 13: Teaching 1: Feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 

Is the Holy Sepulchre the Actual Tomb of Christ? 

 

The Holy Sepulchre, a 3D Journey Back in Time

 

The Prison of Christ in the Praetorium Monastery

 

The Location Where the True Cross of Christ Was Found by Saint Helen

 

The Holy Stone - A Fragment of the Stone on Which the Angel Announced the Resurrection to the Myrrhbearers  

The Miraculous Wax Holy Seal of the Holy Sepulchre

 

Regarding the Column That Was Split By the Holy Fire in 1579

 

The Torn Column and the Holy Light: Pascha 1579 AD

 

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 

 

The Chapel of the Holy Forty Martyrs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre   

 

The Place Where St. Mary of Egypt Repented in Jerusalem

 

Herman Melville's "The Sepulchre"

 

Mark Twain's Visit to the Holy Sepulchre  

 

A Description of Greek Orthodox Easter in Jerusalem in 1915

 

Documentary: The Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre (Greek)

 

Fr. Mitrophanes, Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre (1)

 

Fr. Mitrophanes, Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre (2)

 

Fr. Mitrophanes, Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre (3)

Church of the Holy Sepulcher Comes Alive at Night

 

The Two Muslim Custodians of the Holy Sepulchre

 

One Door and No Fire Exit at Holy Sepulchre Church  

 

Pilgrimage Rights of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

 

Did an "Open Eye" Miracle Recently Take Place at the Holy Sepulchre?

 

Feast of the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross In Jerusalem (video)

 

Pentecost Vespers At the Holy Sepulchre (video)

 

A Prayer Before the All-Holy Sepulchre 

 

Akathist to the Life-Bearing Tomb of Christ  

 

Holy Cross Resource Page

 

Holy and Great Saturday Resource Page

Holy Light of Jerusalem Resource Page

 

 

September: Day 13: Teaching 3: Holy Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion

Day 13: Teaching 3: Holy Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion
 
(Without Love For Your Neighbor You Will Not Be Saved)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The news about Saint Cornelius, now glorified in ecclesiastical hymns and readings, is reported by the Holy Evangelist Luke, who mentions him in the 10th chapter of the Book of Acts of the Apostles. He was a centurion of the regiment called the Italian; he believed in God with all his family, and pleased the Lord with his pious life and mercy to the poor. The Lord in His mercy wanted to open to good Cornelius the way to salvation, through faith in Christ, of whom Cornelius did not yet know. And then one day an angel appeared to Cornelius and said to him: “Your prayers are pleasing to God. Send men to the city of Joppa and call for Simon, who is called Peter. He is staying with a certain Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you words by which you and your whole household will be saved.” When the angel departed, Cornelius immediately sent servants and a soldier to Joppa to invite the Apostle Peter to come to Caesarea. The Apostle was living in Joppa at that time to preach the word of God. The Apostle Peter, by a miraculous vision and instruction, came to Cornelius and proclaimed to him the words of the gospel teaching - and the Holy Spirit descended on all who heard the word of God, and they began to speak in different languages, after which Cornelius and his family were baptized. Holy Scripture is silent about the further fate of Cornelius, but there is a tradition that for some time he shared the labors of the Apostle Peter, who later consecrated him as a bishop. He converted many idolaters to the truth, performed miracles by the power of God, suffered torture from the pagans for confessing his faith, and died in old age.

September: Day 13: Teaching 1: Feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Day 13: Teaching 1: Feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
 
(The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Serves as Proof of His Divinity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Feast of the Dedication, i.e. the Consecration, of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, which is celebrated today, was established in the following manner. The place where the Lord accomplished our salvation, i.e. Mount Golgotha, where He was crucified, and the burial cave from which He rose, were in time abandoned and even desecrated by the Jews and pagans, who hated Jesus Christ and His disciples. Thus, the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century ordered the Lord's tomb to be filled with rubbish and earth, and erected a pagan temple on Golgotha. In exactly the same way, other places consecrated by the Savior were desecrated by pagan temples and altars. Of course, this was done in order to erase the holy places from memory; but this is what helped their discovery. When, in the 4th century, the Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena accepted the Christian faith, they wished to renew the holy places in the city of Jerusalem and to open holy places for Christians. Empress Helena with a lot of gold went to Jerusalem for this. She, with the assistance of the Jerusalem Patriarch Makarios, destroyed the idol temples and renovated Jerusalem. She found the cross of the Lord and the tomb, and on Mount Golgotha, over the places of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, she built a large and magnificent temple in honor of the Resurrection. The temple was built in ten years. In 335, on September 13, it was solemnly consecrated, and it was decided to celebrate this consecration or dedication of the temple every year.

Homilies on the Weekly Festal Cycle - The Eighth Day (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Weekly Festal Cycle

The Eighth Day

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou    

In the previous sermons of the Sundays of July and August, the weekly festal cycle was analyzed, that is, the meaning of the days of each week were analyzed and we saw what we celebrate every day of the week, consistently, apart from the feasts of Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Saints. Thus, it was emphasized many times that the week consists of seven days, the first day for us Christians is Sunday, "the first of the Sabbaths" and the last day is the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.

However, in the texts of Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, Sunday is characterized as the first day, "the first of the Sabbaths", but also as the eighth day, because it is the first day of the week and because it is the day after the Sabbath - the seventh day. Thus, it is characterized as first and eighth.

September: Day 12: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Autonomos

Day 12: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Autonomos
 
(That There Is a Great Similarity Between Sleep and Death)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Bishop Autonomos, whose memory is celebrated today, having retired to Bithynia during the persecution under Diocletian, zealously preached the faith of Christ and for this was put to death by the pagans (in 313) while he was performing the Divine Liturgy. After 200 years his relics were found incorrupt. The writer of the life of Saint Autonomos, who lived in the 6th century, says: “Peeping sometimes with my eyes into the tomb of the martyr, I myself saw his relics incorrupt, I saw his holy relics remaining undefeated by the power of death, which, boasting to destroy the entire structure of a living being in three days, for 200 years now has not been able to destroy even a hair of this glorious man: his hair is thick, his face is whole, well covered with skin, his mustache is not damaged, his eyes are open, etc.” The verse prologue, written six centuries later, speaks of the incorrupt state of the relics of Saint Autonomos "to this day."

September: Day 11: Teaching 1: Venerable Theodora of Alexandria

Day 11: Teaching 1: Venerable Theodora of Alexandria
 
(Unlawful Carnal Love is not Love, but Hatred of Man)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Theodora, whose memory is celebrated today, lived in the 5th century. Having committed a sin against the 7th commandment of the law of God and her husband due to inexperience and youth, blessed Theodora decided to devote her whole life to repentance. “If there is repentance for me,” she said to herself, “then I will break my connection with the world and will pray to God for mercy.” Out of fear that she would be found in a women’s monastery and prevented from performing the feats of repentance, Theodora secretly left her husband’s house and hid in a men’s monastery (Octodekatos), where the relics of Saint Thomais, an ascetic of chastity, were located. For many years she endured all the monastic labors, never revealing her feminine weakness, but voluntarily increasing her labors, which, it seemed to her, were too easy and insufficient to cover the sin of her youth. Her whole life was spent in struggle, and in exerting all her strength, and in deprivation of any rest or peace. She did not even allow herself to eat more than once a week. And her tearful prayer day and night with humility rose to the merciful God and attracted upon her complete forgiveness and abundant grace. Thus she lived for 8 years.

September: Day 10: Teaching 1: Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora

 

Day 10: Teaching 1: Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora
 
(Carelessness About One's Own Salvation is Reckless and Dangerous)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora, whose memory is celebrated today, were virgins and sisters. They lived in Bithynia in the 4th century, during the reign of Emperor Maximian Galerius. In order to save their souls, they retired to a deserted place and spent their lives in fasting and prayer. The ruler, having learned of them, called for them to come to him. Seeing the beauty of the virgins, he promised that the emperor would enrich them and marry them to noble lords if they would worship idols. "We worship the Lord Who created us, and we do not wish to hear about any god," the holy sisters told the ruler. The ruler began to frighten them with torture. "In vain do you do this," said the virgins, "the hands of the torturers will sooner grow tired and all the tools will break before we will renounce Christ." The ruler tortured the eldest of them, Menodora, and laid her disfigured corpse at the feet of the sisters. But the sisters cried out: “Blessed are you, our sister and mother! You have been deemed worthy to receive the crown of martyrdom. Pray to the Lord that He may also grant us this crown.” Then they turned to the torturers and said: “Why are you hesitating? We are ready for any torture. We ardently desire to die for Christ.” After this they were tortured. Parts of the relics of these Holy Martyrs are kept on Athos and in the Pokrovsky Cathedral. The hand of Saint Metrodora is also there, in the Pantocrator Monastery.

September: Day 9: Teaching 3: Saint Theodosius, Archbishop of Chernigov

Day 9: Teaching 3: Saint Theodosius, Archbishop of Chernigov
 
(Lessons from the Incorruptibility of the Relics of St. Theodosius:
a. The Faith of Christ is True and Life-giving;
b. Christians Must Translate Into Their Lives What They Believe In)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. February 5, 1896 marked 200 years since the blessed death of Saint Theodosius of Uglich, Archbishop of Chernigov, whose honorable relics rest incorruptibly in a cave at the Borisoglebsky Church of the Chernigov Cathedral, pouring forth numerous miracles and healings to those who resort to the intercession of the Saint with faith and prayer. As a result, the memory of Theodosius of Uglich was reverently honored by the Orthodox Russian people, who flocked in large numbers from various places to the Borisoglebsky Cathedral in Chernigov to the grave of the hierarch to offer prayers for the repose of his soul, with hope in his prayerful intercession before God. Confidence in the Saint's holiness, based on memories of his high ascetic life and through the miraculous healings that took place at his tomb, grew and became more and more established among the Orthodox people over time. In view of this, the Holy Synod instructed His Grace of Chernigov to collect and deliver to the Holy Synod information about the life and deeds of Saint Theodosius of Uglich, and then found it opportune to begin the necessary arrangements to verify the incorruptibility of the body of Saint Theodosius and the miraculous actions that took place at his tomb over the faithful - the closest investigation of which was entrusted to His Graces Ioanniky, Metropolitan of Kyiv, and Anthony, Bishop of Chernigov and Nizhyn. The latter, having joined the vicar of the Chernigov diocese, Bishop Pitirim, and the highest representatives of the Chernigov clergy, arrived on July 5, 1895, at the cave at the Borisoglebsky Church of the Chernigov Cathedral and, after holding a memorial service for Saint Theodosius, carried out a detailed examination of the coffin, clothing and the body of Saint Theodosius itself, and it turned out that the body of Saint Theodosius, by the grace of God, had been preserved incorrupt, despite being in the cave of the Borisoglebsky Church for 200 years, which was not particularly dry. Apart from this, the Right Reverends Ioanniky and Anthony, together with other clergy, having invited persons who had experienced miraculous healings on themselves or on their relatives through the intercession of Saint Theodosius, after prayerfully invoking his gracious help, collected from them under oath, with the use of hands, testimony about the reality of the miracles performed on them, of which events they had investigated. The Holy Synod, having examined with all possible diligence all the circumstances of the case, came to the full conviction of the truth of the incorruptibility of the body of Saint Theodosius and the authenticity of the miracles performed through him, and, having given praise to the Lord God, wondrous in His saints, who deigned to show by the glorification of the hierarch of the Russian Church a new and great sign of His benefactions to it, in a most humble report to the Sovereign Emperor, it considered that Theodosius, Archbishop of Chernigov of blessed memory, to be canonized, glorified by the grace of God, and to recognize his incorruptible body as holy relics. Having received the permission of the Sovereign Emperor for this, the Holy Synod, by its decree of June 26, announced to the public the ceremonial opening on September 9, 1896 in the city of Chernigov of the relics of Saint Theodosius of Uglich, Archbishop of Chernigov, henceforth canonized as a saint of the Russian Church.

September: Day 9: Teaching 1: Holy Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna

Day 9: Teaching 1: Holy Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna
 
(The Virtuous Life of Parents is the Best Inheritance of Children)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On this day the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the holy parents of the Most-Blessed Virgin Mary, the righteous Joachim and Anna. At this remembrance, everyone, of course, has often thought how happy these worthily blessed spouses are, who were honored to have such a truly happy and most blessed Daughter!

II. But such happiness is offered, brethren, to all parents who wish to see their children truly happy and blessed. "He who lives in righteousness without blemish will leave his children blessed" (Prov. 20:7), says the Wisdom of God through the lips of a God-inspired lover of wisdom. Thus, according to the teaching of the Wisdom of God, the happiest inheritance for children is the pious and righteous life of parents, and the first duty of parents who wish happiness for their children is to live righteously and piously themselves, as the righteous parents of the Mother of God lived.

Homily on the Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of Christ (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on the Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of Christ

By St. John of Kronstadt

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16)

My brethren, this Sunday is abbreviated as the Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Cross, that is, the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross, and today it is appointed to read the Gospel about the infinite love of God for the perishing world or human race and about the sending down to it of the Savior – the only begotten Son of God. The Gospel is read in Russian as follows: “No one has ascended to heaven except He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” This is the end of today's Gospel.

September: Day 8: Teaching 1: Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos

Day 8: Teaching 1: Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos
 
(On How We Should Act During Trials Sent To Us By God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The parents of the Most Holy Theotokos, Joachim and Anna, were pious, virtuous, and righteous before God. Having sufficient wealth, they devoted part of it to the needs of the temple service, and gave part to the poor. Their life, apparently, from the outside, was happy, if all happiness is considered in material abundance and family peace, love, and harmony. And yet they were very unhappy. They bore the yoke of childlessness. Having been married for fifty years, they had no children. This misfortune is little understood by people of the present age; now they are more burdened by having many children than by childlessness, and those who have no children are often considered happy. But it was different then. Then the childlessness of spouses was considered a sign of God's punishment for some grave sins. Why is this so? Because at that time the appearance of the Redeemer was expected on earth; and it is clear that everyone, in addition to the natural desire inherent in uncorrupted parents, wanted to have children and in order, if God so desired, to become the progenitor of the Redeemer. And whoever did not have children, therefore, had no hope of this. Therefore, the childlessness of spouses was recognized as a punishment from God even in the eyes of strangers. It is understandable from this what grief accompanied the righteous Joachim and Anna's childlessness. But this grief was aggravated by outside reproaches. Once the high priest in the temple did not accept the sacrifice from Joachim, saying to him with reproach: "You are not worthy for us to receive a gift from you to God; being childless, of course, you do not have the blessing of God for any secret sins." And the Jew, who brought the sacrifice together with Joachim, reproachfully remarked to him: "Why do you precede me in approaching God? Do you not know about your barrenness?" Thus, both the internal, heartfelt grief and the outside reproaches for some secret crimes, which the righteous spouses had not committed, caused such moral suffering to the righteous spouses as can be understood only by people who suffer like them. They grieved in the depths of their righteous souls; but at the same time they did not despair of God's mercy. They cast all their sorrow upon God, and with constancy and zeal, little understood by people who do not trust in God, they prayed to God that the Lord would grant them, even in their old age, a child, promising to dedicate it to the service of God. The Lord heard their prayers, but delayed in fulfilling them, in order to surprise the righteous elders with His mercy, in order to raise their faith in the living Providence of God, in hope in Him and love for Him.

The righteous spouses bore God's severe trial! But what consolation the Lord sent them after the trial! The Lord God sends His angel to gladden the righteous elders with the news that they will give birth to a most blessed daughter, through whom salvation will be given to the whole world. And indeed, they gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Mary, and Mary was deemed worthy to become the Mother of the Lord; and Her parents were deemed worthy of the name of holy and righteous grandparents of God. Wondrous are the works of the Lord, revealed in human life!

II. Brethren! Even at the present time the Lord sends people trials, to whom He pleases.

Let us be patient in enduring trials. May God protect every person from becoming faint-hearted in trials of God's Providence.

Let us bear trials with constancy and hope in the mercy of God, which never leaves a person completely, and with faith in a better future, which the Lord will undoubtedly arrange, if only we prove worthy of it.

Let us be inspired in enduring trials by the thought that whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, for the spiritual and moral benefit of the one being tested and disciplined.

Seeing those tested and disciplined by the Lord, let us not vainly philosophize that the Lord punishes them necessarily for some grave sins, and even more so reproach them. The ways of the Lord in relation to the lives of people are inscrutable; and we cannot know why the Lord God acts one way with one, and differently with another. "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

Brethren! Let us commit ourselves and our whole life to the all-wise and all-good will of the Lord, Who grants us incomparably more than we ask or even dare to think about. Let us meekly, following the example of the holy righteous ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, endure the misfortunes sent upon us: through them, as gold through fire, the Lord cleanses us from every filth of sin and makes us incomparably more blessed both in this and in the future life than we would be blessed without these cleansing sorrows.

And when disasters and various sorrows seem ready to crush us, let us cry out for help to Him, without whose will not a hair falls from our head, Who will never send a temptation that exceeds our strength.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

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The Last Photo and the First Icon of Saint Daniel of Katounakia

The old man, bony, looks at the photographer with a stern, patient look under his wrinkled forehead. The short sleeve of his garment reveals a skeletonized wrist ending in a clenched palm. Perhaps he is holding a handkerchief in his right hand. In the background of the image, on the left, the vine has embraced the beams of the monastic cell's balcony.

The value of this photograph was pointed out by Hieromonk Justin of Simonopetra. It is the last photograph of Elder Daniel who reposed a few months later at the age of 83, on September 8, 1929.

September: Day 7: Teaching 2: Saint John, Archbishop of Novgorod

Day 7: Teaching 2: Saint John, Archbishop of Novgorod
 
(How Should We Treat Slander and Slanderers?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today we celebrate the memory of Saint John, Archbishop of Novgorod. John's parents were noble and pious Novgorod citizens. From an early age, John loved prayer, abstinence, the temple of God, and upon reaching adulthood he chose the clergy. Bishop Arkady of Novgorod ordained him to the priesthood for the Church of Saint Blaise on the Sophia side. But John did not serve at this church for long; seeking complete silence, he took monastic vows in one of the Novgorod monasteries with the name of Elijah, led a strictly ascetic life, and lived in fasting, prayer, and solitude. Word of his holy life spread throughout the Novgorod land and earned the ascetic universal respect. In 1163, Bishop Arkady of Novgorod died, and the Novgorodians unanimously elected Hieromonk Elijah to replace the deceased Arkady. In 1165 he was consecrated, and then the first of the Novgorod saints received the rank of archbishop. During his episcopacy, Novgorod was saved from the destruction that threatened it by the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God.

Saint Sozon of Cilicia Resource Page

Holy Martyr Sozon of Cilicia (Feast Day - September 7)

 

Verses

Torments of body Sozon once endured,

Fixed on the only Savior of his soul.

On the seventh Sozon died, his radiant flesh fiercely beaten.

 

Synaxarion of Saint Sozon the Martyr 

 

Saint Sozon the Martyr of Cilicia and Patron of Limnos 

 

Day 7: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Sozon

 

Who Is Saint Sostis?

 

The Remarkable Byzantine Church of Saint Sozontos in Orchomenos

 

The Beautiful Chapel of Saint Sozon in Naxos

 

September: Day 7: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Sozon

Day 7: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Sozon
 
(Why Do Sinners Often Prosper, While the Righteous Suffer on Earth?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyr Sozon, whose memory is celebrated today, lived in Cilicia and was a shepherd. But even his occupation as a shepherd did not prevent him from practicing the reading of the Holy Scriptures both day and night. He loved to enlighten others with the light of the knowledge of God, especially the youths, his fellow-laborers. Once, having come to the seaside city of Pompeiopolis, in ancient times Soli, he, in a fit of zeal for the faith of Christ, could not bear the mockery of it at the sight of a solemn celebration in honor of the pagan gods, in which the ruler of the city forced Christians to participate. Having entered at night in a holy fit for the faith of Christ into a pagan temple where there stood a revered golden idol in the form of a man, he took away its hand, broke it into pieces and gave it to the poor.

The whole city was thrown into confusion when they learned of the missing hand of the idol. Saint Sozon came to the ruler and declared that he had taken the hand from the idol and had done so in order to learn the power of their god. "Now I have learned that your god is powerless. And how can he, dumb and soulless, resist? If he were alive and true, he would not have allowed himself to be insulted," said Sozon. Then the ruler ordered him to be tortured without mercy, and he was beaten so severely with iron rods that not only his body but also his bones were crushed, and he died (around 300). The torturers wanted to burn the body of Saint Sozon, but God sent rain that put out the flames. Christians buried the body of the Saint. Many healings took place at his tomb.

September: Day 6: Teaching 1: Commemoration of the Miracle of Holy Archangel Michael in Chonae

Day 6: Teaching 1: Commemoration of the Miracle of Holy Archangel Michael in Chonae
 
(The Christian's Hope Is In God, Who Says to Him: "Do Not Be Afraid, I Am With You!")

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The feast of the commemoration of the miracle of the Holy Archangel Michael was established for the following reason. Near Hierapolis, in Phrygian Colossae, over a spring that miraculously granted healings, there was a church of the Holy Archangel Michael. The church was built in gratitude for a healing through the intercession of the Holy Archangel Michael. A young man named Archippus settled in the church to perform the duty of sexton. He led an ascetic life: he ate very little, wore shabby clothes and slept on stones, and at the same time he converted many pagans to Christ. The pagans repeatedly attacked Archippus, insulted him and even beat him. Finally, they decided to destroy the church itself and kill Archippus. Two rivers flowed not far from the church, and they decided to direct both rivers to the church and the miraculous spring. They dug a deep and wide ditch and filled it with water from the rivers. Saint Archippus saw the plans of the enemies and prayed in the church to the Holy Archangel Michael to save the church and the spring. Meanwhile, the pagans were already preparing to let the water flow onto the church, and they themselves stood on a hill to see the destruction of the holy place with Archippus. Suddenly Saint Archippus heard a voice that inspired him to leave the church. He went out and saw the Archangel Michael, who ordered him to watch how God would save the church. The Archangel raised his right hand and held back the flow of the waters that had already been released to flow, ordering them to go into the crevice of a larger stone located near the church, and after that he himself became invisible. Saint Archippus died at a ripe old age.

September: Day 5: Holy Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth

Day 5: Holy Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth
 
(About the Power of Parental Love for Their Children)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth, whose memory is celebrated today, were the parents of John the Baptist. Zechariah was a Jewish priest, Elizabeth was the sister of Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. They were righteous before God, but until old age they had no children and were very sad about this, because the Jews thought that whoever does not have children does not have God's blessing. Finally, the Lord heard their prayer. He was pleased to resolve Elizabeth's barrenness. According to the prediction of the angel who appeared to Zechariah in the temple on the right side of the altar of incense, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, John, who was the forerunner and baptizer of the Lord. This is narrated in detail at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke. During the slaughter of children by Herod in Bethlehem and its environs, Saint Elizabeth and the infant John hid from the murderers in a cleft in the mountain, but Herod demanded that Zechariah give him his son. Since Zechariah did not fulfill this insane and cruel demand, then for this, by order of Herod, he himself was killed between the temple and the altar. Soon after this, John's mother, Saint Elizabeth, also died.

September: Day 4: Teaching 3: Holy Prophet Moses

Day 4: Teaching 3: Holy Prophet Moses
 
(Lessons From His Life:
a. God's Providence in Each of our Lives;
b. Let Us Not Be Carried Away By a Brilliant External Position, but Serve the One God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Among all the holy personalities of the times before the coming of Christ, the most remarkable is the Prophet and God-seer Moses, whose memory is celebrated today. He delivered the Jewish people from slavery, miraculously led them out of Egypt, gave them the God-written law and led them to the Promised Land. He is the first sacred and divinely inspired writer of Genesis; he was glorified by the entire Old Testament Church; our Savior Christ Himself often pointed to him, and conversed with him on Tabor. Let us listen, brethren, to what the holy history tells us about him.

Moses was born in Egypt at the most unfortunate time, when the Egyptian kings issued a decree to cast all Jewish babies into the Nile River. Moses' mother, after his birth, kept him secretly with her for three months; finally, surrendering to the will of God, she took a reed basket, tarred it, put her infant son in it and lowered it into the water in a bay of the Nile River. Meanwhile, she left behind her daughter, Moses' sister, and ordered her to watch from afar what would happen to the baby. And so, by God's providence, the daughter of Pharaoh the King came at that very time and to the very place where the basket with the baby was floating. Seeing the basket, the princess ordered her maids to take it and, opening it, saw a crying baby in it, understood that this baby must be one of the children of the Jews, and out of compassion she decided to save his life. Looking at this, Moses' sister went to the princess and said to her: "Would you like me to call a wet nurse to raise this baby?" and, having received permission, brings her mother to her. Thus Moses was delivered from death, returned to the bosom of his own mother, and was safely nursed and brought up by her. Wondrous are the destinies of God! Ineffable is the wisdom, goodness and power of the Providence of the world!

September: Day 4: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Babylas

 

Day 4: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Babylas
 
(On the Veneration of Spiritual Mentors)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Hieromartyr Babylas, whose memory is celebrated today, was Bishop in Antioch during the persecution by Decius. Decius, having arranged a feast in honor of the idols and having sacrificed the Persian prince who was his hostage, wanted to enter the Christian temple in order to desecrate it. At that time, Saint Babylas was celebrating a service in the temple. He did not let the emperor into the temple. The emperor was afraid to insist, because there were many Christians in the temple. The next day he ordered the temple to be burned and Saint Babylas brought before him.

Saint Nektarios, the Most Beloved of Saints

By Archimandrite Ananias Koustenis

Today we celebrate our much-loved and popular Saint Nektarios, Bishop of Pentapolis, the Wonderworker, the Myrrhgusher and our protector.

On this day, September 3, 1953, there took place in Aegina, the island, the translation of the sacred and grace-flowing relic of our Saint, where he had been buried, in his Monastery. And since then, every year, on September 3, our Church celebrates this memory and festivity. And she finds an opportunity and an occasion to glorify God and to honor the Saint and to show his love, his miracles and everything else that this great and wonderworking hierarch of the Church and father and teacher offers to our country and to the world, who, with his infinite miracles, became a doctor without borders.

And as the modest Synaxarion of September 3 says, "and he reaches everywhere." The Saint reaches out everywhere and heals.

September: Day 3: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Anthimos

Day 3: Teaching 1:  Holy Hieromartyr Anthimos
 
(On the Necessity for Christians in All States of Life to Strictly Adhere to the Truth and to Act According to the Duty of Their Calling)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

The Holy Hieromartyr Anthimos, whose memory is celebrated today, was chosen bishop of his native city of Nicomedia during the difficult time of persecution of Christians, raised by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, which fell with particular cruelty on the Christians in Nicomedia, where these emperors lived for the most part. When a fire broke out, which destroyed part of the imperial palace and which was attributed to Christians, then an order was issued to exterminate mercilessly and by all means those who were recognized as dangerous enemies of the state. On the very feast of the Nativity of Christ, 20,000 Christians were burned in one church in Nicomedia.

September: Day 2: Teaching 2: St. John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople

Day 2: Teaching 2: St. John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople
 
(How Should a Christian Relate to Earthly Goods?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint John, whose memory is now celebrated, called the Faster for his great abstinence, was the son of poor parents who wanted to make him an artisan. But even from his youth John felt a strong attraction to the ascetic life, settled with the pious monk Eusebius, and he by his example strengthened this attraction in John even more. The Patriarch of Constantinople Eutychios, having learned of John's strict life, ordained him deacon; and after the death of Eutychios, John was chosen to take his place in 582, and at first declined this rank, yielding only to the intense requests of the Constantinople clergy. Occupying this see from 582 to 585, John the Faster acquired the general respect and love of the Constantinople flock by his generosity and compassion for the poor, to whom he gave all that he had. The Lord glorified the saint with the gift of miracles: through his prayers a strong storm at sea was pacified, a blind man was healed, and many other miracles occurred. Saint John the Faster died in 595, leaving behind only a wooden bed, a linen shirt, and a worn-out robe: such was his attitude toward earthly goods.

September: Day 2: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Mamas

Day 2: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Mamas
 
(Lessons From His Life: 

a. God's providence in the lives of orphans; 

b. the good sides of orphanhood; 

and c. an exhortation to take care of orphans)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the holy martyr Mamas. The parents of Saint Mamas were noble and wealthy Christians, originally from Asia Minor, and their names were Theodotos and Rufina. For their Christian faith they were imprisoned. Theodotos died in prison, and his wife, overcome with grief, gave birth to a premature son, and soon after also gave up her soul to God. The merciful God did not leave the infant without help and care. At that time there lived in Caesarea a virtuous and pious rich widow, Ammia. The Lord inspired her with the good thought to ask the ruler of the country for permission to bury the bodies of deceased Christians. Having received permission to do so, she herself went to the prison and when she saw the poor baby between the dead parents, her heart was filled with compassion, and she decided to take the child and raise him as her own son. She nursed him, calling him Mamas. Having reached adolescence, he loved God and his neighbors, learned a pious life and was awarded the crown of martyrdom for his firm confession of his Christian faith.

Saint Meletios and his Monastery in Kithairon (Photios Kontoglou)

Saint Meletios and his Monastery in Kithairon

By Photios Kontoglou

Many of us have heard of the Monastery of Saint Meletios in Kithairon, but we do not know who this Saint was who founded it.

Saint Meletios is not local, but came from the East. He was born in Moutalaske in Cappadocia in 1035. As every man born in the world has some inclination, one to letters, another to arms, another to trade, and another to something else, so was Meletios who as a child had an innate inclination towards religion. He loved the church more than anything else, showing that he was one of those whom Saint John the Evangelist says, "who were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but who were born of God." He learned few letters. And because his parents wanted to marry him off, he left his place, leaving parents, relatives, friends, fields and everything else he had, and went to Constantinople and became a monk in a monastery of Chrysostom. After staying for three years in this monastery, he left it and went to Thessaloniki and venerated the tomb of Saint Demetrios. From there he went to the area of Thebes, and found a small monastery of Saint George and there he lived in silence.

September: Day 1: Teaching 1: Venerable Symeon the Stylite

 Day 1: Teaching 1: Venerable Symeon the Stylite

 

(Without Effort You Can't Achieve Anything)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Symeon, who is commemorated on this day, is called a Stylite, because in the last forty years of his life he labored on a pillar. On what pillar, you ask, and what kind of asceticism is this – a stylite? This is an amazing kind of asceticism, my brethren; even the great ascetics of the Syrian and Egyptian deserts, contemporaries of the Venerable Symeon, were greatly amazed at this kind of asceticism; some of them came from afar to the pillar of Symeon, which is near Syrian Antioch, to look at such a wonderful man of God and to hear at least one word from him. Almost daily crowds of people from different countries, sometimes from very distant ones, came to the place of the exploits of the Stylite Symeon – they came from Georgia, and from Armenia, and from Persia, and from Arabia, and even from Spain, from Italy and Britain – priests and saints came, kings and queens came – and all left the newly-appeared Stylite with great spiritual benefit for themselves and with unspeakable amazement. What did they see there? Imagine a tower built of simple undressed stones, forty cubits high (i.e. about 20 arshins), and so thick that it looked more like a tower than a pillar. On this tower there was a platform, two arshins high, so that two people could barely stand and sit on it. This platform was surrounded by thin walls an arshin high. Rarely was it covered with anything like a roof, and for the most part it was completely open to the cold, and to the heat, and to the snow, and to the rain, and to the winds and to all kinds of bad weather. Here you had the dwelling of the man of God Symeon. Here he spent his days and nights in unceasing feats of fasting, prayer and contemplation of God, here he lived such a holy life, so aflame with heartfelt love for the Lord, that he was, one might say, a brightly burning candle before God in the heavens.

September 1: The Beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year

By St. Justin Popovich

The First Ecumenical Synod decided that the ecclesiastical year begins on the first of September.*

For the Jews, the month of September was the beginning of the new civil year (Exodus 23:16), the month of gathering fruits and offering a sacrifice of thanks to God.

During this celebration, the Lord Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth, opened the book of the Prophet Isaiah and read the words: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk. 4:18-19; Is. 61:1-2).