Eldress Galaktia Remembers the Miraculous Appearance of Saint George During the German Occupation

 

Below Eldress Galaktia recalls the miraculous appearance of Saint George the Great Martyr to her during the German Occupation:

"During the German occupation, my father was a hostage of the Germans along with other select residents of Pompia.* They were not supposed to go far from the village and every Saturday at noon they would have to present themselves at the commandant’s office. It was where the police were, next to the old church of Saint George. That is where the large church is built today. When they were late returning, my mother would send me anxiously: 'Go, my child, and see from outside why they are late.' I would go and kneel at Saint George’s. With tears I would beg him for my beloved father and all the others. Once, a discreet touch on the head startled me. I raised my eyes and saw with astonishment a young soldier in ancient uniform. He smiled at me and said: 'Do not be afraid. Pompia and your father are in my hands.' Then he disappeared. It was Saint George! I never spoke of it. I speak of it now for his glory.”

The Cave of Saint George in Kainourgio of Fthiotida

Along the Athens-Lamia National Road, in the charming village of Kainourgio, located in Fthiotida of Central Greece, deep in the mountains, on a small expanse of land cleared of beech trees and weeds, is the Chapel of Saint George.

Behind the lower chapel, almost hidden from the eyes of the world, there is a serpentine path which begins towards the mountain, leading to the sacred cave where the "finding of Ai-Giorgis" took place, namely the finding of the icon of Saint George.

Until 1901, the year the Chapel of Saint George was built, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the small cave. Only the priest and the chanter could fit inside, while the faithful would listen gathered outside.

 

April: Day 23: Teaching 1: Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious

April: Day 23: Teaching 1:
Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious
 
(Lessons From His Life)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today we celebrate in honor the memory of the Holy Glorious Great Martyr and George the Victorious. Who was Saint George? Why in the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially in Holy Rus', was the custom of specially honoring this Holy Great Martyr established?

He was a Roman warrior of the end of the 3rd century, beautiful in soul and body. He was rich and noble, belonging to the highest circle. His internal and external virtues, especially the extraordinary affection of the Roman Emperor Diocletian for him, quickly not only led him up all the steps of military and state honors of the first ranks, but also placed him outside the ranks - above all, since the Emperor Diocletian intended to make him his co-ruler, and in the event of his death, his successor.

The Fourth Day of Pascha: Teaching 8 (About the All-Illuminating Light With Which the Resurrection of Christ Illumines Us)

The Fourth Day of Pascha:
Teaching 8

(About the All-Illuminating Light With Which the Resurrection of Christ Illumines Us)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. With the Resurrection of Christ, both heaven and earth, as well as the underworld, have been filled with light.

a) The heavens themselves were illuminated with a new light; for the highest mystery of God's love was revealed to the holy angels, which did not spare His beloved and only-begotten Son for the salvation of fallen humanity - when the King and Lord of the cherubim and seraphim Himself became incarnate and became human for our salvation, accepted the most cruel sufferings and torments, the cross and death.

b) Even the underworld itself was filled with light when the Conqueror of death and hades appeared there with the light-bearing banner of the Resurrection, when the devil himself saw in Jesus the true Son of God, when all his captives were illuminated by the light of the coming of Christ, resounded with the preaching of the Kingdom of God from the lips of the King of this kingdom Himself, broke the captivity of darkness and error with which the devil had bound them, and emerged from hades as a triumphant host with a song of victory in the wake of their victorious Leader.

c) But the light of the Resurrection of Christ has shone, my brethren, especially on our earth and for us humans.

Homily on Holy Pascha - 1894 (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on the Most Joyful Day of Pascha and in Memory of the Birthday of His Majesty, the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich, Autocrat of All Russia

By St. John of Kronstadt

(Delivered on April 29, 1894)

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:1–2).

Christ is Risen!

The joy of the resurrection of Christ has today joined with the joy of commemorating the birthday of our Most Pious Sovereign, Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich. However, the cause of both joys is the same risen Christ: for it is the same Christ who has now risen from the dead and has made us all glad with His resurrection, who once granted us at this time our Tsar, so that we, the people of God, might walk piously and peacefully towards the Heavenly Kingdom under His rule along the path of God's commandments. We thank You, O Christ God, who has made us glad with the joy of Your resurrection and bestowed upon the Russian Orthodox state a Tsar after Your own heart.

The Third Day of Pascha: Teaching 7 (On the Meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ)

The Third Day of Pascha:
Teaching 7

(On the Meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Christ is Risen!

I. “The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” says Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, “serves as:

a) proof of the Divinity of Jesus Christ,

b) the beginning of our resurrection.

II. The confirmation of faith in the Resurrection of Christ is a matter of great importance for Christianity and for the Christian.

a) The main strength of Christianity is to recognize the Lord Jesus as the Savior of the world that has sinned against God and is condemned to death by God. And in order to recognize this powerful quality in Him with full hope, we need complete assurance that He is the only begotten Son of God and the true God, because it has been well said, although not by good people: "Who can forgive sins but God alone" (Luke 5:21)? Only the mercy of God the Son can provide worthy satisfaction to the offended majesty and justice of God the Father; only God can return life to those condemned to death by God.

April: Day 22: Teaching 1: Venerable Theodore the Sykeote

April: Day 22: Teaching 1:
Venerable Theodore the Sykeote
 
(On the Need and Benefit for Children of a Good Example from Parents and Elders in the Home of Relatives)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today glorified in ecclesiastical hymns and readings, Venerable Theodore the Sykeote was born in the sixth century to pious parents. When he was six years old, his mother wanted to enroll him in the military and began to prepare military things for him: a gold belt and precious clothes. But in a dream, the Holy Great Martyr George appeared to her and said to her: "Do not labor in vain, because the Heavenly King requires your son for Himself." Waking up, the mother began to cry, thinking that her son would soon die. Meanwhile, the youth grew and became stronger. At the age of eight, he was sent to school, where he did well. Remarkably, he never quarreled with others, but always tried to reconcile those who quarreled.

Homily on Holy Pascha - 1902 (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on Holy Pascha

By St. John of Kronstadt

(Delivered on April 14, 1902)

Christ is Risen!

I greet you, dear brothers and sisters, on the bright feast of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead! Rejoice, and I will say again: rejoice.

For greater joy, let us listen to the Angel of the Lord, who appeared to the Myrrhbearing women at the tomb of the Savior in a form shining like lightning, and proclaimed to them the good news of the Resurrection of Christ. When they were trembling from his intensely shining appearance, he encouraged them and said: 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.' So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, 'Rejoice!' So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me...'  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'” (Matthew 28:5–10, 16–20). Here is the end of the story of the Evangelist Matthew about the resurrection and appearance of the Lord.

The Second Day of Pascha: Teaching 6 (And We Will Rise Again!)

 

The Second Day of Pascha:
Teaching 6

(And We Will Rise Again!)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Jesus Christ is risen! We too will rise, my friends! Have you ever thought about these most joyful words, about this greatest action of God's omnipotence over us? We will rise... There will be a time when our bodies, these very mortal bodies, hidden in the graves, decayed into dust, turned into earth, by the action of the almighty Word of God, will again be transformed from the graves and again united with our souls, separated for a time, for eternal life... We were created for life! We want to live; and we will live in these same bodies of ours, only transformed; we will live forever, forever... What joy, what consolation in these words for us mortals! Why should we, after this, fear death? Why become despondent and despairing at the death of those dear to our hearts?

The Second Day of Pascha: Teaching 5 (How Should Pascha Be Celebrated?)

 

The Second Day of Pascha:
Teaching 5

(How Should Pascha Be Celebrated?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Christ is Risen!

I. How should we best celebrate Pascha? We should celebrate Pascha in such a way that by this celebration we please the Risen Lord.

Celebrate it not with the old leaven, as the Apostle Paul teaches, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth: for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:7, 8).

II. In giving advice on how Christians should celebrate their Pascha, the Apostle had in mind the Jewish Passover. The Lord commanded the Jews, during the celebration of their Passover, to beware of all leavened things (Exodus 12:15); and the Apostle advises Christians to observe unleavened bread. The Jew was careful of material leaven, but the Christian must be careful of spiritual leaven – malice and wickedness. The Jew ate unleavened bread during the Passover, which was only a symbol of purity, but the Christian must have the very purity of the spirit.

April: Day 21: Holy Hieromartyr Januarius the Bishop and Those With Him

April: Day 21:
Holy Hieromartyr Januarius the Bishop and Those With Him
 
(On Spiritual Blindness)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Januarius, who is celebrated today, was a Bishop in the Campanian region of Italy, and was tortured for the faith of Christ during the persecution under Diocletian. Among other things, they threw him into a red-hot furnace, but he came out of it unharmed. The next day they brought him out to be devoured by wild beasts along with other Christians. But even in this, Januarius and his companions remained untouched: the beasts fell meekly at the feet of the Bishop, to the general amazement of the crowd of people.

Timothy, the governor of Campania, who had given these Christians over to torture, was not, however, moved by such a miracle of God's preservation; in his spiritual blindness, he attributed this miracle to magic. And so, as if in punishment for his spiritual blindness, which came from insensibility, he at that time also became blind in his physical eyes. But this did not awaken in him either a clear thought or a healthy feeling. Then the Lord, who always seeks only the salvation of sinners, deigned to act upon him with mercy. He gave the good-natured martyr Januarius the power to heal his blind persecutor. But the joy of healing did not soften or touch the hardened heart of the pagan, while at that very time up to five thousand pagans, who had witnessed the miracles, were converted to faith in the true God. And yet, the more the grace of the Lord abounded, the more the ruler became angry and put to death all those enlightened by the truth. All the confessors, together with Bishop Januarius, were, by order of Timothy, taken outside the city and executed by the sword. Their holy remains were taken by the inhabitants of various places; the body of Saint Januarius was transferred to Naples, where to this day it pours out its miraculous help and protection.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2025 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2025

 
Beloved children in the Lord,

The Resurrection of Christ that we celebrate these days is a great event in both history and the life of the Church. We celebrate the event of the Resurrection by holding lighted candles with which we illuminate the darkness of the environment and chant the triumphant hymn: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life.”

However, the Resurrection of Christ is not disconnected from His Cross, since both, the Cross and the Resurrection, are interrelated in the life of Christ and in the life of Christians. We see this most clearly in the Mystery of Baptism, by which we become members of the Body of Christ.

Moreover, the day of Pascha has been associated since ancient times with the Baptism of the Catechumens. The Catechumens were prepared for about three years, with catechism and exorcisms, and these were done more intensively during Great Lent, and then group baptisms were held on Great Saturday. Thus, the new members of the Church entered the church with lighted candles and all the faithful joyfully chanted: “All who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ: Alleluia.” Baptism is a person’s participation in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ experientially and truly. It is not an external event, but rather a person’s participation in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. It was preceded during the period of Catechism by the crucifixion of the catechumens’ passions and followed by the life in Christ, and this along with Baptism are characterized as Pascha. This is analyzed more thoroughly and theologically by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, which is read as a reading during the Mystery of Baptism.

The First Day of Pascha: Teaching 4 (Explanation of the Origin of the Paschal Greeting)

The First Day of Pascha:
Teaching 4

A Homily for Vespers on the First Day of Pascha

(Explanation of the Origin of the Paschal Greeting)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Christ is risen! – Truly He is risen!

I. Thus, brethren, briefly but joyfully do we greet one another today. We cannot think of a better greeting.

II. a) Do you wish, brethren, to know where our present joyful greeting comes from?

The custom of Christians to greet each other in this way, or simply to exchanging Christ's greetings, is an ancient custom, dating back to the Apostles.

The first half of the greeting: "Christ is risen!" appeared almost in the very first minutes after the resurrection of Christ, and was heard from the lips of an angel. The angel who appeared at the tomb of the risen Christ was the first to greet the Myrrhbearing women with the bright resurrection of Christ, the first, so to speak, to exchange the greeting of Christ with the Myrrhbearing women. The angel, turning his speech to the women, narrates the Evangelist Matthew (28:5, 6), said: "Do not be afraid; for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here: he is risen." The angel of the Lord, having greeted the Holy Myrrhbearing women with the joy of the resurrection of Christ, commanded them to take this greeting immediately to the disciples of Christ: "Go quickly," he said to them, "tell his disciples that He (Christ) is risen from the dead" (Matt. 8:7). And the Holy Myrrhbearers, according to the story of the Evangelist Luke, returned from the tomb, announced all this to the eleven and to all the others. Thus this joyful news, this joyful greeting: "Christ is risen!" flew from mouth to mouth, carried through eighteen centuries, was heard in the most numerous nations of the globe and is now pronounced by our lips with the greatest joy.

The First Day of Pascha: Teaching 3 (On the Appearances of the Risen Lord to the Apostles on the Day of the Resurrection)

The First Day of Pascha:
Teaching 3

A Homily for Vespers on the First Day of Pascha

(On the Appearances of the Risen Lord to the Apostles on the Day of the Resurrection, with Moral and Dogmatic Conclusions)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the very day of the Resurrection, in the morning, the risen Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene, then to the other Myrrhbearers. Around evening of the same day, two of Christ's disciples, Luke and Cleopas, went to the village of Emmaus, which is ten miles from Jerusalem. They walked very sadly. The unexpected death of Jesus Christ killed their hope for better days for the people of Israel. On the way, they talked among themselves about everything that had happened in those days. The main subject of their conversation was Jesus Christ. A Stranger came up to them and asked them: "What are you discussing among yourselves and why are you so sad?" The disciples of Christ were surprised by this question. "Are you really just coming to Jerusalem and do you not know about the things that have happened in these days?" they said to the Traveler who approached. "About what?" their companion asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and before all the people? How the chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we did not expect this from Him, but trusted that it was He who was appointed to deliver us Israelites. And behold, this is the third day since all these things were done. And some women of our company astonished us. They were early in the morning at the tomb and did not find his body, and returned and said that they had seen angels saying that he was alive. And some of our company went to the tomb and found everything just as the women said, but He they did not see.” Then the Traveler who joined them said to them: "In vain do they hesitate: for the sufferings of Christ were foretold by the prophets, and therefore were to befall the Messiah. Ought not Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?" He said these things to them and as proof cited all the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah, beginning with Moses. The disciples were amazed. Meanwhile, in the conversation, they imperceptibly approached Emmaus. The Stranger pretended that He wanted to go further, but the disciples began to persuade Him to spend the night with them, since evening had come. The Traveler agreed. They entered the house and lay down at the table to strengthen themselves with food. The Traveler took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. How vividly all this reminded them of their dear Teacher! After all, He did exactly the same before eating. They began to peer into the features of the Stranger - and suddenly they saw Christ before them. But as soon as they recognized Him, He immediately became invisible and disappeared. "Did not our hearts burn within us, while He explained the scriptures to us on the way?" they said to each other and then late in the evening they returned to Jerusalem to the other Apostles and said that Christ was risen. "Truly He has risen," the Apostles told them, "and He appeared to Simon Peter." But how He appeared to Peter, there are no details about that appearance in the Gospel. Having appeared to him separately and before the others, the Lord, of course, uttered to him alone a complete forgiveness for his threefold rejection of the Lord.

The First Day of Pascha: Teaching 2 (Lessons of Edification from the Gospel Story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ)

 

The First Day of Pascha:
Teaching 2

(Lessons of Edification from the Gospel Story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Let us talk, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, about the all-joyful event of the Resurrection of our Lord from the dead.

a) When did the Lord rise? According to the prophecies of the Prophets and the Lord Himself (Matt. 12:40), on the third day, not earlier than the first hours after midnight on the day after the Sabbath.

b) By what power did the Lord rise from the dead? By the glory of the Father (Rom. 6:4) and by His own power, as God (John 10:18).

c) How did the resurrection of the Lord take place and reveal itself? It took place in the deepest mystery, in a sealed tomb. Only a sudden, powerful shaking of the earth could have told one who knew how to understand the voice of nature that the Firstborn of the dead was coming from its heart. After this, an angel came down from heaven to announce to people the resurrection of the Lord. "His appearance was like lightning, his garment white as snow" (Matt. 28:3). “Having rolled away the stone from the tomb, he terrified and thereby removed the guards in order to open free access to the tomb for the Myrrhbearers and the Apostles” (Metropolitan Philaret.).

The First Day of Pascha: Teaching 1 (The Feast of Pascha is a Celebration of Spiritual Joy For All)

The First Day of Pascha:
Teaching 1

(The Feast of Pascha is a Celebration of Spiritual Joy For All)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Christ is Risen!

I. According to the rubrics of our Church, we must, brethren, read to you the now well-known discourse of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, which we now intend to do. But since this discourse in the Slavonic translation and the brevity of the expression of the thoughts contained in it may not be entirely understandable to many, we consider it useful to offer it in Russian and, moreover, to explain somewhat the thoughts contained in it, for the greater edification of all. We ask for your attention.

Homily on the Burial of Jesus and the Courage of Joseph (Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna)

The Burial of Jesus and the Courage of Joseph

By the Holy Hieromartyr Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of Smyrna

The death and burial of the Lord are very important events in Christianity; and they are so because they are the basis and foundation of the Resurrection of the Lord, which in turn is the basis and foundation of our entire Faith, for if Christ did not die, our faith is futile and vain (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The hopes of all Christians depend on the event of the Death and the event of the Resurrection of the Lord, both in the present and in eternity.

This is the rock on which Christianity, the foundation of the whole world, rests. The Resurrection and the events that took place on that beautiful morning and after it have been spoken of eloquently, and the discourse today deals with those fearful events that occurred at the burial, from which the reality of the Lord's death is believed, and this is placed above all discussion, truly causing astonishment in our fearful soul.

The Essential Message of the Holy Light of Jerusalem

In 2019 Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra and Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Cyprus was asked by the Cypriot news agency REPORTER to comment on the reactions caused by a book titled “Redemption: About the Holy Light”, in which the author and journalist Dimitris Alikakos cites testimonies through which the theory of the miracle with the Holy Light is allegedly overturned. Among the testimonies is that of the Skeuophylax of the Holy Sepulchre Isidoros, who allegedly confesses that he himself lights the Holy Light with a lighter. Being a part of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Metropolitan Timotheos offered his own testimony whether or not a hoax is involved. He not only questions the authenticity of the Skeuophylax’s interview, that is, whether what is mentioned in the book was correctly attributed to him, but he is quick to emphasize that miracles do happen and in this case the grace of God is indeed at work.

The following is the April 27th 2019 interview of the Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre with REPORTER:

Question: The Skeuophylax of the Holy Sepulchre claimed that the Holy Light is lit with a lighter. We want your comment?

What the Epitaphios Presents To Us (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Blessed and chosen and people of the Lord,

Today is a very important day for the Orthodox Church and, in fact, it is the transition between Great Thursday and Pascha Sunday, between the day on which Christ was crucified and died on the Cross and the day of the Resurrection, which we will celebrate the day after tomorrow and celebrate with “Christ is Risen.”

However, today is not simply a day of mourning, but it is also a day of joy, because the human nature of Christ died on the Cross, the soul of Christ was separated from the body, but the soul together with the Divinity descended into Hades and liberated all those who believed in Him; and the Divinity together with the body remained in the tomb and this body was incorruptible. This is what the Epitaphios presents to us when we come to meet the Epitaphios as we do, because the Kouvouklion is not a tomb that contains a dead person, but it contains the God-man Christ, the living Christ. It is very characteristic that, when the Myrrhbearing women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Christ with myrrh, then the angels said: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? For He has risen, He is not here” (Luke 24:5). We do not have a dead God. The “god” of metaphysics, of a certain philosophy in the West, indeed died, that is, the god who died is the god of metaphysics. Our God, on the other hand, is alive.

A First Look at the Holy Light (Holy Fire) of Jerusalem 2025

Today in Jerusalem the Holy Light, known in the West as Holy Fire, once again descended into the Tomb of Christ as Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem knelt in prayer within the Holy Sepulchre. This ceremony has taken place just about every year for hundreds of years on Holy Saturday, shortly after 2:30pm. With 33 candles in each hand he distributed the Holy Light to the many present. Following the Holy Light ceremony, the flame is taken by plane to other Orthodox communities in countries such as Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania. In Greece the Holy Light is usually received with the welcome of a Head of State.

In pre-COVID years, over 10,000 pilgrims packed the Holy Sepulchre to be witnesses of this miracle. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the ceremony to be closed to the public for the first time since the Black Death in 1349, with only clerics, police, and media present. Last year, only 4200 people were allowed in the church, due to the escalation of the conflict in Gaza and the resulting logistical problems.

The Theology of the Darkness From the Sixth Hour Until the Ninth Hour (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Theology of the Darkness From the Sixth Hour Until the Ninth Hour

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Homily Delivered on Great Friday in the Church of Saint Paraskevi in Nafpaktos in 2019)

The Passion, the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ are events that create great inspiration in those who study and read them. They are events that are not only connected to the life of Christ, but also to our own lives.

The Events of the Crucifixion

When one reads the holy and sacred Gospels, then one sees the Passion of Christ as a whole. On the evening of Great Thursday, Christ was arrested by the Scribes and the Pharisees and throughout the night of Great Thursday, He was brought by Annas to Caiaphas and interrogated, followed by the beatings that Christ suffered, the fall of the Apostle Peter with the denial of Christ and many others. On the morning of Great Friday the Great Sanhedrin of the Jews met, because according to the law they were not supposed to meet during the night. They decided to put Christ to death and led him to Pilate to issue the decision. The relevant interrogation was carried out by Pilate and at about nine o'clock on the morning of Great Friday the condemnatory decision was issued that Christ should be put to death by the Cross.

"They Crucified the Lord of Glory" (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

"They Crucified the Lord of Glory"

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Homily Delivered on Great Friday in the Church of Saint Paraskevi in Nafpaktos on May 3, 2024)

Holy and Great Friday is a very important day for the Orthodox Church and for Christianity in general, because on this day Christ (the human nature of Christ) died on the Cross and the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was taken down from the Cross, as you saw earlier.

The Sacred Service, which begins in the morning, is the Service of the Royal Hours, because during this service, in Constantinople, the King-Emperor would also descend from the Palace to the Sacred Temple of Hagia Sophia, which is why they are called the Royal Hours, and would witness this great event. And, of course, after the Great Hours comes the Service of Vespers, in which we are in now, during which the Gospel is read and the Descent of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Cross and the procession of the Epitaphion within the church takes place.

Threnody Over The Tomb (Photios Kontoglou)

"The Apokathelosis" (The Unnailing) icon by Photios Kontoglou

 

Threnody Over The Tomb

 

By Photios Kontoglou

"It is finished," cried the much-tortured Christ from the cross and bowed His weary head.

That great day was Friday and the Sabbath was dawning. Well, that Sabbath He rested in the embrace of the earth that He Himself created. On this hallowed day the eyelids of His body were closed, His wounded limbs lay down. According to the prophecy that Jacob spoke about Christ, nineteen hundred years prior: "He lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him?"

So the soldiers went, but they did not touch Christ because they saw that He was already dead, and only one of them pierced a spear into His side, and from the wound flowed blood and water.

Homily One on Holy and Great Friday (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily One on Holy and Great Friday

By St. John of Kronstadt

"O Life, how are you dying?" 

(Lamentation Verse on Great Saturday)

Come, all ye creatures: let us bring our songs of departure to the Creator. Countless hosts of heavenly powers! All intelligent inhabitants of the earth! Come, let us bring our songs of departure to our common Creator, Who after the most terrible sufferings peacefully rests in the tomb! Let us draw near to Him and begin to question Him: “Why are You accounted among the dead, Who are alive on high and uncontainable by the heavens, and strangely received into a small tomb? How is it that You, the immortal Author of life, tasted death Yourself, and as a mortal were laid in the tomb? How did it happen that Your feeble but malicious creatures, men, brought You to the tomb? It is evident that You deigned of Your own will to ascend the cross in the flesh, otherwise, who would have dared to touch You, O Almighty One? It is evident that there is a great mystery here, which wicked men and the prince of darkness himself did not know. And indeed, people did not know what they were doing to Jesus. It is evident that from this extreme condescension of Yours towards people much good will come to them: for You do everything only for the increase of goodness and blessedness of creatures. It must be that You suffered out of great need, with the most gracious and wise purpose: You 'have done all things in wisdom' (Ps. 103:24), and You are 'good in all things' (Ps. 145:9). Can it be that Your sufferings and Your death were not the work of Your infinite wisdom and goodness?" Hear, brethren, the answer to this of the Lord Himself, Who suffered for us: "Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it alone remains, but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24).

Great Friday: Teaching 3 (Prayerful Appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ, Before the Epitaphios)

Great Friday:
Teaching 3

(Prayerful Appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ, Before the Epitaphios)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. With a heart filled with sorrow, gazing upon Your pure body wrapped in the shroud, Lord Jesus, the only sinless one – bowing before this sacred image of Yours, Christ who have died and been buried, with deep emotion and tears, I kiss these wounds inflicted upon You by our sins, O Healer of our souls and bodies. What shall we say and what shall we cry out to You from the depths of our soul, if not the repentant and prayerful voice of the prudent thief: "Remember us, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom?"

II. Remember us, O Lord, Creator of angels and Maker of all creatures, by whom all things came to be; who has brought us from non-existence into being, and who, O God, has honored us, men, with Your image. Remember that we are dust and ashes, and like nothing before You, yet Your immortal Spirit lives within us, and our souls yearn for You, finding no comfort in this valley of tears, except in You, Source of life and immortality, radiant glory of the Father, and the image of His hypostasis!

Great Friday: Teaching 2 (The Lament of a Christian Over Sins at the Tomb of Christ)

Great Friday:
Teaching 2

(The Lament of a Christian Over Sins at the Tomb of Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. When the blessed Sufferer, bearing His cross, was led to His crucifixion, many of the women of Jerusalem followed Him with weeping and tears... This is a customary offering of sensitive hearts, when witnessing the sufferings of a neighbor, especially of one suffering innocently. Nevertheless, the Lord did not wish to accept this sacrifice of human participation: He pointed out to the tears of the daughters of Jerusalem another subject, more worthy of mourning: "Daughters of Jerusalem," He said to them, "do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children" (Luke 23:28).

Great Friday: Teaching 1 (What Do the Three Crosses of Golgotha Preach To Us?)

Great Friday:
Teaching 1

(What Do the Three Crosses of Golgotha Preach To Us?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Christian brethren! I want to transfer your reverently disposed thoughts and feelings to Mount Golgotha, from where our help came, and precisely at the time when the great mystery of our salvation was being accomplished. There we see three crosses. Let us stand at their foot with an open heart and listen to what they will preach to us.

II. a) Before us first of all is the cross, upon which the eyes of all Jerusalem are directed, the cross in the middle. What is this cross? It is the tree of our life, our sign, strength and salvation, the most precious cross to us; the one hanging on it is our Lord.

Joyful Mourning – Great Mystery (Photios Kontoglou)

"The Crucifixion" by the hand of Photios Kontoglou, from the year 1962, located in the northern arch of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Kato Patision.

 

Joyful Mourning – Great Mystery

By Photios Kontoglou

In this world, everything fades, everything loses its vibrancy and is extinguished, in the end leaving the human heart indifferent. Only the life of Christ, His words and above all His Passion remain forever vivid in the heart of that person who has the vitality of faith and fills it with devotion and with that sweet sadness that is full of hope and that the Fathers called “joyful sorrow” (χαρμολύπη) or “joyful mourning” (χαροποιόν πένθος).

Well, this sad but also blessed joy, true joy, this joy Christ gives to those who love Him, such as those who go to weep in the churches on these holy days. The joy of Christ also brings peace to the heart, which is inseparable from all the gifts that Christ gives to His loved ones. Christ said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. I do not give you as the world gives,” that is, “I do not give you the false peace that the world gives, just as I do not give you the false joy that the world gives, but the true one that comes from a pained heart.”

Why Did Peter Deny Christ? (Saint Joseph the Hesychast)

Question: Elder, you spoke to us earlier about the imperfection of the Apostle Peter, before Pentecost. Did he deny our Lord because of his imperfection?

Answer: The issue of Peter’s denial, according to the judgments of the Fathers, is an economy. For it was not possible for Peter, who throughout the entire period that he was with Christ and showed so much zeal and so much humility, to fall into such a great error, to deny the Lord Christ three times. This is not logical. Remember Peter’s confession! When our Jesus asked: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter confessed and said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus turned and said to him: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:16-18).

"If You Are My Friends, Imitate Me" (Great Thursday)

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“If you are my friends, imitate me…” (Matins, Apostichon of the Praises)

Great Thursday: the tradition of the mysteries of the Church, of the Divine Eucharist. And with it: the washing of the disciples’ feet, the preternatural prayer after the Secret Supper, the betrayal of Judas. Shocking events that one watches in silence, with one’s mind collected, with horror before the infinite love of the Lord, with tears in one’s eyes and heart. And those words of the Lord, which He first addressed to His twelve disciples, when He washed their feet, and which have since been valid as an exhortation for every believer of every era: “If you are my friends, imitate me,” sound axiomatic.

Can we first be His friends? How can one be friends with the Almighty and Creator God? Human reason becomes dizzy and trembles, because it feels its own infinite smallness before the infinite greatness of God. But this attitude of reason is the symptom of our world fallen into sin. For God came into the world in the person of our Christ, and showed that we, small and weak people, are the most precious thing there is for Him. So precious that He offered and offers Himself for our sake.

"Like Drops of Blood": The Shocking 1992 Miracle on an Icon of Christ in the Church of Saint Euthymios of Kypseli

In Kypseli, the former art district, which was the most beautiful and expensive suburb of Athens, where to buy a house it would cost you a fortune, in March 1992, between Meatfare Sunday and Cheesefare Sunday, a miracle happened in the Church of Saint Euthymios (the parish priest at that time was the late Father Demetrios Kloutsos, spiritual child of Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotis).

Blood and myrrh appeared on an icon of Christ the Savior.

Chemists came from all over the world to examine whether the blood was paint or some human trick, but they were surprised to find that it was natural human blood.

The church was open day and night, with people coming from as far as Sydney and Jerusalem, as news of the miracle had immediately spread; they made a stop in Athens to venerate the Miraculous Icon of Jesus Christ on their knees with tears in their eyes.

A Unique Church in Crete Dedicated to the Secret Supper of the Lord

In Crete, the biggest island of Greece, between the cities of Heraklion and Rethymnon spreads the historic province of Mylopotamos. There, in the village of Kalandares, is a unique chapel dedicated to the Secret Supper of the Lord, perhaps the only Orthodox church in the world dedicated to the Secret Supper, a central event of our salvation and the Passion of the Lord. Locally this chapel is known as the Church of the Holy Table (“Hagia Trapeza”), and celebrates its primary feast on Holy and Great Thursday.

In the gorge of Kalandares there are three chapels, one of which, the Holy Apostles, belongs to the early Christian period, while the other two, the cave church of Saint Paraskevi and the Church of the Holy Table, were built during the Venetian occupation (1205-1669). The Holy Apostles is the first chapel that one encounters while crossing the gorge. It is located on the eastern bank of the river. Going down, we come across the cave in which the Chapel of Saint Paraskevi is located with a water source inside, as well as the first documented archaeological findings which are tombs of the Greco-Roman period. The Church of the Holy Table has been restored by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymno.

God's Love for People (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

God's Love for People

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Delivered Great Tuesday evening on April 11th 2023 at the Church of Saint Paraskevi in Nafpaktos)

We are, my beloved brethren, approximately in the middle of this Holy and Great Week and we climb the sacred steps, we climb the steps, the holy and blessed steps, in order to reach Great Thursday to venerate the Cross of Christ and to taste and feel the Resurrection of Christ on the day of Pascha.

The Church successively leads us to this great event, to experience the crucifixional and resurrectional Pascha. On the first day, she presents us with the all-comely Joseph, who was full of temperance and purity; on the second day, she presents us with the ten virgins, five foolish and five wise virgins; and today, she presents us with the harlot woman, who approached and kissed the feet of Christ and asked for repentance, Christ granted her this long-desired repentance, and a harlot essentially became a saint.

Every year on this day, I am here, in this Sacred Temple of Saint Paraskevi in Nafpaktos, and from this Despotic throne, I speak about this event. I am talking about what repentance means, what a harlot woman means, and what it means that she asked God for repentance, and what it means that Christ granted her repentance and the forgiveness of her sins.

April: Day 16: Holy Martyrs Agape, Irene and Chionia

 

April: Day 16:
Holy Martyrs Agape, Irene and Chionia
 
(How Should a Christian Relate to Dreams?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. In the life of the Holy Martyrs Agape, Chionia and Irene who are celebrated today there is the following story. During the persecution raised by Diocletian, when all the Roman prisons were overflowing with Christians, the elder Chrysogonos was their comforter and mentor. He tirelessly watched over those who faced a difficult trial, preparing them for the feat of martyrdom. Such influential opposition to their efforts to exterminate Christians could not be hidden from the persecutors. Chrysogonos was taken and put to death (commemorated on December 22). His beheaded body was thrown on the seashore. Near this place lived the Christian priest Zoilos, and in his neighborhood three sisters – virgins – lived a solitary, pious life: Agape, Chionia and Irene.

The Former Prodigal Woman Suddenly Turned Sober-Minded (Great Wednesday)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

"The former prodigal woman suddenly turned sober-minded, despising the base acts of sin and carnal pleasure, reflecting on the profound shame and the judgement of hell that harlots and prodigals suffer. I have become the worst of these and am terrified, yet, fool that I am, I persist in my ugly habit. But the harlot woman, troubled and in haste, came crying out to the Redeemer: Lover of mankind and compassionate One, free me from the mire of my deeds.” (Matins, Oikos of the Kontakion)

The morning service of Great Wednesday (which is chanted the evening prior) is sealed by the troparion of Saint Kassiani, the content of which is the moving repentance of the harlot woman of the Gospel, who approached Jesus Christ with precious myrrh, in order to anoint His immaculate feet with it, as an expression of gratitude for the love with which He accepted and surrounded her and for the forgiveness of course that she received from Him. And it is certainly unnecessary to remind us that Saint Kassiani, a great saint and poet of our Church of the ninth century AD, has no relation to this harlot, beyond the fact that the Saint used the incident of the Gospel to render it with the highest poetic sensitivity and thus deliver it to the fullness of the Church throughout the centuries, always provoking, even today, devotion and a disposition to repentance in every well-disposed soul. And this is precisely one reason why our Church presents the incident to us: that everyone may imitate the repentance of this woman, while for another reason it presents it during Great Week for historical reasons, according to the synaxarion of the day: “This happened a little before the Passion.” An approach to the process of repentance of this woman, beyond the troparion of Kassiani, is given to us by the above Oikos of the Kontakion of the service.

Homily on Lazarus of the Four Days (St. Amphilochios of Iconium)

Homily 3  

Homily on Lazarus of the Four Days

By St. Amphilochios of Iconium

Bring again to the forefront the Evangelist John; for it is good to consider the firstfruits of the resurrection. For you heard him recently stating: "Six days prior to the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom He raised from the dead." Did you see the firstfruits of the resurrection prefigured in Lazarus, which the faithful crowd recognized? The crowds recognized it, and the high priests, having transformed the miracle into a source of malediction, derided it. Indeed, they conspired against the resurrection of Lazarus, for after his resurrection, as you have heard, they plotted to kill him. Do you see the absurdity of envy? The One whom the Lord raised, they intended to kill, not realizing that even if they kill him, the Lord would easily raise His friend again. They conspired to kill Lazarus; nothing so greatly disturbed the Jews as the resurrection of Lazarus. This miracle alone they could not slander. They slandered the sight of the man born blind, saying: "This is not he, but someone like him." They slandered the resurrection of Jairus' daughter, saying that she was merely in a deep sleep and not delivered from a complete death. They slandered the resurrection of the only son of the widow, claiming that he had merely appeared to be dead and was not swallowed by the tyranny of death. They slandered the dried fig tree, asserting that it had simply been pruned and not withered by a commanding word. They slandered the transformation of water into wine, claiming that the guests at the banquet were already intoxicated and did not perceive the mockery. Only the resurrection of Lazarus were they unable to slander.

The First Church Dedicated to the Holy New Hieromartyr Ananias Lampardes in Sparta

The Holy New Hieromartyr Ananias Lampardes, Metropolitan of Lacedaemon (+ 1764), was officially canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on June 14, 2022. Almost immediately after the announcement, plans were initiated to build a sacred temple in honor of the newly-canonized Saint near the area which he served as Metropolitan and was later martyred. On Sunday December 18th 2022, the foundation for the temple was blessed by Metropolitan Eustathios of Monemvasia and Sparta, which is located on the grounds of the Government House of Laconia in Sparta. On November 26th 2024, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the newly-built church. As part of the visit of the Primate the lighting ceremony of the sacred lamp took place. 

The Location of the Martyrdom of the Holy Hieromartyr Ananias Lampardes

 

Wishing to weaken the Ottoman Empire and establish a pro-Russian independent Greek state, Russian emissaries of Catherine the Great had been sent to Mani in the mid-1760s to make a pact with the strongest local military leaders, and at the same time notable Greeks approached various Russian agents, discussing plans for the liberation of Greece. At the famous assembly, which was held in Kalamata, Metropolitan Ananias of Lacedaemon gave his blessing for the revolt.

Metropolitan Ananias, after this, consulted with the captains and armatoloi of the Peloponnese and Mani, as well as with the presidents and chiefs of the provinces of the three islands of Hydra, Spetses and Psari, for the liberation of their homeland. With the care and expense of the Metropolitan two mills were established in Dimitsana.

Behold the Bridegroom Comes in the Middle of the Night (Great Monday)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The midnight troparion “Behold the bridegroom comes…” is based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins, initiating the beginning of Great Week: the Lord, the bridegroom of every human soul, comes in the middle of the night. What does this mean?

1. First of all, it means that the main characteristic of Christ’s relationship with us is love. And not just a love moving within conventional formal frameworks, but a love without limits, which we can almost touch in the relationship of the lover to his beloved. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…” And it cannot be otherwise, since the Lord revealed – “explained” – that “God is love.” Our God, then, who became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, is the One who becomes our bridegroom, because in His infinite love for us, sinful people, He takes us into Himself and makes us one with Him: humanly speaking, His thought, His heart, His desire are for us, like that of a bridegroom towards his bride.

April: Day 14: Holy Lithuanian Martyrs: John, Anthony and Eustathius

 

April: Day 14:
Holy Lithuanian Martyrs: John, Anthony and Eustathius
 
(On the Renunciation of Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. During the reign of the Lithuanian prince Algirdas, a zealous pagan, two Lithuanian youths, brothers Nezhila and Kumetis, accepted Christianity and were named John and Anthony. Algirdas, having learned that they were Christians, began to turn them away from the faith, but seeing their steadfastness, imprisoned them.

The elder brother John, out of fear of torture, renounced Christ. Algirdas, thinking that the other brother would follow the example of the elder, ordered both to be returned to their former positions. John outwardly performed pagan rites, but, remaining a Christian in secret, asked God to forgive him the sin of hypocrisy. Anthony often persuaded his brother to abandon this course of action and openly declare himself a Christian. Algirdas, having learned that Anthony remained faithful to Christ, again imprisoned him, and kept John with him. But John had no peace. Christians saw him as an apostate, pagans despised him for his cowardice. Tormented by his conscience, he came to the Christian priest Nestor, sincerely confessed his hypocrisy and asked to reconcile him with his brother. When Nestor conveyed this to Anthony, he said: "I cannot have anything in common with my brother until he openly confesses his faith. If he sincerely repents, let him declare that he is a Christian." These words were conveyed to John and he, once left alone with Algirdas, said that he was a Christian, and then revealed the same thing to the whole assembly of pagans. Algirdas gave him over to torture, and then locked him in prison. Here the brothers met and reconciled. Algirdas condemned them to execution and first ordered the execution of Anthony, thinking that the execution of his brother would force John to renounce Christ. Anthony, awaiting execution, spent the whole night in prayer and urged his brother to firmly keep the faith. On April 14, 1347, Anthony was hanged on a tall oak tree. After this, the pagans began to persuade John to renounce Christ, but when he remained firm in the faith, he was hanged on the same tree on which his brother died.

An End and A Beginning (Palm Sunday)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Today constitutes an end and a beginning. An end, because it marks the completion of Great Lent; a beginning, because it begins Great Week. A journey of forty days, from Clean Monday to yesterday, Lazarus Saturday, was to reach this point: with our spiritual senses activated by the struggle of repentance, abstinence and fasting - that is, what Lent presents as its content - to be able to see and taste the shocking events of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to participate in them as much as possible. This is the purpose of this blessed period, this is the purpose in reality of the entire spiritual life, since this is how our charismatic self, which we received from God at the time of our baptism, is activated. We want to say that Great Week comes in a very effective way for the conscious believer to remind him that he himself, from the moment he was baptized, participated in the Death and Resurrection of Christ, so that the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord during Great Week highlight not only His life, but also the life of the Christian.

Homily One for Palm Sunday (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily One for Palm Sunday

By St. John of Kronstadt

(Delivered on April 7, 1902)

“Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5).

On His way to His voluntary and world-saving Passion in Jerusalem, the Lord wished to visit His sick friend Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. As He, by Divine omniscience, foresaw his impending death, He intended to perform the glorious resurrection of Lazarus from the dead to assure the general resurrection of all mankind. The miracle of raising the four-day deceased who had already succumbed to decay most prominently glorified Jesus Christ as the Messiah and the Victor over the universal death of mankind, and it was the cause of His triumphant reception by the inhabitants and visitors of Jerusalem, who had gathered for the celebration of the Jewish Passover. But among the high priests, scribes, and Pharisees, it aroused dreadful envy and malice, and they decided to definitively kill Him who rebuked their vices, and who came to put an end to our very death. The crucifiers did not realize that they were crucifying their Benefactor, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29) and their own sins — who prayed to the Father: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). And today's blasphemers, like Leo Tolstoy and his companions, are aware that they blaspheme the Savior of the world, preached and accepted by faith throughout the world, yet in their pride, they wish to deride the common faith, and unless they repent and believe, they will all perish miserably (Matthew 21:41).

The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem: Teaching 4 (Days of God's Visitation to His People)

The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem:
Teaching 4

(Days of God's Visitation to His People)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Let us pay attention, brethren, to the following words of the Lord, whose triumphant entry into Jerusalem we celebrate today. When the Lord triumphantly entered Jerusalem, then approaching the holy city, “He saw the city and wept over it, saying,... you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:43-44).

II. Let us, brethren, pay attention to these words of our Lord. From them we see that there are special days of visitation by God for people, which they must use as a means of their salvation.

The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem: Teaching 3 (On the Resurrection of the Dead)

The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem:
Teaching 3

(On the Resurrection of the Dead)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

"By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your Passion, You confirmed the general resurrection, Christ God." Like the children with palms of victory, we cry out to You, the Conqueror of Death: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.”

I. Yesterday we sang this hymn, and today we have repeated it. Let us now take it up again, and pay closer attention to its meaning. "By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your Passion, You confirmed the general resurrection, Christ God. Like the children with palms of victory, we cry out to You, the Conqueror of Death: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” The meaning of this hymn can be expressed more clearly and fully thus: before the onset of His sufferings, before His crucifixion and burial, wishing to assure His disciples that all the dead would rise again, Jesus Christ raised the dead Lazarus. The dead Lazarus rose again, which means that all the dead can rise again. Lazarus, at the voice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, rose from the grave in which he had already begun to decay; which means that all who are in the graves, having heard His voice, will rise again, will come to life, no matter how much they have decayed there. Why did Jesus Christ, before His sufferings and His death, especially wish to assure His disciples and all others of the general resurrection? So that they would not become despondent when they saw Him suffering and then dying. After all, the thought of death never disturbs us so much as when we see the sick and suffering; and we never need confidence in the resurrection so much as when we see the dying or the dead.