March: Day 3: Venerable Piamun the Virgin

March: Day 3:
Venerable Piamun the Virgin
 
(On the Prayer of the Righteous)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Virgin Piamun or Piama, whose memory is celebrated today, ascended to a marvelous degree of spiritual perfection in the house of her mother. She lived there as in a hermitage, alone, took food every other day, and after prayer spun flax. With such simplicity of life, but also with a keen observation of her soul, she so transformed her soul that the Lord granted her the gift of foresight. The latter was revealed on a special occasion.

Since the Nile River fertilizes the fields with the overflow of its waters, the settlements, cherishing the beneficial moisture, retain it in the fields with artificial fences; at the same time, human infirmities give rise to disputes and quarrels, often accompanied by fights. A community more populous than the one where Piamun lived swore to destroy the weak settlement for water. At Piamun's prayers, God saved them fromm the crime and death. An angel revealed to Piamun the villainous plan of her neighbors. She called together the elders of her village and announced the plan to them. "Go," she said, "meet those who are coming against you, beg them to refrain from fighting." The elders fell at her feet in fear and said: "We dare not go to meet them; we know their drunken life and their violence; having done us a new favor, go to them yourself and persuade them to leave us alone." She did not act on their request, did not go to the people with whom she had long since refused to communicate, but turned to the Lord; retiring to her little house, she spent the whole night in prayer.

And her prayer was heard. The enemies stopped not far from the village and could not move from the spot. They were also given to know that the prayer of the righteous woman was holding them back. They sent their ambassadors to the village and asked for peace. "Thank God," they said, "who, through the prayers of the maiden Piamun, saved your property from destruction."

II. In the story from the life of Saint Piamun offered to your pious attention, beloved brethren in Christ, you have seen a wonderful example of the prayer of the holy saint of God.

This time we will talk about the power of the prayer of the righteous.

a) The prayer of the saints, assisted by selfless love, avails much, as the Holy Apostle says (cf. James 5:16); it is miraculous, opens and closes heaven, brings down rain or fire from heaven, heals all kinds of illnesses and diseases, and raises the dead. Armed with such power of faith and prayer, the holy men of God " subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the foreigners" (Heb. 11:33-34).

b) The very highest love of God calls the saints vessels of His mercy to men; the very existence of the righteous in the midst of a fallen and corrupt world is a pledge of the preservation and continuation of the human race: "the holy seed shall be its stump" (Isaiah 6:13), says the word of God. And as long as this holy seed grows and ripens among the tares of wickedness and corruption, God's longsuffering spares and does not uproot these unclean tares from the earth, so as not to prematurely ripen the wheat along with them, spares and does not destroy sinners, so as not to destroy the righteous along with them. If in the most corrupt pentacity of Sodom only ten righteous people were found, then for their sake all these cities would be saved from destruction. "If ten righteous people are found there, I will not destroy Sodom for the sake of the ten" (Genesis 18:32), the Lord Himself said to Abraham.

For the sake of the Apostle Paul alone, all his companions who were sailing with him were saved from inevitable drowning and death. "Behold, God has given you all who sail with you" (Acts 27:24), the angel of the Lord told him.

This is not enough. The mere presence of a righteous man in the house of a sinner brings down God's blessing upon that house. "I have seen that God has blessed me by your coming" (Genesis 30:27), Laban confessed to righteous Jacob, whom he had sheltered in his house as a stranger and pilgrim.

c) But even the righteous who have migrated to heaven do not abandon humanity, and are not separated forever from their brethren living on earth. Are they not now our brethren by nature and members of the Church of Christ, connected to us not only by the natural bonds of humanity, but also by the grace-filled union of faith in the one Lord Jesus Christ? Is not their love for their brothers purer and more perfect now that they have become partakers of the truth of the highest love of God, which surpasses all understanding? Is not their holy prayer stronger and more miraculous now that they have united with Christ the Lord, as His friends, clothed in His divine glory and power, seated with Him on the thrones of heaven?

That is why, my brethren, the Holy Church honors the righteous who have pleased God and are glorified by God, magnifies and glorifies their virtues and holy deeds for the glory of God and for the salvation of their neighbors, honors and celebrates their holy memory, asks for their prayerful help and intercession before God.

d) But at the same time it is necessary, my brethren, to remember that our prayers and thanksgivings, and our glorification of the memory of the saints are pleasing to them only when they see and recognize in us their true brethren not only in the flesh, but also in spirit, when we, as the Apostle teaches, looking at the end of their life, imitate their faith, when their godlike perfections and virtues are reflected in us, albeit in weak and unclear features. When the sins and iniquities of people for whom the saints pray exceed the measure of God's long-suffering and cry out to heaven, then their very prayer, according to the word of the Prophet, returns to their bosom. "Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you" (Jeremiah 7:16), says the Lord to Jeremiah, who prayed for the people of Israel. "Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth" (Jeremiah 15:1).

III. May the Lord preserve us, brethren, from such hardening in sins and such a terrible fate. Amen. 

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