29 May 1453: The City Has Fallen! A Lamenting Synaxarion of Constantine Palaiologos (Photios Kontoglou)

29 May 1453: The City Has Fallen! 

A Lamenting Synaxarion of Constantine Palaiologos 

By Photios Kontoglou

(Excerpts from a manuscript text by Photios Kontoglou, 1949)

This King Constantine Palaiologos, whom I wish to recount, was not one who was fortunate, long-lived, and glorified in his life, but rather a man afflicted and sorrowful. As many days as he lived in this world, he never ate bread in peace. The water he drank was bitter as poison. He came into the world in a storm-tossed age, to become king over a nation that was in anguish and unceasing struggle from the time the inhabited world was formed, and which by then had become utterly exhausted, poor, and struck from both East and West. And he was the last of his line, a true Palaiologos, and he took upon himself the sins of his people and, instead of a crown, wore a crown of thorns. Worn and old was his royal mantle; humbled was his scepter. Sorrowful was his face, humble his appearance. His words were like hymns. He was raised among weapons, yet he seemed like a saint. Therefore, a synaxarion would be fitting for him rather than a royal history.

Homily on the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ (St. Diadochos of Photiki)

Prologue

This is the Latin editorial introduction from Migne before the text of Diadochos of Photiki's homily:

Diadochos, Bishop of Photiki in Epirus, became renowned both through the ascetical writings that survive and through his distinguished disciple, Victor of Vita, who, at his master's urging, wrote the History of the Vandal Persecution in Africa and honored his teacher with this praise in the prologue:

“Having been instructed by so great a bishop, the blessed Diadochos, worthy of every kind of praise, whose many monuments of orthodox teaching shine forth like brilliant stars.”

Moreover, this brief homily On the Ascension of the Lord, which we have brought forth from Vatican Manuscript 455, was known to Lucas Holstenius, as is evident from one of his letters (Boissonade edition, pp. 209–210). However, Holstenius, prevented by his many occupations and then by his death, was unable to publish it, just as happened with other homilies of various authors that he had prepared for publication.

Therefore, we have judged that this homily, being entirely genuine and containing doctrinal teaching toward its conclusion, ought to be deposited in the public treasury of the Church before it might perhaps perish through some accident.

Homily on the Ascension of Christ (Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani)

Homily on the Ascension of Christ

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

The Ascension of Christ is a supernatural event. The testimony of this historical event is found in Holy Scripture.

Specifically, the description of the Lord's Ascension is found in the Gospel according to Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel writes: “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. And it came to pass, while He was blessing them, that He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, having worshiped Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen” (Luke 24:50–53).

The Acts describe: “And He said to them (the Lord): ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ And when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was lifted up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into heaven while He was going, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said: ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same manner as you saw Him going into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away” (Acts 1:7–12).

“The City Has Fallen": But Why?

Fr. George Dorbarakis

May 29 is the anniversary of the tragic day for Ecumenical Hellenism - the Fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. The thousand-year-old Empire fell at that time and was delivered as prey to the barbarous hordes of the Ottomans, who filled most parts of the Great City with the corpses of Christians. “And in some places the ground could not be seen because of the multitude of the dead,” the well-known historian of the Fall, George Phrantzes, tells us in his Chronicle. He continues:

“It was a dreadful sight, and one heard many and varied lamentations, and saw countless enslaved noblemen, noblewomen, virgins, and monks, whom the Turks mercilessly dragged by their clothes, hair, and braids out of the churches, while they wept and wailed... One saw the divine Blood and Body of Christ being poured upon the ground and cast away...”

Venerable Ypomoni in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

It is a remarkable case, that of the princess who later became an empress, then the mother of an emperor, and afterward a nun: Helen Dragas, who later became Ypomoni. For it is certainly not easy for someone to leave behind honors and glory — even in a period of decline — and shut herself up in a monastery, living as an ordinary mortal and carrying out even the most difficult and humble obediences. This reveals an exceptional humility, which is the necessary condition for receiving the grace of God in abundance.

Even more remarkable, however, is that she not only became a nun, but attained such heights of holiness that our Church recognized them and proclaimed her sanctity. The miracles recorded through her interventions, both in earlier times and in more recent years, are many. One example is the case of a taxi driver who, only a few years ago on this very day, was transporting a simple nun from Athens to Loutraki. During the journey he revealed his problem — skin cancer. He received her blessing, and it acted immediately as a cure for his illness. When, after a brief stop, he looked for her, she had vanished. No one around the place where he had stopped had seen her. He later recognized her in the doctor's office he visited, because the doctor had an icon of Saint Ypomoni hanging on the wall.

Holy Martyr Theodosia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. This sacred and holy maiden was from Tyre. At the age of eighteen she was arrested by the pagans and thrown into prison to be tried, because she openly confessed her faith in God. When the judges had already taken their seats, she was brought before the governor Urbanus, who ordered her to offer sacrifice to the idols. When she refused and would not be persuaded, he commanded that she be tortured with severe blows to her sides and breasts, and that they continue even to the bones and inner organs, for he saw that despite the relentless tortures she endured everything in silence. Realizing that she still had life within her, he addressed her again, urging her to sacrifice. Then the Saint looked him straight in the eyes and, opening her mouth as much as she could, said to him with a smiling face: "Why are you deceived, man? Do you not know that now I have been counted worthy to have communion with the martyrs of God?" The governor, realizing that he had become the laughingstock of the young woman, grew angry and ordered that she be tortured even more severely than before. Afterwards he had her cast into the sea currents, within which she received her blessed end.

2. According to the customary practice of many hymnographers, the name of a saint becomes the occasion for theological reflection. The Saint commemorated today bears the name Theodosia, and therefore, as the Holy Hymnographer notes, “You have become a gift of God, wise martyr Theodosia, shining through your contest and through the radiant beams of virginity, setting ablaze the minds of all who ever honor you in faith” (Kathisma).

Prologue in Sermons: May 29

A Lesson for the Miserly

May 29

(A story from the Leimonarion concerning almsgiving.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some wealthy people may be called people of calculation. These are those who, when their financial affairs are going well, are willing enough to help the poor; but as soon as their business declines even a little, they stop helping the needy and say: “What can we do? When income is abundant, it is no hardship to share some of it. But when times are difficult, should we begin spending our capital on the poor? Who would agree to that?” And so the poor leave such people empty-handed, and whether they will ever receive help from them again, God alone knows.

But what then? Do such calculations actually help the miser increase his prosperity? Do they assist him in enlarging his wealth? Hardly. The frequent bankruptcies of the miserly, together with the other lessons sent to them from above, convince us of the opposite. To confirm this truth, we offer the following account. 

Synaxis of the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God

 

Synaxis of the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - May 28)

According to a Slavic tradition of unknown origin, the story associated with the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God dates back to the year 304 AD, when the city of Nicaea was under siege by an Arabic army under Amer. One of the soldiers of Amer, whose name was Constantine, saw an Icon of the Theotokos and threw a stone at it. Then he began to trample it underfoot. That night, the Mother of God appeared in a dream to the soldier who had perpetrated this sacrilege and said: "You have insulted me most grievously, and it shall lead to your death." The following day, during the battle, the impious soldier was struck in the head with a stone and fell down dead.

As we go on to read, this event was later mentioned by the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod that took place in Nicaea in 325, and they ordained that the following hymn, "Your womb became a Holy Table, bearing the Heavenly Bread, Christ our God; from whom everyone who eats does not die, as the Nourisher of all things has said, O Birth-Giver of God," should be sung before the desecrated Icon of the Mother of God, which later became known as the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God.

Though this is the traditional story of the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God, the fact of the matter is that it is not accurately told. This can be most easily determined by the fact that there was no Arab invasion of Niceae in the fourth century. Fortunately with a little research we can determine what the actual story behind the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God is, at least for the most part.

Holy Hieromartyr Eutychios of Melitene in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Eutychios, or Eutyches, shone forth as a true laborer of Christ and servant of the Church, both through his constant and fruitful teaching and through his blameless and edifying works. He was a vigilant and most skillful fisher of souls, and also their loving father, ready even to give his life for their safety and salvation. He was arrested and remained steadfast in our holy faith, and he received a martyr’s end: the tyrants cast him into the waters, and he was drowned in them.

2. The Holy Hymnographer dedicates many hymns to emphasize the Saint’s particular martyrdom — his drowning in the waters — while at the same time giving the spiritual interpretation of the tragic event: before his own drowning, he himself had “drowned” the senseless atheists through the power of his words, while by his death through drowning he also drowned the wicked devil, the “bodiless dragon.”