The Metastasis of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint John is the first theologian of our Church. Indeed, this is his distinctive title above all: John the Theologian. Others who have been honored by our Church with this title are Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Thus, for our Church, very few bear this title, which means, on the one hand, that particular qualifications are required for someone to receive this designation, and, on the other, that all those who have obtained a degree from a theological school are not considered theologians, except in a loose and improper sense. What, then, is required for someone to be a theologian, and, more particularly, what led the Church to bestow this title upon Saint John? We insist upon this point because the hymnography of the Church focuses its attention above all on this very matter: “The Word, O most excellent one, worthily revealed you as a theologian, initiating you into His divinity and teaching you the ineffable dispensation according to man.” That is, Christ, the Son and Word of God, revealed you as a theologian, O most excellent John, because He led you into the secret knowledge of His divinity and taught you the mystery of His plan to come into the world as man. In other words, a theologian is one who is initiated by God Himself into knowledge of Him and, consequently, into the proclamation to the world of His dispensation.

Life of Holy Venerable Platonida of Argeș (formerly Despina Milița, the wife of the Holy Voivode Neagoe Basarab)

Holy Venerable Platonida of Argeș (1487–January 30, 1554), in the world known as Despina Milița, was the wife of the Holy Voivode Neagoe Basarab.

She came from a noble family of Serbian despots, being the daughter of John Branković of Serbia (born 1465, died December 10, 1502). Her uncle was Metropolitan Maxim (born George) Branković.

Despina married Neagoe Basarab in 1505, and they had six children (Theodosie, Stana, Petru, Ioan, Ruxandra, and Anghelina), although two sons and one daughter died at a young age. After the death of Voivode Neagoe Basarab in 1521, their son Theodosie (born 1505, died 1521) was enthroned as ruler of Wallachia, but he was driven out by Radu of Afumați and died in Constantinople.

Lady Despina was a patron of the arts, providing material assistance for the construction of Krusedol Monastery. Together with her husband, she founded Curtea de Argeș Monastery, participating in its consecration on August 15, 1517.

Homily for the Day of the Repose of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily for the Day of the Repose of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian 

By St. Innocent of Kherson

We celebrate the repose of John. But did he die? Is he not still alive? These are unexpected questions, but it is not curiosity that prompts us to raise them; it is the Gospel itself, for you have heard what is said concerning John: “And this saying went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die” (John 21:23). The brethren of the divinely illumined Apostolic Church could not have lightly seized upon a dream of their imagination and arbitrarily presented it as an interpretation of the Savior’s words. Moreover, when the Gospel mentions the expectation “that that disciple should not die,” it does not refute it as something impossible that arose from a misunderstanding of the Savior’s words concerning John, but merely limits its cause and basis to their precise bounds, guarding against every exaggeration: “Yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:23).

In the Church hymn sung yesterday in honor of Saint John, we hear something even more; there he is directly and clearly called “still living and awaiting the fearful Second Coming of the Master” (Sticheron at Small Vespers).

If Saint John, then, did not die and is still alive, how do we celebrate the day of his repose? Is this not similar to someone commemorating as dead a man who remains alive?

September: Day 26: Teaching 3: The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

September: Day 26: Teaching 3:
The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
How Should We Regard the Sins of Our Neighbors?

(On the Day of the Repose of Saint John the Theologian)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of the repose of the holy and glorious Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, who taught above all about Christian love and who, even on his deathbed, did not cease teaching this great virtue, without which there is no possibility of salvation, it is most appropriate to speak with you, brethren, about the sin that most often destroys Christian love among people: the sin of contemptuously condemning our neighbors when they fall morally.

II. A. Let us first consider the impression produced upon us by the falls of our brethren, and then see what must be done for their restoration.
 

Before you is worldly society, composed not of those uneducated, coarse, and deprived from childhood of every moral influence, who are encountered by the thousands in the streets. Here are people who have all received a good upbringing, who are capable of understanding and admiring everything beautiful, and who are sometimes capable of the most generous impulses... Suddenly, news is brought into this select circle... It is a piece of information which, as they say, everyone should keep to himself... What is it about? About some offense, some fall, some disgrace, which soon becomes known... Do you notice the effect it produces? Do you notice the looks gleaming with malicious delight? Do you hear how the conversation, until then languid, suddenly becomes animated, interrupted by violent outbursts, like a flame fanned from without? Do you hear all these questions? Do you observe with what lively interest the smallest details concerning the fall in question are gathered; do you watch the expressions on faces showing that they know more than they wish to say; the treacherous hints concealed beneath false sympathy? Is all this true? Am I exaggerating when I say that the frivolity and misconduct of others are the favorite food of conversation in every class of society, and that, if you remove slander from these conversations, you will remove all their charm, and that nothing seems to enliven conversation so much as malicious gossip? We are told, brethren, that man is good. Yes, I know well that everyone cares about maintaining propriety, and that we Russians least of all need to be reminded of this. But who does not know that there is a learned contest of words in which people acquire remarkable skill? Who does not know that there is a subtle art of gracefully casting a poisoned arrow, an art of wounding mortally with a smile, and of hinting at everything without asserting anything?

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 26

The Month of September 

Day 26

27. How We Should Regard Sinners Who Are Perishing

(From the Life of Saint John the Theologian)

When we see that this or that person has fallen into the depths of evil, some among us revile him by calling him evil, while others simply say, “He has only himself to blame!” Is this worthy of Christians, and is it right? No, it is not worthy of Christians, and it is very wrong; for the Lord did not teach us to treat sinners as we do, nor did He Himself treat them as we treat them. Recall at least one instance from His life. What did He say to the Pharisees who brought a woman caught in adultery before Him? “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her!” And what did He say to the woman? “Woman! Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” — “No one, Lord,” she answered. Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more” (John 8:1–11). Therefore, we should not act toward sinners who are perishing as we do, but should act somewhat differently. How?

The Dissolution of the Orthodox Monasteries in Greece Under the Bavarians

On this day, September 25, 1833, under the Bavarian Regency, a royal decree signed by the young Otto ordered the closure of all Orthodox monasteries with fewer than six monks, imposed the compulsory removal of the monastic habit upon nuns under the age of forty, required the removal of all novices from the monasteries, established specific measures governing the movement of monks, prohibited the customary donations made for the benefit of the Church, and placed under sequestration the monasteries’ landed property, sacred vessels used in worship, icons, vestments, liturgical books, furnishings, and anything else useful for sale as “spoils” that was found in the monasteries that were to be sealed. Whatever was deemed “useless,” on the other hand, was thrown into the fire — “with the monks mourning all around”! (The monasteries of the Roman Catholics, of course, remained untouched, as did their property.)

Homily Two on the Repose of Saint Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, Wonderworker of All Russia (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

 

Homily Two on the Repose of Saint Sergius, 
Abbot of Radonezh, Wonderworker of All Russia

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1961)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

“He who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3), the Lord tells us from the pages of the Holy Gospel.

Dear brothers and sisters, once again and again let us give thanks to our most merciful Lord Jesus Christ that, by His mercy, we have gathered together today in a solemn setting to prayerfully glorify the departure of the great servant of God, the intercessor for the Russian Land and its protector, the founder of the renowned Holy Trinity–Saint Sergius Lavra, its humble abbot, our Venerable and God-bearing Father Sergius.

The entire life and ascetic labors of Venerable Sergius are deeply edifying and instructive for every person who seeks eternal salvation and strives to please God. His whole life was filled with self-abasement, humility, ascetic struggles of love, and service to God and his neighbors. Having loved the Lord from his youth with all his soul, the meek and quiet young Bartholomew, after the death of his parents, withdrew into the dense and impenetrable wilderness, to the very place where we are now gathered, and here, in silence and solitude, devoting himself continually to prayer for the purification of his heart, he gave himself to the struggles of a severe life in the wilderness, enduring hunger, thirst, various fears and temptations that cannot even be enumerated. “Venerable Father, who can tell of your labors and sufferings? Or what tongue can speak of your harsh way of life, your vigils and dry eating, your lying upon the ground, the purity of your soul and body, your complete silence of lips and mind, your sincere humility, unceasing prayers, sound discernment, poor clothing, and remembrance of death?” Thus the Holy Church sings of the ascetic labors and struggles of Venerable Sergius.

September: Day 25: Teaching 3: Saint Sergius, Wonderworker of Radonezh

September: Day 25: Teaching 3:
Saint Sergius, Wonderworker of Radonezh
 
(What Shortens Our Life?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of Venerable Sergius, who, through his pious life, attained a very advanced age despite the strictest abstinence and exhausting labors, let us, brethren, speak about “what shortens our life.”

II. Our life is short, my friends; yet we ourselves urge God to shorten our already short life more and more. There was only one good place on earth: Paradise. And the only life there was for us was life in Paradise. Only the life of Paradise could truly be called life. It passed amid all the joys that the human heart could desire. Adam and his helper enjoyed everything that was without sin; their bodies were beautiful, and their souls even more beautiful, because they were holy and Godlike; their hearts rested in God and in His holy will; their desires were directed only toward God, the Source of blessings, for whose gifts they offered Him thanksgiving; their consciences were pure. They were children in whom the heavenly Father was reflected. They had no one to fear, nothing to weep over; and a divine remedy had been given against old age.

Venerable Euphrosyne and Her Father Paphnutios in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Venerable Euphrosyne lived in Alexandria when Theodosius the Younger was emperor (AD 408–450). She was the daughter of Paphnutios, a wealthy nobleman who, following the death of his wife, raised his only daughter with great love and faith in God. From a young age, the Venerable Euphrosyne desired to dedicate herself to God, but she was unable to do so because, when his daughter reached the age of eighteen, her father betrothed her to a wealthy and noble young man. Before the wedding, Euphrosyne, taking advantage of her father’s absence at a monastery known to him, cut her hair, put on men’s clothing, and wished to enter the monastic community known to her father, presenting herself as a eunuch of the king. The abbot indeed received her as a monk, giving her the name Smaragdos. From that time onward, she devoted herself to exceedingly severe ascetic struggles, surpassing almost everyone in them. For this reason, her feminine features became altered and hardened. Later, with the consent of the abbot, she withdrew to practice asceticism alone, farther away from the monastery, attaining there great heights of holiness. Her father, who was continually searching for her with great anguish, was inconsolable, while Euphrosyne, after thirty-eight years of asceticism, fell ill. At that point, the Venerable Euphrosyne wished to reveal herself to her father, knowing beforehand that her death was approaching. The revelation was deeply moving for Paphnutios, who saw his daughter at such a height of sanctification, but immediately afterward she died. From that time onward, Paphnutios wished to live as a monk in Euphrosyne’s cell, and after ten years of asceticism, he too breathed his last there.