The Veneration of the Honorable Chain of the Holy Apostle Peter in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

On this day we celebrate the Veneration of the Honorable Chain of Saint Peter, which the tetrarch Herod put upon him when he imprisoned him, as the Apostle Luke relates in the Acts of the Apostles. This chain, which was loosed by the appearance of an Angel, was found by some of the faithful and preserved in succession. It was later transferred by the pious to Constantinople and placed in the temple of Saint Peter within the Great Church.

On the occasion of the Honorable Chain of the Apostle Peter, the hymnography of the Church today sets forth two things: first, the very existence of the chain itself and the interpretation of its veneration; and second, the honor shown by the Church to the sacred person of the Apostle Peter. And this is natural: this Chain of the Apostle is understood in the same way as icons in the Church — as means of reference to the saints. “The honor passes to the prototype.” The same is true of the Chain: through it we are led to him who was the first among the Apostles, “he who, being wholly united to the most pure light, Christ, through divine participation in Him, appeared as a second light, illuminating also our souls.”

January: Day 16: Teaching 2: Veneration of the Honorable Chains of the Holy and All-Praiseworthy Apostle Peter

January: Day 16: Teaching 2:
Veneration of the Honorable Chains of the Holy and All-Praiseworthy Apostle Peter
 
(On the Suffering of the Righteous)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today’s feast reminds us of how the Holy Foremost Apostle suffered in chains — that is, in bonds, in prison confinement — suffering for the holy faith.

II. Why, one may ask, must those suffer who so greatly loved their Lord, and to whom, beyond doubt, the Lord was close with His mercies? “Why is the path of those who please the Lord strewn with various afflictions?”

Can light and darkness live in friendship? No! The morning light drives away the darkness of night; the gloom of approaching night drives away the light of day. In the same way, the world hates the righteous, because their deeds, their character, their aspirations are opposed to it, like light and darkness. For the world, the very life of a righteous person is a reproach. Even if the righteous person, by a vow of humility, says not a word to the world about its dark deeds; even if, by a vow of love, he does everything to preserve peace with all — still it cannot be that the world will remain forever pleased with the righteous. “The world has hated them, because they are not of the world” (John 17:14), says heavenly Truth about His beloved disciples. The world hates God’s disciples precisely because they in no way belong — or do not wish to belong — to the world. Thus, sufferings are inevitable for the righteous in the world, as long as this sinful world exists. “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Prologue in Sermons: January 16

One Must Be Attentive to the Promptings of One's Conscience

January 16

(From the tale of a certain monk who wished to take the daughter of an pagan priest and who had renounced Christ and His holy baptism; yet God saved him once more.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The word of God says that “the inclination of a man’s heart is toward evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21), that is, that we are more inclined to evil than to good. Yet the Providence of God, even amid our moral corruption, nevertheless keeps watch over us and often restrains or corrects the evil that arises in us through our departure from good, and always desires to turn it to good ends. Unfortunately, toward these beneficent actions of God we most often show not only negligence, but also ingratitude.

For example, a person devises some evil deed and begins to seek the means to carry it out; but suddenly an external obstacle appears, or conscience raises its voice, and the sin is not committed. What else should one do then, if not thank God for being preserved from sin and begin the correction of one’s life? But no! Instead, he merely grumbles that his evil intention was not carried out, and again begins to think how he might more quickly find a way to sin and commit it. Because of this, we often see that the longer a person lives, the worse he becomes, and sometimes he sinks completely into evil. Yet this would not happen — he would not become worse, but better — if he were attentive to God’s admonitions and to the promptings of his conscience.

The Transgressive Course and Anti-Ecclesiastical Behavior of the Russian Church

 

By Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Gerasimos Fragkoulakis

Hanover, Germany

January 16, 2026

The historical course of relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church has often been marked by periods of tension. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, as the “First among equals” in the administrative structure of Orthodoxy, has always held the role of guarantor of ecclesiastical order and the unity of the Local Churches, according to the words “that they may be one” (John 17:21). The Russian Church, recognized as a Patriarchate in the sixteenth century, developed a strong national and ecclesiastical identity, often desiring to play a leading role within the Orthodox world.

Although the Church of Constantinople constitutes the Mother Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Church of Russia has never ceased, from the very moment of its foundation, to attempt to diminish and downgrade the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The incidents that demonstrate this stance of the Russian Church are very numerous, and their description could fill many volumes. We shall mention only some of them, which highlight the transgressive course of the Patriarchate of Moscow.

Life and Conduct of Venerable John the Kalyvites (the Hut-Dweller)

Verses

Renouncing the world as a child, he left behind the hut of the earth,
In the heavens he established a new hut.
On the fifteenth, John exchanged his earthly hut for another.

Prologue

Jesus, the Eternal Conqueror. Jesus, the Great Kindler of Fire. Jesus, the Incendiary of Souls. Hundreds of hearts align their pulses with Him.

Myriads of human beings receive His summons on the shores of their Galilee.

Countless faithful follow Jesus. Diverse and unique, they fill the multifaceted firmament of the Church.

In action and in hiddenness, in preaching and in silence, they become Witnesses of Christ, practical translators of the Gospel, ardent lovers of the Divine Teacher.

One soul enraptured by Divine Eros is the Venerable John the Hut-Dweller.

Saint Paul of Thebes in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Venerable Paul lived during the time of the persecutors of Christianity, Decius and Valerian, and was from Egypt of the Lower Thebaid. When he realized that his brother-in-law, through his sister, intended to betray him in order to seize his share of the inheritance, he withdrew and fled to the mountains. Advancing ever deeper, in time he overcame his fear, and instead of fearing the persecutors, he came to desire the solitary life. Thus he approached a cave, the deepest in the desert, in which he passed in peace the whole of his life, which was long, and departed to the Lord with untroubled calm of soul. As it is said, the great Anthony reached him and marveled at the harshness of the place and the length of time of his ascetic struggle and withdrawal. For he was the first among others to dare to advance into the inner depths of the desert and extended the path of asceticism to the one hundred and thirteenth year of his life. Thus long he lived, having withdrawn from the cares of life from a young age.

Synaxarion of Saint Gerasimos Palladas, Patriarch of Alexandria

Synaxarion

By Metropolitan Kyrillos (Kogerakis) of Rhodes 

On the 15th of the same month [January], the Commemoration of Saint Gerasimos Palladas, Patriarch of Alexandria

Verses 

 

Gerasimos is a gift to the Church,
True to his name among those of later times.
On the fifteenth Gerasimos of Alexandria died.

This Saint was born in the middle of the seventeenth century in a village of the great island of Crete called Skillous, now known as Kalloni. His father was Theodore the Protopresbyter and rhetorician, a man who in his manner of life vied with the pious of former generations, and in speech was more distinguished and renowned than all others. From him Gerasimos was educated in general learning and instructed in virtue and piety. From there, driven by a desire for greater learning, he left his homeland and went first to Kerkyra and then to Venice.

Prologue in Sermons: January 15

Careful Reflection on the Things We See in the World Can Give Us Lessons That Are Saving For Us

January 15

(Instruction on the Heavenly Kingdom and on Eternal Punishment)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Holy Fathers teach that the whole visible world which we see is, as it were, a book from which we may learn how to build the salvation of our soul. “Just as the author of a book,” teaches Saint Tikhon of Voronezh, “brings forth words from his own mind and writes them on paper, and in this way composes a book, and as it were makes something out of nothing; so the wise and almighty Creator created everything that He had in His divine mind and that He willed, and composed, as it were, a book consisting of two pages, that is, heaven and earth” (Spiritual Treasury, part 1, “The World”). “Every thing and all the creations of God,” writes Saint Basil the Great, “are the same as letters by which we read.” Thus, brethren, the Holy Fathers teach. Let us attend to this teaching and try to understand: how does the world serve as a book for us? How are we to read this book, and how are we to draw from it lessons for our salvation? To resolve these questions, let us turn directly to the matter.

On Russia’s Attack Against the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Chrysa Makri

Recent history has shown that ecclesiastical diplomacy often precedes geopolitical developments. When, in 2018, the Ecumenical Throne handed over the Tomos of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church, no one could have foreseen Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine a few years later. Most, in fact, regarded such a scenario as far-fetched.

Vladimir Putin, however, has shown to those capable of analyzing his actions that he has often used the power and influence exercised by religion as a tool to control Orthodox Christians. To this end, he first used the late Patriarch of Moscow Alexy, who was of Estonian origin—born and raised in Tallinn—and today his successor Kirill, who serves as the standard-bearer of the Church of Moscow for Russia’s penetration into the millions of faithful in Orthodox countries.

The separation of the Ukrainian Church from the Patriarchate of Moscow dealt a heavy blow to Russia, and relations between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople entered a chapter of division between the two Churches.

With regard to the latest developments and the attack launched by the Patriarchate of Moscow against the Ecumenical Patriarch, the pretext was the request of the Orthodox Church of Lithuania, as well as the country’s government, for the establishment of an Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate there—a request that the Phanar granted. The Russians now accuse Patriarch Bartholomew of “encroachment” into Russia’s “territories” and attempt to slander him, claiming that he serves “interests,” “spies,” and “planted neo-Nazis.”

Explaining the position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Metropolitan Demetrios of the Princes’ Islands, speaking to parapolitika.gr, stressed that “the peoples of these states are the ones who decide the future of their lives, and I believe that they wish to break free from Russia’s influence. What is being written against our Patriarchate has political motives. They want to harm the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”

The essence of the matter is that the Russians see themselves losing their footholds in the autonomous Churches of the Baltic States—namely Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia—and for this reason they are launching this attack, Metropolitan Gregory of Peristeri told parapolitika.gr. He served the Church of Estonia for four years (2005–2009) and is currently in Tallinn as part of efforts to address the new crisis.

The Background of the Autonomy of the Baltic States

Fear of war and hostility toward the Patriarchate of Moscow have ecclesiastically turned Northern Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 1923, the Phanar granted autonomy to the Churches of Finland and Estonia, and in 1936 to the Church of Latvia. In 1945, however, after Stalin annexed the three countries to the Soviet Union, he abolished the autonomy of the three Churches and bound them to the Patriarchate of Moscow. At the same time, during Stalin’s era, a Metropolis was established that was directly connected to the Patriarchate of Moscow.

According to Metropolitan Gregory of Peristeri, on the basis of this history the current administration of the Patriarchate of Moscow considers the entire Church of Latvia to belong to it. However, as he points out, since 1991 the Baltic States have become independent. Nevertheless, Moscow insists that the Churches of the three countries, as well as the Church of Ukraine, still fall under the jurisdiction of the Russian Church.

“They unjustly, uncanonically, entirely without basis consider that, because from 1945 to 1990 Stalin ‘seized’ the Churches, they have acquired a right of ownership over them to this day. Such a thing does not exist, does not stand, and has no validity,” explains the Metropolitan of Peristeri.

Throughout all these years of confrontation, Moscow has never missed an opportunity to undermine the prestige of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, accusing it of being “schismatic,” along with the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Churches of Greece and Cyprus, which recognized the autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine.

It is also worth noting that the crisis in relations between the three countries and Russia is not recent. In January 2024, the Estonian authorities expelled Metropolitan Evgeny, who headed the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Estonia, considering him a threat to the country’s national security.

This event was linked to geopolitical tensions and Estonia’s concerns over Moscow’s expansionist intentions. According to Metropolitan Gregory of Peristeri, “at this moment the Baltic States are living under a sense of threat. Whatever the Russians demanded in Ukraine, they have also demanded for Estonia,” raising fears that what happened in Ukraine could also occur in the Baltic countries.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.