Homily on the Venerable George Karslides (Monk Moses the Athonite) - Part 3 of 3

 

...continued fro part two.

Venerable George foresaw and accurately predicted his blessed end. Having been prepared for a long time, he awaited it with longing and desire, increasing his prayer, tears, and giving his last advice to his beloved spiritual children. Three days prior, the Mystery of the Divine and Holy Anointing Oil was celebrated. He partook of the Immaculate Mysteries for the last time, as a provision for eternal life. He forgave from the heart, blessed from the soul, and prayed for all. On November 4, 1959, the last words heard from his lips were: “Open the gate of compassion, blessed Theotokos.” The Theotokophile Saint invoked the compassion of the Mother of God and of men, the Lady of the world who is full of grace, the Unwedded Bride of Gennesaret, the Ever-Virgin Most Holy Theotokos. She opened the gate of salvation for him, so that her Son and God, the Heavenly Bridegroom, the Crown-Giving Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the Universe, might welcome him.

An orphaned, mournful and inconsolable crowd followed him to his last residence, behind the sacred Temple of the Ascension, where he had served for about thirty years. His face was peaceful, cheerful and bright. His dead body was flexible, like that of the children of the Panagia, the Hagiorites. The two cypress trees next to his grave bowed down to adore him, as he had said. Many birds gathered at the time of his burial, without fear of the large crowd, to bid him farewell. Everyone was now certain that a saint was being buried. He asked to be buried with his vestments, his cross and his liturgical books, which he had brought from Georgia.

Saint Lazarus the Stylite of Mount Gelasion Resource Page

Venerable Lazarus the Stylite (Feast Day - November 7)

Verses

 

Prepare your bosom, Father Abraham, 

For after your Lazarus comes Lazarus. 

 

Saint Lazarus the Stylite and Wonderworker of Mount Galesion (+ 1053) 

 

November: Day 7: Venerable Lazarus of Galesion

 

The Birth of Saint Lazarus of Mount Galesion 

 

The Education of Saint Lazarus of Mount Gelasion

 

Saint Lazarus of Mount Gelasion and the Greedy Monk

 

The Life of Lazaros of Mt. Galesion: An Eleventh-Century Pillar Saint (pdf)

 

SAINT LAZAROS OF MOUNT GALESION – HEAVENLY MAN OR EARTHLY ANGEL  

 

Feigning Demonic Possession For Profit

 

Saint Lazarus of Mount Gelasion and the Greedy Monk

 

By Gregory the Cellarer

 

While Lazaros was sitting in the narthex after the completion of the early morning service, he saw a monk going into the church to pray. When he came out, Lazaros went up to him and asked him where he was from and where he was going. Then, since he heard from the <monk> that he came from Paphlagonia and was traveling to the Holy Land, he fell at his feet and begged him to take him along. The monk encouraged Lazaros to follow him readily, since he had nothing to fear from him, and so he left that place and went on his way with him. But the monk was perverse and did not want to travel straight <there>, or rather he was unable to because of the wicked habit which he had. He would thus turn aside from the direct route and go round on a detour to the villages where he would beg and collect bread and whatever else anyone offered him; he would put these things into a bag and give them to the youth [Lazaros] to carry. Then, wherever they were when evening fell, they would go in, whether it was to a village or a local market, and he would sell these things and pocket the price <he got> for them.
  

The Holy 33 Martyrs of Melitene in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

These Saints labored under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Hieron was valiant in body and pious in soul, a farmer by profession. The servants of the idols met him in a certain place. And wanting to rob him, they were unable. For after he had taken out the iron from the handle of his agricultural tool, he used the wood as a weapon against them, with the result that he sent them all fleeing, covered in blood and sweat. But he himself afterwards went on his own to the ruler and after being asked by him about the incident and whether he was a Christian, he confessed Christ, whereupon his right hand was cut off from the elbow. The rest of the Saints were thrown to the ground and beaten with whips. And the next day, after their beating had continued for many hours, they were led outside the city of Melitene and their heads were cut off.

Was God Harsh in the Old Testament?

By Archimandrite Vassilios Bakoyiannis

Some non-Christians resort to the Old Testament to prove that the Christian God is harsh. This view, however, is only half the truth. The whole truth is that God was equally merciful in the Old Testament as well. Here is an overview.

God in the Old Testament had to deal with a fallen world unlike any before, a world with its own psychology and nature. Accordingly, it required a special approach, one that aligned with this reality.

Its defining trait was hardness of heart. Parents burned their children alive, offering them as sacrifices to their gods (2 Kings 23:10).

In such a world, murder was an easy matter. With what ease Cain killed Abel; with what ease the meek Moses slew an Egyptian who was mistreating a fellow Israelite (Exodus 2:12).