Holy Hieromartyr Symeon of Jerusalem the Brother of the Lord in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Symeon of Jerusalem was the son of Joseph, the betrothed, and the brother of James the Just. Christ Himself, our God, condescended to call him His brother, and would eventually adorn the throne of Jerusalem as Bishop, leading many souls to the light of salvation. For the sake of his faith he endured terrible torments, and in the end they crucified him, when he had already reached one hundred and twenty years of age.

Although Saint Symeon of Jerusalem does not belong to the twelve disciples of our Lord, nor is he especially known to many, he holds a distinct place in the firmament of the Church. Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, among other praises that present his great personality, mentions in the Oikos of the Kontakion:

“Let us acclaim today Symeon the thrice-blessed, the one from the race of Abraham and from the line of David, the son of Joseph and kinsman of Jesus; as being greatly glorified by the kinship with Christ, splendidly adorned by the throne of the mother of the Churches, and gloriously beautified by the blood of martyrdom; for he also, as the Master, was fastened to the cross, having imitated His divine Passion.”

Prologue in Sermons: April 27

How the Rich Must Conduct Themselves in Order To Be Saved

April 27

(A homily of John Chrysostom, that one ought to show mercy first to one’s own household.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Once, after finishing the conversation with the rich young man, who, after the words of the Lord, “if you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21), went away from Him sorrowful, the Savior said to His disciples: “Truly I say to you, that it is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:23–24).

What does this mean? Does it mean that for the rich entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven is almost impossible? No. Saint John Chrysostom, explaining the above words of the Lord, says that “Christ by these words does not condemn wealth, but those who are attached to it.” Therefore, the Lord in these words points not to the impossibility for the rich to be saved, but only to the danger of wealth in the work of salvation for those attached to it.

Oration on the Myrrhbearing Women and on the Burial of the Divine Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on Joseph of Arimathea, and on the Three-day Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (St. Gregory of Antioch)

Oration on the Myrrhbearing Women and on the Burial of the Divine Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on Joseph of Arimathea, and on the Three-day Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ

By St. Gregory, Patriarch of Antioch (+ 593)

This law of the Church also is praiseworthy, which prepares us to celebrate the remembrance of the depositing of Christ among the dead. For who, reflecting on the life-giving death of the Savior, will not consider that the dead in their coffins lie stretched out as in tents, awaiting the heavenly trumpet, which will call all of us to the dread day of Judgment?

And who, looking toward that saving tomb, does not draw near to the tombs as to chambers of life? Who, believing that the Lord has risen from the dead, does not behave in a way that shows that he himself also is about to rise, attaining the resurrection through Him?

Since therefore, obeying the good law of the Church, you who are watchful have run to those who sleep in the tombs, and the place constrains you but your longing gladdens you, because you are so many and have pressed together like a cluster of grapes — for this reason listen, as you desire, concerning the mystery of death, which one may learn, but no one is able to possess.

Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women 

On Zeal and Courage of Soul

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

“And Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples that she had seen the Lord” (John 20:18)

Christ is risen!

Beloved faithful,

Among the great virtues that adorned the life of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women, the most excellent were their holy zeal for Christ, their piety, and their courage of soul. What vigilance and reinforcement the Jews and Pontius Pilate placed over the tomb of Christ our Savior, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him. A great stone they rolled over the Lord’s Tomb; with seals they sealed the stone; strong and armed soldiers they set as guards. Yet all these things did not frighten or terrify the Holy Myrrhbearing Women. Their great zeal, their holy piety, and their courage of soul overcame all the defenses of the Jews, taking no account of all the guarding of the Tomb. One thought and one purpose ruled their mind and heart: to serve with all faith and piety at the burial of the most precious Savior.

Solomon once said: “A manly woman — who will find?” (Proverbs 31:10 LXX) But behold here women more manly than men. The men, the disciples of Christ, hid themselves for fear of the Jews. Peter the Apostle, ardent and strong in faith, denied the Lord three times, for which afterward he repented and wept bitterly (Luke 22:62). But the women, who by nature are fearful and weak, and who often become afraid even where there is no fear — here, in the service of the burial of our most holy Savior, show themselves stronger and more courageous than men. They are not afraid of the terror of the Jews, they do not tremble before the boldness of the soldiers, nor does the guard at the Lord’s Tomb disturb their hearts.

Homily for the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women (St. Sergius Mechev)

Homily for the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Today’s feast is preeminently a feast of holy women. Recently it was heard from one of the sisters: "This is our feast." What a great delusion! If this is indeed a feast of women, then not of all, but only of the wise. Not all the women who lived in the days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ do we commemorate today, but only those who ministered to Him, followed Him, did not abandon Him even in the terrible moments of His sufferings and death.

We celebrate now the memory of those women who, at the hour of the burial of their Lord and Teacher, “beheld where they laid Him” (Mark 15:47). And when His most pure Body had been laid in the tomb, and the door of the tomb sealed with a stone, they did not depart, but remained, “sitting opposite the tomb” (Matt. 27:61). They came to the tomb, moved by great love for their Teacher, in order even at this last hour to minister to Him and, according to the Jewish custom, to anoint His body with spices. Not being able to fulfill their intention, but having returned home, even before the onset of the Sabbath they “prepared spices and ointments” (Luke 23:56), so that after the Sabbath rest, at the dawn of the first day of the new week, they might again go to the tomb and anoint with spices and ointment the body of Jesus. And they indeed go to the tomb “on the first of the Sabbaths,” very early, “while it was still dark” (John 20:1); they go, despite knowing that the entrance was blocked by a stone which they were not able to roll away, they go irrationally, driven by faith and love for the Crucified One, and for their great love they receive the greatest joy — the first good tidings of His Resurrection.

Holy Hieromartyr Basil the Bishop of Amasea in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. This glorious martyr of Christ, Basil (or Basileus) of Amasea, was Bishop of the Metropolis of Amasea (which is situated on the Black Sea), in the time of Licinius, who, as the brother-in-law of Constantine the Great through his sister Constantina, was sent by Constantine against Maximinus Daia, who had rebelled and had held as a tyrant certain parts of the East.

Licinius, therefore, was found in Nicomedia, since the revolt had ended, and he offered sacrifices to the idols. He even ordered that Saint Basil be brought to him from Amasea together with a young woman named Glaphyra. This Glaphyra was a servant of Licinius’s wife Constantina, and she had perceived that Licinius was raging with passion for her, something which she reported to her mistress Constantina. Then Constantina gave her money and sent her to the East, until, going from place to place, she arrived in Amasea.

Licinius, however, learned where she had gone and that the money his wife had given her had been given to the Bishop of Amasea in order to build a church; therefore he ordered that both be seized and brought before him. But Glaphyra had already departed from this life, while the blessed bishop Basil was led to Nicomedia to the emperor and received death by the sword, after confessing his faith in Christ and spitting upon the delusion of the so-called gods and their vanity.

Prologue in Sermons: April 26

Against Laziness

April 26

(Commemoration of our Holy Father Stephen, Bishop of Perm, the New Wonderworker)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

No one boasts of his imaginary labors as much as the lazy. “Is it not I,” such people usually say, “who labor? Is it not I who work? And yet no one pays attention to my labors, and people toward me prove altogether ungrateful.” Thus the lazy usually speak, and instead of working, they only trouble others. What is to be said to such people, and by what can they be stirred to labor?

On the Newly-Illumined and on the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ (St. Amphilochios of Iconium)

On the Newly-Illumined and on the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ 

By St. Amphilochios of Iconium

Whenever the gloomy aspect of winter is succeeded by the season of spring, various birds, flying through the air, by honey-voiced songs make known to men the sweetness of the season; then also the sweet-voiced swallows, cleaving the air with swift flight and darting past the heads of men, like a blossom cast their own cry into the ears of men. Then it is possible to see the air clear and calm, and the faces of men brightened, being transformed into an imitation of serenity; for indeed the sounds of birds delight the hearing, and the clear air brightens the eye, and the radiance of various flowers sweetens the sight, and the mingled breath of the plants refreshes the sense of smell.

And this delight the earthly and transient spring provides for men, beloved; but our divine and undefiled spring, Christ, having thickly adorned the meadow of the Church with spiritual violets and roses and lilies, brightens the sight by faith and fills the receptacle of our heart with the fragrance of divine things. For who among the faithful does not now rejoice? And who does not now exult, when he sees the newly-illumined, in the image of lilies, shining with the blossoms of their garments and having in the midst of their heart the golden-radiant faith?

Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Three are the basic points of the Service of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, which most likely constitutes a poem of the Holy Hymnographer Theophanes the Branded: his relationship with the apostles Peter and Paul, the writing of his Gospel, and his activity in the region of Alexandria together with the martyrdom that followed it. Already from the beginning it emphasizes that he became a fellow-traveler of the Apostle Paul and passed through all Macedonia with him, but in Rome he was shown to be the sweet interpreter of Peter’s preaching, while in Egypt, where he chiefly preached, he gave his life in a martyric manner (“Having become a fellow-traveler of the chosen vessel, and having passed through all Macedonia with him; and having gone to Rome, you were shown to be the sweet interpreter of Peter; and you found rest after having struggled in a God-befitting manner in Egypt, O all-wise Mark” - Sticheron at Vespers).

His relationship, of course, with the apostles Paul and Peter is not equal. The Hymnographer, while making mention of the following of the Apostle Paul by Saint Mark in the above troparion, nowhere else mentions anything of their relationship, and this because, as is known, the Apostle Paul did not wish to continue to have as his co-worker the then young John Mark, indeed his nephew, on account, evidently, of his inability to keep up with the feverish pace of Paul’s own missionary activity. On the contrary, Saint Theophanes repeatedly refers to the particular relationship which the Apostle Peter developed with Mark, considering the foremost apostle as his principal teacher, so much so that the Holy Gospel of Mark is in the end a recording of the teaching of Peter. From the roughly eleven troparia that describe Mark’s discipleship under Peter, we note quite selectively the following: