May: Day 23: Teaching 1: Venerable Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk

May: Day 23: Teaching 1:
Venerable Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk
 
(On the Need to Donate to the Work of the Church)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk, whose memory is celebrated today, was known by the people with the name "Predslava", and was the granddaughter of the Polotsk prince Vseslav Bryachislavich and great-granddaughter of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir; she was raised in the fear of God and was distinguished by her beauty. Having rejected the groom proposed to her, she retired to a women's monastery, where she took the name Euphrosyne. Living in seclusion, she was engaged in copying books and distributing the money she received for this to the poor. Then, following instructions from above, she founded a women's monastery of the Holy Savior on the site given by the bishop. Here her sisters came to her, named Eudokia and Eupraxia. Zealous for the splendor of the house of God, the holy princess built a stone church in her monastery, which exists to this day. For the new church she prepared an altar cross with precious decorations. It is also intact to this day.

Saint Euphrosyne settled in a cramped cell near the church, and from here she listened to the divine services. Being related to the Greek emperors, Euphrosyne asked Emperor Manuel Komnenos and the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysoverges for an icon of the Mother of God that was in Ephesus, painted, according to tradition, by the Evangelist Luke. The icon, magnificently decorated, stands to this day in the Toropets Cathedral Church.

Then she fulfilled her long-standing desire to visit the holy places of Palestine. Having entrusted her monastery to her sister Eudokia (in the world Gradislava), she went to the east, visited Constantinople and other holy places of the east. Finally, having settled in Jerusalem, in the Russian monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, she went from here to venerate the Holy Sepulcher and to other places. In the Russian monastery she fell ill and, after 24 days of illness, peacefully departed to the Lord on May 23, 1173. Her body, according to her last will, was buried in Jerusalem, in the Monastery of the Venerable Theodosios, and when Jerusalem was conquered by Saladin in 1187, it was transferred to Russia and rests incorruptibly in the Kiev Caves.

II. From the life of Venerable Euphrosyne we have seen, beloved brethren, that she was very concerned about the creation and splendor of the temples of God. The Spaso-Euphrosyne women's monastery, which has existed for a long time in one of the most ancient Russian cities - the city of Polotsk - with stone, an amazingly strong church in the name of the Savior, built by Venerable Euphrosyne, which has survived for many centuries, serves as a clear monument to her holy love for church building.

The example of the Venerable Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk, encourages us, brethren, to take part both in the construction of churches and in donations to the church and its needs, which are often very urgent and pressing.

Temples of God are places of the special presence of God, schools of faith and piety, places of prayer and the grace-filled sanctification of believers in Christ. The construction of these buildings and their maintenance in a manner befitting their high purpose requires large material resources. Where can they be obtained? They can and should be given by the believers for whom they are built.

a) Do not think that this is the duty of only church servants or wealthy people; no, it is the duty of every believer, no matter what his condition. Jesus Christ lived on earth in such poverty that he had nowhere to lay his head, but he gave the tax established by law to the temple. May this example convince each of us to consider it our absolute duty to donate from our means to the maintenance of God's temple.

b) Many say that the temple of God has no need of rich utensils, that its worth does not depend on external means. But remember, brethren, that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, poor as He was, chose a large, furnished, or decorated upper room for the celebration of the Mystery of the Eucharist. If we arrange for ourselves magnificent dwellings, rich clothes and precious utensils in the house, then can we refuse our Creator and Savior that which we do not deny ourselves? King David was embarrassed to live in a new cedar house when the Ark of the Covenant was placed in an old tent. He arranged a new tabernacle for the storage of the holy vessels, and his son Solomon built a magnificent Temple to the Lord. It would be inexcusable on our part if we - the new Israel - were inferior in zeal to the old Israel, and moreover in such insignificant things as our earthly treasures. Thanks be to God, in our Orthodox state there is no shortage of magnificent churches. They were created by the zeal of our ancestors and are maintained by the piety of their descendants. But our care for them cannot be limited to this. Church vestments, sacred vessels and other necessary items are needed to perform the Mysteries. In addition, the substances for the Mysteries, for lighting, censing, is needed; good-voiced singers and readers, priests and deacons, and many other people are needed whose duty it is to perform the Divine Service with all the splendor befitting a holy cause, to maintain cleanliness and order both outside and inside the churches. All this requires material sacrifices from the believers.

c) It does not matter that our sacrifices to the temple are sometimes the most insignificant or, as they usually say, penny-sized. What is important here is not the quantity of the sacrifice, but its quality, the disposition of the heart with which this sacrifice is brought. The poor widow, as you know from the Gospel, having put only two mites - two of the smallest coins - was recognized by the judgment of Christ as having contributed more to the Temple fund than all the rich who gave from their surplus. Therefore, do not be embarrassed, brothers, by the material meagerness of your sacrifice: fill it with a good disposition of spirit, love for the Lord, and He will accept it on His heavenly altar and reward it a hundredfold with heavenly blessings. You have given a portion of your treasures for the arrangement and splendor of His house, and He will lead you for this into the heavenly abodes. You illuminate His face in the darkness of the night, and He will illuminate your soul with the light of faith and good deeds in earthly life, and when you have to pass through the shadow of death, He will then also enlighten your path. You adorn His icons and throne here with beautiful vestments, and in the future life He will clothe you with the robe of salvation and lead you into His kingdom. If Jesus Christ promised a reward for a cup of cold water given in the name of His disciple, then He will be even more generous to the one who will bring a sacrifice for Him, or in His name.

III. Therefore, let the hand of the giver to the temples of God not become impoverished: he will be honored with God’s favor in this life, and will be rewarded a hundredfold in the future life. Amen. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.