Saint John the Merciful in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint John was a Cypriot, the son of Epiphanios, the ruler of the country. He married, according to his father’s wish, and had children. When his wife and children departed this life, he turned all the inclination of his soul to the performance of virtue and to pleasing God. Precisely because of his life, which was brilliant according to God, he was placed on the throne as Archbishop of Alexandria, after the people of Alexandria requested him as Archbishop from Emperor Heraclius. So John, after being placed on the lampstand, according to the Gospel, shone in the world like a torch. He was even the first to prevent the addition to the Trisagion hymn, when heretics with wicked intent added to the Holy Immortal, “Who was crucified for us.” The Saint excelled in the high priesthood for many years, and after performing numerous miracles and generously providing the necessities of life to those in need, a fact that earned him the nickname “Merciful,” and after becoming respected by all, even by unbelievers, as history and the books about him testify, he departed to the Lord.

Homily for the Commemoration of Saint John the Merciful (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Commemoration of Saint John the Merciful

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you all on the feast day of John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria! Mercy, co-eternal with the nature of God, was embodied in this great Saint, who shone forth in our Church in the sixth century. He was married and had children, but then both his wife and children died. After their death, he decided to dedicate his life to God. At the time, he was still quite young, about forty years old. One night, he saw a beautiful maiden come to him, dressed in a sparkling white tunic and wearing a wreath of olive branches on her head, a sign of mercy. This maiden told John that if he wished to receive a great reward, he must become her beloved. He asked, "Who are you?" The maiden replied that she was the eldest daughter of a great king: "My power is so great that I brought the Son of God to earth." John asked, "What is your name?" She replied that her name was Mercy. And the maiden became invisible.

Prologue in Sermons: November 12

The Saints Ask God for Forgiveness of our Sins

November 12

(The Miracle of Saint John the Merciful Concerning the Woman Whose Sin He Forgave After His Death.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We all, brethren, implore the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins. Yet, being aware of our unworthiness and the impurity of our sins, feeling our separation from God because of them, we must also turn to the saints, as those close to God, with prayers asking them to intercede for the forgiveness of our iniquities. The saints, in the heavenly abodes granted close communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole Mediator between God and men, who gave Himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:5), possess the grace to pray for their earthly brethren who are still burdened by sin, and they obtain for them the forgiveness of these sins and turn the wrath of the Lord from them into mercy.

Holy Great Martyr Menas in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Menas lived during the reign of Maximian, and as a soldier he belonged to the order of the Noumeroi, called the Routalikon, under the ruler Argyriskos, in Kotyaeios of Phrygia. Because he could not bear to see the error of the idols prevailing, he climbed a mountain, striving to purify his heart with fasting and prayers. After he had sufficiently strengthened himself and ignited his soul with the divine desire for Christ, he came down from the mountain. So he went and stood in the midst of the idolaters and with power confessed his faith in Christ. For this reason they beat him, they scratched his flesh very much with hairy cloths and they put him in a burning cauldron. Finally, after they had wounded his whole body with his constant dragging on thorns, they killed him with a sword.

The eyes of the holy poet Theophanes, full of faith and God’s grace, become our spiritual glasses today, in order to see the other, hidden dimension of the martyrdom of the Holy Great Martyr Menas, but also of his post-martyrdom state. The spectacle that first reveals to us when the earth, sanctified by his blood, covers his holy body, is truly magnificent. As if we were in a spiritual planetarium, it guides us to see, together with him, the sunset of the Saint in this world and his glorious sunrise in the world of heaven, of the Kingdom of God. “Earth now embraces your steadfast body, O blessed one, having endured the contest; the spirit ascends to heaven with the spirits of the Martyrs, rejoicing, and shining with the most radiant glory.” The Saint, like the other Saints celebrating with him, Saints Victor, Vincent and Stephanie, constitute the jewels of the invisible heaven, of the Church, just as the stars adorn the created firmament of the sky. “The stars adorn the heavens, Compassionate one, but the Church is adorned with Menas, Victor, Vincent and Stephanie.” And yet: the Hymnographer takes us to the face-to-face relationship of Saint Menas with the Almighty Lord, Who “smelled” his fragrance like freshly baked bread from Menas’ martyrdom and his reference to Him like fragrant incense. “Being deified you now see Him face to face, Menas.” “You appeared as bread in the midst of a burning fire, being baked… and emitting a divine fragrance, which God perceived.”

Prologue in Sermons: November 11

On Almsgiving

November 11

(Saint John Chrysostom on Almsgiving)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Saint John Chrysostom speaks of almsgiving as follows: "Almsgiving possesses great boldness: it will loosen the bonds of the imprisoned, dispel darkness, quench fire, kill the worm, drive away the gnashing of teeth, and with great joy open the gates of heaven." Is Saint John Chrysostom's expression about almsgiving justified? Yes, know, brethren, that it is expressed quite correctly, and there should be no doubt whatsoever concerning the truth of his words.

Almsgiving "loosens the bonds of the imprisoned," that is, it frees a person from sins. This is evidenced by the account of the Lord's visit to the house of Simon the Pharisee. In this house, a woman, despised by all for her sins, offered alms to the Lord. She took an alabaster jar of precious ointment; upon entering the house, she knelt at Jesus' feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, kissing them, and anointing them with the ointment. Seeing this, the Lord said to Simon: "I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, because she loved much." Then, turning to the woman, He said, "Your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 7:36–50).