Homily for the First Sunday After Pentecost, or Sunday of All Saints (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the First Sunday After Pentecost, or Sunday of All Saints

On the Veneration of the Saints and the Angels

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

"God is wondrous in His Saints, the God of Israel" (Psalm 67:35 LXX).

Beloved faithful,

You have heard in the Holy and Divine Scriptures the words: "As for the saints who are upon His earth, the Lord has made all His desires wondrous in them" (Psalm 15:3 LXX). For this very reason we Orthodox Christians honor the saints of God, knowing that God accomplishes His will in a wondrous manner through them.

From the beginning I must tell you that the Orthodox Church distinguishes between worship, which is due to God alone, and veneration or honor, which we offer to His saints and angels who minister to the salvation of our souls. The Holy Apostle Paul teaches us this when he says: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).

The purpose of the veneration of the saints is to glorify God through them, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture which exhorts us: "Praise God in His saints" (Psalm 150:1 LXX).

Homily Two for the First Sunday After Pentecost, the Sunday of All Saints (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily Two for the First Sunday After Pentecost, the Sunday of All Saints 

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1964)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, which concludes all the great feasts — the Bright Resurrection of Christ, the glorious Ascension of the Lord, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles — the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of all the saints who have pleased the Lord throughout the ages and who now triumph in Heaven in their victory over sin and evil. They are, as it were, the firstfruits of humanity, redeemed by the Most Pure Blood of Christ and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit of God, brought to God the Father through Jesus Christ. They are the blessed fruits of the sufferings, the crucifixion, the glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the descent of the Holy Spirit of God, and His abiding presence in the Church.

Among the saints glorified today by the Church are people from every land and every age, of every rank and station, every calling and condition, every office, sex, and age. There are kings and commoners, masters and servants, clergy and laity, soldiers and civilians, peasants and craftsmen, husbands and wives, young men and maidens, rich and poor, noble and humble, learned and unlearned — and all of them lived upon the earth just as we do.

Homily for the Sunday of All Saints (St. Sergius Mechev)

Homily for the Sundal of All Saints 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

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

On the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Holy Church commemorates all the saints, honoring the martyrs, the blessed, the venerable ascetics, and all the righteous who have shone forth throughout the ages.

If on the day of Holy Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit, if we celebrate the day of the Church's foundation — for from that moment the life of the Church begins — then on the first Sunday after Pentecost the Holy Church continues this celebration of the Holy Spirit, for today she commemorates those who have constituted and continue to constitute the Body of the Church. She commemorates the true members of the Body of Christ, those who, while still alive and still upon the earth, acquired within themselves the Holy Spirit of God.

When our Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, He did not leave His disciples any written teaching. He came in order to create the Church as His own Body. “I will build My Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” He came in order to give life to mankind: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Homily One on the Sunday of All Saints (St. Justin Popovich)

Homily One on the Sunday of All Saints 

By St. Justin Popovich

(Delivered in 1965 at Ćelije Monastery)

Today is the Sunday of All Saints. Today the Church celebrates all the Saints from time immemorial, all holy beings, beginning with the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, and Seraphim, and then all the holy people from the beginning of the world until this very day.

Why does the Church celebrate All Saints today? On the first Sunday after Pentecost, the first Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, the Church celebrates All Saints in order to show that the Saints are confessors of the Holy Trinity, that their entire life in this world was from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit; that this world was created to become the Kingdom of God.

Today the Church unveils the souls of all the Saints and tells us their secret: by what they lived, for what they lived, how they lived in this world, and how they became sanctified. Through them the Church has revealed to the world the mystery of the human person, showing that man was created to become a temple of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Man was created to become the dwelling place of the Lord Christ in the Holy Spirit together with God the Father.

Homily Four for the Sunday of All Saints (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Four for the Sunday of All Saints 

By St. John of Kronstadt

“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).

What are You saying, Lord? Whoever wishes, You say, to follow You must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow You? Every one of us would like to be where You are, yet not everyone wishes to walk the path that You walked, that is, the narrow, sorrowful, and suffering path. Most especially, very few, very few indeed, are willing for Your sake to deny themselves, to deny their sinful and corrupted will, their passion-ridden heart, or their passions and lusts. Although these have wearied us, although they are destructive to us, they still somehow remain dear to us, and it is painful and difficult to part with them completely. No, the sinner does not desire to follow after You, Lord, but rather after his own heart, after its ruinous inclinations, and after the world which lies in evil.

But the word of the Lord is true and unchangeable. Whoever desires to follow the Lord, that is, to walk the path of righteousness and truth, the path leading to eternal life, must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him.

But why does the Lord say, “if anyone desires”? Because He compels no one by force to follow Him, but leaves each person free to choose the path of salvation. To every person has been given the freedom to choose good or evil, life or death.

Homily One on the Sunday of All Saints (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily One on the Sunday of All Saints

By Saint Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride

Today is the feast in honor of All Saints, and we have gathered to celebrate it in the midst of the dwelling place of all — the dead! Is this a fitting place for a feast? I think it is most fitting indeed; for the dead are closer to the saints than we are, if only because, having been released from the bonds of the flesh, they dwell with them in the same invisible world. The dead are also closer to the saints than we are because, like the saints, they no longer sin — or at least they do not sin as we sinners do. Looking at the matter from this perspective, I do not even know, brethren, which place ought more properly to be called a cemetery: the place where the departed rest, or the place where we, the living, are gathered. For here, among so many who have died according to the flesh, there are without doubt not a few who are alive in spirit; while among us, who live according to the flesh, God alone knows whether there are any who are not dead in spirit.

Thus, the place of our celebration is most appropriate to the feast; and those acted most wisely who dedicated this church, intended especially for prayers on behalf of the departed, to the memory of All Saints. For by doing so, the souls of those who rest here have been entrusted to the powerful protection of All Saints, so that every soul may have among them a special intercessor suited to itself. You also acted wisely, brethren, in gathering here in such numbers, in this place of all the departed, to celebrate the feast of All Saints; for both the saints and the dead teach us who are living one and the same important truth: “Mortals, live for God and for virtue; without this, whatever you do, whatever you acquire, whatever distinction you attain, all is vanity and nothingness.”

Discourse Against the Accusers of the Clergy (St. Gregory of Derkoi)

Saint Gregory, Metropolitan of Derkoi, who is commemorated on June 3rd, was hanged in Constantinople together with Patriarch Gregory V in 1821, in retaliation for the proclamation of the Revolution in the Morea. On Sunday, July 13, 2014, the residents of the village of Zoumbata (the settlement of Moira, Patras), his birthplace, erected a bust in honor of their fellow countryman and ethnomartyr, the unveiling of which was performed by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras. Today, I am translating from the booklet Gregory, Metropolitan of Derkoi: Sermons and Hymnographic Compositions, published by the Patras newspaper O Ekklisiologos, no. 365, June 21, 2014, and edited by the monks of Nezerita, his discourse against those who slander the clergy. The booklet has one more sermon and a poem by the Holy Metropolitan.

Discourse Against the Accusers of the Clergy

Composed and delivered by Saint Gregory, Metropolitan of Derkoi,
on the day when the memorial services were being held
for his departed predecessor, the blessed Ananias.

“Why does this man speak blasphemies in this manner? 

Who can forgive sins except God alone?” (Mark 2:7)

I do not know, my Christians, whether you have ever taken notice of this, whether you have ever reflected that when our Lord first began to dwell among men in this world—when, having gathered His disciples and apostles, He went forth to preach the Gospel, when He began to work miracles and teach the divine truths of the heavenly kingdom—there immediately arose so many opinions concerning Him, so many diverse judgments among men regarding His person. Some praised Him and exalted Him to the heavens, while others accused Him and cast Him down to the depths. Some worshiped Him as the true Son of God, while others avoided Him as a companion of Beelzebul. Some wished to crown Him King of Israel, while others ran to stone Him as an enemy of God and a deceiver. Some hastened to hear Him as a glorious prophet, while others desired to bind Him as one who led the people astray and corrupted their minds. Some, seeing Him, rejoiced in Him and loved Him, while others, seeing Him, hated Him and became His enemies. Some proclaimed Him holy, while others reviled Him as a blasphemer.

Homily on the Feast of Pentecost (Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani)

 

 

Homily on the Feast of Pentecost 

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles describes with precision the historical event of the descent and visitation of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Specifically, it states:

“When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared unto them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1–4).

All the faithful were gathered together with one soul in the same place, in Jerusalem, and suddenly, without anyone expecting it, there came a sound from heaven like the roar of a mighty wind. This sound filled the entire house where all the disciples were gathered. Then tongues appeared to them, as though flames of fire were being distributed, and upon the head of each one of them rested a single tongue. Thus the whole of their being, their entire inner world, was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Holy Martyr Loukilianos and Those With Him in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Loukilianos became known to the broader Church through the renowned and holy Elder of our times, Father Paisios the Athonite. Shortly before 1980, when he moved to the Koutloumousiou Cell of Panagouda, and before he had even unpacked his few belongings and ecclesiastical books from their boxes, he decided to perform the service of the day, June 3, using his prayer rope. When the time came to commemorate the saint whose feast was being celebrated, he became perplexed because he could not remember which saint it was. Then, to his amazement, he saw two men appear in his cell, one younger and the other older. He immediately recognized the younger one: it was Saint Panteleimon. The other, however, he did not recognize. When he asked who he was, the second Saint replied, “I am Saint Loukilianos.” The Elder did not hear clearly and asked again, “What? Saint Loukianos?” “No,” repeated the Saint, who was unknown to him, “Saint Loukilianos.” Then the Saints disappeared.

The Elder was deeply moved that God had responded even to an unspoken thought of his. Yet he wished to verify the vision. He searched through the boxes, found the June Menaion, and saw with great emotion that indeed, on June 3, our Church celebrates Saint Loukilianos. From that time on, the Elder honored this Saint in a special manner and kept an icon of him in the humble chapel of Panagouda.