Homily for the Fifth Sunday of the Holy and Great Fast - The Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of the Holy and Great Fast 

The Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt 

On Vainglory and Anger

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

“What do you want Me to do for you?” And they said to Him: “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:36–37)

Beloved faithful,

If you have listened with attention and reverence to today’s reading of the Holy Gospel, besides other holy teachings that flow from the words of the Savior, you also heard of the request of the two Apostles, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. See what they asked: “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we shall ask of You.” And He said to them: “What do you want Me to do for you?” And they said: “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:35–37).

Do you see, my brethren, how the temptation of vainglory dared to approach even the disciples of the Lord? This is not at all surprising, for the devil, even while still in Paradise, tempted our forefathers Adam and Eve with the temptation of pride and vainglory. For hear what the serpent says to Eve: “No, you will not die! But God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4–5).

The devil and his angels were cast out of heaven also because of the sin of pride and vainglory, for they thought to become like their Creator, who brought them from non-being into being. See what the divine Scripture says about this: “You who said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven and above the stars of the mighty God I will set my throne! On the holy mountain I will place my dwelling, in the farthest parts of the north. I will ascend above the clouds and will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14). Do you see, brethren, that the sin of pride and vainglory was the cause of the fall of Satan and of the angels who were of one mind with him?

Homily for the Sixth Monday of Great Lent - On Tithing (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Sixth Monday of Great Lent 

On Tithing 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

Our evening service has just concluded, at which we heard passages from the Book of Genesis, which are read during the Holy Forty Days, so that people may recall the creation of the universe and the beginning of our history, at a time when we are preparing for the feast of the re-creation of our universe — the feast of Holy Pascha of the Lord.

At this time, the Proverbs are also read, which show us how we ought to live in the universe, what the norms of a proper Christian life are. Today, the passage from Genesis and from the Book of Proverbs turned out to be interconnected. This is not by chance, but by the deep providence of God, manifested in the wisdom of the authors of the Church’s hymns.

You noticed that the first passage from Genesis speaks of how the righteous Jacob turned to his two wives, Rachel and Leah, asking what they thought about leaving their father. Jacob had been forced to flee from his own brother Esau, because he had deceived him, and to go to the land of Haran. On the way, he fell asleep and saw in a dream a ladder reaching up to heaven, upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending. At the top of this ladder stood God.

Venerable John of the Ladder, the Saint of Great Lent

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Today the memory of our Venerable Father John of the Ladder is celebrated, in addition to the Fourth Sunday of the Fast, which is also a day dedicated to him.

That is, we celebrate an ascetical writer who could be characterized as the Saint of Great Lent, since his book, The Ladder, constitutes the principal reading of this period in our monasteries, as well as for many Christians in the world. And this means that an ascetical text, although written primarily for monks, nevertheless remains something in which every believer who truly thirsts for genuine evangelical nourishment may immerse himself, wherever it can be applied.

We must not forget that monasticism, for our Church, constitutes — and must constitute — the purest expression of a consistent Christian life. And from this perspective, it serves as a guide for every Christian.

Prologue in Sermons: March 30

 

Alms Return to Those Who Give Them

March 30

(A word about the maiden Mononia, how Saint Makarios saved her, though she had been unmerciful.)*

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Lord says: “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). What does this mean?

“This means that with earthly, perishable, and fleeting wealth, one can nevertheless, by using it properly, acquire for oneself friends — the poor, the needy, and in general those requiring help and assistance — here on earth; and they can obtain for us eternal dwellings in heaven, since such use of wealth is a virtue, for which there will follow a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Commentary of Bishop Michael on verse 9 of chapter 16 of Luke, p. 474).

And Saint John Chrysostom says: “He who distributes wealth to the poor uses it for the benefit of his soul” (Homily on Avarice). The same truth is confirmed by examples.

Discourse on ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners’ (Basil of Seleucia)

Discourse on ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners’ 

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent

(Mark 10:32-45)

By Basil of Seleucia (mid-5th century)

The interest of the listeners increases the anxiety of the tongue. The longing of the Church’s assembly for divine teaching increases my fear before the undertaking of speaking. Therefore, the Master, calming the fear of speech, cried out: “Blessed are those who speak into the ears of those who hear,” those who cast the seed of teaching into fertile soil and heap up good doctrines in the threshing floor of the soul. For it is worth laboring for this, hoping to reap the fruits of preaching.

And the Jews, on the one hand, avoided hearing even the prophecies, and the admonitions were also unwelcome to them, as we find written in the Prophets. For it says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” For this reason Jeremiah, seeking a reasonable excuse, put forward his youth: “I am young, and I do not know how to speak.” And Moses, when he was called to the leadership of the people, avoids the honor by accusing himself: “I am weak-voiced and slow of tongue.” The refusal of those sent exposes the disobedient character of the Jews. This race was always God-fighting, and opposed to divine benefactions. At one time they lamented the Egyptian slavery, and when they were delivered, they reviled the one who delivered them. They traversed the sea as though it were a highway; with dusty feet they journeyed upon the deep, and they attributed the benefaction to the calf. Heaven again sent down the flakes of manna, and they below blasphemed, crying out: “Our soul has become utterly dry because of this hollow bread.” A rock followed that flooded the desert with torrents, and a single strike of the rod brought forth many springs of waters. But not even this purified their ungrateful tongue, and despite this enjoyment they said: “When he struck the rock and waters flowed and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread?” Again, when they did not know the way, a cloud journeyed with them, removing ignorance and preventing the burning of the rays. A pillar of fire gave light by night, but they, dishonoring the one who honored them with miracles, said: “Let us appoint leaders and return to Egypt.” Clouds of birds were brought by the wind, preparing for them a meal as for foreign travelers. For forty years their garments, though worn, remained new, overcoming time and nature, and along with the garments, their footwear also remained new out of necessity, to endure the forty years of journeying. When they fought, the course of the elements of nature allied with them, when the sun, taught to delay, hastened the victory by lengthening the duration of the day, so as to make them victors in a single day. By lengthening its course, it shortened the time of the battle — though perhaps it also increased the duration of time — so as not to grieve those already wearied by delaying the victory. After the sun, the stream of the Jordan also stopped, and its current was restrained, yielding them a place to walk. The natural law of flow stood still, awaiting their passage. The kings heard and were troubled; the cities submitted of themselves. Jericho was encircled and cast off the circle of its wall, as if avoiding its inhabitants and hastening toward the Israelites. What was the gratitude for all these things? “Let us appoint leaders and return to Egypt.” 

Homily for the Sunday of Venerable Mary of Egypt (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

 

Homily for the Sunday of Venerable Mary of Egypt 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate all of you on the feast day of our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt! As Mary of Egypt said: “The word of God is living and active, and it itself teaches a man.”

Therefore, we must learn spiritual truths from the example of Holy Scripture, tuning our soul so that it becomes God-like and not defiled, so that we may acquire deeds together with understanding. That is, we must unite within ourselves active virtues and the knowledge of God, and this union is given to us as an example in Saint Mary.

Six Testimonials of Miraculous Healings Attributed to Saint Savvas of Kalymnos

Venerable Savvas of Kalymnos (1862–1948) has performed many miracles, and the testimonies that have been preserved are astonishing.

Ten years after the repose of Saint Savvas, the translation of his holy and grace-bearing relics took place. It was April 7, 1957. The translation was presided over by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Isidoros of Leros, Kalymnos, and Astypalaia, in the presence of a great multitude of people. A dense cloud of divine fragrance covered the entire area, and news of this divine sign immediately spread throughout the island. The holy relic of the Venerable one was placed in a reliquary, in the Chapel of Saint Savvas the Sanctified. From that moment, there have been many testimonies of healed people concerning the miracles of Saint Savvas of Kalymnos.

Holy Martyrs Mark the Bishop of Arethusa, Cyril the Deacon and Those With Them in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Mark, living during the reign of Constantine the Great, was stirred by great zeal and destroyed many pagan altars and temples. But when Julian the Apostate ascended the throne, he restored paganism and began to persecute Saint Mark as well as all those who had taken part in the destruction of the pagan temples. Then the Saint hid for a while, but when he learned that others were being dragged away because of him, he revealed himself and delivered himself to the deniers of the faith.

They then stripped him naked, wounded his entire body, and threw him into filthy sewers. After this, they brought him out and handed him over to small children to wound him with needles. Then they soaked his body with brine and finally smeared him with honey, in the height of summer, and hung him upside down in the sun, so that he might burn and become food for bees and wasps. All these torments the wondrous Mark endured with courage and patience, so that his torturers might not rebuild again the destroyed altars. Indeed, the steadfastness of his faith prevailed. Seeing him endure bravely and with youthful vigor, the pagans believed in Christ.

Something similar also happened in Phoenicia, again during the time of Julian. For they seized Cyril the deacon, who had also destroyed certain pagan idols, and because he boldly confessed his faith, they opened his belly, took out his entrails, and displayed them as a spectacle to those gathered. And it is said that something befell them which shows divine justice: their teeth were knocked out, and their tongues and eyes were destroyed. By the same death several virgin women also ended their lives in Ashkalon and Gaza, as well as certain clergy, whose memory is celebrated together on this day.

+ + + 

 

Two are the points on which the Holy Hymnographer of the Church, George, especially insists in his hymnography of the Holy Bishop Mark: first, his holiness as a priest before his martyrdom, and second, his very martyrdom, which reveals the power it contains, since it is accomplished for the sake of love toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed, George presents the position of Saint Mark in the Church as a “radiant lamp that illumines her fullness” (Ode 1), since “the Saint was nurtured and grew up in the faith of Christ until he reached the height of martyrdom” (Ode 1). The Saint, notes the Hymnographer, throughout all the years of his life was a preacher and guide of people toward Christ, distinguished especially for his reverence and purity of soul in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy — something that enabled him to strengthen and guide his fellow athletes toward the greatest love for Christ: to give even their lives for His sake (Ode 1).

Moreover, the preaching gift of Saint Mark was so great, says the holy poet, that his words — clearly grounded in his holy life — functioned on the one hand as a flame that dried up all the muddy rivers of the delusion of the pagans, and on the other as a spring from which flowed the streams of the knowledge of God for people (Ode 3). And George, as the mouth of the Church, goes on to explain even what might be considered the violence of his action in destroying certain pagan temples. The cause of this action, he notes, was the philanthropy of the Saint. For the far-seeing Saint perceived that the idols served by demons prevent people from finding rest and peace; they create a continual disturbance and upheaval in their mind and life.

Thus he demolishes the houses of demons in order to build in their place, chiefly through his word, the house of the true God, that is, to make people themselves “temples of the living God,” members of Christ. And this constitutes the greatest benefaction a person can offer to the world: to establish them upon the almighty God, Christ. In the words of the Hymnographer: “You shook the temples of idols, O blessed one, and you established the people who were shaken and trembling upon Christ” (Ode 6).

And then the Hymnographer focuses on the martyrdom itself, which constitutes the greatest confirmation of the Saint’s faith and love for Christ. And what does he note? That, apart from the sacrifice of the Saint — who at the hour of martyrdom “offered himself as a sacred sacrifice to the Lord” (Ode 7) — this very martyrdom, because it was carried out not with anger, wrath, or a sense of revenge against his enemies, but with what the Lord Himself showed upon the Cross, that is, with love and long-suffering even toward his persecutors, therefore it functioned as a tremendous power that humbled the arrogance of the instruments of the Evil One and exalted as victor the one considered defeated (Ode 5).

And this is an exceptional observation of the Holy Hymnographer, one that we Christians often overlook, turning instead to worldly methods in our daily relationships: at the very moment when we endure the hostility of any fellow human being and “respond” to his attack with humility and love, at that very moment we “overthrow” him, to use a beautiful scriptural expression; that is, at that moment we are victorious, because through us the omnipotence of the Cross is set in motion.

“In the anger of your enemies you set against them, as an imitator of Christ, your long-suffering, O righteous one. And by this long-suffering you humbled their arrogance and were shown to be victorious” (Ode 5).

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

Prologue in Sermons: March 29

On the Veneration of Holy Icons

March 29

(Commemoration of our Venerable Father and Confessor Eustathios, Bishop of Bithynia)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Our Venerable Father and Confessor Eustathios, Bishop of Bithynia, lived in the time of the iconoclasts, that is, of those who rejected the veneration of holy icons. For his veneration of the holy icons he endured from them threats, spitting, beatings, imprisonments; he witnessed many disturbances and uprisings among his flock; he was struck with rods and clubs and, finally, was deprived of his episcopate and condemned to exile. In the latter he spent many years and was insulted, mistreated, deprived, suffering hunger, thirst, and nakedness, and in such afflictions he died. And Eustathios was not the only one who endured such torments from the iconoclasts. Not only thousands, but tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians, for the veneration of the holy icons, suffered from them the same as Eustathios.

What does this mean, that the iconoclasts treated the holy icons with such hostility? Could it be that they were right in rejecting them? No, brethren, they were not right, and this we shall now prove to them.