Holy Great Martyr Katherine in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“Katherine was Wise and a Virgin, and a Martyr by the sword, O beautiful triad!” These verses of the synaxarion reveal the gifts with which Katherine won Heaven and acquired such a great place in the firmament of the Church. This is not about the so-called natural gifts, which all people on earth have to a greater or lesser extent. Although the Saint, as her synaxarion notes, was indeed endowed with these as well – for she had rare physical beauty and was a genius and modest in moral character – yet by the grace of God and her free will she acquired the spiritual gifts, with which alone one is sanctified in God and enters the Kingdom of Heaven. And spiritual gifts are those that come to light when a person becomes aware of the gift of God that He gave him in Holy Baptism, that is, when he feels that he has become a member of Christ and tries to activate his new life in Christ by keeping the commandments of Christ.

Homily Five for the Entrance of the Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Five for the Entrance of the Theotokos 

By St. John of Kronstadt

We celebrate the Entrance of the Most Holy Virgin Mary into the Temple of God, where She was nurtured in the Holy of Holies by the Lord! A significant feast: it teaches many things. 

The temple is the dwelling of God on earth, the house of God – here the boundless, infinite God seems to be encompassed, descending from His infinity into the small receptacle of the temple; the intangible becomes tangible and is tasted, I understand, in the Mystery of Communion. The temple of God is the earthly heaven, the boundary that connects heaven with earth; here a person recognizes and feels that he is made in the image of God; that he is only a guest and sojourner on earth, that he truly belongs to the heavenly realm; that he is a member of the Church of God or of the God-established community of the saved; that he is a child of God. Here, in contrast to the sinful world, he sees only sanctity, truth, love, and mercy in the faces depicted on the icons, and hears in all readings and chants nothing sinful, as in the world; here, as if in heaven, he, together with the Angels, glorifies the Lord, His eternal glory, His goodness, love for mankind, generosity, His power and kingdom. In this sense, the temple is essential for a Christian, as an inseparable element of his being, just as water is the element for a fish, or free air for a bird, in which it flies and lives and breathes; here he learns the truth, prayer, for only here does he learn the true knowledge of God and of himself; here he learns to love God and his neighbor; here he learns holiness and all virtue, as well as to turn away from sin with all his heart; here he learns to despise the temporary and perishable and to strive for the imperishable and eternal in heaven.

The Church of Saint Katherine in Kampos on the Sacred Island of Tinos

Kampos, one of the few fertile valleys of the sacred island of Tinos, is a settlement with a population of a few hundred people with great historical significance. This is where Saint Pelagia was born in 1752, the daughter of the priest Nikephoros Negrepontis, who died a few years after her birth. Pelagia, whose secular name was Loukia, was raised in Kampos by her mother until the age of 12, when life's difficulties forced her mother to send her daughter to her native village of Tripotamos to be taken care of by her sister. At the age of 15, Loukia became a novice at Kechrovouni Monastery, where her other aunt was a nun, and eventually was tonsured with the name Pelagia. It was here that the Mother of God appeared to her over three consecutive nights urging her to uncover her sacred icon in the place indicated by her, which indeed she discovered in the field of Doxara on January 30, 1823. 

November: Day 25: Teaching 2: Holy Great Martyr Katherine

November: Day 25:* Teaching 2:
Holy Great Martyr Katherine
 
(The Betrothal of the Christian Soul With Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Virgin Katherine, commemorated today, was renowned for her wealth, intelligence, and beauty. The paganism in which she had been raised did not satisfy her with either its beliefs nor its customs. Many sought her hand, but she refused, declaring that she would only marry a suitor who was as accomplished as she was in both education and appearance. A certain Christian elder learned of this and, entering into conversation with her, told her of a suitor who incomparably surpassed her in both wisdom and beauty. She asked if she might see him. And so, praying before an icon of the Mother of God with the Eternal Child, which the elder had given her, she fell asleep and saw in a dream the Queen of Heaven and Her Divine Son. No matter how hard she tried to discern Him, He averted His face from her, saying that she was unworthy of His gaze. As soon as morning came, Katherine told the elder her dream and her sorrow. He gave her detailed instructions in the faith, and she was baptized. Returning home, she prayed for a long time, fell asleep, and again saw the same vision. But Jesus Christ, looking mercifully upon her, said to His Most Pure Mother: "Now I desire that she be My bride." The Mother of God took her hand, and the Savior placed a precious ring on her finger. Awakening, she was amazed to find the ring on her hand, and now she thought only of remaining faithful to the Heavenly Bridegroom.

Prologue in Sermons: November 25

Against the Fear of Death

November 25

(The Passion of our Holy Fathers, Which King Abenner Burned Alive)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

I once told you, brethren, that in order to not fear death, you need to reflect on it more often. Now I offer you further instruction on the same subject. Listen to the following story.