Homily for the Fourth Saturday Evening of Great Lent (St. Sergius Mechev)

Homily for the Fourth Saturday Evening of Great Lent 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

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

Last Sunday, by bringing forth the Holy Cross for veneration, the Holy Church called us, by looking upon it, to follow Christ on His way of the Cross. Today She gives us the image of a great ascetic, our Venerable Father John of the Ladder, who in his life walked the path of bearing the cross. His life gives us practical guidance on how to follow this path, helps us to understand our own spiritual condition, and, above all, to recognize its diseased aspects.

One of the main wounds of contemporary spiritual life lies in our sinful attitude toward the mystery from which spiritual life begins — the Mystery of Repentance.

Every person who comes to the gates of the Church must bring repentance for his entire life; without this he cannot enter the Church and begin spiritual life.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of the Holy and Great Fast - The Sunday of Saint John Climacus (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of the Holy and Great Fast 

The Sunday of Saint John Climacus 

On Faith and Doubt

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

Beloved faithful,

Let us understand that firm and perfect faith is one thing, and doubtful and weak faith is another. Through right and perfect faith, a person can, by the power of God, work miracles and attain both temporal and eternal blessedness. Perfect or complete faith is the faith preached by the Orthodox Church and briefly confessed in the Symbol of Faith (the Creed). This holy and right faith, together with the practice of good deeds, with the aim of pleasing God alone, brings a person the salvation of the soul (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Know, my brothers, that there are many kinds of beliefs on earth that do not bring salvation to the soul, but rather lead it to destruction. Such are pagan beliefs, the distorted beliefs of those who believe in spells, incantations and sorceries, in false dreams and visions, and many other kinds of beliefs foreign to the truth, which lead those deceived by them to ruin. Only the perfect and right faith, which the Orthodox Church confesses and proclaims, is saving, being founded upon Holy Scripture and Holy Apostolic and Patristic Tradition. It has an unshakable foundation in Christ, the cornerstone (Matthew 21:42).

Holy Hieromartyr Basil the Presbyter of Ancyra in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The Saint lived when the emperor was Julian the Apostate (4th century) and the governor of Ancyra was Saturninus. He himself was a presbyter of the Church in Ancyra. He was accused of being a Christian and for this reason was brought before the governor. When he was questioned about his faith and confessed Christ, they suspended him on a cross, tore his sides, and threw him into prison. They brought him out of prison again and tortured him even more by binding him with irons, and thus they imprisoned him once more. After some days, they led the Saint to the emperor, who happened to be passing through Ancyra. After he too interrogated him and saw the steadfastness of his faith, he gave orders to the count Flaventios to cut his body into strips, which immediately began to be done in the presence of the emperor. And after they had flayed him, front and back, so that strips hung from his body, Basil, who possessed adamantine faith, himself tore off one strip and threw it into the face of Julian. Enraged, he immediately ordered that he be burned with red-hot spits and that they pierce his belly and back and every other part that was still intact. In this manner he delivered up his spirit to God.

Prologue in Sermons: March 22

Everyone Must Prepare for Death: Both Young and Old

March 22

(A Homily of Saint Chrysostom on the Judgment)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We, brethren, somehow think little about death, and only a few of us prepare for it. “We have now grown old, and we no longer have the strength to pray,” say the elderly. And the young say that they will still have time to repent; their time has not yet passed them by. Thus speak both the old and the young. But do they speak the truth?

Saint Chrysostom addresses both and says the following to them:

“Fathers and brethren, mothers and sisters! Do not say: ‘We have lived our life, and we no longer have the strength to make prostrations!’ O elderly people! You already know that soon the Lord will call you to His Judgment; therefore do not be slothful in preparing to give an answer. O young brothers and sisters, do not deceive yourselves with the words: ‘We are young, and therefore it is permitted for us now to drink, to eat, and to make merry. The time will come, and we too shall repent.’ O brethren, do not forget that just as dew dries up under the sun, so also your youth will soon fade and weaken if you give yourselves over to evil deeds. O man, when you sleep, do you hear that a thief has entered your house? So also you do not know when the Angel will come and take your soul, unpurified by repentance. Then you will begin to repent, but it will already be too late. Therefore, while we have time, brethren, let us adorn ourselves with virtues and fulfill the commandments of God, that we may become heirs of the Kingdom of God.”

Homily on the Fourth Saturday of Great Lent - On the Miraculous Power of Jesus Christ (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily on the Fourth Saturday of Great Lent

On the Miraculous Power of Jesus Christ

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

On the fourth Saturday of Great Lent, we hear about the miracles of Christ the Savior. For the Church especially emphasizes the wondrous power of Christ, because without His miraculous, supernatural Power we cannot rid ourselves of sins, nor of passions, nor of the illnesses that afflict us. In this way, the Lord reveals His Power to us, so that we may place our hope in Him, and not reduce Christianity to merely a set of moral norms. The Gospel, in fact, says nothing about morality as such. It speaks of power — the power of God Almighty, the power of divine love, the power of divine justice, the power of divine mercy, and the power of divine judgment. So that we may understand that our task is not simply to become highly moral people, but that our task is to become children of God — those children who go to their Father beyond the bounds of the universe, who strive there with all their soul, who strive that the life of God may be within them, who strive to become like their Heavenly Father. For this reason the Church reminds us of the miracles of Christ that He performs. For mere morality cannot lead one to heaven. Even in ancient times Solomon said: what is grievous on earth? That the righteous and the sinner die alike: “The wise man dies just like the fool” (Eccl. 2:16). But the power of God raises the dead. It restores the afflicted and lifts up those who have fallen.

Saint James the Bishop and Confessor in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint James followed the ascetic life from a young age and purified his heart through fasting and other forms of hardship. For this reason, the Church elected him as a bishop. As a bishop, he endured many persecutions, because he fought against the error of the iconoclasts. Enduring persecutions and struggling with hunger and thirst in exile, he committed his spirit to God.

The Holy Hymnographer Ignatius stands in awe before the ascetic of the Lord, Saint James. For although he was a bishop of the Church with a strong militant spirit against the heresy of iconoclasm — which denied the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ — and indeed gave up his spirit as a result of the sufferings of the persecutions he endured from the iconoclasts, nevertheless the center of gravity of his life lay in his ascetic conduct. His asceticism, as a fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord — that is, living himself as one crucified with regard to his passions — was his constant priority, whether at the beginning of his life, in its development, or even in his episcopal ministry. “An Ascetic Bishop” would be the title that characterizes his life.

“Taking up the Cross upon your shoulders, venerable father, you followed precisely the Crucified Lord, and living in monastic solitude with all wisdom, you diminished your passions through self-control” (Ode 1).

March: Day 21: Teaching 3: Venerable Serapion the Sindonite

March: Day 21: Teaching 3:*
Venerable Serapion the Sindonite
 
(On the Means That Awaken Love for One’s Neighbor)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Serapion, an ascetic of the late 4th and early 5th century, whose memory is celebrated today, lived in Egypt. His entire life was devoted to care for his neighbors. In his youth, Serapion distributed all his possessions to the poor and, keeping only the necessary clothing and the Gospel, embraced monasticism. He did not have a fixed residence in any monastery, but went from place to place, striving everywhere to help those in need and to comfort them with the word of God. Venerable Serapion usually stayed wherever night overtook him, and in the morning he went on further.

Once, seeing in Alexandria a beggar trembling from cold, Serapion said to himself: “What kind of monk am I, if I have sufficient clothing, while this layman has none?” — and he gave him his garment. Then, seeing another beggar asking for alms, Serapion gave him his Gospel. When the Venerable one was asked where his Gospel and clothing were, he replied: “The Gospel told me: give your possessions to the poor — and I gave it; and the garment I gave to Him Who will give me in its place something far better.”

March: Day 21: Teaching 2: Saint James, Bishop and Confessor

March: Day 21: Teaching 2:*
Saint James, Bishop and Confessor
 
(How to Raise Children in the Spirit of Piety?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint James, whose memory is celebrated today, was distinguished by the strictness of his life. From his youth he loved piety, which he preserved until the end of his days. For his holy life he was appointed a bishop, and he labored greatly for the veneration of icons, which in his time were under persecution. But his zeal resulted in exile and imprisonment, in which he also reposed.

II. We have said that Saint James loved piety from his youth. Even in our own time, many children from an early age show an inclination toward a pious life. See how some children are obedient, gentle, yielding; how well-behaved, diligent, and zealous in prayer they are. See with what attentiveness a child listens to lessons in the Law of God, how long and fervently he prays, how he loves the house of God. Tell him something divine, wondrous, extraordinary — he will never forget it; read to him stories from the lives of the saints — he will listen with remarkable attention, for hours at a time. And how compassionate some children are toward the poor! For them, their greatest joy is to give alms. In some, the inclination to piety is innate, but in many their pious disposition also depends on external causes.

Prologue in Sermons: March 21

A Monk Not by Calling

March 21

(A Homily of Kosmas the Presbyter)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

He who goes to a monastery without prior preparation for the monastic life, without discernment, not by calling, is a bad monk; indeed, he can scarcely even be called a monk at all. This is evident from the following.

Kosmas the Presbyter says: “Many withdraw from the world into a monastery; but, not wishing to endure the wearisome services and labors of monastic life, they flee from the monastery back into the world and return like dogs to their vomit, fall into despair, and sin worse than before. Others of them wander through the cities, roaming about like madmen here and there, eating others’ bread for nothing, spending their time in inexcusable idleness, and watching for where there are feasts, becoming slaves not of God, but of the belly. And for them the latter becomes worse than the former.