Holy Hieromartyr Nikon and Those With Him in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

 

Saint Nikon lived during the time of the governor Quintilian and was from the land of the Neapolitans. He was a handsome young man and radiant in appearance, and in wars his bravery struck fear into his opponents. His father was an idolater, while his mother was a Christian. In a great war, and indeed in a fierce battle, the blessed one remembered the exhortations of his mother, and after sighing deeply and saying, “Lord Jesus Christ, help me,” he made the sign of the Cross as though he were being surrounded by a wall, and advanced mightily into the midst of the enemy. Some he struck with the sword, others with the spear, and he did not cease until he had utterly defeated them all and put them to flight. All were astonished at his conduct, because the war turned favorably for them; thus, together with the others, he returned to his home. He revealed to his mother his intention for the future, and he sailed to the regions of Constantinople.

When he arrived at an island called Chios, he went up its mountain and remained there for seven days, devoted to fasting, vigils, and prayers. Then a divine angel informed him to go down to the shore with a staff, which the one who appeared to him had given him. Reaching the shore, he found a ship, boarded it, and after two days, when he disembarked, he arrived at Mount Ganos. By divine providence, a bishop appeared to him in the guise of a monk, and taking him by the hand, led him to a cave where he himself dwelt. There he catechized him and baptized him in the name of the Holy Trinity, also imparting to him the Holy Mysteries. After three years he ordained him a presbyter, and then a bishop.

Prologue in Sermons: March 23

What Does Complete Renunciation of the World Consist In?

March 23

(A word about a merchant who entered the monastic rank and was saved.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

I ask you, brethren, what must one do in order to renounce the world completely? What will you say to this? You will say: “One must go into monasticism.” That is true, brethren, I agree with you, but still, in my opinion, this alone is not enough; something more is required. What is it?

Once the Venerable Paphnutios prayed to God that He would show him to whom he was comparable. And the Lord revealed this to him. He heard a voice saying to him: “You are like a merchant seeking good pearls. Arise, then, do not be slothful, and you will find one like yourself.” Paphnutios left his cell and met a certain man from Alexandria, very rich and at the same time pious and merciful. This man conducted great trade with the Thebaid and had three ships transporting his goods. Everything that he gained from his trade he gave to the poor, and his servants followed him carrying food for them as well. Seeing this, Paphnutios exclaimed: “What does this mean, my friend?” The pious merchant replied: “These are the fruits of my trade, offered to God through the hands of the righteous.” Paphnutios said: “And when will you receive the monastic name?” “I will try to do so,” answered the merchant. Paphnutios continued: “How long will you carry on earthly trade and forget the heavenly? The latter is higher than the former. Leave all earthly things now and follow the Savior, and soon you will depart entirely to Him.” After this, the pious merchant gave all his possessions to the poor, keeping nothing for himself, went to the mountain where two monks had died before him, and there, shutting himself in a cave, he soon left his earthly body and became a citizen of heaven.

Homily on the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent (Righteous Alexei Mechev)

 

 

Homily on the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent*

By Righteous Alexei Mechev

“He said: ‘Teacher, I brought my son to You, who has a mute spirit… and I told Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not’” (Mark 9:17–18).

Many times our Lord healed the sick, even those gravely ill and possessed by unclean spirits: with a single word, by a touch, even from a distance. More than once the disciples of the Lord, by the grace given to them by Him, healed the sick, cleansed lepers, and cast out demons. But today’s Gospel tells us an example of a difficult and prolonged healing of a man possessed by a spirit of muteness. At the time when Jesus Christ was on the mountain, withdrawn in prayer, among the multitude of people gathered to see and hear the Lord, a father came with his sick son. Not finding the Lord, he turned to His disciples: they made attempts, laid hands on him, but could not cast out the evil spirit. The unfortunate father then approaches the Lord upon His return from the mountain, and see how even here, in the hands of the Almighty, the work of healing is accomplished slowly. The Lord commands that the sick boy be brought to Him; at that moment the boy had a severe seizure, “he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth” (Mark 9:20). It would seem that the merciful heart of the Lord would incline Him immediately to compassion and healing. But the Lord asks questions: how long this has been happening to him, how often it occurs; and in response to the father’s urgent pleas, the Lord requires faith from him — and only when the father cried out to the Lord with tears (that is, weeping, stricken with grief, he threw himself before the Lord) — only then did the Lord command the evil spirit to come out of him. The word of the Almighty could not fail to act, but even here resistance was shown. The evil spirit cried out violently, shook the boy greatly, as if struggling to remain in him, and, weakened, departed from him. Is this not the history of the correction of our sins? Is this not a vivid image of the slowness and stubbornness with which we part from our passions and infirmities? The father is each one of us — he brings into the infirmary his own sick soul; does not the same happen to it as to the afflicted boy? We resort to the saving remedies of the Church — and they do not help: prayer does not act, fasting is not accepted by our time, confession is cold, and the Holy Mystery of Communion does not change the sinner.

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).