May Day in Aivali (Photios Kontoglou)

May Day in Aivali

By Photios Kontoglou

When did spring arrive and adorn the earth like a bride! Everywhere is lushness and freshness. Where there were just barren lands, you now see greenery; where you once saw dry soil scorched by the northern winds, you now find a carpet woven with a thousand colors. The wild rocks are embellished as if by the hand of some painter. All of nature rejoices. Every living creature becomes more enlivened, and those that were not alive are brought to life.

Birds sing, butterflies and golden orioles, and various kinds of insects flutter or walk upon the ground. The swallows have arrived from warm regions and are hastily building their nests; the storks stand atop the domes of the church on one leg, tapping their beaks. The sea calms and invites people to refresh themselves.

May: Day 1: Teaching 3: Venerable Paphnutius of Borovsk

 

May: Day 1: Teaching 3:
Venerable Paphnutius of Borovsk
 
(How Should One Trust in God's Providence?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Paphnutius (15th century), commemorated today by the Holy Church, whose secular name was Parthenius, was of Tatar descent; his father first held the position of Basqaq (a Tatar official for collecting taxes) in the city of Borovsk (now in the Kaluga province), and later converted to Christianity. Paphnutius's parents were wealthy people and owned estates. He was born near Borovsk and lived with his parents until he was twenty; then, feeling drawn to the monastic life, he entered the Pokrovsky Monastery in Borovsk as a monk and spent his life there in strict abstinence, prayer, fasting, and constant labor. Twice a week, on Monday and Friday, he took no food at all, and on Wednesday he ate only dry food. His physical labors were: in the summer, working in the garden, carrying and chopping firewood for the brethren; in the winter, weaving fishing nets and baskets. Until his very death, regardless of old age or illness, the Venerable One led this strict way of life, not relaxing himself in anything.

May: Day 1: Teaching 2: Holy Prophet Jeremiah

May: Day 1: Teaching 2:
Holy Prophet Jeremiah
 
(Why Does Every Prophet Suffer Reproach From His Contemporaries?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church commemorates the Holy Prophet Jeremiah. God called him to prophetic service towards the end of the reign of Josiah (in the 7th century BC). “Then the word of the Lord came to me,” says Jeremiah himself, “and said, ‘I have sanctified you and ordained you as a prophet to the nations.’ But I said, ‘O Lord God, I do not know how to speak, for I am still young.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not talk about your youth, for you will go to everyone to whom I send you, and you will say everything I command you. Do not be afraid of anyone, for I am with you. Tell the Jews everything I command you, and do not be fainthearted before them.’”

Instructed by the Lord Himself and strengthened by the promise of His help, Jeremiah zealously began his prophetic ministry. He began to sternly rebuke the Jews for their apostasy from the true God and idolatry, threatening them with the disasters of the coming war. But the people did not heed the prophet's persuasions. Jeremiah prophesied for twenty-three years, convincing his compatriots to abandon the path of wickedness and return to the path of truth. He appeared everywhere where there was a significant gathering of people, admonishing with tears. But the Jews responded to all the prophet's admonitions with mockery, abuse, and even attempted to kill him.

May: Day 1: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Macarius, Metropolitan of Kiev

May: Day 1: Teaching 1:
Holy Hieromartyr Macarius, Metropolitan of Kiev
 
(That the High Qualities and Duties of a Shepherd of the Church Require Special Attention From His Flock)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). This is the highest, most distinctive quality of a shepherd, defined by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd! The Holy Hieromartyr Macarius, whom we now piously celebrate, fully embodied this quality in himself. Before his consecration as Metropolitan, he was the abbot of the Vilnius Trinity Monastery. Having become a Metropolitan, he did not hold the episcopate for long. In 1497, the new bishop went to Kiev to visit his orphaned flock and bring them spiritual consolation. Hurrying from distant Vilnius to his Kiev flock, despite all the difficulties and dangers of the journey, despite the warnings that wild Tatars who were destroying Kiev were prowling everywhere along the way, he was martyred by the Crimean Tatars on the banks of the Pripet. His holy relics were glorified by their incorruptibility and rest in the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. Thus he literally fulfilled the words of the Lord: "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).