June: Day 10:
Holy Hieromartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prousis
(The Blessing of God)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Holy Hieromartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prousis
(The Blessing of God)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The Holy Hieromartyr Timothy, commemorated today, was Bishop of Prousis (in Bithynia), where he actively spread Christianity; for this he was persecuted and, after torture in prison, beheaded with the sword in the year 362.
One incident from the life of Bishop Timothy serves as evidence that even in church things used in the name of God, “the grace of the Lord is at work.” One day, Timothy was carrying “blessed bread” to a noble woman named Vasilisa, as an offering from the brethren. On the way between Prousis and Thermae (warm waters), he saw a terrible serpent; then, placing the consecrated bread in the hem of his garment and removing the cover from them, he covered the serpent with it. Returning from Vasilisa, to whom he had given the holy bread, Timothy found the serpent dead.
II. From the above story from the life of the now celebrated Holy Hieromartyr Timothy, who lived in the 4th century, you see, brethren, that the custom of receiving God's blessing through the blessing of the right hand of the shepherds of the Church, or through the partaking of, for example, blessed bread, is a very ancient custom.
This custom is praiseworthy and worthy of imitation.
a) Through God’s blessing, accepted with faith and reverence, God’s help comes down on every good and pleasing deed.
Ask God for a blessing to begin a task, and He will help you to finish the whole task. By turning to God before beginning any task, you show a living faith in God, your submission to His holy will, and hope for His caring love. And for faith, submission, and love for God, a Christian will receive from Him what he did not expect, and what he would not dare to ask of Him; only what he desired would not be contrary to the holy will of God.
b) And it is also foolish to begin a task without God's blessing, even if it could be easily accomplished, even if it were unimportant. We depend on God in everything, and He is the true Possessor and Supreme Manager of the whole world, of every person, of all our undertakings, labors, and deeds. When a servant, without consulting his master, begins to manage his house: who will not call him foolish? Even more so, it is not in accordance with common sense for someone to want to do something in the world - in this great house of God - without asking the permission and blessing of the Supreme Manager and all-seeing Lord of the universe!
c) It is also good to ask God's blessing at the beginning of any work, because you will learn the worth of the work itself - you will learn whether the work is worth starting. Turning to God for a blessing, when starting an evil deed, you will immediately feel a conviction in your conscience. And you will be afraid to say: "Lord, bless me," when you yourself see that sin has mixed in with your work. There can be no God's blessing for every bad, sinful deed. You will abandon your impure intention if your conscience, enlightened by prayer, shows you something sinful in it, or you will ask God's blessing to cleanse your work from the admixture of sin and to fulfill it with purity of mind and heart, with straightforwardness and honesty, for your true good and the good of your neighbor.
It is so salutary to begin every work with God's blessing! It is not for nothing that our pious ancestors did not begin a single work without God's blessing. And it is not for nothing that in the church everything always begins with God's blessing.
III. Remember and keep, brethren, this beautiful and truly Christian custom. Begin every work with God's blessing. Before beginning any work, even an unimportant one, make the sign of the cross and say: "Lord, bless!" And before every more important work, have recourse to church prayers; let the priest pray to God with you, read the church prayers prescribed for certain occasions, and bless you and your good undertaking in the name of the Lord. And then, be assured, every good work, with God's help, will prosper in your hands, and there will be success in everything.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
