Homily Two on the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily Two on the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord 

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1963)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Holy Church glorifies the power of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, and at the same time remembers the sufferings of Christ, which He endured on the Cross. The reason for the establishment of this feast was an extraordinary event, miraculously revealed to the inhabitants of the capital of the Greek empire from the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord.

A severe plague broke out in Constantinople, which took thousands of lives daily. And so the city's inhabitants turned to God with prayer, adding to this a religious procession with the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord through the streets of the Byzantine capital, sprinkling all the houses and buildings with holy water. And since at the end of the religious procession the plague immediately ceased, then in memory of this miraculous event it was established to celebrate the Cross of the Lord every year on August 1. In addition, other events were added to this event, in which the power of God was also miraculously revealed: the victory of the Greek army over the Saracens, and the Russian army over the Volga Bulgarians, since these events also took place on August 1 by the power of the Life-giving Cross and the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God. But, remembering these events and glorifying the power of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the Church also now remembers the sufferings of Christ.

August: Day 1: Teaching 4: The Holy Maccabean Martyrs

August: Day 1: Teaching 4:
The Holy Maccabean Martyrs
 
(On Standing Firm For One’s Holy, National Faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today, brethren, the Holy Church solemnly celebrates the feast day in memory of the Seven Maccabean Martyrs, their mother Solomone, and their teacher Eleazar. They lived nearly two hundred years before the birth of Christ, yet despite this, the Christian Orthodox Church continues to joyfully celebrate their memory to this day. What have they done to deserve this? What actions and feats have they accomplished to earn themselves eternal remembrance in prayer? To understand this, let us turn to the history of the time in which they lived.

Esteemed Church, the Holy Maccabean Martyrs lived during the reign of the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. This king, having plundered Jerusalem and slaughtered many thousands of Jews, initiated a wicked persecution of their faith, seeking to eradicate it entirely in order to subject them more securely and swiftly to his rule. To this end, he commanded the Jews, under threat of death, to "cease burnt offerings and sacrifices and libations in the sanctuary, abolish Sabbaths and feasts, establish pagan altars and groves and shrines, and to sacrifice swine and other animals that are abominable to the pagans, to leave their sons uncircumcised, and generally to change all previous religious beliefs, institutions, laws, morals, and ancestral customs" (1 Maccabees 6). It was a difficult time for the Jews. To change the faith and customs of their ancestors meant to change their nationality; it meant to lose everything – both faith and nationality. However, being faithful to the law of God and the covenants of their forefathers, the Jews disregarded the threats of the wicked king. For them, death was preferable to betraying their faith. Holding on to their beliefs, they feared neither severe tortures nor death, to which the tormentors subjected the Jews.

August: Day 1: Teaching 1: The Procession of the Honorable Cross of the Lord

  

August: Day 1: Teaching 1:
The Procession of the Honorable Cross of the Lord
 
(The Necessity of Bearing the Cross in the Matter of Salvation)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the 1st day of August, the Orthodox Church celebrates the miraculous power of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord, commemorating the signs that have occurred from it and from the holy icons of Christ the Savior and the Mother of God.

In the year 1164, the Right-Believing Russian Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky and Manuel, the Greek Emperor, were compelled to wage war against the enemies of their homeland. According to the custom of pious Christian sovereigns, which has been preserved since the time of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and sacred icons of the Savior and the Mother of God were carried with the armies of Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky and Emperor Manuel to sanctify the warriors, instill in them a steadfast hope for divine assistance, and grant them grace-filled strength in their struggle against enemies, even when they were relatively stronger. Armed with such spiritual fortitude, on the day of the decisive battle against their foes, both sovereigns witnessed their troops being overshadowed by an extraordinary light emanating from the Lord’s Cross and the holy icons. Encouraged by this sign of invisible divine help, the armies of both sovereigns achieved a decisive victory – the former over the Bulgarians and the latter over the Saracens.