Encomium to Saint Andrew the Apostle (St. Athanasios the Great)

 

Encomium to Saint Andrew the Apostle 

By St. Athanasios the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria

A. Seeing this radiant flock of the Spirit, this apostolic net cast into a truly calm and untroubled sea, I am reminded of the Master’s voice crying, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” O voice full of power! O words made known by deeds! O promise that is true and grows day by day! For whose is this great catch of human beings? Who has gathered together this illustrious festival, if not the illustrious Andrew, the foremost of the apostles? He it was who cast out the nets of his tongue and memory, so that — filling this sacred ship with the oars of apostleship — he might steer the vessel straight toward heaven.

And what are the first fruits of this catch? What are the choice offerings of these labors? Those who brighten the enclosure of the priesthood with their virtues; those who first spread wide these apostolic arms and drew into salvation those wandering outside. Indeed, the great Andrew has given the occasion for our present festival; yet the whole chorus of the apostles is honored together. For those whom grace has joined, no place can part.

Homily for the Commemoration of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Commemoration of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you all on the feast of Saint Andrew the First-Called! He is the first Russian enlightener to bring us the gospel; for he was sent by Christ to the northern lands. He circumnavigated the entire Black Sea, preaching in Sinope, Adjara, Georgia, Abkhazia, and Crimea. He also visited Kuban, where he was nearly eaten by cannibals. According to legend, he ascended the Dnieper to what would become Kiev and erected a cross on Saint Andrew's Hill as a sign that the gospel would shine forth there. A church dedicated to Saint Andrew the First-Called now stands on this site. Tradition says that the Apostle Andrew also reached Valaam. He founded the Church in the city of Byzantium (the future Constantinople), from which the Russian Church traces its lineage. The line of all Russian bishops and priests descends from Saint Andrew the First-Called. He also preached in European countries. He ended his life in the city of Patara or Patras.

Homily Two on the Holy and All-Praiseworthy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Two on the Holy and All-Praiseworthy Apostle Andrew the First-Called 

By St. John of Kronstadt

"God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men" (1 Cor. 4:9).

This time, on the glorious day of the commemoration of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, we will explain the daily reading from the Apostle, for this reading briefly gives us an understanding of the entire activity of Christ's Apostles, and therefore also of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called: their ardent love for Christ and for people, their lofty and unwavering faith and hope of eternal life, their self-denial for the sake of God and the salvation of people, their complete disdain for everything that flatters the feelings of the old man here in this age. Here is the reading from the Apostle in Russian: 

"Brethren, God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in dishonor. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me" (1 Cor. 4:9-16). 

Homily Two on Andrew, the Apostle of Christ (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)

Homily Two on Andrew, the Apostle of Christ 

By Archimandrite George Kapsanis,

Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery

On today's feast of the Apostle Andrew, we feel spiritual joy, because the Holy Apostle Andrew is the illuminator of the Greek Nation. For each Saint we celebrate, we feel spiritual joy, but we feel much more joy for those Saints who walked the soil of our homeland and enlightened our people and dyed this land porphyry with the fountains of their blood.

We are struck by the fact that the Holy Apostle Andrew from the beginning had followed the Lord with great desire, leaving his first teacher, Saint John the Forerunner. He obeyed and humbled himself before Christ and served Him together with the other Holy Apostles until the end and even shed his blood in a horrible death for the love of the Lord Christ.

November: Day 30: Teaching 2: Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called

November: Day 30: Teaching 2:
Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
 
(The Call of Believers to Salvation and our Indifference to This Call)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. One day, during the first year of His public ministry to humanity, Jesus Christ was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was then still little known to the world as a Preacher and was just gathering His first followers, His disciples, around Him. Seeing two young brothers, Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew — later known as the Apostle Andrew, the First-Called, whose memory is celebrated today — casting their nets into the sea, the Savior, as if in passing, said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The brothers did not question their divine Master about who He was, by what power He commanded them, or where He would lead them, but immediately abandoned their nets and followed the Savior. Walking with them further, Jesus Christ saw two more brothers, James and John, sitting with their father Zebedee in a boat, mending their nets. The Son of God, who sees into the hearts and innermost thoughts of men, called these young men, and they immediately responded with complete readiness to the voice calling them: they left their father, the boat, and the nets and followed Jesus.

Prologue in Sermons: November 30

Reflecting on the Fire of Gehenna and How the Virtues of Chastity and Mercy Confer Great Benefit Upon a Person

November 30*

(The Tale of Zacharias and John is Very Beneficial for the Soul)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Know, brethren, that contemplation of the eternal torment of sinners, their removal from the blessed contemplation of God's face, and the eternal darkness in which they will languish, as well as the two greatest virtues — chastity and mercy — bring significant benefit to a person. They make such a Christian a vessel of Divine Grace, make him a Saint, even make him a Wonderworker. We will now convince you of all this.

Homily on the Nativity Fast and Holy Communion (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh)

Homily on the Nativity Fast and Holy Communion 

By Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

(Delivered on November 30, 1986)

During these days of the Nativity Fast, which lead us to the celebration of the Lord's Incarnation, the Church, through the words of Christ Himself, warns us sternly and clearly. In today's Parable of the Foolish Rich Man, Christ speaks of barnfuls of material wealth; yet we are all rich in very different ways, and not necessarily primarily in material terms. How firmly we rely on our relationship with God, what a reliable support we find in the words of the Gospel – the words of Christ Himself, in the teachings of the Apostles, in our Orthodox faith! And the longer we live, the more thoughts and knowledge we accumulate, and our own hearts become increasingly richer in feelings in response to the beauty of God's word.

Asher Raby: The Serial Killer Who Murdered Saint Philoumenos

 

 

Asher Raby – Profile of a Serial Killer

By Avi Davidovich (8/4/2017)

The article "Serial Murder in Israel" provides a comprehensive overview of the serial killers discovered in Israel. One of them was Asher Raby, who operated in the country between 1979 and 1982. During 6 different attacks, he murdered five people, injured 10 others, and attempted to murder another victim. 15 of his 16 victims were Arabs, 6 women, and 4 children.

Like many serial killers, Raby used cold weapons, but he also used firearms, mainly when he wanted to commit mass murder – similar to mass murderers. One of the murders he committed – the murder of the monk George Philoumenos – caused Israel great embarrassment throughout the Christian world. Asher Raby was included in the category of psychotic serial killers, which is rare compared to the other categories of serial killers. Asher Raby was 36 years old when he was caught after a series of murders he had committed over the years. He told his interrogators that he had acted on divine command. According to him, God commanded him to expel evil.

Holy Martyr Paramonos and Those With Him in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

These Saints lived during the reign of Decius the emperor and the ruler Aquilinus. The reason for their faith in Christ and their end is the following: In Basra near the Tigris River, in an area specifically called Iero, there was a great and abundant spring of hot waters, which miraculously cured diseases. Here, therefore, the ruler of the East, Aquilinus, arrived for the healing of his body, having ordered that the prisoners from Nicomedia and the martyrs who had been arrested for their faith in Christ should follow him. When he went to the temple of Isis and offered his vile sacrifices, he commanded the Saints to also sacrifice to the idols and to worship them. Since, of course, they refused to do so, he gave orders for them all to be killed with swords. Thus, those who were brave became wondrous martyrs of Christ, the Almighty King, totaling three hundred seventy in number.

Seeing them, the Holy Paramonos cried out with a loud voice and said: “I see great impiety. For this unclean man is slaughtering so many righteous and foreigners in an unreasonable manner.” When the ruler heard this, he was seized with rage and immediately ordered him to be killed. The ruler's envoys, after arresting Paramonos, who did not know the order and continued to walk in the place where he was, did not want one to commit the murder, but all of them together. So they ran to shed innocent blood, in front of the eyes of the ruler, with their own hands and with their own weapons. Some then struck him with spears, others with pointed reeds, passing them through the tongue and the rest of the Saint's limbs, until in front of the tyrant they killed him in the place we have mentioned, and thus sent him to the heavenly tabernacles. In the same place as the holy three hundred and seventy martyrs and in the same coffins with them, the Saint was also numbered and his relics were deposited.

Prologue in Sermons: November 29

 

On Sorrowful Reflections

November 29*

(Sermon of John Chrysostom on Eternal Torment and the Kingdom of Heaven; and on Always Keeping the Day of Departure in Mind)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The word of God sometimes commands us to have sorrowful thoughts. For example, the Lord says: "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12). Or the wise son of Sirach teaches: "In all your works remember your last end" (Sirach 7:40). Why then does the word of God command us to have such sorrowful thoughts: sometimes about sins, sometimes about death? Brethren, it commands us so that through these sorrowful thoughts in this life we may be saved from eternal sorrows in the life to come. We will not reveal this truth to you ourselves, but let the ecumenical teacher, Saint John Chrysostom, reveal it and prove it to you. Listen to him.

The First Ecumenical Synod and Its Significance

At the Synodal Divine Liturgy celebrated on Sunday, June 1st 2025, at the Sacred Metropolitan Church of Athens, presided over by His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Hieronymos, for the 1700th anniversary of the convening of the First Ecumenical Synod in 325 in Nicaea of Bithynia, His Eminence Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou, Hierotheos, Vice-President of the Permanent Holy Synod, spoke on the topic: “The First Ecumenical Synod and Its Significance.”

The Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod, during this Easter period, leading up to the feast of Pentecost, is wonderful, and rightly the Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece determined to celebrate it magnificently. This is done with a Synodal Divine Liturgy, with hymns and speeches meet for God, with a convocation of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece and with events befitting this great feast, with the completion of 1,700 years since the convocation of the First Ecumenical Synod, which was called “Holy” and “Great” and became the model for the other Ecumenical Synods that followed, in which we, the Bishops, gave a confession that we will abide by their decisions.

This brief eucharistic homily, by decision of the Sacred Synod, also falls within this framework.

Holy Martyr Stephen the New in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Venerable Stephen was born in Constantinople in 715, to pious parents, John and Anna. He lived in asceticism from his youth in the Monastery of Saint Auxentios, which was in Bithynia. The monastery was located on a high place, called the Mountain of Saint Auxentios. He became abbot of the monks there. The fame of his spiritual struggles was heard everywhere and the fragrance of his virtues led many to him. He died a martyr’s death due to the veneration of the holy icons, during the reign of Constantine, called Copronymos. Before his martyric end, Copronymos sentenced him to eleven months in chains and prison. Then he ordered that they drag him along the ground and stone him like the Protomartyr Stephen, hence he was called Stephen the New. They then beat him with a club on the brain and after crushing his head, he gave up his spirit in 767.

Prologue in Sermons: November 28

 

The More a Person is Slandered by Slanderers, the More the Lord Glorifies Them

November 28*

(From the Life of Saint John Chrysostom)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

When our enemies and slanderers begin to slander us among others, spreading bad rumors about us and vilifying our name, we usually become despondent, fainthearted, and say, "Now I'm lost, now everyone will consider me a bad person and will despise me." But in reasoning like this, we are mistaken. When we hear negative words spoken about ourselves, we must always remember that there is an all-seeing and just God above us, that He will not allow our enemies to triumph over us, and that the evil they do to us is always ready to turn and will turn to our good.

Saint James the Persian in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint James was a Christian of Christian parents, living in the city of Beth Lapat, in the land of the Persians, of an honorable and illustrious lineage, and greatly honored by King Yazdegerd. For this reason, namely, because the king of the Persians loved him very much, he distanced himself from the Christian faith and followed the king, thus leading to perdition by denying Christ. But when his mother and wife broke off their communion with him, because he preferred the love of the king to the love of Christ, and for temporary glory he chose eternal shame and condemnation – something they accused him of in letters they sent him – he was wounded in soul and distanced himself from the vain religion of the king, whereupon he began to weep for all the sins he had committed, as he had apostatized from Christ. For this reason, he was brought to trial, while the king was very unhappy with the event. The result was that he suffered a bitter death, with the division of the harmony of the body: the hands and feet and arms, little by little, so that only the head and the torso remained. Then they also removed his head with a knife.

Saint Damaskinos the Studite: Teacher of the Enslaved Nation

 

By Konstantinos Holevas, 
Political Scientist

To the Hellenism that was wintering from the Turkish conquest, Divine Providence sent a great figure in the 16th century. He is Saint Damaskinos the Studite, whom our Church honors on November 27. A cleric, scholar, militant Orthodox, author of wonderful books, wise, modest and ascetic, Damaskinos was an excellent Shepherd in the two Diocese where the Ecumenical Patriarchate sent him. First to the Diocese of Liti and Rentini (today's Metropolis of Lagada) and then to the Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Arta, as it was then called.

Damaskinos was born in Thessaloniki probably in 1520. He studied in Constantinople and had as his teacher the famous Theophanes Eleavoulkos Notaras. He was associated with the historic Monastery of Stoudios, which is why he was called a Studite. He collaborated closely with important Patriarchs such as Metrophanes, Joasaph II the Magnificent and Jeremias the Tranos. He was elected Bishop of Liti and Rentini in 1560 and his ordination took place in Thessaloniki and in particular in the well-known Church of the Rotunda, today the Church of Saint George. Due to the Turkish occupation, the Metropolitan Church of Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki had been converted into a mosque and for a time the Rotunda, known as the Church of the Archangels, served as the Metropolitan Church.

November: Day 27: Teaching 2: Feast of the Sign of the Mother of God

November: Day 27: Teaching 2:
Feast of the Sign of the Mother of God
 
(Whom Should We Seek Help From Against Enemies Visible and Invisible?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On this day, a great national celebration once took place in ancient Novgorod. It was a great celebration, but a great miracle also occurred.

One day, numerous and fearsome enemies approached this ancient city, besieged it from all sides with their army, and threatened to destroy it with fire and sword. The poor Novgorodians were dismayed and terrified; their military forces were small, they had no means of defense, and there was no one to expect help from. What should they do in such a situation? What should they decide? After long and varied consultations and deliberations, they finally decided to resort to the merciful Lord God, to turn with fervent prayer to the heavenly Intercessor, the revered Leader — the Mother of God. And so the entire nation rose to prayer; young and old flocked to the churches of God; prayerful cries and lamentations resounded from the streets and crossroads; fervent tears and fervent prayers flowed to the heavens; – and consider how important, how significant before God is a united, communal prayer founded on heartfelt faith, hastened by love, and nurtured by hope! – One night, following such a communal and ardent prayer, the Archbishop of Novgorod received in a dream a command to place the next morning on the city wall an icon depicting the Mother of God with her hands raised in sorrow. Upon awakening, the Archbishop received this command with unwavering faith and, the next morning, indeed, with due reverence, he placed the sacred icon on the city wall, positioning it so that it faced the praying people. As the service of supplication to the Most Holy Theotokos began, the enemies, who had intended to launch a decisive assault on the city at that moment, were suddenly thrown into confusion, disoriented, faltered, and, struck by an invisible force, scattered and fled! The weak Novgorodian army could only strike at the fleeing and gather the treasures of the enemy camp; – and now in Novgorod, on the day before this gloomy and sorrowful one, – there was universal joy, delight, and the greatest triumph! The enemies before them had seemed invincible – and they were scattered, there had been hunger and need – now there was abundance in everything; there had been despair and fear – suddenly, there was indescribable joy and merriment! Thus, the Mother of God saved the ancient Novgorodians from numerous and terrible foes; thus, She revealed to them the Sign of Her miraculous help and power; and thus, time and again, She has saved our homeland in times of internal strife and in the grave invasions of foreign enemies. In the same way, She now saves all of us, Christians, from all the hardships and misfortunes of life and from all our enemies, both visible and invisible.

Prologue in Sermons: November 27

 

Against Slander

November 27

(A Sermon on Not Condemning Monks)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In a church sermon on the 27th of November, the following is written, among other things, about slander: "Many of the foolish," it says there, "recklessly slander the monks. When they see one of them sinning, they say that this is not what the Lord commanded, yet they themselves sin in abundance, oppress others, and steal. And if they see any partaking of a sweet dish, they begin to slander even more; yet they themselves drink daily, thereby storing up eternal fire for themselves." Having heard this, many may very well ask: why have you brought us this sermon, and what does it signify?

The 11th Century Athonite Monastery of Alypios (Today's Cell of the Holy Apostles Under Koutloumousiou Monastery)

The Sacred Monastery of Alypios was located on the outskirts of Karyes, adjacent to the old Sacred Monastery of Anapausa. Its original name was "Monastery of Alopos". The name was probably given by its founder, who would have been called Alopos. In the eleventh century, the Alopos family flourished in Byzantium.

The Monastery was dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and is referred to either by their name or by the name of the Holy Apostles.

The oldest written testimony of the Monastery of Alopos is the signature of the Hieromonk of Hierotheos in a document of 1021. The first proper document of the Monastery of Alopos, which is preserved to this day in the Monastery of Koutloumousiou, is by Abbot Theophanes of the year 1257.

Saint Stylianos of Paphlagonia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Venerable Stylianos was sanctified from his mother’s womb and became a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. He even gave all his property to the poor and followed a monastic life, surpassing everyone in arduous asceticism and austerity. Then he went to the desert, and after finding a cave as a place of residence, he received food from a divine angel and became a healer of various incurable diseases. When once the corruption of death, attacking newborns, made those who had given birth childless, the mothers invoked the name of the Saint and by making his honoroable icon they became capable of childbearing again. When he died, his body was deposited in the country of the Paphlagonians, performing many healings and miracles.

Holy New Martyr George the Chiopolitis in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

The retrieval of the beheaded body of St. George of Chios from the ravine it was thrown into, which his friends transferred to an uninhabited island for burial off the coast of Kydonies.

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint George was born in Chios. His father was named Paraskevas, and his mother Aggerou. At the age of 18 months, orphaned by his mother, he was handed over by his father to be raised by his stepmother. In childhood, his parents handed George over to a woodcarver, named Vissetzis, to teach him his art. When he once came to Psara with his boss, to carve the iconostasis of the Church of Saint Nicholas, George fled with some young men to Kavala. There he was arrested stealing from a garden and handed himself over to the judge. To avoid punishment, he accepted Islam, was circumcised and was named Ahmed. At the age of 10, he returned to Chios crying and confessing Christ. His father, in order to protect him, took him to one of his estates in Kydonies ((also known as Aivali). Later, at the age of 22, he became engaged and the brother of his fiancée, because he had financial differences with him, betrayed him to the Turkish commander, saying that while he had become a Muslim, he had returned to Christianity. He was tortured cruelly and after he had received the Holy Mysteries in prison, on the morning of November 26, 1807, they cut off his head - in a martyric manner - little by little. Thus he received the crown of martyrdom, from Christ the crowner of athletes. 

Prologue in Sermons: November 26

To the Rich

November 26

(A Sermon on the Punishment of Those in Power)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

To you, the wealthy, comes our message, and here is what we find necessary to say to you. The Lord teaches: "It is difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven; it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:23–24). Thus, according to the Lord’s word, you see, it is difficult for you to be saved. But what should be done? For even if it is difficult, one must still be saved; after all, you are Christians. What, then, must you do in order to overcome all obstacles on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven and, on equal footing with other well-lived Christians, attain the crowns? It is precisely this matter that we intend to address to you.

Holy Great Martyr Katherine in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“Katherine was Wise and a Virgin, and a Martyr by the sword, O beautiful triad!” These verses of the synaxarion reveal the gifts with which Katherine won Heaven and acquired such a great place in the firmament of the Church. This is not about the so-called natural gifts, which all people on earth have to a greater or lesser extent. Although the Saint, as her synaxarion notes, was indeed endowed with these as well – for she had rare physical beauty and was a genius and modest in moral character – yet by the grace of God and her free will she acquired the spiritual gifts, with which alone one is sanctified in God and enters the Kingdom of Heaven. And spiritual gifts are those that come to light when a person becomes aware of the gift of God that He gave him in Holy Baptism, that is, when he feels that he has become a member of Christ and tries to activate his new life in Christ by keeping the commandments of Christ.

Homily Five for the Entrance of the Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Five for the Entrance of the Theotokos 

By St. John of Kronstadt

We celebrate the Entrance of the Most Holy Virgin Mary into the Temple of God, where She was nurtured in the Holy of Holies by the Lord! A significant feast: it teaches many things. 

The temple is the dwelling of God on earth, the house of God – here the boundless, infinite God seems to be encompassed, descending from His infinity into the small receptacle of the temple; the intangible becomes tangible and is tasted, I understand, in the Mystery of Communion. The temple of God is the earthly heaven, the boundary that connects heaven with earth; here a person recognizes and feels that he is made in the image of God; that he is only a guest and sojourner on earth, that he truly belongs to the heavenly realm; that he is a member of the Church of God or of the God-established community of the saved; that he is a child of God. Here, in contrast to the sinful world, he sees only sanctity, truth, love, and mercy in the faces depicted on the icons, and hears in all readings and chants nothing sinful, as in the world; here, as if in heaven, he, together with the Angels, glorifies the Lord, His eternal glory, His goodness, love for mankind, generosity, His power and kingdom. In this sense, the temple is essential for a Christian, as an inseparable element of his being, just as water is the element for a fish, or free air for a bird, in which it flies and lives and breathes; here he learns the truth, prayer, for only here does he learn the true knowledge of God and of himself; here he learns to love God and his neighbor; here he learns holiness and all virtue, as well as to turn away from sin with all his heart; here he learns to despise the temporary and perishable and to strive for the imperishable and eternal in heaven.

The Church of Saint Katherine in Kampos on the Sacred Island of Tinos

Kampos, one of the few fertile valleys of the sacred island of Tinos, is a settlement with a population of a few hundred people with great historical significance. This is where Saint Pelagia was born in 1752, the daughter of the priest Nikephoros Negrepontis, who died a few years after her birth. Pelagia, whose secular name was Loukia, was raised in Kampos by her mother until the age of 12, when life's difficulties forced her mother to send her daughter to her native village of Tripotamos to be taken care of by her sister. At the age of 15, Loukia became a novice at Kechrovouni Monastery, where her other aunt was a nun, and eventually was tonsured with the name Pelagia. It was here that the Mother of God appeared to her over three consecutive nights urging her to uncover her sacred icon in the place indicated by her, which indeed she discovered in the field of Doxara on January 30, 1823. 

November: Day 25: Teaching 2: Holy Great Martyr Katherine

November: Day 25:* Teaching 2:
Holy Great Martyr Katherine
 
(The Betrothal of the Christian Soul With Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Virgin Katherine, commemorated today, was renowned for her wealth, intelligence, and beauty. The paganism in which she had been raised did not satisfy her with either its beliefs nor its customs. Many sought her hand, but she refused, declaring that she would only marry a suitor who was as accomplished as she was in both education and appearance. A certain Christian elder learned of this and, entering into conversation with her, told her of a suitor who incomparably surpassed her in both wisdom and beauty. She asked if she might see him. And so, praying before an icon of the Mother of God with the Eternal Child, which the elder had given her, she fell asleep and saw in a dream the Queen of Heaven and Her Divine Son. No matter how hard she tried to discern Him, He averted His face from her, saying that she was unworthy of His gaze. As soon as morning came, Katherine told the elder her dream and her sorrow. He gave her detailed instructions in the faith, and she was baptized. Returning home, she prayed for a long time, fell asleep, and again saw the same vision. But Jesus Christ, looking mercifully upon her, said to His Most Pure Mother: "Now I desire that she be My bride." The Mother of God took her hand, and the Savior placed a precious ring on her finger. Awakening, she was amazed to find the ring on her hand, and now she thought only of remaining faithful to the Heavenly Bridegroom.

Prologue in Sermons: November 25

Against the Fear of Death

November 25

(The Passion of our Holy Fathers, Which King Abenner Burned Alive)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

I once told you, brethren, that in order to not fear death, you need to reflect on it more often. Now I offer you further instruction on the same subject. Listen to the following story.

Saint Clement of Rome Resource Page

St. Clement of Rome (Feast Day - November 24)

Verses

Clement is cast into the depths like an anchor,

And is present with Christ, the anchor of the eschaton.

 

Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome (+ 101)

The Martyrdom and Relics of St. Clement of Rome

 

Saint Clement of Rome: the Great Apostolic Father

 

November: Day 24: Teaching 2: Holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Rome

 

Saint Clement of Rome in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

Saint Peter of Alexandria Resource Page

St. Peter of Alexandria (Feast Day - November 24)

 

Verses

Unshakable was the faith of the beheaded Peter,

Who saw Christ with a rent tunic.

Holy Hieromartyr Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria

 

November: Day 25: Teaching 1: Holy Hieromartyr Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria

The Vision of Saint Peter of Alexandria

St. Peter of Alexandria Never Sat On His Patriarchal Throne

 

The Original Copy of the Gospel of John in Ephesus?

 

Saint Clement of Rome in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The blessed and wise Clement was a Roman, descended from a royal lineage, the son of Faustus and Matthidia, and he acquired all the education of Greek knowledge. When he was once saved in a paradoxical way from a shipwreck and happened to meet the foremost of the Apostles, Peter, he was catechized by him in the true faith of Christ. He became a preacher of the gospel and wrote down the Constitutions of the Apostles, at which time he was made Bishop of Rome. However, he was arrested by Domitian and tortured. And because he did not obey his orders, he was exiled to a deserted city, near Kherson. From there again, after they tied an iron anchor to his neck, they threw him into the bottom of the sea and thus came his end.

The God of miraculous things, however, glorifying His own servant even after death, performed a great and enormous supernatural miracle. That is, from the time he was thrown into the sea, the water of the sea receded three miles every year on his commemoration day and became dry land, which welcomed those who went there for seven days, at the specific point where he was cast. This miracle created joy in those who hoped in the Lord. Once, when the sea receded again and the people entered the revealed dry land, it happened that a little child was abandoned in that place, as his parents forgot him. As soon as they realized it, the waters of the sea had returned to their place, so they raised lamentations and wailing throughout the city. The following year, when the wave had subsided again, the parents went and found their child healthy, sitting by the larnax of the Saint. When they asked what and how it had happened, they learned from their child that he was being fed by the Saint who was there, who also protected him from the harm of the fish. Full of joy, they took their child, thanked the Saint in the appropriate way and departed for their home, praising God for this miracle of His.

Prologue in Sermons: November 24

 

A Lesson for the Literate

November 24

(Commemoration of the Holy Great Martyr Katherine)*

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

There have been instances where some literate and skilled readers of the divine books abused their knowledge and brought ruin upon themselves and others. Such individuals, usually infected with pride, began to consider conversation with their Orthodox neighbors too low and retreated to other proud souls like themselves — the teachers of the schismatics. There, naturally, due to inexperience, they quickly became infected with the latter's false teachings and then, returning from them, suddenly began to blaspheme the Orthodox Church. Thus, instead of finding in them, as knowledgeable people, true friends, children, and protectors, our Mother Church found only evil enemies and persecutors. Brethren, learn to read the Scriptures! Is this how you should act? Look around. Look at the lives of the saints, and you will see that the more knowledge they acquired, the more firmly they held their faith and the more concerned they were with spreading it, rather than selling it out. Here is one such example.

Saint Amphilochios of Iconium in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Amphilochios, having passed through every ecclesiastical rank from a young age, and shining with asceticism and divine knowledge, by the vote of the people he was appointed Bishop of the city of Iconium, in the times of the emperors Valentinian and Valens, while his life was prolonged until the reign of Theodosius the Great and his sons. He, because he became a teacher of the Orthodox faith and strongly opposed the heretical error of Arius, endured many persecutions and sorrows from the impious, becoming a co-struggler with the blessed Fathers against the blasphemy of Eunomius. Amphilochios was one of the one hundred and fifty Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Synod (381 AD) and fought hard against the pneumatomachos Macedonius and the disciples of Arius. After the reign of Theodosius the Great had prevailed and he had handed over all the power of the West to Valentinian the Younger, and after Theodosius had returned victorious after having destroyed the tyrant Maximus, the great Amphilochios came to him and urged him to drive out the Arians and give the churches back to the Orthodox. But since the emperor did nothing, the wonderful man devised the following scheme: He went to the palace and greeted Emperor Theodosius, but did not greet his son Arcadius, disdaining him. The Emperor, resentful of this incident, considered the dishonor that Amphilochios had shown to his son to be an insult directed at himself. He then very wisely revealed the purpose of his action and said: "Do you see, O Emperor, how you do not suffer the dishonor of your child, but are resentful? Believe, then, that in a similar way God also abhors and hates those who blaspheme the Son of God." Then the Emperor understood and wrote laws that forbade the associations of heretics. This fearless man, after shepherding the flock of Christ for many years and composing Orthodox discourses, reached a deep old age and rested in peace.

Homily Four for the Entrance of the Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Four for the Entrance of the Theotokos 

By St. John of Kronstadt

"The angels, beholding the Entrance of the Most Pure One, were amazed: 
how the Virgin entered the Holy of Holies." (9th Ode of the Canon)

Today, beloved brothers and sisters, we celebrate two feasts: the Resurrection of Christ and the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple; one is a weekly feast, the other an annual feast; one is the Lord's feast, the other is the Theotokos's feast. The subject of our discourse will be the Theotokos's feast.

In remembering the sacred event which the Holy Church now solemnly celebrates, our entire being should be filled with joy and awe. For what do we remember and celebrate today? The Entrance of the three-year-old Maiden, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, into the Temple of God, so that in the Holy of Holies she might be nurtured for the Lord, that is, prepared to be the dwelling place of God. O unspeakable joy! For the Lord Himself desires, through the youthful Maiden, pre-purified by the Spirit, to enter into the closest union with mankind and to pour out upon them His immeasurably great blessings, which surpass all understanding: to enrich human poverty with Divinity, to clothe our nakedness, to make the ugly beautiful, to purify the impure, to enlighten the darkened, to renew the corruptible, to strengthen the weak. But joy is involuntarily combined with awe. For the God, Who is without beginning, great, unapproachable, and terrifying even to the angels, enters into the closest communion with frail human nature; the Most Holy One with sinners, even those cleansed by repentance. Thus, let us meet the Lord, coming to unite with our frail nature, let us meet Him with joy and trembling — with joy because of the greatness of God's blessings, with trembling because of our sins.

Homily Two on the Ninth Sunday of Luke (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Two on the Ninth Sunday of Luke  
(26th Sunday After Pentecost)

On the Foolish Rich Man
Luke 12:16–21

By St. John of Kronstadt  

 

Today we read the Gospel of Saint Luke about the foolish, selfish rich man who collected only for himself and did not share his wealth with those in need (Luke 12:16–21). This is a parable; therefore, its meaning is obviously much broader than it seems at first glance. By a rich man we must understand people of every rank, title, and condition, endowed by God with every good and material prosperity, and not only landowners and people of taxable status. Likewise, by a good harvest of the field we must understand not only natural, plant products, that is, wheat, rye, and the like, but all material prosperity: a rich inheritance, a large salary received from the state treasury, rich income provided by some place or position, direct or indirect, overt or secret - good, profitable trade, a good income from renting out houses, a profitable craft, and so on. Thus, this parable, like a net, catches very many and, in a word, all those who have good means of living. 

Prologue in Sermons: November 23

Ambivalent Attitude Toward the Admonitions Sent From God

November 23

(The Narrative of a Certain Young Man's Vision, Extremely Useful)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In the lives of Christians, to lead them to repentance, the Lord God is pleased to sometimes manifest certain special acts of His Providence. Thus, some are granted extraordinary visions and revelations for their own enlightenment; others often see various unusual events and circumstances in their lives in which the punishing and merciful hand of God is clearly revealed. These inscrutable ways of God's Providence can be viewed in two ways; the following example will illustrate how.

A Short and Reverent Memorial to the Venerable Iakovos Tsalikes (1920-1991)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The blessed elder Iakovos Tsalikes fell asleep in the Lord on November 21, 1991, the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos, while he was hearing the confession of a believer.

Elder Iakovos, abbot of the Sacred Monastery of Venerable David the Elder in Evia, was a rare personality who, during his lifetime, was the support and hope for thousands of people around the world. He was literally what our Church calls an “Elder,” that is, a spiritual guide, a charismatic leader, who opens roads and paths, where human logic is unable to provide any explanation. Thousands of people have numerous testimonies to give regarding the resolution of their various problems, which referred not only to the sphere of their spiritual life, but also to their everyday life and immediacy.

What was it that made the blessed elder have these abilities? Was it some special psyche or some other natural qualities? Certainly not. The answer lies in what constituted a qualification of every saint of every era in our Church: the grace of God. In other words, Father Iakovos, we are certain, was a divine man, a graceful soul who was richly irrigated by the graces of the Holy Spirit. This presence of the Spirit of God within him made him discern the otherwise indiscernable problems of people. For it is a common belief of our Church that, when the Spirit of God illuminates people, then they acquire the virtue of discernment, which enables them to directly discern good from evil, divine energy from demonic energy.

Holy Apostle Philemon and Those With Him in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Philemon, like the Holy Apostles Apphia (probably Philemon's wife), Archippus (perhaps the son of Philemon and Apphia) and Onesimus (Philemon's slave, who escaped and was sent back as a Christian by the Apostle Paul), who are celebrated with him today, lived during the reign of Nero and were disciples of the Apostle Paul. They were martyred in the city of Colossae in Phrygia, near Laodicea. That is, when the pagans were celebrating Artemis in her temple in Colossae, these Apostles were praising God in the most holy church, together with other Christians. From a raid that the pagans made there, the Christians retreated and hid, but the Apostles were left alone, along with Apphia who was also a faithful Christian, because they desired martyrdom for Christ. They were therefore arrested and led to Androcles, the ruler of Ephesus. After being beaten by him, and because they were not persuaded to sacrifice to the idol called Menas, they were thrown into a cistern up to their waists. In this state they were stoned, after having been previously pierced by children with needles.

Prologue in Sermons: November 22

 

The Parable of Saint Barlaam about the Life and Death of Man

November 22

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We all, brethren, are well aware that after our death, only our deeds remain for those who will outlive us, bringing either curse or blessing, and only these deeds will we bear on the shoulders of our soul to the judgment of God. Furthermore, we all know that in this life it is necessary to enrich ourselves with that which will accompany us into eternity, namely, good deeds, and that you are the dreadful enemy of yourself if you live as if you were never to die. We all know this well, yet we live as though there were neither God, nor future life, nor anything that exists, ever existed, or will exist. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly remind ourselves of what we know well and continually speak to ourselves about the need to enrich ourselves with good deeds, by which alone we can be blessed in the life to come. In view of all that has been said, we also remind you of what you know well but do not fulfill.

The Entrance of the Theotokos and the Impossibility of the "Ordination-Priesthood of Women"

By Protopresbyter Angelos Angelakopoulos, 
Rector of the Church of Panagia Myrtidiotissa, Piraeus

November 2012

The Entrance of the Lady Theotokos into the Temple of the Law causes a wondrous and universal celebration for Orthodox Christians, because it happened in a strange way and is a prelude to the greatest and most awesome mystery of the incarnation of God the Word, which was to happen in the world through the Theotokos. The occasion for the feast of the Entrance was the following incident. The most-illustrious Saint Anna, because she spent almost her entire life barren, without giving birth to a child, begged the Lord of nature together with her husband, Saint Joachim, to grant them a child and, if they succeeded in their desire, they would immediately dedicate to God the child they would give birth to. And so, Saint Anna gave birth, paradoxically, by promise and with the seed of a man, to her who became the bringer of the salvation of the human race, the reconciliation and harmony of God with mankind, the cause of restoration, resurrection, and the divinization of the fallen Adam, that is, the Most Holy and Lady Theotokos Mary. Therefore, when she was three years old, her parents took her and, after gathering the virgins of the neighborhood, who accompanied the Panagia with torches, offered her on this day in the Temple. And, fulfilling their promises, they dedicated their daughter to God, who gave her to them. That is why they handed her over to the priests and even to the then high priest, the prophet Zechariah, the father of Saint John the Baptist, who began to praise both the Virgin and her parents, Joachim and Anna, who, addressing the prophet Zechariah, said to him: “Receive, High Priest, my daughter, rather the daughter of God. Receive her pure and undefiled and higher than heaven. Put her in the Temple, because that is where she should reside. She is the Temple of God, in a Temple it is fitting for her to reside. She is holy, put her in a clean place. Deliver her into the hands of God. Add her to a holy place, so that she may be sanctified. Take, Zechariah, my daughter and dedicate her to the Temple, for so we have ordered.” When Zechariah heard that she had been offered to God, he took her to the Altar. There were the jar of Moses, which once held the manna, Aaron's rod, the golden censer, and the tablets on which the law was written. As soon as the Panagia entered, they all fell down and venerated her. So when Zechariah received her, he placed her in the innermost part of the Temple, where the high priest entered alone once a year. And he did this according to the will of God, who was soon to be born of her, for the correction and salvation of the world.

The Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

There are many hymnographers of this feast of the Mother of God, the event of which is not recorded at all in the New Testament. The incident of her entrance into the Temple is found in the so-called Apocryphal Gospels, as is the case with other feasts of the Panagia, in texts that our Church did not consider valid, due to the heresies or even fabrications inherent in them. However, within these there are also true events, which our Church does not hesitate to retrieve and celebrate, seeing not only their truth, but also their usefulness. And this is an element that reveals the absolute self-awareness of the Church, as the “pillar and bulwark of truth,” a self-awareness such as gives it the right and the comfort to choose what it considers true and good, even if this comes from texts that are not considered canonical.

Homily for the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you all on the feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Ever-Virgin Mary, into the Temple! Throughout all time, our all-merciful and omnipotent Lord has been surrounded by the inconceivable glory of His Divine Face, surrounded by an inconceivable radiance that pours forth from His luminous essence beyond all time. This radiance is also called the glory and power of God, uncreated grace. This Divine glory originally entered the world created by God; it clothed the first man, Adam, who was created in paradise, but it departed from the first man after he rebelled against the Creator. But the Lord, desiring to return man to Himself, did not leave him completely bereft of Divine grace. The Lord led the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt and revealed His glory in the form of a pillar of fire and cloud, through which God Himself led His people into the desert. The Lord Himself sought a place to rest, parted the waters of the Red Sea, and led the Jews through it.

Homily Three for the Entrance of the Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Three for the Entrance of the Theotokos 

By St. John of Kronstadt

"Long ago the prophetic order was foretold… 
Let us faithfully praise Mary, the God-bearer in her infancy; 
for today she is brought into the Holy of Holies 
to be dedicated to the Lord" (Oikos at Matins)

We celebrate today, brethren, the solemn commemoration of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. What does this entry mean, why was it performed, and by whom? The holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Most Holy Virgin, having been childless for a long time, prayed to God to grant them a child, and if God granted, they promised to dedicate the child to God for life and service in the Temple. God heeded their prayer and granted them a daughter, Mary. Until the age of three, the infant lived in her parents' home, and at the age of four, they brought her from the city of Nazareth to the city of Jerusalem, to Solomon's Temple. Here, the High Priest Zechariah received her, leading her into the Holy of Holies of the Temple, where only the High Priest could enter once a year. From that time on, the Most Holy Virgin, until her coming of age, lived at the Temple along with other virgins dedicated to the service of God, learning to read the Holy Scriptures, writing and needlework, and having free access to the Holy of Holies for prayer, to which she devoted most of her time, and here she often received food from the Archangel Gabriel. Thus, the Most Holy Virgin Mary was brought into the Temple to be nurtured by the Lord.

Prologue in Sermons: November 21

 

The Ways of God's Providence Are Inscrutable

November 21

(A Sermon on the Incomprehensible Judgments of God, Prayed About by a Certain Monk, So That He Might Understand the Ways of God's Providence)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Instead of bowing before God, who works inscrutable ways, and humbly observing all His actions, we, on the contrary, often judge the Lord's decrees with arrogance, sometimes complaining about them. But this should not be. The ways of God's Providence, though inscrutable, are always beneficial to us and always lead to good consequences.

The Journey Towards the True Christmas

By Archimandrite Makarios Tsimeris

The Spiritual Preparation of the Believer According to the Fathers of the Church in the Modern Era

For the Orthodox Church, Christmas is not a simple celebration of an emotional nature, but the mystery of the Incarnation of God the Word, the manifestation of God “in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). It is the event that restores man’s relationship with the Creator and renews the entire creation. Saint John of Damascus writes:

“The Uncontainable is contained, the Beginningless begins, the Beginningless begins through a Mother” (Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 3, 1).

The Incarnation, therefore, is the great miracle of God’s love, and our preparation for Christmas cannot be external, but heartfelt.

Saint Gregory the Decapolite in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Gregory was from the Isaurian Decapolis, the son of Sergios and Makaria, during the time of the impious iconoclasts. At the age of eight he began his education in the sacred writings. And when he finished these studies, he spent all his time in the churches. At the height of his adolescence, his parents began to prepare him for marriage. However, he secretly left, and because of the then prevailing heresy of the iconoclasts, he traveled from place to place, embracing the martyrs and treasuring for himself the benefit that arose from his encounter with them. Living with great restraint and difficult asceticism, he fought many attacks, even those of demons, which is why he emerged as a great miracle worker. Gregory also went to Asia and reached Byzantium, having the desire to achieve his martyric confession for Christ. From there he sailed to Rome, and after going around the entire West and astonishing many with the miracles and signs he performed, he returned to Byzantium. Then he proceeded to Olympus and climbed the mountain. And his body there was so dried up from asceticism that those who knew him recognized him only by his voice. So he descended from the mountain again and came to Thessaloniki. From there he went to Byzantium, where, after finding Symeon the Confessor and God-bearer imprisoned for the sake of the holy icons, he entreated him for a long time and venerated him, and reposed in peace, having previously healed many and various diseases of people.