The Miraculous Discovery of the Relics of Saint Leonides and His Companions in 1917

The commemoration of the Holy Martyr Leonides and his seven female disciples, who were also glorified as saints because of their martyrdom, is celebrated on April 16.

In 1917 their relics were discovered in the region of Nea Epidavros (Nea Epidaurus), and they have been placed in a silver reliquary and constitute a place of pilgrimage in the Church of Saint Leonides there.

The beginning of the revelation of the Church of Saint Leonides took place on April 12, 1898, after a vision seen at dawn on that day by seventeen-year-old Ioannis Georgiou Bimpis. In the vision, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared — clothed in black yet radiant — with the Divine Infant in her arms, at the very spot where the church stands today, and she instructed him to dig in that place and he would find an invaluable treasure.

After recounting the vision to his family and praying, the young man took a hoe and, at sunrise, went to the place indicated by the Panagia.

Five Miracles of Saint Amphilochios of Patmos

1. An event that shows how he received hidden calls for the salvation of others, and which recalls the great Apostle of the nations, Paul the Apostle, who heard the voice of the Macedonian: “Come over and help us.” 

The ever-memorable Elder, while he was in his cell at the monastery in Patmos, heard a certain Helen from Ikaria calling him to hasten and save her. He did not lose time; he went down to the harbor of the island and, as if by a miracle, found a sailing vessel departing for Ikaria.

Battered by the sea, he arrived at his destination and immediately asked whether there was a certain widow named Helen, and was informed that a few days earlier she had lost her husband. At once he asked to learn the road that led to the house of the widow. He did not seek to rest his weary body, but hastened without delay — the voice of Helen troubled him. As he was walking, he saw a frantic woman running in despair; he called her by name and said to her: “Helen, where are you going? I have come for you.” And the grieving woman came to herself, saw the spiritual father, thought about what she was about to do, and confessed that at that very moment she was going to drown herself in the sea. The woman was saved; the miracle took place, as she herself told me.

His constant journeys and his labors in hearing the confessions of his spiritual children are not easy to record. He ran with all missionary zeal to find and save the lost. His concern for sinners in general shows him to be a good shepherd, an imitator of Christ the Chief Shepherd.

The Professor and Elder Amphilochios of Patmos

By Georgios Papazachos (1935–2001), 
Professor of Medicine, University of Athens

I would meet him on Patmos, where he lived as a monk, and also in Athens — indeed, once when he had come to the capital, I even had the special “blessing” of hosting him in my home. He was serene, gentle; you rejoiced even just to look at him!

The first time I met him, as soon as he saw me from afar, without even knowing me, he opened his arms wide and cried out warmly: “Blessed is he who comes!”

He embraced me and then kissed me. This is the love of the elders: they embrace you and truly warm your soul!

The Ineffable Event of the Resurrection of Christ (Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani)

The Ineffable Event of the Resurrection of Christ

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

It is a fact that we now live in the age of globalization, where on the one hand there exists the threat of hateful insecurity, and on the other a hedonistic, materialistic understanding of life. At the center stands the human being. And this postmodern human being seems to prefer the path of autonomy, self-sufficiency, and his own reason alone. The cogito ergo sum of René Descartes stands not only at the beginning of modern times, but also determines the entire course up to the present day. Neo-rationalism becomes the small or great god and the criterion — like another “infallibility” — and the “man is the measure of all things” becomes dominant in all the structures of our society.

However, the problems of man are not diminished, and the fundamental ontological category of existence remains unredeemed. The man of the 21st century continues to feel the unsatisfied void within himself and remains troubled.

And yet, before modern man comes the unprecedented and astonishing event of the Resurrection of Christ. The words are heard: “We celebrate the death of death,” and the proclamation resounds: “Christ is Risen.”

Sunday of Holy Pascha (8-9 of 15)

...continued.

8. What Have Hades, Earth, and Heaven Become After the Resurrection of Christ?

The descent into hades and the Resurrection of Christ have great significance in the work of the salvation of mankind.

Saint Philaret of Moscow wrote:

“Is it necessary to establish faith, to create hope, to inflame love, to enlighten wisdom, to raise up prayer, to bring down grace, to destroy calamity, death, evil, to give life to life, to make blessedness not a dream but reality, glory not a phantom but the eternal lightning of eternal light, illuminating everything and striking no one? — For all this, sufficient power will be found in one miraculous word: ‘Christ is Risen.’

What is hades after, since by the descent into hades, Christ is risen? A fortress into which, under the appearance of a prisoner, the conqueror entered; a prison whose gates are shattered and whose guards are scattered; this is truly, according to the image of Christ, a monster that swallowed the prophet cast from a ship; but instead of devouring and destroying him, it became for him another, though not so calm, ship, in order to bring him to the shore of life and safety. Now it becomes clear how someone hoped to pass safely even through hades itself: ‘Even though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me’ (Ps. 22:4) — You, Who for us descended from heaven, walked on the earth like us, and like us descended into the shadow of death, so that from there also You might open a path for Your followers into the light of life.

Renewal Thursday - Wonders Have Been Revealed To Those Who Worship the Mystery in Faith (Fr. George Dorbarakis)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“Lord, though the tomb was sealed by the lawless, You came forth from the grave, just as You were born from the Theotokos; Your bodiless Angels did not know how You were incarnate; the soldiers guarding You did not perceive when You rose; for both were sealed from those who inquire; but the wonders have been revealed to those who worship the mystery in faith; grant us who hymn You gladness and great mercy” (Resurrectional Sticheron, plagal tone 1).

The Holy Hymnographer places in a straight line the mystery of the birth of the God-man Christ from the Most Holy Theotokos and the mystery of His going forth from the tomb in which He had been buried. No human being, nor even angels, knew the counsels of God in these events; both the supernatural Birth of the Lord and His Resurrection remained hidden from all creation, because there we have the action of the Triune God — we stand before the mystery of His almighty presence. And this is not only, of course, when the Lord came; even afterward, and for as long as the world and creation exist in the form we know, these saving events will remain completely closed to every rational being that thinks it can investigate the activity of God by its own powers — even for the angels! In other words, no created rational nature, however endowed it may be, can enter into the inner depths of the thought of God. These belong only to the three divine Persons, which means that God keeps “secrets” even from His holy angels. The Apostle Paul confesses this with complete awe at a certain point in his epistles: “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become His counselor?”

Prologue in Sermons: April 16

Three Friends

April 16

(A Parable of Barlaam the Elder About Three Friends)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Although the Lord teaches us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33), and assures us that if we seek Him, all that is necessary for temporal life will also be added to us, yet we somehow listen little to the words of the Savior. Instead of enriching ourselves with virtues for the attainment of the Kingdom of Heaven, we care most of all about acquiring temporal and perishable goods, and in them we place all our hope. “I have,” says the greater part of us, “a wife and children. What will they be left with after me? How will they live if I do not provide for them?” And a person begins to think only about money, and in sleep and in waking sees only money, dreams only of it, and places in it the chief good. But care for the one thing needful — for conscience and the immortal soul, for adorning oneself with virtues — he considers, if he considers it at all, the very last object of his concern. And meanwhile, how does all this end? The lover of money dies, and his money remains on this side of the grave. In the other world it will not be needed by him; there what would be most necessary and most useful for him is precisely that to which in life he paid the least attention, and which in fact ought to have been the first object of his care.

The Icon of the Resurrection of Christ (Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani)

The Icon of the Resurrection of Christ 

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

As is known, the Resurrection of Christ is the supreme historical event of Christianity. The Resurrection of Christ is the victory over death and dominion over it. And of course His Resurrection is a natural consequence of His divinity, “because it was not possible for Him to be held by it (death)” (Acts 2:24). Thus, the Resurrection is the foundation of faith in Christ, and the Church is truly the Church of the Resurrection. Day and night the Resurrection is hymned in the life of the Church, and every Sunday in particular is a feast of the Resurrection, a feast of Pascha, “feast of feasts and festival of festivals.” This fact is expressed not only through all hymnography and hymnology, but also through the art of iconography.

Iconographers, because the Resurrection itself is not described by the Evangelists, depicted the Resurrection through various types of images. In particular, in Orthodox iconography we have images that express the event of the Resurrection. One image depicts the moment of Christ’s descent into Hades, and another depicts Peter and John at the empty tomb. We also have the depiction of the Angel who sits on the rolled-away stone of the tomb and speaks to the Myrrhbearing women. Furthermore, concerning the event of the Resurrection, we have the appearance of the Risen Lord to Mary Magdalene with His words: “Do not touch Me” (John 20:17). Finally, there is also the depiction of Christ appearing to another group of Myrrhbearers who worship Him. The image of the Resurrection in which Christ is shown holding a banner, or other such depictions, are purely of Western style.

Homily on the Pascha of Christ (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily on the Pascha of Christ 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

We are already standing at the threshold of the feast; we have already seen how the Epitaphios was carried into the altar, and by this the Church symbolizes the hidden Resurrection of Christ the Savior. For when our Lord rose, neither the angelic worlds nor people knew about it — only God knew! As the Church sings: “We did not know how You were born of the Virgin, nor do we know how You rose from the dead.” Both of these mysteries were hidden from those who examine, but grace was revealed to those who believe and confess the mystery. Truly, the great mystery of faith which we proclaim today — the mystery of victory over death, the mystery of deliverance from corruption and destruction, the mystery of the transformation of man, the mystery of the great escape from death to life, escape from slavery to freedom, escape from the prison of decay into the freedom of the glory of the children of God — this is great happiness! Because we are no longer slaves of the earth, we are not bound by earthly laws, and the weight of earthly expanses does not press upon us. A great meeting with Almighty God awaits us. This victory is manifested in that we are given the joy of absolute forgiveness. Let the Jews be indignant, let the Muslims consider it audacious, let the godless reproach us for cunning, saying: “Everything is simple for you — repent and receive forgiveness!” The main Paschal message is the proclamation of repentance to all nations!

The Lord after Pascha said: “Go, proclaim and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins, beginning from Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth” (Luke 24:47).

Sunday of Holy Pascha (6-7 of 15)

...continued.

6. The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ – The Joy of All Joys

We must rejoice, remembering that great and glorious day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the Tomb and by His Resurrection delivered us also from death. God Himself desires that we spend the feast of the Resurrection of Christ in joy and gladness, and therefore He often sends on this day unexpected joy to His faithful sons who are in some difficult circumstances.

In one book there is told of such an event. Before a certain bishop, an innocent priest was slandered. Shortly before Pascha this priest was taken into custody and kept in prison. On the night from Great Saturday to Bright Resurrection an Angel of God appears to the priest and says: “By the will of God you are freed from this confinement; you are given freedom so that in your parish village on the first day of Pascha you may serve the Liturgy.” Having said this, the Angel led the priest out of the prison and escorted him to the village. The guard informed the bishop about the disappearance of the priest from the prison, saying that this happened in a miraculous way, because the key to the lock was kept by him. The bishop sent a messenger to the village to find out whether the priest had served the Liturgy there. Having verified that he had, the bishop became angry and decided with dishonor to subject him again to imprisonment. But the Angel of God, after the completion of the service, with the consent of the priest, returned him to the same prison.

Saint Leonides the Bishop of Athens in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

A. Concerning Saint Leonides, there is not sufficient information. Most historians identify the Saint with the martyr Leonides who is commemorated on April 16. And for those who distinguish the two Saints, Saint Leonides, Bishop of Athens, was the sixth bishop of Athens and ended his life peacefully, whereas the one identified with the martyr Leonides was from the Peloponnese.

Whether as a bishop or as a layman, however, he was found in Epidaurus and was arrested for his faith in Christ together with seven women, and all of them suffered many torments. At first they hung up the Saint and tore his flesh. Then they threw him into the sea together with the seven holy women, after tying stones to their feet.

Thus they found a martyric death and received the crown of their contest. Their holy relics were found in a wondrous manner in 1916. In any case, whether it concerns one Saint Leonides or two different ones, both lived around the middle of the third century under Decius.

In Athens there is an early Christian church (crypt) in the name of Saint Leonides behind the columns of the Olympian Zeus.

Renewal Wednesday - You Renewed the Corrupted Nature of Mankind (Fr. George Dorbarakis)

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“We unceasingly venerate Your life-giving Cross, O Christ God, and we glorify Your three-day Resurrection; for by it You renewed the corrupted nature of mankind, O Almighty, and showed us the ascent to the heavens, as the only good and lover of mankind” (Resurrectional Sticheron, Tone 4).

The Holy Hymnographer calls us to glorify the Resurrection of the Lord. For it was this that gave new life to human nature, which had been wounded and corrupted by sin and the wicked devil. The choice of sin by the first-formed humans was, unfortunately, a choice of death. Thinking that they were gaining eternal life, according to the deceitful suggestion of the devil-serpent, they saw with terror that they had turned against themselves, were irreparably wounded, and entered into the dark tunnel of corruption and hell. Their life thereafter was indeed pain and groaning; they fell into a valley of mourning and tears. Their only hope was the consoling voice of the Creator that in the future a descendant of the woman would crush the devil and restore them to their former state — and even more. And this, of course, came to pass with the appearance of the daughter of Nazareth, Mariam, who gave birth, from the Holy Spirit and through her own cooperation, to the Son of God as man. Christ now, the second Adam, assumed human nature and united it to His divinity; thus, in Christ, man was redeemed — he saw again the face of God. Whoever is now united with Christ, within His living Body, the Church, lives a new life, beyond the compulsive inclination toward sin; he already lives eternal life, that is, the life of Christ as love toward God, toward neighbor, toward all creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,” as the Apostle says. “Behold, I make all things new,” according to the assurance of the Lord Himself. The believer in Christ is already on the path toward Heaven — better yet, he already lives Heaven from now, because he walks upon Heaven itself, the Way who is Christ.

Prologue in Sermons: April 15

Both Sorrow and Joy Can Serve for Salvation

April 15

(A Word from the Paterikon about two monks who took wives.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In the Prologue we read: “Two monks once fell into a grievous sin. But after some time they repented and said: 'Well then, what profit did we gain by leaving the angelic life and falling into a defiled way of living? Does not eternal torment await us for this? Let us go again into the desert and repent. The Lord will receive our repentance.' Having said this, they went to a monastery, confessed their sin to a spiritual father, and he imposed a penance upon them. He commanded them to remain shut in seclusion for a whole year and sent them there only bread and water, to both in equal measure. A year passed, the time of the penance was completed, and it was revealed to the elders of the monastery that the monks had been forgiven. Opening the cells where they had been confined, the fathers brought them out. And what was seen? One monk was very thin and pale and came out in despondency, while the other was joyful, his face radiant, and he was rejoicing. The fathers were amazed at such a contrast, especially since, as we have said, the monks received the same food in equal measure. And so they first asked the sorrowful brother: 'How did you spend your time in your cell?' The monk answered: 'I thought about the evil I had done and pictured to myself the torment of hell into which I ought to go.' They asked the rejoicing monk: 'And you, what did you think about in your cell?' He said: 'I glorified God, Who rescued me from a defiled life and brought me back again to the angelic state, and, praising God, I rejoiced.' Then the elders said: 'The repentance of both was pleasing to God, for He forgave them both.'”

Holy Newly-Revealed Martyrs Raphael, Nicholas and Irene in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The Holy Newly-Revealed Martyrs of the Lord whom we celebrate today, Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene, are not the only ones who were “discovered” through a vision that God permitted to devout believers. We have a multitude of other Saints whose tombs with their relics, their holy heads, or various icons were hidden and “by judgments known to the Lord” at some time came to light, in order to be honored by the Christ-named fullness of the Church. Let us mention as simple examples the head of the thrice-great John the Forerunner and Baptist (whose finding we celebrate even three times), or the countless icons of our Panagia - the Panagia Portaitissa, the Panagia Trypitē, and others. Therefore, among this multitude of Saints who were found with their relics are also included the Saints celebrated today. According to the blessed and now Venerable Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis, the poet of their Service, Christ “from the depths of the earth revealed” the Saints “for the strengthening of the faithful” (Vespers Sticheron). And He revealed them “through many visions and dreams” (Sticheron) of the Saints themselves, so that there would be no doubt whatsoever about the truth of their words.

Renewal Tuesday - We Celebrate the Death of Death (Fr. George Dorbarakis)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“We celebrate the death of death, the overthrow of Hades, the beginning of another life, eternal life, and leaping for joy we hymn the Cause of these things, the only blessed God of our Fathers and most glorious” (Ode 7 of the Resurrection Canon).

One of the most well-known and beloved troparia of the Resurrection Canon is the above hymn, not only because of the immediacy of its meanings, but also because of the particular love that the Holy Elder Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva had for it — everyone knows the dialogue that took place between the Saint and the late professor of cardiology at the University of Athens, George Papazachos, precisely about this troparion. What does the Holy Hymnographer and great Father of the Church, John of Damascus, tell us? We are called to hymn and glorify our only mighty and all-glorious God, the One who alone was blessed and foretold by the Patriarchs of the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, because by His Resurrection:

– First, He put death to death and overthrew the kingdom of Hades — "we celebrate the death of death." Death, therefore, no longer truly exists, since the One who is the source of life entered into its depths, into what we call Hades. Death, which came as an addition to human life because of sin — God did not create death; rather, immortality was the original calling of man — has been abolished and destroyed. And although it still appears to exist even after the Resurrection of the Lord, it does so only in its biological dimension for a time: until the time of His Second Coming, which potentially is an event of every moment. The last things, with Christ, have already entered human history, and the believer lives with this expectation and longing: “Come, Lord Jesus!” “Maranatha.”

Sunday of Holy Pascha (3-5 of 15)

...continued.

3. The Homily of Saint John Chrysostom

Christ is Risen!

“Whoever is devout and loves God,” – whoever truly honors God and sincerely loves Him, “let him enjoy this good and radiant feast,” – the most glorious Resurrection of Christ, which we now celebrate, and in which the Lord has wondrously shown both His goodness toward the human race, His wisdom in redeeming it from eternal destruction, and His power over the enemies of our salvation.

“Whoever is a wise servant,” who does not hide in vain in the earth the talents given him by God – time, strength, and abilities – nor spends them only on earthly affairs and pleasures, but wisely uses them in the service of the Lord and for the gaining of eternal blessedness, “let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord,” let him become a participant in that spiritual joy which the Lord has prepared for His faithful servants, redeemed by the blood of the Savior.

“Whoever has labored in fasting,” – whoever during the past fast did not remain idle, but diligently labored in the work of his salvation, “let him now receive the denarius,” – he will receive in the gracious fruits of Christ’s Resurrection that reward which God has promised to good workers.

April: Day 14: Teaching 2: Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus of the Seventy

April: Day 14: Teaching 2:
Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens  and Trophimus of the Seventy*
 
(On the Reasons for the Hatred of the Apostles by the World of their Time)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Trophimus, and Pudens, whom we commemorate today, were co-workers of the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul in their apostolic ministry. All of them were beheaded under Emperor Nero.

Aristarchus was converted to Christ by the Apostle Paul; mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians (Col. 4:10), he was bishop in Apamea of Syria. His end came under Emperor Nero; he was beheaded at the same time as the Apostles Paul, Pudens, and Trophimus.

Saint Pudens, mentioned in the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:21): “Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren,” was a Roman senator and a pious man; he received into his house the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul and all Christians, so that his house served as a kind of church.

Prologue in Sermons: April 14

 To the Common People, That They Also Can Be Heirs of the Kingdom of God

April 14

(A Word from the Paterikon about the vision of Abba Samuel.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

To you, common people, will our word be today, and this is what we shall say to you.

Once the Venerable Samuel, while sitting with the brethren, suddenly felt himself caught up in ecstasy and fell face down. After quite a long time he rose and began to weep bitterly. The brethren begged him to tell them the reason for his weeping. For a long time he did not answer them, and at last he said: “I, brethren, was taken up to judgment and saw a multitude of people going to torment, and a multitude of common people going into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

And so for you, common people, this is a consoling lesson from the Venerable one, that for you also there is great hope to inherit the heavenly dwellings.

But you will no doubt say to me, as is your custom: “I am simple and ignorant; I know nothing — how then shall I enter there?” Very simply, brethren: act as I tell you, and you will seize for yourselves the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sunday of Holy Pascha (1-2 of 15)

Sunday of Holy Pascha

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

1. The Bright Resurrection of Christ

There are many bright and solemn feasts in the Holy Orthodox Church; but none is brighter and more solemn, none more joyful and comforting than the great day of the Resurrection of Christ, when all is clothed in light, the heavens rejoice, the earth is glad, and the whole world celebrates the great victory of our Savior over death and Hades.

This is what the Gospel relates about this glorious and great event. Great Saturday had passed, on the night of which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemos buried the Body of Jesus. The tomb in which He was laid was sealed with a great stone; a guard stood by it — the chief priests and Pharisees persuaded Pilate and set it there to guard the tomb until the third day, lest the disciples of Christ come by night, steal His body, and say to the people: 'He has risen from the dead" (cf. Matt. 27:64). But on the third day after His sufferings on the Cross and His death, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, according to the writings of the prophets. This took place after midnight from Saturday to the following day (now Sunday). The soldiers who stood guard saw that after the Resurrection of the Savior an Angel rolled away the stone from the tomb, and they were witnesses of the earthquake that occurred at that time. The appearance of the Angel who rolled away the stone, according to the Evangelist Matthew, was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow (cf. Matt. 28:3). This appearance of the Angel, his radiant garment, was a living expression of his heavenly joy and the bright triumph in heaven, which on this great day, according to the testimony of the Holy Church, was filled with a special light. Struck and terrified by this miracle, the soldiers fell down and for some time remained as if senseless. Coming to themselves, they went and told everything that had happened to the chief priests. And they, bribing the soldiers, instructed them to say to the people that during the night, while they were asleep, the disciples of Jesus Christ came and stole the body of their Teacher. But this malicious and absurd invention of the enemies of Christ did not succeed: the truth of Christ’s Resurrection was in a short time testified to the whole world and became its possession.

Renewal Monday - Let Us Be Radiant (Fr. George Dorbarakis)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“It is the day of Resurrection; let us be radiant, O peoples; Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha; for from death to life, and from earth to heaven, Christ God has led us across, as we sing the hymn of victory” (First Ode of the Resurrection Canon, Tone 1).

Saint John of Damascus, in the festal and triumphant first tone, offers us the outburst of his heart — an outburst of every believer who truly knows — for the feast of feasts, the Resurrection of the Lord. This is not, of course, the Passover of the Jews, during which they celebrate their passage through the Red Sea and thus their liberation from the slavery of the Egyptians — this event functioning as a prefiguration and prophecy of the Christian Pascha — but rather the Passover of the Lord, His Resurrection. By it the Lord, as the almighty God, having destroyed the kingdom of death by entering into it, granted eternal life to all the sorrowful souls of the dead — that is, He transferred them from death to life; and even more, He transferred all people from the earth, to which they were exclusively oriented, to heaven, where one can behold the face of God, where one now lives one’s true homeland, the Kingdom of God. For, according to the Apostle, after the redemptive work of the Lord, “we have no abiding city, but we seek the one to come,” which coming city is already experienced by the Christian in this world within the Church. “Therefore you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.”

April: Day 13: Teaching 2: Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome

April: Day 13: Teaching 2:
Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome*
 
(On the Right Faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. To Saint Martin, whose memory is celebrated today, the Lord granted to be archshepherd in Rome at a time when the so-called Monothelite heresy was very strong. It consisted in this: that in Jesus Christ they acknowledged only one will — the divine — although they recognized in Him two natures, both divine and human. This false teaching had infected even Emperor Constans himself and even the Patriarch of Constantinople. But what does all this mean for a man firmly devoted to the truth? For him it is all the same — even if the whole world should fall away from the truth, he will not betray it. Such also was Saint Martin. The emperor demanded that Saint Martin accept the false teaching, but Martin did not agree and said: “Even if my body were torn into pieces, I will not depart from the orthodox teaching.” And indeed he did not depart. He was deprived of his rank and exiled into imprisonment, but his faith was not harmed. He remained Orthodox in belief until death. For this God rewarded him. When he departed, many miracles occurred from his relics.

Prologue in Sermons: April 13

The Lord Saves the Innocent From Slander and Punishes the Guilty

April 13

(A Word from the Paterikon about Daniel the Monk, how he raised a murdered man.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

People who have plunged into the depths of evil, when committing some wicked deed with every precaution, often think that, while carrying out their crime, no one has seen them, and therefore they are free from all responsibility for their sin. But they are grievously mistaken. From the all-seeing and just Lord they will not escape; and He, in one way or another, will find them and punish them, while those who have suffered innocently because of them He will justify and will make their innocence known.

Once the Venerable Daniel, passing by a certain place, saw that several men had seized and were holding one of the monks. The elder approached the detained man and asked: “For what reason have you been seized, and what is the cause of your detention?” The monk answered that he was being accused of murdering a man, of which he was completely innocent and knew nothing. Then the Venerable one asked: “Where, then, is the slain man?” They showed him.

Oration on the Lord's Resurrection (St. Amphilochios of Iconium)

Oration on the Lord's Resurrection 

By St. Amphilochios of Iconium

(Bright and great and wondrous is the present day,) ...a day of joy and gladness, beloved, a day of rejoicing and salvation, a day of illumination and sanctification, a day of peace and reconciliation; a day of restoration and renewal of our souls, a day truly great and wondrous and manifest. On this day Christ raised us up, cast down by sin; on this day Christ made us alive together, who had been dead in our transgressions; on this day He opened paradise, that we might partake of the tree of life — which is His precious and life-giving Body and Blood, through which we are cleansed and sanctified and illumined and renewed. For Christ gave Himself as a ransom for us all, and led us forth from death to life, from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, and from enmity to true friendship; He redeemed us from the curse and from sin, becoming a curse for us, so that we might receive adoption as sons, so that we might no longer be slaves but free, no longer impassioned but dispassionate, no longer lovers of the world but lovers of God, no longer walking according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Homily for Great Saturday and the Holy Resurrection (Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris)

Homily for Great Saturday and the Holy Resurrection 

By Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris (+ 1258)

Christ is risen from the dead; this the angel said; this the women saw; this even the seals of Pilate testify; the empty tomb proclaims it loudly; the rolled-away stone bears witness; the guards are exposed by their flight; the watch confesses it and receives money; the high priests (Annas and Caiaphas) are proven guilty; Pilate feels shame; the centurion, at the tearing of the veil, believes; the sun had already shown it beforehand by darkening at the Cross; the resurrected bodies of the dead proclaimed the truth; all creation bore witness to the Resurrection, which took place at the end of the Sabbath, toward the beginning of the first day.

Rejoice, O people; Christ is risen from the dead; the testimony is entirely true. Be glad, you have been set free. Hades has been bound — rejoice; it is the day of Resurrection — lift up your voice; the Author of our salvation has risen from the dead. Let heaven and earth rejoice; behold, harmony between angels and men through the Resurrection. Rejoice, O plants; the death of Christ took place on the Cross, but through it the Resurrection was accomplished. He raised up Adam with Himself; Eve has been freed from her bonds; the prophets go before the Master; the kings, Solomon and David, offer hymns of victory.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2026 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2026

Christ is Risen!

The day of Christ’s Resurrection is a day of light, because Christ is the true Light, according to His unfailing declaration: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and this Light is His divinity. It is the uncreated Light, not the created light of the sun. If the created light of the sun gives life to creation, the uncreated Light of the divinity grants true life to those who are united with it. The Evangelist John constantly speaks about the Light of Christ, which illumines all creation, both spiritual and perceptible. He himself was the beloved disciple of Christ and was called the Theologian; he remained until the very end at the Cross of Christ on Golgotha, received the Mother of Christ at His command, saw the Risen Christ, and indeed, according to his own testimony, “he came first to the tomb,” since “he outran Peter” (John 20:4).

In his Gospel he continually speaks of Christ as the true Light. He knew this from his presence on Mount Tabor (Matt. 17:1–13), and, of course, from his encounters with the Risen Christ. Therefore, he writes at the beginning of his Gospel: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:4–5). And he adds: “And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This glory is the Light.

Prologue in Sermons: April 12

Night Prayer

April 12

(A Homily of Saint John Chrysostom on how to rise at night to pray.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We usually pray every day in the morning and in the evening. During the day, few among present-day Christians pray, and at night even fewer. Yet, according to the word of the Apostle, who commands us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), it would be good to set aside some time for prayer during the day — and at night as well. Let us now speak about the night.

A worthy example of night prayer is found already in the Old Testament. “At midnight,” says David, “I arose to give thanks to You for the judgments of Your righteousness” (Ps. 118:62). We also find it in the New Testament, among the Apostles. “At midnight,” we read in the Acts of the Apostles, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). The Lord Himself, our Savior, loved during the night to withdraw into solitude for prayerful communion with God His Father. All the saints prayed at night. The Holy Fathers also command us to practice night prayer. Let us take, for our instruction, Saint John Chrysostom.

Homily on the Holy Sabbath (St. John of Damascus)

Homily on the Holy Sabbath 

Discourse 4

By St. John of Damascus

“Who can speak of the mighty works of the Lord and make His praises heard?” (Ps. 105:2). Who can describe the vast sea of His goodness? Who can express His boundless love for His servants? Who can speak of His condescension, which surpasses all understanding? Who can describe His compassion toward us and the unspeakable care that flows from it?

There is no one — even if he speaks the tongues of angels and of men, even if he has gathered within himself all human knowledge. For though the spirit is willing, the tongue is weak to speak and the mind dim to comprehend. Truly great is the mystery of the divine economy: the mind cannot contain it, but only faith can receive it — and it requires purity of soul, accompanied by fear of God and longing for Him.

For it is not possible to attain purification of the soul in any other way than through divine fear and love. Nor is it possible to receive divine illumination unless the faculty of the soul’s vision is first purified. For the divine is inaccessible to the profane, and only those who are pure in heart will see God, as Christ, who is Truth itself, said (Matt. 5:8).

Likewise, at the Theophany granted long ago to Moses in the burning bush, he is first commanded to remove his sandals, and only then to approach the symbol he beheld (Ex. 3:2). The removal of the sandals signifies the casting off of dead and earthly-minded thoughts (Gregory, Oration II on Pascha). And again, when Mount Sinai was enveloped in smoke during the giving of the Law, not all ascended, but the ascent was regulated according to each one’s purification. If, then, even in the symbols purification from every stain was required, how pure and God-like must those be who are to approach the true and original realities?

The Descent Into Hades of the Risen One (Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani)

The Descent Into Hades of the Risen One

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

Christ, by His crucifixion and His subsequent three-day Resurrection from the dead, literally shattered Hades - death itself. This is the supernatural, great event, the divine Mystery of the God-man.

Saint John Chrysostom writes: “The death of the Lord put death to death” (P.G. 62, 58).

A fundamental article and rule of Christian teaching and faith is that Christ descended into Hades.

Christ Himself even foretells His descent into Hades in a parabolic way: “For as Jonah the prophet was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Matt. 12:40; Jonah 1:15–2:1).

It is characteristic that in the introductory prayers of every Divine Liturgy, the priest censes the Holy Table—  which symbolizes the tomb of Christ — and says: “In the tomb bodily, but in Hades with the soul as God.”

Homily at the Procession with the Epitaphios on Great Friday 2026 (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homily at the Procession with the Epitaphios 

(Delivered on April 10, 2026)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

At the outset, I wish you all many years, with health, strength, and inspiration in your work.

Great Friday, for the Orthodox Church — and for Nafpaktos — is not a day of sorrow and grief, but a day of triumph; for Christ, by His death on the Cross, destroyed every kind of death —psychological and spiritual — and showed us the way to transcend the problems of our life, that is, how to move from the level of the senses and emotions to the inner, spiritual, theological level. It is a path of ascent toward our own resurrection.

During the days of Christ’s Passion in Jerusalem, as we have seen, three realities prevailed: the human, the religious that became demonic, and the theological.

The human element appeared in Pilate, Herod, and others who were concerned with power and personal interests and were indifferent to the death of an innocent man.

The religious element, which was transformed into something demonic, appeared in the Scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the Jews, and in Judas, into whom Satan entered in order to betray Christ.

The theological element appeared most clearly in Christ, who faced everything with silence and with word, with patience and a God-like stance, and who conquered unjust authority and demonic energy by His divinity.

Homily Over the Epitaphios (St. Sergius Mechev)

 

Homily Over the Epitaphios 

(Delivered in 1929) 

 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

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

Now the God-man has need of our participation, of our love, just as every human being in his time has need of it. He who came into the world to serve us, who gave His soul for the deliverance of many, who endured insults and blows for our sake, betrayal and abandonment by all, and a shameful death — now asks for our help, our participation in His burial. And just now the Church, with weeping and lamentation, has offered Him the funeral hymn together with Joseph, together with Nicodemos. Yet these funeral hymns were accompanied and pierced through by other hymns, still quiet and indistinct, speaking yet of the future, but proclaiming with certainty the Resurrection: “This Sabbath is most blessed, on which Christ, having fallen asleep, shall rise on the third day.” “Why do you, O disciples, mingle myrrh with merciful tears? The Angel, shining in the tomb, speaks to the Myrrhbearing women: Behold the tomb and understand, for the Savior is risen from the tomb,” — so we sang at Matins, and just now we proclaimed: “Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered” (verse at the Alleluia of the Apostle). Still more deeply and clearly do the hymns of the Resurrection sound at today’s Vespers and then at the Liturgy, where we hear the joyful hymn of the Resurrection: “Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You shall inherit all nations,” and the Gospel of this day already fully reveals the joy of the Resurrection. The Midnight Office will still be sorrowful, but then at Matins the joy is fully revealed, and we sing the victorious hymn: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death.” Such also is our whole life. We must walk in it in repentance and be crucified with Christ. There is no other way. “In the world you will have tribulation,” the Savior told us (John 16:33); and “through narrow gates” must we enter into eternal life, for “wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in by it” (Matt. 7:13). But as we walk this path, we must gradually begin to feel also the joy of the Resurrection.

Homily on Great Friday (Righteous Alexei Mechev)

Homily on Great Friday*

By Righteous Alexei Mechev

What a sorrowful sight is before our eyes! Our Savior is in the tomb. In the tomb is our Joy, the Treasure of our heart. But how could You, our Consolation, be enclosed in this small tomb? Is this the place for You? You, while living on earth, gave life to all, and now You Yourself lie lifeless. You dried the tears of all, and now You cast Your beloved ones into tears for You. Is this Your place? Here is the place for us, mortals, not for You, the Immortal; for us with corruptible and sinful bodies, for us sinners justly condemned to death, and not for You, the Most Holy and Sinless.

Brethren! Let us weep and lament: it is we, by our sins, who have bound the Sinless One in the bonds of death; it is we, condemned to death, who compelled Him to descend to the gates of death; for us, whom Hades was ready to devour, He descended in soul into Hades, while in body He lies before us.

O Divine, inexhaustible and ineffable Love! Sweetest Jesus! How greatly You have loved man — this most insignificant and ungrateful creature. For him You Yourself became man, in order to bring him into communion with God; You Yourself suffered, to deliver him from eternal sufferings; You Yourself died, that he might live forever; You Yourself descended into Hades, that he might never be there. Man lost everything through sin — and You restore everything to him — and how do You restore it?

Homily One on Great Saturday (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily on Great Saturday

Discourse 1

By Saint Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride

“The great Moses mystically prefigured this day, saying: and God blessed the seventh day. For this is the blessed Sabbath; this is the day of rest, on which the Only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works, through the dispensation of death, keeping the Sabbath in the flesh, and returning again to what He was” (Great Saturday Vespers, sticheron idiomelon 4).

Such is the greatness of the present day! The past days were great by labors and activity, but this one is great by rest. Great: for in it He rested Who is above all and everything; He rested when He had accomplished all; He rested in order thereafter never to rest for the good of the human race. The Church herself, throughout all ages from the beginning of the world, finds only one day with which the present may be compared. That is the seventh day of creation, on which, according to Moses, “God… rested… from all His works which He had made” (Gen. 2:2). How great must that day be! Yet even it was less than the present. Today’s rest is greater than that; for the second labor was greater than the first. It was easier to create the whole world and man than to redeem them: in Paradise there was no cross for man; but on Golgotha there was the cross even for the God-man. And after this great labor of the Cross, this very day was chosen for rest! God the Creator, after six days of work, rested on one — the seventh; and God the Redeemer, after many days of labor, chose for rest no more than a single day — the same seventh! O sun, stand still; prolong, precious day! Let the rest of the Divine Sufferer be prolonged! Let these wounds be closed! Let the blood cease to flow!

Homily on Great Saturday (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

On Great Saturday

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

We have now accompanied the Lord; we have beheld His mysterious image of the Resurrection. This is a wondrous and fearful night, in which began the universal process of the overturning of the cosmos. The true world revolution takes place without gunfire and the roar of weapons, but in the silence of a cave on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is invisible to all — both to angels and to men. When God acts, He speaks through deeds — through reality itself. From that very night when God created the world out of nothing, He now reshapes and recreates the world, broken by the ancient transgression of Adam and Satan.

And from this moment, from this very night, begins the process of resurrection from the dead. We know that Christ rose from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. First is Christ, and after Him will follow all people — both those who belong to Christ and those who have rejected Him. All received the gift of being in their birth, and all will receive the gift of resurrection. This gift — the restoration of our bodies — is given freely to all, and it takes place on the great Paschal night, when Christ within Himself restores humanity anew.

The Passion of Christ, The Lamentations of the Epitaphios, The Entombment (Photios Kontoglou)

The post-Byzantine fresco of the Apokathelosis, painted by the venerable Parthenios Skourtos (mid-18th century) in the Katholikon of the Skete of Kavsokalyva, inspired Photois Kontoglou.

The Passion of Christ

(Column written for Proia in 1934)

By Photis Kontoglou

“In this world my eyes have seen many things, my ears have heard many things; like every man I have read a multitude of books written by the most worthy people of every place. And yet, every time these days of the Passion of Christ come, everything fades away, and my heart falls into a sweet sorrow.

Just as winter comes each year, just as the equinox comes and the earth changes its face and people are affected by the moon, by the stars, and by the comets that cross their path, so too Great Week comes like a sooty night — but behind it there flickers the gentle star of hope.”

The Miracles of the Holy Light (Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias)

 

Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias,
Great Hymnographer of the Church of Alexandria

The miracle of the Holy Light took place for the first time at the Tomb of Jesus, when His Resurrection was accompanied by an abundant light of incomparable brightness. In the Gospel of John we read that “Mary Magdalene came early, while it was still dark, to the tomb.”[1] Mary Magdalene went to the Tomb before it had yet dawned, that is, at night. But when she saw the “stone taken away,” that is, removed, she ran to announce it to the Apostle Peter, who together with John followed her. John, with his youthful vigor, running faster than the mature Peter, arrived first at the tomb. Yet he did not enter, but “stooping down,”[2] after bending, he saw the linen cloths lying on the ground. Peter, who was running behind him with anxiety, entered the Tomb. But how, while deep darkness still prevailed, did John and Peter manage to see the interior of the tomb and the linen cloths that had wrapped Jesus? And especially John, who did not enter the Tomb?

The answer is given by Gregory of Nyssa in his work On the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, where he states that those who followed Peter that night believed in the Resurrection because the Tomb of Christ had been filled with Light, which was visible both spiritually and through the natural senses.[3]

A First Look at the Holy Light (Holy Fire) of Jerusalem 2026

Today in Jerusalem the Holy Light, known in the West as Holy Fire, once again descended into the Tomb of Christ as Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem knelt in prayer within the Holy Sepulchre. This ceremony has taken place just about every year for hundreds of years on Holy Saturday, shortly after 2:30pm. With 33 candles in each hand he distributed the Holy Light to the many present. Following the Holy Light ceremony, the flame is taken by plane to other Orthodox communities in countries such as Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania. In Greece the Holy Light is usually received with the welcome of a Head of State.

Prologue in Sermons: April 11

What We Give to the Poor, God Returns To Us

April 11

(A Word about Evagrius the Philosopher, whom Synesius the Bishop baptized and gave him a written pledge for the sake of almsgiving.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Word of God says: “He who has mercy on the poor lends to God” (Proverbs 19:17). From this it follows that through the hands of the poor we entrust our goods to God. It is clear that He Himself must return what we have given. But will He return it? And if He returns it, how can one be convinced of this?

Listen, brethren, to the following account; one may think that it will be convincing for you.

Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene, after a long time and many exhortations, converted to Christ a pagan, the philosopher Evagrius, and baptized him with all his household. A year after his baptism, Evagrius — apparently still wavering with doubts about certain truths of Christian teaching — once came to Synesius, entrusted to him a rather large sum of gold, and said that Synesius should distribute it all to the poor, and give him a written receipt in his own hand that the Lord would return to him what was given away in the future life. The Bishop gave Evagrius the receipt and distributed the gold to the poor. After this, Evagrius lived for several years and then fell onto his deathbed. Before his death he called his children and, giving them the receipt of Synesius, instructed them to place it with him in the grave. The children promised to fulfill the command, and when Evagrius died, they placed the receipt with him. Two days passed after Evagrius had been buried, and on the third day he appeared in a dream to Synesius and said: “Come to my grave and take your receipt; the debt, as you assured me, I have received, and now, as proof on my part, I leave you my own written acknowledgment of receipt.” Awakening, Synesius called the sons of Evagrius and asked them whether they had placed anything in the grave with their father. They answered: “Nothing, master, except some document which our father asked to be placed with him.” Then Synesius, recounting to them his dream, invited some of the clergy and many noble persons of the city and went with them to the grave of Evagrius. When the grave was opened, they found in the hands of the dead Evagrius a writing, and when they unfolded it, they saw that in it, written by the hand of the deceased, were the following words: “I, Evagrius the philosopher, greet you, venerable bishop Synesius. I have received the debt which through you I gave to Christ God the Savior, and now I will no longer require from you any account concerning the gold which I once gave to you and through you to Christ God, our Savior.” “And immediately,” the account concludes, “all marveled greatly at the most glorious miracle, and glorified God, crying out for a long time: ‘Lord, have mercy!’”

Great Friday: The Richness of the Lamentations of the Epitaphios (Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Mani)

Great Friday: The Richness of the Lamentations of the Epitaphios

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

A holy and mournful day for the entire Orthodox Christian world. We participate spiritually in the august Passion of the Lord, we feel the Unnailing, and we venerate the All-Holy Tomb. During it, whatever may dominate our society, on this holy day it is not possible for our soul not to be shaken by the reality of the divine Passion — the Crucifixion and the Burial of the Lord.

The hymnography, above all, is unique. With shudders of deepest compunction and great reverence we chant the Lamentations. Among them also the wonderful hymn: “O my sweet springtime, my sweetest Child, where has Your beauty set?” The verse is found in the remarkable poetic composition of Great Friday, which is called the “Lamentations of the Epitaphios.”

These are marvelous antiphons in three stases. The first stasis begins: “The Life was laid in a tomb, O Christ, and the armies of angels were struck with amazement, glorifying Your condescension.” The second: “It is truly meet to magnify You, the Giver of Life, who stretched out Your hands upon the Cross and crushed the power of the enemy,” and the third: “All generations offer a hymn to Your burial, O my Christ.”

Homily One on Great Friday (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily on Great Friday

Discourse 1

By Saint Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride

The Prophet, having once beheld God upon a Throne exalted in glory, and feeling his own uncleanness and frailty, in terror cried out: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:5). What then, brethren, ought we now to say, seeing God not exalted in glory, but humbled by dishonor, not upon a throne, but in a tomb? By what name should we call ourselves, considering that these wounds, this tomb, are the work of our hands? O, wretched are we men, who by our sins not only brought down to earth the Son of God, but also lifted Him up upon the Cross and shut Him in the tomb! Ah, if sin had not raised a dreadful partition between heaven and earth, then we all, like the Prophet, would behold God exalted in glory: the Son of God would appear in the human world as He appears in the angelic worlds; He would visit the earth as a master of the house and a friend. With what joy would the uncorrupted sons of the innocent forefather meet and accompany Him! But now!… O, “who will give to our head water, and to our eyes a fountain of tears” (Jer. 9:1), that we might weep day and night over this image, that we might lament that not only we ourselves from the height of immortality have been cast down into dust, but we have also cast into the tomb the Son of God!

Such, brethren, is the power of sin! It appears as a momentary forgetting of duty, and it disturbs an entire eternity; it is accomplished in a small space of earth, but shakes all the heavens; it harms, seemingly, one man, and the Son of God Himself must suffer for its erasing! Unhappy forefather, would you have stretched forth your hand to the forbidden fruit, if you had foreseen what now lies before our eyes? Would you have desired to become as God, if you had known that this desire would cause God to die upon the Cross?

Homily on Holy Friday and the Cross (St. John of Damascus)

Homily on Holy Friday and the Cross 

Discourse 3

By St. John of Damascus

1. The struggle of our fasting is completed and ends at the Cross. And where ought the end of the victory to arrive, if not at the trophy of Christ? For the Cross is the trophy of Christ, which indeed happened once, but always puts the demons to flight. Truly, where are the idols and the vain slaughters of animals? where are the temples and the fire of impiety? All were extinguished by one holy blood and were cast down, and there remains the Cross — an all-powerful power, an invisible arrow, an immaterial remedy, a pain-relieving blow, a glory full of reproach.

So then, even if I recount countless other things about Christ, and if I astonish my listener by narrating countless miracles, I do not boast so much in those as in the Cross. I mean this by what I say: Jesus came forth from a Virgin; it is a great miracle for marriage to be bypassed and for nature to innovate; but, if the Cross had not existed, the first virgin of Paradise would not have been saved by her deeds.

Now, however, through the event of the Crucifixion the woman is saved first, healing the ancient evil with new gifts. The dead man was raised in Galilee, but he died again; but I, who have been raised through the Cross, can no longer fall into death. Jesus crossed the sea, God in a boat, and the wood offered a temporary benefit; but I have acquired an eternal wood, beneficent, which, using it as a rudder, I confront the spiritual waves of wickedness.