Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 24

The Month of September

Day 24

25. Is There Any Benefit in Hearing the Word of God?

(From the Life of Holy Protomartyr Thekla)

When, at the end of the Divine Liturgy, a lectern is placed on the ambo in the church and the priest comes out to give a sermon, then ordinarily, especially in the cities, nearly a large portion of the people, and especially those who consider themselves educated, rush out of the church. And this, of course, shows that such people either do not wish to acknowledge that there is any benefit in hearing the word of God, or do not understand this at all. Yet there truly is benefit in listening to the word of God, and it is not difficult to prove this.

Holy Protomartyr Thekla was at first a pagan; she came from a noble and distinguished family and was exceptionally beautiful. When she had reached the age of eighteen, the Apostles Paul and Barnabas came to Iconium, where Thekla lived, preaching the gospel. Thekla constantly went to listen to their discourses concerning Christ, and the seed of the word of God fell upon good soil, took root in the heart of the young maiden through the action of the Holy Spirit, and brought forth fruit. Thekla believed in the Son of God and clung to Him with all her soul. Then, after her Baptism, when she heard Paul preach about virginity and chastity, she was persuaded by his preaching of the excellence of virginity and resolved in her heart to leave the world with all its pleasures and serve Christ in virginal purity until her death. Later she listened to the same Apostle while he was in prison, and the result of this listening was that Thekla became fully instructed and firmly established in faith and in ardent love for the Son of God. “Paul,” writes Saint Gregory of Nyssa, “poured the myrrh of his lips into the holy ears of the maiden, and she, for the sake of his words, put to death the outward man within herself and extinguished all vain thoughts and desires.”

But this was not all: by listening several more times to the teacher of the nations, Thekla herself eventually became an effective preacher of the divine teaching of Christ, and she herself converted many to Christ, thereby earning the title Equal-to-the-Apostles. Thus, when she lived in the house of the pious woman Tryphena, it is said that she “preached the word of God and taught many there to believe in Christ.” Likewise, in Seleucia she “guided many onto the path of salvation, helped many in their afflictions, and healed many illnesses.”

Now consider this: when Thekla heard the word of God from Paul for the first time, she believed in Christ; when she heard it for the second time, she was betrothed to Christ; when she heard it for the third and fourth times, she was completely established in faith and in ardent love for the Lord; and when, finally, she had advanced to perfection in the knowledge of divine truths, she herself became an effective preacher of the word of God. From this it follows that there truly is great benefit in hearing it, and that one should not flee from hearing it. Remember, then, that the word of God is not preached to the wind, but with the sole purpose of building up the salvation of your souls and, consequently, of bringing benefit above all to you yourselves. Therefore, we repeat, do not flee from hearing it, but listen with all diligence and reverence, with humility and with a constant desire to know the will of God and to be instructed in piety and virtue. And when you listen to it with such an attitude and diligence, then the Lord Himself, by His all-powerful grace, will enlighten your minds and hearts to know His heavenly teaching and to apply it for the benefit of your souls. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 25:

1. What happened to Holy Protomartyr Thekla when she heard the word of God from the Apostle Paul for the first time?

2. What happened to Holy Protomartyr Thekla when she heard the word of God concerning virginity and chastity for the second time?

3. What happened to Holy Protomartyr Thekla when she listened to the Apostle Paul while he was in prison?

4. What did Thekla become after listening several more times to the teacher of the nations?

5. From what is there truly great benefit for us ourselves?

 

Source: The Cheti-Minei: Homilies for Every Day of the Year (Book 1: September, October, November) by Archpriest Viktor Guryev. Publication of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, 1896. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.