Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 9

 

The Month of October

Day 9

40. To Mothers Who Have Lost Their Children

(From the Life of Venerable Athanasia)

You mothers whom the Lord has ordained to suffer the loss of one or another of your children, we intend to speak with you today about the life of Venerable Athanasia, whose memory the Holy Church commemorates on October 9. From this same life, we hope to offer you consolation in your grief, strengthen your faith in the afterlife, awaken in you confidence in God’s all-good providence for your children who have departed into the heavenly realm, and finally draw you away from hopeless despondency, despair, and anguish. Listen attentively, then, to what is written in the life of this servant of God whom we have mentioned.

In her youth, Venerable Athanasia lived in a blessed marriage with her pious husband, Andronikos, and bore him two children, a son and a daughter. One day Athanasia went to church for Matins, and when she returned home after the service had ended, she found that both her children had fallen ill. Soon afterward, Andronikos also arrived, and Athanasia told him that their children were burning with a high fever. Andronikos, as an exemplary Christian, cried out, “May the will of the Lord be done!” and immediately went to the church of the Martyr Julian outside the city, where his parents were buried, and there gave himself to fervent prayer. Meanwhile, in his absence, both his children—his son John, twelve years old, and his daughter Mary, ten years old—died. When Andronikos returned from the church and approached the house, he heard weeping and lamentation inside, saw a great crowd gathered, and found that his children had already died. Yet in the face of this terrible grief, he did not despair. Entering the prayer room, he fell before the image of the Savior and said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it pleased the Lord, so it came to pass. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.”

Athanasia, however, did not bear this grief in the same way. Overcome by profound sorrow, she became utterly exhausted and wished for death. “It would be better for me to die now with my children,” she said. But, of course, no amount of grieving can bring the dead back to life. The Patriarch sang the funeral service over John and Mary, and they were buried in the church of the Martyr Julian, where their grandparents also lay. After the burial of John and Mary, Athanasia surrendered herself to even greater sorrow. She remained at the tomb of her children and did not cease weeping. A day passed after the burial, and night came. Then, at midnight, the Martyr Julian appeared to Athanasia in the form of a monk and said, “Why, woman, do you not allow those who rest here to rest in peace?” Athanasia replied, “Do not be angry with me, my lord! I had two children, and today I buried them both here together.” The Martyr asked, “How old were your children?” “My son was twelve, and my daughter ten,” Athanasia answered. The Martyr continued, “Why, then, do you weep for them? It would have been better for you to remain at home and weep for your sins. I tell you the truth: just as here, when a person wants to eat, food is given to him as needed, so those who have departed into the heavenly realm are nourished by Christ with heavenly blessings. And they pray to Him, saying, ‘Righteous Judge! Having deprived us of earthly things, do not deprive us of heavenly things.’” Hearing this, Athanasia’s heart was moved. She exchanged her sorrow for joy and said, “If my children are living in heaven, why am I weeping for them?” She then wished to continue speaking with the one who had appeared to her, but he was no longer there. She turned to the church caretaker and asked, “Where is the monk who was speaking with me?” The caretaker replied, “You can see that the church doors are locked, and no one can enter here. Why, then, do you say that some monk was speaking with you?” Only then did Athanasia understand that what she had seen was a vision. She hurried home at once and told her husband about the one who had appeared to her and their conversation, and both were consoled. (Menaion, October 9.)

Here, then, is consolation for you also, mothers who have lost your children, from Venerable Athanasia. As you have heard, she too wept bitterly for her children, just as you do, and wished to die rather than live without them. But was it right to weep inconsolably? Yes, it was right—but not for her children; rather, she should have wept for her sins, as the Martyr Julian told her. Indeed, her children had passed from darkness into light, from prison into freedom, from a foreign land into their homeland. Why, then, should she grieve without hope? Surely, she ought instead to have rejoiced that our common Father, who loves everyone immeasurably and is almighty, had taken her children to Himself, rather than offend this Father through lack of faith, faintheartedness, and despair. We believe that you, grieving mothers, will agree with this. And if you agree, apply to yourselves what has been said about Athanasia, and strive, when grief befalls you, to arm yourselves against faintheartedness with patience, against despondency with hope in God’s mercy, against complaining with humble submission to the Lord’s will, and against despondency with firm faith, unwavering hope, and ardent love for our common Father. In your affliction, do not act as Athanasia did, but as her husband did, entrusting the fate of their deceased children entirely to the all-good will of God. Say, as Andronikos did: “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it pleased the Lord, so it came to pass. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.” This will be best for you, mothers, for, according to the word of Scripture, mercy will surround whoever hopes in the Lord, whatever his circumstances may be. Amen.

Questions on Discourse 40:

1. What did Andronikos exclaim when his wife told him that their children were burning with a high fever?

2. What kind of prayer did Andronikos devote himself to in the church outside the city where his parents were buried?

3. Before what image did Andronikos prostrate himself in the prayer room at home after learning that his children had died?

4. Over what did the Martyr Julian, appearing in the form of a monk, advise Venerable Athanasia to weep?

5. What nourishes those who have departed into the heavenly realm, and from Whom do they receive it, according to the words of the Martyr Julian?

 

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.