Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 18

The Month of September

Day 18

19. Why the Lord Teaches Us to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven by the Narrow Way

(From the Life of Saint Eumenios, Bishop of Gortyna. Menaion, September 18)

The Lord teaches us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven by the narrow way. “Strive,” He says, “to enter through the narrow gate” (Luke 13:24). Why, then, does He teach us this? Because only the narrow way can lead us to Paradise, whereas the broad way, that is, attachment to the world, leads to forgetfulness of God and to perdition. From what is this evident? From what is said in the Life of Saint Eumenios, Bishop of Gortyna. And what does it say there? This:

“It is necessary to go to Heaven by the narrow way that leads to Heaven, listening to the Lord who says: ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate.’ This means that, in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it is necessary to lay aside two heavy burdens—possessions and the flesh. And to lay aside possessions means to distribute them to the poor, knowing that ‘it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God’ (Luke 18:24). And indeed, can anyone burdened by attachment to wealth pass through the narrow gate indicated by the Lord? Certainly no one. What did the Lord counsel the young man who asked Him about eternal life? ‘If you wish,’ He said, ‘to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Matthew 19:21). And indeed, can one who serves Mammon also serve the Lord? And how can one burdened by the weight of riches pass through the narrow doors of heaven? Obviously, under such conditions he cannot pass through them, any more than a camel can pass through the eye of a needle. Just as one who wishes to pass through a narrow space ordinarily removes from himself not only his load but even his clothing, so one who desires to be in heaven gives to the poor not only his surplus of temporal possessions, as a heavy burden, but even what he himself needs, striving to imitate the Lord.”

Homily for the Commemoration of the Martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love and Their Mother Sophia (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Commemoration of the Martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love and Their Mother Sophia

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you all on the commemoration of the martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love and their mother Sophia! They suffered in Rome in the second century. The eldest daughter, Faith, was twelve years old; Hope was nine, and the youngest, Love, was seven. Their mother Sophia named them after the Christian virtues. They courageously confessed Christ before their persecutors and tyrants and showed that they were true sufferers for Christ, conquerors of death. A martyr is not one who is tortured, but one who bears witness to God, conquering the world by the word of Christ. Christ is the only true way to the Heavenly Father. We know that witchcraft, magic, sorcery, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism are all evil paths that do not lead to God.

There is only one way—the way of our Lord Jesus Christ—which saves people: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11–12).

History of the Sacred Monastery of Saint Herakleides in Cyprus

It appears that the Monastery was founded during the early Byzantine period (A.D. 330–350) by pious Cypriots in honor of Saint Herakleides (Vasily Barsky), who lived in the first century and was the first Bishop of Tamasos. Apart from the Life of Saint Herakleides, we have no other information from the Byzantine period or from the periods of Frankish and Venetian rule. The Typikon of the Monastery of Machairas, written by Neilos, Bishop of Tamasos, who had previously also served as Abbot of this Monastery, does mention the founding of a women's monastery at Tamasos dedicated to the Panagia (1209); however, there is nowhere any mention of the Monastery of Saint Herakleides.

As it appears, the monastic buildings of the Monastery were completed during the period of Ottoman rule. From repairs carried out on one of the wings of the Monastery, however, it is evident that portions of it date back to the Medieval period. Nevertheless, its foundation could not have taken place during the period of Frankish rule, since there was a law prohibiting the establishment of Orthodox monasteries. It therefore follows that its foundation must have taken place in the much earlier years.

Holy Martyrs Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. These Saints lived during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Saint Sophia was widowed at an early age and was compelled to move to Rome with her three daughters, Faith, Hope, and Love. The emperor learned that these four women were Christians, and therefore he sent men to arrest them. He first summoned the eldest sister, Faith, who was twelve years old, to give an account of herself. At first, he tried with enticing words to persuade her to deny Christ, but, of course, he did not succeed. Enraged, he ordered that she be beheaded. The emperor met with the same outcome with the other two, ten-year-old Hope and nine-year-old Love. Seeing their steadfastness as well, he again ordered that they be beheaded. Saint Sophia was not only ungrieved by what had happened, but also felt a particular pride in the faith of her daughters. Therefore, she buried them with honors, while remaining for three days at their graves, fervently beseeching the Lord to receive her also into His Kingdom. God heard her prayer, and thus Saint Sophia gave up her spirit beside her children.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 17

The Month of September

Day 17

18. On How Mothers Should Raise Their Children

(From the Life of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love and Their Mother Sophia. September 17, Menaion.)

The responsibility for raising children rests primarily upon you, Christian mothers! God Himself has entrusted this responsibility to you. Look at a child: who has instilled in him such love for you that he does not hasten to anyone as he does to you, show affection to anyone as he does to you, and can hardly live without you? You will certainly agree that God Himself has placed this love within him. But why? The reason is obvious. He placed it there so that you would understand that if a child, so to speak, never leaves your side, he does not do so without reason. God Himself has commanded him not to leave you and, by this, to require of you that you keep constant watch over the development of his inclinations and understanding and that, as far as possible, you develop his spiritual and bodily faculties. Hardly anyone will dispute this truth, and I think you yourselves will agree with it. And if you agree, you will even more readily agree that the duty of raising children is a difficult one, and that not every mother is capable of fulfilling it properly.

Homily One on the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily on the Eve of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord

By St. Innocent of Kherson

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

The present evening service differs from all others in that during it the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord is performed, in memory of that glorious exaltation which once took place in Jerusalem, following the finding of this Cross by the Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Helen. The large number of people gathered here shows that the sight of the Cross being raised is precious to Christians. But, brothers and sisters, our Savior and Lord did not come down from heaven for the sake of a spectacle; He did not ascend the Cross for the sake of a spectacle; nor is the Cross of Christ raised today for the sake of a spectacle. Wherever the Cross is, there must be not only the eyes of the Christian, but also his heart. The raising of the Cross of the Lord represents everything “that was and is in the life of our Lord, and everything that ought to be, and perhaps is not, in our own life.” Let us consider this more closely.

By the raising of the Cross is represented, first of all, the whole life of our Lord. For what does this life consist? It consists of an incomprehensible humiliation and an equally incomprehensible glory which, despite their opposition to one another, are joined together and intersect one another, and by this very fact form a cross. “Who, being in the form of God,” thus does the Apostle describe the life of our Lord, “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross” (Phil. 2:6–8). Here is the ladder of the Son of God’s descent! Who can count all its steps? “Therefore,” the Apostle continues, “God also highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9–11). Here is the ladder of the ascent of the Son of Man! Who can point out its final limit?

Venerable Sofian the Confessor of Antim (+ 2002)

Venerable Sofian the Confessor of Antim was born on October 7, 1912, in the Romanian village of Cuconeștii Vechi, Bălți County.

He entered monastic life at the Rughi Skete in Soroca in the autumn of 1926, bearing the name Sergei Boghiu. From 1928 to 1932, he attended the school for church chanters at Dobrua-Soroca Monastery. He was tonsured a monk on December 25, 1937, and on August 6, 1939, he was ordained a hierodeacon in the cathedral of the city of Bălți. In 1940, he graduated from the Monastic Seminary at Cernica Monastery. Gifted with a talent for painting, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest from 1940 to 1945. From 1942 to 1946, he also studied at the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest.

In 1945, he was ordained a hieromonk and assigned to Antim Monastery in Bucharest. He was among the best-known participants in the cultural and spiritual gatherings of the Burning Bush movement at Antim Monastery, a group that brought together prominent figures of the Orthodox clergy and Christian lay intelligentsia between 1945 and 1950.

Holy Great Martyr Euphemia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

We encountered the Holy Great Martyr Euphemia again on July 11. Today, too, the Church places her before us as an example, both because of her great contest and because of her Orthodox phronema, to such an extent that God willed, in her church and through her blessings, especially through her venerable relic, to give an answer to the question that had arisen at the Fourth Ecumenical Synod, as her sacred Synaxarion also relates. Her contest was such that it revealed that beneath the “weakness of the female sex,” as the Hymnographer notes, there was a courageous and valiant heart before which — to borrow a phrase from the historian Ioannis Philemon, which he wrote about the heroine of 1821, Laskarina Bouboulina — “the cowardly were put to shame, while the brave withdrew.” Indeed, even the great ascetic, Elder Paisios, when the Saint appeared to him in a vision on Mount Athos in 1987, as we had the opportunity to note on July 11, marveled at how a young girl endured such great tortures and, moreover, encouraged the other martyrs, as their leader, to endure them as well.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 16

The Month of September

Day 16

17. To the Lazy

(From the Life of Saint Dorotheos the Desert Hermit. Menaion, September 16.)

Lazy and pampered people ordinarily say: “Ah, how difficult things are for me! No one appreciates my labors! God alone sees them! I must endure,” and so forth. Yet when you look at such a person, you find that he does almost nothing, while at the same time he enjoys delicacies and, worst of all, gives neither himself nor others any peace. What can we say for the instruction of such people? How can we turn them away from their empty complaints and grumbling? First of all, we shall advise them to consider how the saints labored and worked, and under what conditions they did so; and, in order to turn the lazy away from their empty complaints and grumbling, we shall point out how the saints regarded their labors and how they viewed them.