Prologue in Sermons: February 27

What Benefit the Remembrance of Death Brings Us

February 27

(From the Teachings of Saint John Chrysostom on Death)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Both the word of God and the Holy Fathers teach us that reflection upon death brings great benefit to us. The wise Sirach says: “Remember your end, and you will never sin” (Sirach 7:36). Likewise, Saint John Chrysostom teaches: “Keep death always before your eyes; for by reflecting upon it, you will not sin.”

Thus teach both Holy Scripture and the Holy Father - but is this truly so?

Saint John Chrysostom says:

“I beseech you, brethren, continually keep death before your eyes! Reflecting upon it, you will not sin. For we do not know at what hour the Lord will come to judgment. Shall we appear before Him unprepared and uncleansed from sins?

The Life of Saint Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

Saint Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

By Aristeidis G. Theodoropoulos, Educator

The “initiate of the Lord and filled with divine zeal,” the God-appointed, compassion-loving and wonderworking Hierarch of Gaza.

Among the God-bearing hierarchs who shone in a manner worthy of God during the 4th–5th centuries A.D., a prominent place is held by the loving and wonderworking shepherd of the people of Gaza, Saint Porphyrios, commemorated by our Orthodox Church on February 26.

This venerable and illustrious native of Thessaloniki is hymned, among other titles, as “an imitator and equal of the Apostles,” as one “who practiced virtue with longing and despised gold for Christ’s sake,” and as “the bulwark of the orthodox dogmas and the downfall of idol-worshippers.”

This most wise hierarch of Christ distinguished himself through simplicity, humility, meekness, freedom from resentment, chastity, compassion, tenderness of heart, and generosity in almsgiving, as well as through his ability to interpret difficult passages of Holy Scripture.

Saint Porphyrios of Gaza in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

It would not have been possible for the Holy Hymnographer Joseph, as he has done in many other similar cases, not to make use of the opportunity afforded him by the very name of Saint Porphyrios in order to highlight his sanctity. According to the Hymnographer, the Saint is first of all distinguished among the holy Shepherds of the Church, because he constitutes their flower, shining forth in brightness and in the purple radiance of its color.

The acrostic of the Canon which he composed for him emphasizes precisely this truth:

“I revere the purple-glowing flower of the Shepherds. — Joseph.”

Furthermore, the Saint moves continually in the heavens with joy, because he wears the all-radiant and splendid garment of the soul, shining like purple, which he acquired through the purification of his soul from the passions by the streams of his tears:

“By the streams of your tears, O blessed Porphyrios, you quenched the flame of the passions of sin, cleansing the defilement of your soul; and, clothed in a robe dyed in purple, you dwell forever in the heavens, rejoicing unto the ages.” (Vesperal sticheron)

Questions and Answers on the Presanctified Liturgy - Part 3 (St. Symeon of Thessaloniki)

By St. Symeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki
 
Question 57

Do the Presanctified Holy Gifts receive anything through the prayers that are said?

Answer

The most holy Presanctified Gifts receive nothing from the prayers that follow, for they are already perfect. The prayers recited during the Liturgy itself bear witness to this: they are prayers of supplication and propitiation offered on our behalf, through the dread Mysteries set forth — namely, the Body and Blood of the Only-Begotten — beseeching God the Father to be merciful to us and rendering us worthy to partake of the Communion of Christ.

As for the Entrances: the first belongs to Vespers, while the second takes place for the transfer of the Gifts onto the Holy Table, so that, beholding and venerating them, we may be sanctified through their vision and grace. What these Entrances symbolize has been explained elsewhere.

Prologue in Sermons: February 26

Joseph interpreting the dreams of the chief cupbearer and baker.

 

Belief in Dreams is Dangerous

February 26

(From the discourse of Saint Antiochus: “That One Ought Not to Believe in Dreams”)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Many Christians have grown accustomed to placing faith in dreams. As soon as they rise from their beds, they immediately begin to reason: that they saw this or that, and that this means some particular matter awaits them; that another dream signifies some joy or misfortune that will happen to them; that another means that someone will come or will not come; and so on. The speculations of such people often have no end.

And thus, instead of beginning the day with prayer and undertaking some good work, they begin it with sin: they spend the whole morning interpreting dreams, telling fortunes with cards, troubling their household and infecting them with superstition, depriving both themselves and others of peace.

What, brethren, shall we say to such people? Much could be said against belief in dream-fantasies. For the present, let us limit ourselves to one observation: they stand in danger of falling into the nets of the devil if they do not abandon their irrational faith in dreams.

Questions and Answers on the Presanctified Liturgy - Part 2 (St. Symeon of Thessaloniki)

By St. Symeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki
 
Question 56

Why are the Presanctified Liturgies not celebrated during the other fasting periods?

Answer

The Presanctified Liturgies are not celebrated during the other fasts because this fast, above all others, remains first and pre-eminent — it is the Fast of the Lord Himself. During it alone, on the five weekdays, this practice has been handed down to be performed, since our spiritual struggle is then greater.

Because the most dread and sacred rite — the saving mystery for the whole world — is absolutely necessary above all things, it was not considered right that throughout Great Lent it should entirely cease. Therefore, the Fathers ordained that on Saturdays and Sundays we celebrate the sacred and complete Sacrifice, fulfilling the Lord’s command when He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me,” continually. But on the five weekdays they appointed the celebration of the Presanctified Liturgy, and they did not legislate that the bloodless and life-giving sacrifice be celebrated on any other days — except on two days of Cheesefare Week, Wednesday and Friday, and on Great Friday.

The Three-Day-Fasting Monks of Mount Athos – A Story of Grace for Great Lent

With a typikon that has been preserved uninterruptedly for more than ten centuries, the monks of Mount Athos enter Holy and Great Lent immediately after the Vespers of Forgiveness.

On the evening of Cheesefare Sunday, after the completion of Vespers and Compline, the fathers in the Holy Monasteries and in the Huts withdraw to their cells, limiting their movements only to what is absolutely necessary. For three days their life is devoted entirely to prayer and spiritual watchfulness.

The refectory is not set for the monks during this first three-day period of Lent; only for visitors is a simple refreshment offered, usually a little tea and some rusks. Most observe complete abstinence from food until Wednesday at noon, while many refrain even from water — except, of course, those who face health problems.

Throughout these days, the monks leave their cells only to participate in the long sacred services. Silence is a fundamental element of their struggle, and many remain awake as much as possible, dedicating their time to unceasing prayer.

Saint Tarasios of Constantinople in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Tarasios defined as dogma the veneration of the august and holy icons, and through him the imperial and Roman authority returned to the venerable traditions of the Holy Apostles and of the Ecumenical Synods, and the Holy Church was united with the other Patriarchates. Tarasios lived piously and became respected by the emperors, and he also founded a sacred monastery beyond the strait, where he gathered multitudes of monks. He was very merciful to the poor, governed the Church well for twenty-two years and two months, and reposed in peace; his body was then laid in the monastery built by himself. In bodily appearance he was in every way like Gregory the Theologian, except for his age and the scar beneath his eye. For he was not altogether advanced in years. 

Three are the levels that the hymnography of the feast of Saint Tarasios sets forth:

Venerable Walburga of Heidenheim the Wonderworker

Saint Walburga or Walpurga (c. 710–777) was an 8th-century English-born Benedictine nun, abbess, and missionary to Germany who is recognized by some Orthodox jurisdictions (notably in Western Europe) as a saint who lived before the Great Schism. She is commemorated on February 25, honored for her piety, miracles, and role in establishing German monasticism. 

Walburga was the daughter of Saint Richard the Pilgrim and Wunna his wife, and sister to Saints Willibald and Wunnibald, and she remained and was educated at the abbey at Wimborne under the Abbess Saint Tetta when her menfolk set off for the Holy Land. Later she joined her brothers in Germany, when her uncle, Saint Boniface, sent to Wimborne asking for sisters to help with missionary work.

After a couple of years with Saint Lioba at Bischofsheim she was appointed abbess of the convent of nuns founded by her brothers in Heidenheim, and when Winnibald died, his monastery for monks was added to hers to make a double community, which she ruled until her own death.