Prologue in Sermons: September 29

 

The Saints of God Help Us in the Struggle Against the Demons

September 29

(A Word on Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

For a successful struggle against the demons and for victory over them, the Lord has given us two means: prayer to God and fasting, as He also said: “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). But is there also some other means that likewise makes the struggle against evil spirits easier, or not? Know, brethren, that there is, and it consists in fervent prayer to the saints of God for their help.

When Saint Andrew undertook the ascetic feat of folly for Christ, Satan attacked him with such force, together with the demons under his power, that Andrew thought his final hour had come. And so, finding himself in a desperate situation, he cried out: “Holy Apostle John the Theologian, help me!” After these words, thunder struck, and the voice of many people was heard. And an Elder appeared with fearsome eyes, whose face was almost as bright as the sun, and with him appeared a multitude of people dressed in white robes. And the Elder said angrily to those who were with him: “Shut the gates, so that none of the demons may escape from here.” And the Elder’s command was carried out.

The Metastasis of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint John is the first theologian of our Church. Indeed, this is his distinctive title above all: John the Theologian. Others who have been honored by our Church with this title are Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Thus, for our Church, very few bear this title, which means, on the one hand, that particular qualifications are required for someone to receive this designation, and, on the other, that all those who have obtained a degree from a theological school are not considered theologians, except in a loose and improper sense. What, then, is required for someone to be a theologian, and, more particularly, what led the Church to bestow this title upon Saint John? We insist upon this point because the hymnography of the Church focuses its attention above all on this very matter: “The Word, O most excellent one, worthily revealed you as a theologian, initiating you into His divinity and teaching you the ineffable dispensation according to man.” That is, Christ, the Son and Word of God, revealed you as a theologian, O most excellent John, because He led you into the secret knowledge of His divinity and taught you the mystery of His plan to come into the world as man. In other words, a theologian is one who is initiated by God Himself into knowledge of Him and, consequently, into the proclamation to the world of His dispensation.

Homily for the Day of the Repose of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily for the Day of the Repose of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian 

By St. Innocent of Kherson

We celebrate the repose of John. But did he die? Is he not still alive? These are unexpected questions, but it is not curiosity that prompts us to raise them; it is the Gospel itself, for you have heard what is said concerning John: “And this saying went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die” (John 21:23). The brethren of the divinely illumined Apostolic Church could not have lightly seized upon a dream of their imagination and arbitrarily presented it as an interpretation of the Savior’s words. Moreover, when the Gospel mentions the expectation “that that disciple should not die,” it does not refute it as something impossible that arose from a misunderstanding of the Savior’s words concerning John, but merely limits its cause and basis to their precise bounds, guarding against every exaggeration: “Yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:23).

In the Church hymn sung yesterday in honor of Saint John, we hear something even more; there he is directly and clearly called “still living and awaiting the fearful Second Coming of the Master” (Sticheron at Small Vespers).

If Saint John, then, did not die and is still alive, how do we celebrate the day of his repose? Is this not similar to someone commemorating as dead a man who remains alive?

September: Day 26: Teaching 3: The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

September: Day 26: Teaching 3:
The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
How Should We Regard the Sins of Our Neighbors?

(On the Day of the Repose of Saint John the Theologian)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of the repose of the holy and glorious Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, who taught above all about Christian love and who, even on his deathbed, did not cease teaching this great virtue, without which there is no possibility of salvation, it is most appropriate to speak with you, brethren, about the sin that most often destroys Christian love among people: the sin of contemptuously condemning our neighbors when they fall morally.

II. A. Let us first consider the impression produced upon us by the falls of our brethren, and then see what must be done for their restoration.
 

Before you is worldly society, composed not of those uneducated, coarse, and deprived from childhood of every moral influence, who are encountered by the thousands in the streets. Here are people who have all received a good upbringing, who are capable of understanding and admiring everything beautiful, and who are sometimes capable of the most generous impulses... Suddenly, news is brought into this select circle... It is a piece of information which, as they say, everyone should keep to himself... What is it about? About some offense, some fall, some disgrace, which soon becomes known... Do you notice the effect it produces? Do you notice the looks gleaming with malicious delight? Do you hear how the conversation, until then languid, suddenly becomes animated, interrupted by violent outbursts, like a flame fanned from without? Do you hear all these questions? Do you observe with what lively interest the smallest details concerning the fall in question are gathered; do you watch the expressions on faces showing that they know more than they wish to say; the treacherous hints concealed beneath false sympathy? Is all this true? Am I exaggerating when I say that the frivolity and misconduct of others are the favorite food of conversation in every class of society, and that, if you remove slander from these conversations, you will remove all their charm, and that nothing seems to enliven conversation so much as malicious gossip? We are told, brethren, that man is good. Yes, I know well that everyone cares about maintaining propriety, and that we Russians least of all need to be reminded of this. But who does not know that there is a learned contest of words in which people acquire remarkable skill? Who does not know that there is a subtle art of gracefully casting a poisoned arrow, an art of wounding mortally with a smile, and of hinting at everything without asserting anything?

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 26

The Month of September 

Day 26

27. How We Should Regard Sinners Who Are Perishing

(From the Life of Saint John the Theologian)

When we see that this or that person has fallen into the depths of evil, some among us revile him by calling him evil, while others simply say, “He has only himself to blame!” Is this worthy of Christians, and is it right? No, it is not worthy of Christians, and it is very wrong; for the Lord did not teach us to treat sinners as we do, nor did He Himself treat them as we treat them. Recall at least one instance from His life. What did He say to the Pharisees who brought a woman caught in adultery before Him? “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her!” And what did He say to the woman? “Woman! Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” — “No one, Lord,” she answered. Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more” (John 8:1–11). Therefore, we should not act toward sinners who are perishing as we do, but should act somewhat differently. How?

Homily for the Commemoration of the Apostle John the Theologian (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Commemoration of the Apostle John the Theologian 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you on the day of the memory of the Apostle John the Theologian — the apostle of love, a very mysterious apostle. Today his feast is connected neither with his death nor with some missionary labor of his, but with those events that took place at the tomb of John the Theologian in Ephesus up until the very beginning of the twentieth century. It was an annual miracle that occurred precisely on this very day.

On the eighth of May, a rose-colored dust would yearly appear upon the empty tomb of John the Theologian, and this dust healed many sick people. One could say that it was a regular miracle, like the miracle of the Holy Fire. The Church even established a feast in honor of this event.

If we look closely at the mysterious image of Saint John, we will see a mystery. The apostolic age is coming to an end — the close of the first century and the beginning of the second. Most of the apostles — eleven out of the twelve — have already been executed for the name of the Lord. Most of the Seventy Apostles have also been executed. By that time the Apostle John remains the only living witness of the Risen Christ.

May: Day 8: Teaching 2: Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

May: Day 8: Teaching 2:
Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(Examples of how Christians depart from the law of Christian love, and the necessity of living according to its spirit.)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. What shall we say to you, brethren, on today’s feast? The beloved disciple of the Lord — the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, whose memory we celebrate today — spoke more than anything else during his apostolic ministry about love. Therefore let us also speak today about love.

II. You yourselves know very well that the Lord commanded us to love God and then all people, and said that upon these two commandments rests the whole law (Matt. 22:40). You know that only he who has love toward all is a true Christian (John 13:35). You also know that without love one cannot inherit eternal life, for “he who does not love his brother abides in death” (1 John 3:14); that “without love all gifts profit nothing to those who possess them,” as John Chrysostom says; and that without it all our good deeds mean nothing (1 Cor. 13:3).

You know this, you have heard it many times, and you yourselves reason that it would be good if all loved one another; you yourselves realize that we must love others. But unfortunately, all this is mostly only in words and not in deeds. In words we love, but in deeds — in deeds we are far from love.

Saint Joseph Samakos and the Liturgical Offering Bread

 

Saint Joseph Samakos, also known as Saint Joseph the Sanctified, was a revered 16th-century Orthodox hieromonk from Crete, celebrated for his sanctity. He was a monk in the Monastery of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian or Dermatanos, as many called it, which was located in a seaside location in Heraklion, Crete. He reposed around 1511, and his relics, found incorrupt and fragrant, led to his veneration, with churches built in his honor in Crete and Zakynthos. He is celebrated annually on January 22nd.

It happened at one time on the feast of Saint John the Theologian that the Christians offered candles and incense and many other things in the temple, but no offering bread (or prosphoron) for the Divine Eucharist; therefore, when the time for the Divine Liturgy arrived, the appointed servant, seeing that they had no offering bread with which to perform the Divine Mystagogy, went to Saint Joseph Samakos and said to him:

“Honorable Father, the time for the service has arrived and there is no offering; therefore, order me what I should do.”

Father Eusebios Giannakakis: "At the Proskomide I Chat With Saint John the Theologian"

Thirty to forty people worked daily at the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Aigaleia, who had to be paid every Saturday. In addition to the cost of building materials, a significant amount of money was needed for the workers’ insurance. The Monastery had no income or movable or immovable property, yet the work proceeded without interruption. During the reconstruction, the Brotherhood literally experienced a miracle. His Eminence told the faithful: “If you want to see a miracle today, see how this Monastery is being built. It is a prolonged miracle.”

The main factor in this miracle was Father Eusebios (+ 1995), who had entrusted the Monastery to the protection and intercession of Saint John the Theologian. He had amazing optimism and faith. Where the sisters saw darkness, he saw light. Where they saw narrowness and difficulty, he saw spaciousness. Knowing the magnitude of the work, they were timid, but the Elder, seeing with the eyes of his pure soul the protection and providence of God surrounding them, supported them with prophetic words:

Homily Two on the Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily Two on the Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1961)

"If we love one another, God abides in us" (1 John 4:12)

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

Today, dear brothers and sisters, we honor the memory of one of the great Apostles of Christ, a pillar of the Christian Church, a zealous preacher of Christ's teachings, who wrote for us the Holy Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse, the wise and loving Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, recalling the day of his death.

He was the closest and most beloved disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, or, as the Church hymn puts it, the friend and confidant of Christ. What made this Apostle so different from the Lord's other disciples, and how did he earn such special favor and affection from Jesus Christ?

September: Day 26: Teaching 2: The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

 

September: Day 26: Teaching 2:
The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(Lessons to Follow From His Life: 
a. Zeal for the Salvation of Others; 
b. Love for the Lord and Others; 
c. Virginity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, celebrated today, was the son of the Galilean fisherman Zebedee and his wife Salome. Before his conversion to Christ, he was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist and, together with Saint Andrew, followed the Lord at the direction of the Forerunner, as he himself recounts in the first chapter of his Gospel, without, however, indicating his own name. During the Lord's earthly life, John, along with Saint Peter and his brother James, was among the Lord's three beloved disciples: he was honored to witness the appearance of Divine glory on Mount Tabor, was present at the resurrection of Jairus's daughter; at the Secret Supper, the Lord revealed Judas the traitor to him. Filled with love for the heavenly Teacher, John followed the Lord to the trial and stood at the Lord's cross with a few persons, His relatives according to the flesh. In his dying moments, the Lord entrusted him with the care of His Most Pure Mother. Appearing to him after the Resurrection at Lake Tiberias, the Lord hinted at his long life and peaceful end. Fulfilling his sacred duty to guard the Most Pure Mother of the Lord, John lived in Jerusalem until her Dormition. Here he was tried and scourged before the Sanhedrin; he left Jerusalem only once, to join Peter in bringing the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritans baptized by the deacon Philip.

Prologue in Sermons: September 26

 

On How We Should Treat Perishing Sinners

September 26

(Homily on the Young Man Whom John the Theologian Saved)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

When we encounter perishing sinners, it often happens thus: some of us pay them not the slightest attention; others regard them with contempt and derision; a third group, at times, even looks upon their demise with malicious glee; while the fourth, although they finally address them with a salvific word, more often convey a harsh rebuke, which generally leads only to mutual dissatisfaction between the reprovers and the reproved. What do you think, brethren? Should we treat perishing sinners in this way or not? Certainly not! We should act in an entirely opposite manner. "How so?" you may ask. To this question, let the example that follows provide the answer.

May: Day 8: Teaching 1: Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

May: Day 8: Teaching 1:
Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(Christian Love is the Most Reliable Means to the Knowledge of God and the True Beginning of the Activity of a Christian)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. In honor of the individuals for whom celebrations are organized on designated days, it is customary to deliver encomiums that highlight their distinctive qualities, virtues, valor, and merits. What shall we say today in praise of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian, the beloved disciple and companion of Christ? Whatever eloquent and fruitful words one might express in commendation of his sacred and lofty qualities and actions, they will prove insufficient: "Who can recount your greatness, O virgin?" However, the inhabitants of heaven do not require human praise; what pleases them most is our adoption of the spirit and character by which they lived during their earthly existence. From our side, the best gift of gratitude to the Holy Apostle John the Theologian and the greatest expression of pious reverence towards him will be the assimilation of his spirit and his teachings.

Homily One on the Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily One on the Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1960)

Dear brothers and sisters, today the Holy Orthodox Church brightly celebrates the day of the departure to the Lord of one of the first Apostles, one of the beloved disciples of Christ, Saint John the Theologian.

Saint John, the son of the Galilean fisherman Zebedee and Salome, was a disciple of John the Baptist before his conversion to Christ. After his conversion to Christ, Saint John never again departed from the Lord, because he loved Him with his pure heart more than anything else in the world. During the earthly life of the Savior, John, among His three closest disciples, was vouchsafed to be a witness to the manifestation of Divine glory on Mount Tabor, and was present at the resurrection of Jairus' daughter; at the Secret Supper, the Lord revealed to him His betrayer, Judas.

Homily on the Day of the Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian (St. John of Kronstadt)

Word Twelve

Homily on the Day of the Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

By St. John of Kronstadt

(Delivered on September 26, 1905)

The holy repose of the beloved disciple of Christ is a lesson in the resurrection and immortality.

Today the Church of Christ celebrates the glorious memory of the death of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian from temporal life to eternal, from corruptible to incorruptible, from laborious and sorrowful to eternal peace and joy, from toil to royalty, for to him, together with the other Apostles, the royal seat and judgment over the twelve tribes of Israel were promised by the Truth Himself - Christ. The death of the beloved disciple and confidant of Christ was supernatural: three days after the burial, his body was not found in the ground in which he was buried; he was transferred with his body to the heavenly dwellings, to the throne of God, having received at the same time the lot - to remain on earth at will, until the second terrible coming of Christ, in fulfillment of the words of the Lord, spoken to the Apostle Peter: "If I want him to remain [in the body] until I come, what is that to you?" (John 21:23)

September: Day 26: Teaching 1: The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

September: Day 26: Teaching 1:
The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(On the Motivations for Mutual Christian Love)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. All the apostles, and after them the shepherds and teachers of the Christian Church, inspire us with mutual love for one another; but Saint John the Theologian, whose memory we now celebrate, can be called preeminently a Preacher of Love. According to the testimony of one Church chronicler, he constantly said to Christians: "Children, love one another!" "Beloved, let us love one another!" His whole life was an expression of the love that he taught.

"My children! Let us love not in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth," says this apostle. He outlived all the apostles and was the only one of them to die a natural death in extreme old age.