Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 10

The Month of September

Day 10

11. To Orphan Girls Who Are Wronged

(From the Life of Saint Pulcheria the Empress. September Menaion, Sept. 10)

It is difficult, and for the most part very difficult, for all those who are underage and have been left orphaned by the premature death of their father and mother—both young men and maidens—to live. But it goes without saying that it is harder for orphans who are not young men but girls to live. A young man, after all, will now and then speak up for himself and stand up for what is his; but what is an orphaned girl to do? By her innate maidenly modesty, she for the most part remains silent, and she does not even dare to say anything against anyone who may sometimes act unlawfully toward her. And dishonest people often take advantage of this and wrong an orphan girl as they please, however and whenever they see fit. Yes, at times it is bitter for such orphaned girls; at times it is so bitter that it is difficult even to speak of it! How, then, shall we comfort and encourage such girls?

The Justinianic Bubonic Plague of 542 and the Establishment of the Feast of the Reception of Christ

By St. Dimitri of Rostov

The celebration of the Reception of the Lord was established in the reign of Justinian,1 but earlier, although the Reception of the Lord was commemorated in the Church,2 it was not solemnly celebrated. The pious Emperor Justinian established that this feast should be celebrated as a feast of the Lord and the Theotokos, along with other great feasts. Special circumstances motivated the establishment of this festival. During the reign of Justinian in Byzantium and its environs, for three months, starting from the last days of October, there was a strong plague, so that at first five thousand people died a day, and then ten thousand; the bodies of even rich and high-ranking people were left without burial, for the servants and slaves all died and there was no one to bury the masters themselves.