Prologue in Sermons: May 17

The Guardian Angels Depart From Us When We Remain In Sins

May 17

(A discourse on how one ought to stand in church with fear and trembling.) 
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

By His ineffable mercy, the Lord granted to each of us a Guardian Angel. The Guardian Angels, by the will of God, remain with us, teach us good, and turn us away from evil. But here is the question: do they always remain with us? Do they ever depart from us? Do they leave us at some time? What shall we say to this?

The Church discourse says: “To every believer an Angel comes, if only we ourselves do not drive him away from us by evil deeds. As smoke drives away bees and the stench drives away doves, so also our foul-smelling sin drives away from us our Guardian Angel. Therefore, says the word of God, ‘He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.’”

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PASCHA - SUNDAY OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Jesus Christ and the Samaritan Woman

Jesus Christ, learning that the growing number of His disciples had aroused strong displeasure among the Pharisees against Him, left Judea and returned to Galilee. The shortest road there passed through Samaria. Jesus went by this route, and on His way passed through the fertile valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, in which is located the city of Shechem, or Sychar. Both mountains rise 800 feet (or 244 meters) above the valley, which itself lies at an elevation of 1,750 feet (or 534 meters) above sea level. The many terraces and ravines of Gerizim, as well as the entire valley, are adorned with gardens and groves rich with beautiful southern vegetation: orange, pomegranate, mulberry, apricot, fig, almond, and other trees provide abundant fruit; the hot lower slopes of Ebal are planted with olive trees.

About a half-hour’s distance east of the city, the valley of Shechem slopes down into another valley stretching from north to south; through it passes the usual road from Galilee to Jerusalem, without turning toward Shechem. In this place is the tomb of Joseph. Directly beside the grave, on the slope of Mount Gerizim, is Jacob’s well, which is 75 feet deep. This region is also very remarkable historically. Here Abraham, after leaving his homeland by God’s command, first pitched his tents and built an altar to the Lord. Here Jacob bought a field from the sons of Hamor; here, in this place, the bones of Joseph were buried; here Joshua, in the assembly of the people before his death, pronounced blessing upon the keepers of the Law and curse upon its violators, and renewed the covenant of the people of Israel with their God; here, under Rehoboam, occurred the great division of the land into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Prologue in Sermons: April 20

By Our Sins We Drive Away From Ourselves our Guardian Angel

April 20

(A Word from Saint Anastasios the Abbot of Sinai)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Lord is so merciful to us, brethren, that to each one of us, at Holy Baptism, He gives for our whole life an invisible defender, an instructor in all that is good and right, and a guide to the heavenly fatherland — the Guardian Angel.

“Those who are in the Christian faith, to every person there is given from God an Angel for preservation during his whole life,” says Saint Anastasios the abbot (Prologue, April 20). And again: “To every faithful one from God, to each one an Angel was given, and he writes down all his good deeds” (ibid., fol. 37).

But if each one of us has a Guardian Angel, why then does the Holy Church every day, in the church services, ask for him for us? “An angel of peace,” it cries, “a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies, we ask of the Lord.” And in the evening prayer the believer likewise entreats the Lord for a Guardian Angel: “Send Your Guardian Angel, covering and preserving me from every evil.” Why is this so? If once the Guardian Angel is given for our whole life, then why still ask for him?

Prologue in Sermons: November 8

 

God's Angels Protect Man and Help Him in Times of Need

November 8

(Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael and Other Bodiless Powers. The Tales of the Miracles of the Archangel Michael and Other Angels.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Our holy faith teaches us to remember that, by the goodness of God, who always cares for us, good Angels are close to us, at times granting us blessings, caring for us as elder brothers care for younger ones, and protecting us from visible and invisible enemies and from all evils, misfortunes, and calamities. Can this truth, brethren, be demonstrated in practice? Yes, we answer; know that it can be, and it can be done easily, as we are about to convince you.

July: Day 13: Teaching 1: Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel

July: Day 13: Teaching 1:
Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel
 
(What Should the Certainty That the Holy Angels Are Sent by God to Serve Us and Care for our Salvation Encourage Us To Do?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of the Synaxis in honor of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, all his miraculous appearances are remembered and glorified as the harbinger of the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God and the servant of the dispensation of the salvation of the world.

While the Lord's Archangel Michael, who at an unknown time began the battle with the spirit of evil, was given a certain divine and pre-worldly power for the conduct of this battle, by which he was appointed as a guide to Christ and a defender of the Jewish people (Dan. 10:13, 12:1), and at the same time the pre-eminent servant of the Old Testament (Heb. 2:2), the Holy Archangel Gabriel was entrusted by the Holy Spirit with the service of the mysteries of God and especially the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of man. For this reason, the Holy Church calls him the herald of the mysteries of God and the servant of miracles, and, according to ancient tradition, depicts the Holy Archangel sometimes with a jasper mirror on his left hand and a lantern with a lit candle in his right hand (since God's plans for the salvation of man were hidden for a time and were revealed to people only in a conjectural manner, like unclear images of an object reflected in a mirror), sometimes with a branch of paradise in his hand, which was brought by the Archangel to the Mother of God at the hour of the Annunciation.

June: Day 12: Venerable Onouphrios the Great

 

June: Day 12:
Venerable Onouphrios the Great
 
(On the Existence of Guardian Angels)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Onouphrios, whose memory is celebrated today, was one of the great ascetics and models of strict monastic desert life. At first he labored in one of the Thebaid monasteries (in the 4th century). Then, for 60 years, he labored in complete solitude and silence in the desert. Only one day before his death did a man see him: it was Venerable Paphnutios, brought here by inspiration from God to hear the story of the extraordinary life of the angelic ascetic and to bury his toiling body.

The Venerable Paphnutios, who had undertaken a journey with the purpose of seeing the life of ascetics in the inner remote desert, and who had already been struck by the meeting with many of them living a truly supernatural life, finally met the Venerable Onouphrios. He was an old man with such long hair on his head and beard that they covered him to his feet, replacing clothing. The hermit received the stranger affably and entered into conversation with him, and told him the following about himself: 

March: Day 26: Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel

March: Day 26:
Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel
 
(About Angels)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Just as the day following the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated in honor of Saint John the Baptist, so on the day following the Annunciation the Holy Church gathers for a solemn celebration of that Holy Archangel who was sent by God to bring the Most Holy Virgin the joyful news of the incarnation of the Son of God. The Holy Archangel Gabriel is revered as one of the seven spirits standing before the throne of God, the messenger of the mysteries of God. He also announced to the Prophet Daniel the liberation of God's people from Babylon and the time of the coming of the Messiah, and to Saint Zechariah the birth of the Honorable Forerunner.

January: Day 12: Holy Martyr Tatiana

January: Day 12:
Holy Martyr Tatiana
 
(On the Existence of Angels)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Tatiana, whose memory is now celebrated, was a young maiden, brought up by high-born pious parents in the Christian law, who preferred virginity to an advantageous marriage and accepted the title of Deaconess of the Roman Church, during the reign of Alexander Severus. Despite all the kindness of this sovereign, under him the Christians did not have a peaceful life, even in Rome itself: among the courtiers even then there were those who secretly shed Christian blood like water. Deaconess Tatiana, too, was brought to trial as a Christian. When she refused to worship the idol in the temple of Apollo, she was subjected to torture. The Saint did not waver at all from the sufferings she endured; around her, invisibly to others, stood four angels and encouraged her, at the same time striking the tormentors. Then they locked the Saint in prison; and here light-bearing angels appeared to her for her consolation and encouragement. The Saint was again subjected to torture, and again thrown into prison, and again light-bearing angels of God appeared to her, healed her of her wounds and glorified her sufferings. Finally, they locked the sufferer in the temple of Mercury, cut off her hair beforehand, imagining that the healing power of magic was contained in her hair, and here light-bearing angels appeared to her, consoling her in her sufferings and proclaiming her imminent release from the mortal body. The Saint was beheaded with a sword together with her own father, who about that time was also tried for accepting the Christian faith. Thus, the holy soul of Tatiana settled in the world of spirits, with the chorus of light-bearing angels.

December: Day 2: Teaching 2: Holy Prophet Habakkuk

December: Day 2: Teaching 2:
Holy Prophet Habakkuk
 
(The Care of Angels for People)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Prophet Habakkuk, today commemorated by the Church, lived 600 years before Christ and prophesied of the disasters that would befall Judea. Indeed, the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, destroyed the city, the temple, and took many people captive. Then the Prophet Habakkuk went to the land of Israel, but after the departure of Nebuchadnezzar, he returned to his homeland.

He was a poor man and lived by farming. One day he prepared a meal for the workers who were helping him reap his field, when suddenly he saw an Angel of the Lord who said to him: "Habakkuk, take this meal to Daniel in Babylon, to the lions' den."

Habakkuk was surprised and answered the Angel: “My lord, I have never been to Babylon in my life and I do not know where the lions’ den is.”

Homily on the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily on the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers

 

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1960)

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

Dear brothers and sisters, today we solemnly honor all the Heavenly Bodiless Powers headed by the Archangel Michael. From the word of God we know that before the visible material world with its inhabitant, man, the Lord created the invisible, spiritual world, the world of pure incorporeal Angels, who outnumbered people by several times. The Holy Prophet Moses, narrating the creation of the world, says: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). By heaven the Holy Fathers interpret it to mean not only the firmament, but also the spiritual, angelic world, the abode of the incorporeal Angels, surpassing man in their strength, power and wisdom, who were created by God, like man, for blessedness, for the glorification of the name of God. They, like the purest and most holy spirits, constantly contemplating the Face of the Heavenly Father, incessantly glorify His ineffable greatness and from the Throne of His grace are sent down to earth into the lower world to the suffering man.

Homilies on the Litany of Completion of the Divine Liturgy - Our Guardian Angel (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Litany of Completion of the Divine Liturgy 

 

Our Guardian Angel

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

All people feel an insecurity from time to time, physical, mental, psychological, spiritual, and we ask for protection. Man comes into the world and lives in society, where there are so many influences coming from everywhere, he feels unable, weak, powerless, especially when his physical powers leave him. Then he seeks help and protection.

As Christians, we have God, the Panagia, the Saints, the Church as our protector. We are not alone in life, we are "fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19). But many times we don't understand this either, because we are of little faith and weak spiritually. However, God gave us His Angels to protect us and each person has their own Guardian Angel. The Church has this truth in mind and prays to God: "For an angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies, let us ask the Lord," that is, let us ask the Lord God to give us an angel of peace, who will be a faithful guide and guardian of our souls and bodies.