Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 22

 

The Month of October

Day 22

53. On the Mercies of the Queen of Heaven Toward Our Fatherland

(The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God)

Today, brethren, we intend to set before you the truth that the mercies of the Queen of Heaven toward our fatherland are innumerable.

Behold, today we recall how, in 1612, under Prince Pozharsky, a small handful of exhausted soldiers, encouraged by the sole hope of the intercession of the Mother of God, was inspired with steadfast courage, advanced to destroy the enemy, and defeated them. Thus, the Orthodox faith of our Church remained intact, the succession to the throne remained secure, and the people's possessions were wrested from the greedy hands of the Poles and Russian traitors. Moreover, the former lost all hope of ruling, while the latter lost the ability to wreak havoc in Russia.

And all this took place after the true sons of Russia had entrusted themselves and their homeland entirely to the protection of the Sovereign Lady. Thus, today we recall Her benefaction, especially memorable because She bestowed it upon us at that disastrous time when our fatherland seemed to stand quite literally on the brink of utter destruction.

Continuation and End of the Festal Homily for the Friday of Renewal Week and the Zoodochos Pege (Elder Philotheos Zervakos)

CONTINUATION AND END OF THE FESTAL HOMILY FOR THE FRIDAY OF RENEWAL WEEK

(Part 2 of 2: continued from part one)

And the remaining portion of the Reading.

Bless, Father.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

By Archimandrite Philotheos Zervakos

Since there are some who, although they believe in the miracles spoken of concerning the Zoodochos Pege, nevertheless do not accept or are not persuaded that there are also other holy waters honored in the name of the Mother of God and of other saints, nor that signs occur elsewhere except only at the Zoodochos Pege outside Constantinople — the one discovered by Emperor Leo I, as we have said — thus ignorantly and impiously limiting to one place the indescribable grace and power of her who was counted worthy to become the Mother of the Incomprehensible God. Let such people investigate, and they will find within this same Constantinople another miracle-working and sign-bearing holy spring of the all-immaculate Theotokos, namely that at Blachernae, where even to this day innumerable miracles take place, not only for the faithful but even for unbelievers; and many other illnesses and afflictions are healed there. Especially those suffering from fever, if they go there with faith and drink from the holy water, are quickly delivered from the disease.

Festal Homily for the Friday of Renewal Week and the Zoodochos Pege (Elder Philotheos Zervakos)

Festal Homily for the Friday of Renewal Week

And an Account of Certain Miracles of our Most Glorious Lady Theotokos, of the Zoodochos Pege (Life-Receiving Spring)

(Part 1 of 2) 

 

By Archimandrite Philotheos Zervakos

Again a feast, and again a festival. And, to speak better, within the feast there has appeared to us yet another joyful feast, increasing the joy of the faithful and filling their hearts with unspeakable gladness. For while we are still celebrating the radiant and world-saving Resurrection of Christ our God and Savior, behold, there has also shone upon us another festival of His Pure and Immaculate Mother, our Lady and Sovereign, the Zoodochos Pege, which with just cause urges all the faithful to celebrate again today, and all together to rejoice with spiritual joy and exultation, glorifying with hymns and doxologies Christ our God risen from the dead, and His All-Holy Mother, the Mistress of all creation, the benefactress and mediatrix of us Christians, that we may receive from her grace and a spiritual reward.

For just as those who go to a bath and wash return cleansed from bodily defilements, in the same way every faithful person who runs to the holy house of our Lady, and with reverence and faith drinks and is sprinkled from her precious holy water, is wondrously illumined and purified with a marvelous cleansing, being freed from spiritual pollutions and delivered from every sickness of soul and body. Therefore, O my brethren, let us all hasten today with faith and reverence to the grace-filled temple of the Virgin Mother; let us rejoice and celebrate together, young and old, and let us be spiritually glad on this new Friday.

Panagia Soumela: Shocking Revelation to a Mother About Her Child Who Drowned

Narration of Mrs. Panagiota Mexi, of the family Boukas from Ioannina, resident of Piraeus, Pavlou Nirvana 38.

I have six children, one girl and five boys. I lost one of my children, 24 years old, a probationary engineer on the ship “Akrotiri” of the Eugenides–Vernikos company during the shipwreck in Constanta, Romania on 2/1/1970.

Some told me that my child froze and drowned with 21 sailors and others that he is in Russia for treatment.

On the evening of the day of the shipwreck, I prayed and said: “My Panagia, show me if my child is alive.”

When a Turkish Television Host Investigated Mysterious Foreboding Sounds Coming from an Orthodox Church

In December 1998, a few months before the great earthquake in Turkey on August 17th 1999, the island of Burgaz among the Princes' Islands, known as Antigone in Greek, was shaken by an amazing event. This island was once completely Greek, but today there are a few Greeks and Turks from various parts of Turkey. The island has an Orthodox church, which is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, which can be clearly seen as you approach the island by sea from Constantinople (Istanbul).

During that time, every night outside the church and throughout the surrounding area, a deep breath of anguish could be heard, rising and falling as if sighing. It was a great sigh. The Turkish residents of the area were worried but could not explain the phenomenon. Some even went so far as to take stethoscopes and, after approaching the outer walls of the church, tried to uncover the source of these resonant sighs that had disturbed them.

A Miracle of the Panagia Katholiki in Rhodes in the 1920's

 

By George Paporis

In the mid-1920s, most of the inhabitants of Kremasti were engaged in agriculture. It is known to everyone that many times the farmer's labor and sweat go to waste, because it depends on factors independent of his will. Drought, humidity, hail, frost and other weather phenomena regulate the harvest.

Everything depends on the sky. That is why the farmer's only support is God. He prays to Him every morning when he makes his cross at sunrise, before starting any agricultural work. And in Him he places all his hopes for a good harvest.

That year God seemed to have forgotten them. The whole winter had passed without rain. The whole village was in a difficult situation. The wells had no water. The land was dried up. The trees and vegetables were waiting unjustly to drink. The entire plain groaned. One realized what drought and dryness mean for an agricultural place. Drought in agriculture means destruction.

The Snakes of the Panagia Have Made Their Appearance in Kefallonia (2025)

Just as every year, from the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ till the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, or from August 6th to the 15th, snakes appear in a wondrous manner in two villages of Kefallonia with chapels dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, in Markopoulo and Arginia, that appear to worship among the pilgrims who flock to these chapels, and venerate of their own accord the icon of the Panagia. Many noted miracles are associated with these snakes.

For more information: Panagia Fidousa (Snakes of the Panagia) Resource Page

June: Day 26: Celebration of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God

June: Day 26:
Celebration of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God
 
(Lessons From the History of the Feast: 
a. The Mercy of the Mother of God to our Fatherland, and 
b. With Our Sins We Bring Upon Ourselves the Wrath of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, the celebration of which is held today, was first in Constantinople, but 70 years before the fall of this city it appeared in Russia, within the boundaries of Novgorod, over the waters of Lake Ladoga. This was in 1383, during the reign of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy. The icon traveled through the air, carried by angels, and stopped at the Tikhvinka River. During its procession, many saw it, and where it stopped, churches were later built. At the site of its last stop, a wooden Church of the Dormition was built. Despite repeated fires in this church, the icon remained unharmed. Through the zeal of Grand Prince Vasily Ioannovich, a stone church was built in place of the wooden one, and in 1556, 173 years after the appearance of the icon, the Tikhvin Monastery for men was built here. 

In 1613, the monastery suffered from the Swedish commander De la Gardie. Embittered by the failures in the war, De la Gardie surrounded the monastery and began to attack it incessantly. The monks, along with many local residents, locked themselves in the monastery and placed all their hope in God and His Most Pure Mother. At that time, the Mother of God appeared to a pious woman, Maria, who had come to the monastery two years before and was healed of blindness, and said: “Tell everyone to take My icon and walk around the walls and see the mercy of God.” When a religious procession with the icon of the Mother of God was held around the monastery, the enemies were confused and fled. 

May: Day 21: Teaching 1: Feast in Honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

May: Day 21: Teaching 1:
Feast in Honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God
 
(Whoever Wants To Be Under the Protection of the Mother of God Must Distance Himself From All Sin)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The present feast was established on the occasion of the deliverance of Moscow from the attack of Mehmed Giray, the Khan of Kazan. In 1521, the Crimean and Nogai Tatars led by him, in conjunction with the Kazan Tatars, moved towards the Moscow borders with such haste that the Grand Prince Vasily Ivanovich barely had time to send his troops to the banks of the Oka to restrain their efforts. Having defeated the Russian commanders, they set fire to the villages from Nizhny Novgorod to the Moscow River, captured countless residents, sold slaves in droves, starved the weak and the elderly, and desecrated the sanctity of the temples of God. On July 29, Mehmed, amid clouds of smoke, under the glow of burning villages, was already standing several miles from Moscow, where the defenseless inhabitants of the surrounding areas flocked with their families and property. The streets were blocked with carts; strangers and citizens, wives, children, old men, sought refuge in the Kremlin, crowded at the gates and pressed each other. Metropolitan Barlaam prayed fervently with the people, and God heeded the prayers of the distressed. The Moscow boyars, forced by the extremeness of their situation, in the name of the Grand Prince pledged to pay tribute to the Kazan Khan according to the charter of ancient times, and thus persuaded him to retreat from the capital.

November: Day 27: Teaching 1: Feast of the Sign of the Mother of God

November: Day 27: Teaching 1:
Feast of the Sign of the Mother of God
 
(The Power of the Intercession of the Mother of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Among the ancient icons of the Mother of God is also the icon of Her Sign, in whose honor the present feast was established. The All-Good Lord was pleased to glorify this Holy Icon in various countries of our fatherland with many signs and miracles, of which one, the most ancient and striking, became the beginning of the present feast.

In the year 1170 A.D., the Grand Prince of Suzdal, Andrei Georgievich, having unjustly formed an alliance with many Russian princes against Novgorod, sent his son Mstislav with numerous united troops to conquer this city. Pressed on all sides by the siege, the inhabitants of Novgorod soon saw that only God could deliver them from the disasters threatening them. Day and night, the open churches of God were filled with sobs and prayers for heavenly help. On the third night, the virtuous Archbishop of Novgorod, John, stood before the icon of the All-Merciful Savior in prayer for deliverance from the evils that had befallen him. Finally, his prayer was accepted by God: the archshepherd heard a voice commanding him to take the icon of the Mother of God from the Church of the Lord and Savior on Ilyina Street and place it on the city wall. The overjoyed Saint sent selected persons from his clergy to bring the icon of the Mother of God to the cathedral church. But, despite all their efforts to raise the icon of our Lady, it remained motionless. Having learned of this, the Archbishop himself went to the indicated church and fell in tears before the icon of the Mother of God. During the prayer service, when the song was proclaimed: "The unashamed intercession of Christians...," suddenly the Holy Icon of our Lady moved of its own accord. The people standing by cried out in horror: "Lord have mercy!" The archshepherd took the Holy Icon in his hands and carried it to the city wall. Meanwhile, the attacking enemies made a terrible attack on the city. One of the arrows they fired struck the Holy Icon and the face of the Mother of God turned to the city. Tears flowed from the eyes of the Most Pure One onto the Saint's phelonion. Suddenly darkness covered the enemies; terror seized their hearts; in confusion they began to strike one another, the besieged rush upon them and completed the defeat. In remembrance of this event, the song to the Mother of God is now proclaimed: “Having acquired you as an invincible wall and source of miracles, your servants, O Most Pure Mother of God, cast down the host of the enemy. Therefore we pray to you: grant peace to your city and great mercy to our souls.”

The Miracle of Panagia Vlochaitissa and the Drought of 1893

By Spyros Symeon

On the mountain where the ancient acropolis of Thestia is located in the region of Aitoloakarnania, just a few kilometers from Agrinio, is the Monastery of Panagia Vlochaitissa with its miraculous icon.

The icon shows the Panagia enthroned and holding Christ in her arms, flanked by four prophets and two angels who place a precious crown on her head.

In this icon of the Panagia we see something very rare: the Panagia is smiling!

Numerous are the miracles she has performed for the sick, those in pain, and everyone who hastens with supplications before her icon and begs her to intercede with our Lord and God.

Women who could not bear children finally through her intercessions succeeded, those sick even with incurable diseases made doctors confess to her miraculous intervention.

When Eugenios Voulgaris Was Healed of an Abscess by the Theotokos

Eugenios Voulgaris

Eugenios Voulgaris was the director of the Athoniada School (a Greek Orthodox educational institution founded at 1749 in Mount Athos that is under Vatopaidi Monastery) in the second half of the 18th century. At the Monastery of Dionysiou, this scholar experienced the miraculous power of the Panagia through the original icon that inspired the composition of the Akathist Hymn, who cured him of a painful abscess. He narrates as follows:

I will narrate the miracle that the Panagia performed on me, in order to render her the gratitude I owe her. I'm not writing this to boast that I received such a divine visitation, and I don't even mind if they call me stupid for telling the story.

In 1758, therefore, I was a schoolmaster in Athoniada. When spring came, a dangerous abscess appeared in the depth of my left armpit. I was suffering from a slight fever and felt exhausted. The abscess was constantly growing and hardening. The entire armpit and the left breast had hardened like stone.