Prologue in Sermons: February 17

The Tears of Widows Especially Reach God

February 17

(A Word on Those Who Work Signs.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We often say that the Lord is the defender of widows and orphans. And we speak the truth; for indeed the Lord is their defender and at times reveals to them particular and extraordinary signs of His mercy.

Venerable Sisoes relates the following incident:

“When I was,” he says, “in the skete with Abba Makarios, and once, after leaving it, we went out for the harvest, a certain widow followed behind us, gathering ears of grain and weeping bitterly. Venerable Makarios called the elder of that village and asked him: ‘Why is the old woman who walks behind us gathering the ears of grain continually weeping?’

The elder answered: ‘Her husband entrusted some gold to a certain man for safekeeping, but soon afterward he suddenly died without telling his wife where the gold he had taken was kept. The owner of that gold now wishes to take her children into servitude.’

Prologue in Sermons: February 11

 

The Lord Always Receives the Truly Repentant

February 11

(A homily about one who robbed the dead and was again saved through repentance.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

People who have fallen into grave sins, but have washed them away with tears, sincerely repented of them, and firmly set themselves on the path of correction, should never think that the Lord will not forgive their former heavy sins or show them His mercy. Let them know that if they persevere on the path of virtue, the Lord will certainly forgive them and will no longer remember their former iniquities.

The abbot of one of the monasteries of Jerusalem, named John, related the following:

“A young man came to me,” he said, “who, weeping bitterly, said: ‘Father, receive me; I wish to repent.’ Seeing him in terrible sorrow, I said to him, ‘Why are you so distressed? Reveal to me the cause of your grief, and the Lord will ease it for you.’

The young man answered, ‘Oh, I have sinned terribly.’ And sighing deeply, he began to beat his breast and, from intense agitation, could speak no further. I did not cease urging him on, giving him examples of sinners who had repented and been forgiven, and at last I succeeded. The young man confessed.

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.

Homily for Meatfare Parental Saturday - On the Prayerful Commemoration of the Departed (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily for Meatfare Parental Saturday

On the Prayerful Commemoration of the Departed

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

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

"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to Him" (Luke 20:38), said Christ the Savior to the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! The Holy Orthodox Christian Church, firmly believing these true words of the Savior, always publicly confesses the indisputable truth that with the death of a person his life does not cease. What do we see dying? Only the body, which is taken from the earth and again returns to the earth. The flesh decomposes and turns to dust, but the person himself, with all his feelings and with his immortal soul, continues to live, passing only from this world to another, to the afterlife. Consequently, communication between the living and the dead is not destroyed by death, but continues to exist.

January: Day 30: Teaching 1: Commemoration of the Holy Three Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom

January: Day 30: Teaching 1:
Commemoration of the Holy Three Hierarchs: 

Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom
 
(Against the Fascination With Spiritualism)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Long after the death of the Holy Hierarchs Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, whose memory is celebrated today, a dispute arose in Christian society about which of them was higher in dignity and closer to God. In order to allay this discord, which threatened the peace of the Church, the Saints appeared to John, Metropolitan of Euchaita, a learned and pious man, and declared to him: “We are equal before God. Inspire Christians to abandon discord and preserve unanimity. Set up a feast for us on one day; we will help all who remember us to salvation.” Having said this, they, illuminated by heavenly light, became invisible.