Prologue in Sermons: January 24

 

Against Complaining

January 24

(A Homily on Job and Love for the Poor.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some Christians, when some misfortune befalls them, instead of bowing before the inscrutable ways of God’s Providence, remembering their sins and repenting of them, and placing all their hope in God, usually begin to complain and say: “Why is God punishing me? Does He really not see my sufferings? It seems to me that I did good to everyone — so-and-so and so-and-so, at such-and-such a time and such-and-such a time,” and so on without end. This, brethren, is not good. Such complaining reveals in a person a lack of love for God, little faith, self-love, and perhaps pride. In misfortunes one should not act this way. How then, you may ask, should one act? In this way, we reply: as the Holy Fathers teach. And how do they teach?

Prologue in Sermons: December 7

Against Those Who Reject God's Providence

December 7
 
(About Almsgiving, For He Who Gives Alms to the Poor, Gives to Christ and Will Receive a Hundredfold)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

There are people who, no matter how they receive miraculous help from God, always try to attribute it not to God, but to chance alone. "I was in a desperate situation," says someone, "misfortune threatened me, but then such an extraordinary chance came along and saved me." What can we say about such people? I think the same as the word of God says about them: a sinner, when he reaches the depths of evil, is negligent. Indeed, negligent! For he does not notice how unbelief has overtaken him, how much ingratitude to God, coldness, and, perhaps, hard-heartedness lie within him. Should Christians have this attitude toward God's acts of mercy? No; not only should we ourselves always firmly believe that all help to us comes from the Lord, who created heaven and earth, but we must also constantly instill in others that the Lord is the constant helper and protector of all who believe in Him, and through this, he should also bring unbelievers to their senses.

Prologue in Sermons: November 23

Ambivalent Attitude Toward the Admonitions Sent From God

November 23

(The Narrative of a Certain Young Man's Vision, Extremely Useful)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In the lives of Christians, to lead them to repentance, the Lord God is pleased to sometimes manifest certain special acts of His Providence. Thus, some are granted extraordinary visions and revelations for their own enlightenment; others often see various unusual events and circumstances in their lives in which the punishing and merciful hand of God is clearly revealed. These inscrutable ways of God's Providence can be viewed in two ways; the following example will illustrate how.

Prologue in Sermons: November 21

 

The Ways of God's Providence Are Inscrutable

November 21

(A Sermon on the Incomprehensible Judgments of God, Prayed About by a Certain Monk, So That He Might Understand the Ways of God's Providence)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Instead of bowing before God, who works inscrutable ways, and humbly observing all His actions, we, on the contrary, often judge the Lord's decrees with arrogance, sometimes complaining about them. But this should not be. The ways of God's Providence, though inscrutable, are always beneficial to us and always lead to good consequences.

August: Day 9: Holy Apostle Matthias

August: Day 9:
Holy Apostle Matthias
 
(God Controls the Lot)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle Matthias, celebrated today, came from the tribe of Judah and was born in Bethlehem; from childhood, he was a disciple of Saint Symeon the God-Receiver. He was one of those who remained constantly with the Lord Jesus Christ, witnessing many of His miracles and listening to His teachings. After the Ascension of the Lord, Matthias was designated "by lot" from among the two disciples chosen by the Apostles, who were witnesses to the earthly life of the Lord from His Baptism to His Ascension, and he was added to the ranks of the Twelve Apostles in place of Judas Iscariot. He preached the gospel in Judea and Ethiopia. Having converted many to Christ and enduring much suffering for his faith in Christ, the Holy Apostle Matthias met a martyr's death in Jerusalem, where he was stoned.

August: Day 3: Venerable Anthony the Roman

August: Day 3:
Venerable Anthony the Roman
 
(On Trust in God's Providence)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Anthony the Roman, the Wonderworker of Novgorod, whose memory is celebrated today, was born in Rome of pious parents who belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church. At that time the division of the Churches into Eastern and Western had already taken place, and in Rome they persecuted those who deviated from the Western Church; therefore, Anthony's parents hid their true faith. After their death, Anthony distributed part of his property to the poor, and with the rest he bought church vessels and other things, put everything in a barrel and threw it into the sea; and he himself withdrew into the desert, being 18 years old. He asked the monks he met to tonsure him and lived for about 20 years in one of the monasteries. Then he went to the sea and settled on a rock, but in the year 1106, on the 5th day of September, a storm arose, which tore his rock from the shore and carried the stone block across the sea. The stone, by the arrangement of God's Providence, did not sink, floated on the waters and finally reached Novgorod. At first, Anthony, not knowing the Slavic language, could not understand where he had arrived, but in Novgorod there were people who knew both Latin and Greek; they explained everything to him. At that time, Mstislav, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, reigned in Novgorod. The Saint Nikitas of Novgorod gave Anthony the village where he landed and built him a wooden church. Anthony subsequently founded a monastery here and was its first abbot. The church vessels that were cast into the sea in a barrel miraculously arrived in Novgorod.

May: Day 19: Teaching 1: Holy Blessed Prince John of Uglich, in Monasticism Called Ignatius, the Wonderworker of Vologda

May: Day 19: Teaching 1:
Holy Blessed Prince John of Uglich, in Monasticism Called Ignatius, the Wonderworker of Vologda
 
(Temporary Misfortunes Are God's Blessings)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Our Russian saint, Prince John of Uglich, who is commemorated today, lived more than three hundred years ago. The Grand Prince of Moscow Vasily suspected his relative, Prince Andrei of Uglich, of treason and ordered him to appear in Moscow. Although the treason was not proven, Andrei was put in chains and imprisoned, where he soon died. Because of their father, his children, Demetrius and John, completely innocent, were also taken into custody, on only one unfounded suspicion. They were transferred from prison to prison until, finally, the prison in the city of Vologda was chosen as their permanent place of imprisonment; here, in severe confinement, the innocent sufferers spent more than thirty years.

May: Day 15: Teaching 1: Holy and Pious Prince Tsarevich Demetrius of Uglich

May: Day 15: Teaching 1:
Holy and Pious Prince Tsarevich Demetrius of Uglich
 
(The Mysterious Judgements of Justice and God's Goodness)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Three centuries have passed since the terrible event took place – the murder of the innocent eight-year-old boy, the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Demetrius, whose memory is celebrated today. His martyrdom followed, perhaps, at the very same moments in which we now, reverent before the inscrutable ways of God's Providence, recall this sorrowful end of his.

History tells us that Tsarevich Demetrius, while playing a child's game in the afternoon in the white courtyard near his palace, on May 15, 1591, was unexpectedly struck by an assassin's knife and died a martyr's death, covered in his own blood.

II. Who conceived such lawlessness, and what they sought, we leave to inquire of those who are especially called to investigate the past; but now in the temple of the All-Knowing and Almighty, without whose will not a hair of our head perishes, "let us reverently reflect for our edification on the mysterious judgments of His justice and goodness," according to which He allowed such a terrible crime to be committed in our land, which brought with it so many troubles and national disasters. The Providence of God, which especially protects His Anointed Ones and their race, did not this time turn away the blow aimed at the murder of an innocent youth, with whose death the ancient famous race of princes and tsars of Russia was to be cut short and extinct forever.

May: Day 5: Holy Great Martyr Irene

May: Day 5:
Holy Great Martyr Irene
 
(Lessons From Her Life:
a. Parents should choose a pious mentor for their children;
b. One should believe in God's providence; and
c. One should participate in the spread of the Christian faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Irene, known as Penelope while a pagan, commemorated today in ecclesiastical hymns and readings, was baptized in her early youth by a disciple of the Holy Apostle Paul, the Holy Apostle Timothy († 93). The following is known about the circumstances of her conversion to the faith of Christ, from the story of her life by Saint Dimitri of Rostov. Brought up in a country palace, far from the distractions of city life, under the guidance of a venerable teacher and the elder Apeliannos, whom Irene’s father, a pagan, did not know that he professed the Christian faith. Penelope grew in all the virtues characteristic of true Christians, and thus the soil of her soul was completely prepared for the reception of the “good seed.” The time came, and the light of Christ shone in the soul brought up under Christian influence.

May: Day 1: Teaching 3: Venerable Paphnutius of Borovsk

 

May: Day 1: Teaching 3:
Venerable Paphnutius of Borovsk
 
(How Should One Trust in God's Providence?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Paphnutius (15th century), commemorated today by the Holy Church, whose secular name was Parthenius, was of Tatar descent; his father first held the position of Basqaq (a Tatar official for collecting taxes) in the city of Borovsk (now in the Kaluga province), and later converted to Christianity. Paphnutius's parents were wealthy people and owned estates. He was born near Borovsk and lived with his parents until he was twenty; then, feeling drawn to the monastic life, he entered the Pokrovsky Monastery in Borovsk as a monk and spent his life there in strict abstinence, prayer, fasting, and constant labor. Twice a week, on Monday and Friday, he took no food at all, and on Wednesday he ate only dry food. His physical labors were: in the summer, working in the garden, carrying and chopping firewood for the brethren; in the winter, weaving fishing nets and baskets. Until his very death, regardless of old age or illness, the Venerable One led this strict way of life, not relaxing himself in anything.

The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem: Teaching 4 (Days of God's Visitation to His People)

The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem:
Teaching 4

(Days of God's Visitation to His People)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Let us pay attention, brethren, to the following words of the Lord, whose triumphant entry into Jerusalem we celebrate today. When the Lord triumphantly entered Jerusalem, then approaching the holy city, “He saw the city and wept over it, saying,... you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:43-44).

II. Let us, brethren, pay attention to these words of our Lord. From them we see that there are special days of visitation by God for people, which they must use as a means of their salvation.

February: Day 10: Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos

February: Day 10:
Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos
 
(The Abundance of the Fruits of the Earth is the Work of God's Blessing)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos, whose memory is celebrated today, was the bishop of the city of Magnesia (in Thessaly). He lived and suffered for the name of Christ in the 2nd century A.D. during the reign of the pagan Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. As a true shepherd of the flock of Christ, Saint Haralambos supported his spiritual children in the faith and firmness of their Christian hopes during the cruel persecution of Christians by the pagans that broke out at that time. For this he was seized by the pagan authorities and brought to trial before the head of the region, Lucian. After Saint Haralambos resolutely refused to deny the Christian faith, the judges ordered that the sacred garments be removed from the valiant shepherd and that his body be torn with iron claws. At the same time, the iron claws straightened, and the body of the righteous man remained unharmed. Struck by this miracle, two servants, Porphyrios and Baptos, believed in Christ and before the ruler glorified the almighty power of Christ, strengthening those who suffered for His name, for which they were both beheaded with a sword. After this, many of the pagans came to the holy bishop and received baptism from him, confessing their sins before him. Those who were ill with various ailments received healing from him. The head of the Thessalian region, Lucian, not knowing what to do, went to the emperor himself and told him about everything that had happened in Magnesia.

January: Day 26: Venerable Xenophon and His Wife Maria

January: Day 26:
Venerable Xenophon and His Wife Maria
 
(On Devotion To the Will of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Xenophon and his wife Maria, now being commemorated by the Church, were among the first nobles of Constantinople and at the same time were very pious people. Their two sons, Arcadius and John, imitated the piety of their parents. When Arcadius and John had grown considerably, their parents announced to them that they must go overseas to a foreign land to study various sciences. The obedient youths willingly set out on a long and dangerous journey, because they had a love for learning. The journey was at first favorable, but soon a storm arose, and the sailors had to lower the sails. The ship, damaged by the waves, began to fill with water. Everyone was terrified. Arcadius and John burst into tears and prayed to God for salvation. Meanwhile, the storm grew even stronger. Then the sailors, seeing no hope of saving the ship, went down into a small vessel and set out to sea to try their luck. Arcadius0 and John, seeing the sailors fleeing and the ship sinking, took off their clothes and exclaimed, "Farewell, dear parents!" and threw themselves into the sea. They struggled with the waves for a long time and were finally thrown ashore in different places. They considered each other lost and therefore did not dare go to their parents, fearing to shock them with sad news. Soon, however, the parents learned of the shipwreck and considered their children drowned, but they did not express despair with a single word, but "cast their sorrow before God," completely surrendering themselves and their children to the will of God.

January: Day 15: Teaching 2: Venerable Paul of Thebes

 

January: Day 15: Teaching 2:
Venerable Paul of Thebes
 
(God's Providence For Man)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Anthony, who had labored for 70 years in the Egyptian desert, once thought that there was no other hermit in that desert and that he was the first hermit in the Thebaid; but the Lord revealed to him during a dream that there was another hermit in the inner desert who had begun to lead a hermit life before him and had pleased God with his labors. Having awakened, the Venerable Anthony took his staff and went to look for the one about whom the Lord had told him. The holy elder walked for three days in unbearable heat. In the sultry, rocky desert he saw nothing but the tracks of wild animals; finally he saw a hyena running quickly. Anthony followed it and came to a cave; but the entrance to the cave was closed. He began to beg the hermit who was in it to open it for him.

November: Day 24: Teaching 2: Holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Rome

November: Day 24:* Teaching 2:
Holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Rome
 
(It Is Not Chance, But God’s Providence That Governs Human Life)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Now the Holy Church commemorates the Holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Rome. Saint Clement lived in the first century of Christianity. His father, Faustinianus, and his mother, Matthidia, were pagans and, in addition to Clement, had older sons, Faustinus and Faustus. At first, this family lived in complete peace and happiness; but then the malice of one man upset everything. Faustinianus's own brother settled in his house and began to seek the love of Matthidia. The latter did not want to reveal to her husband the immorality of his brother, so as not to be the cause of discord between them, but decided to leave Rome. She referred to a dream she allegedly saw, which commanded her to leave; Faustinianus, seeing her persistent desire, agreed to leave, but on the condition that Matthidia take her older sons with her and go to Athens, where the sons could receive an education in the schools there.

October: Day 19: Holy Martyr Varus

October: Day 19:
Holy Martyr Varus

(On Devotion to God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. When the Holy Martyr Varus, whose memory is celebrated today, who lived in Egypt during the reign of the Roman Emperor Maximian, was put to death amidst the most terrible tortures for confessing the name of Christ, and his body was thrown out of the city by his torturers to be devoured by dogs, then a certain pious Christian widow, named Cleopatra, with her devoted servants, secretly took the body of the Holy Martyr at night and buried it for a time in her house. This Cleopatra was a native of Palestine and had recently lost her husband, who was a military commander. She had such faith in the Holy Martyr that, returning to her homeland with her only son John, she decided to take with her the sacred relics of the Martyr in order to place them in her family cemetery. Cleopatra asked the government for permission to transfer the body of her husband, but under the guise of him she transported the body of the Holy Martyr Varus to her homeland. Such zeal and respect of blessed Cleopatra for the memory and sacred relics of the Passion-bearer attracted God's blessing upon her: her only-begotten son was safely coming of age, preparing to enter the royal service.

September: Day 28: Teaching 1: Saint Chariton the Confessor

September: Day 28: Teaching 1:
Saint Chariton the Confessor
 
(Lessons From His Life:
a. The Ways of God's Providence, Preserving His Faithful Servants;
b. Man is Great and Beloved in the Eyes of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Confessor Chariton, whose memory is celebrated today, lived during the reign of the emperor Aurelian in the city of Iconium. When a persecution of Christians was declared, he was brought to trial. The commander asked him why he did not worship the gods before whom the emperor and all nations humble themselves. The Saint answered: "The pagan gods are demons, who were once cast out of heaven for pride, but are now revered as gods by mad and deluded people." They began to torture Chariton, then threw the tortured man into prison, where the Lord healed him. The new emperor, who ascended the throne of Aurelian, who had been murdered by his confidants, was afraid to persecute the Christians and set Christ's prisoners free. Then Chariton went to Jerusalem to venerate the Lord's tomb, but on the road, near Jericho, he was seized by robbers who wanted to kill him. Having tied him up and thrown him into the recesses of their cave, the robbers went off to do their vile work. It happened, by the providence of God, that a snake crawled into a vessel of wine standing in their cave and poisoned the wine. The robbers, having drunk the poisoned wine, perished. Saint Chariton remained in the robbers' cave and began to lead an ascetic life. Having heard about the ascetic in the dark cave, many flocked to him, and thus the first, most famous Lavra in Palestine was established - Pharan, with a strict ascetic life. The Saint himself wrote the rules for the Lavra. Seeking silence, Chariton withdrew from the Lavra into the desert, but here too zealots of the ascetic life came to him, and a new Lavra was formed - Douka in Jericho. In a similar way, he also established the third Lavra - Souka. Before his death, about which the Lord informed him, having gathered the brethren of the three monasteries and given them instructions, according to the general desire of the brethren, the Saint commanded that his body be buried in the first Lavra, in the cave where the robbers wanted to kill him. Saint Chariton died in 350.

September: Day 4: Teaching 3: Holy Prophet Moses

September: Day 4: Teaching 3: 

Holy Prophet Moses
 
(Lessons From His Life:
a. God's Providence in Each of our Lives;
b. Let Us Not Be Carried Away By a Brilliant External Position, but Serve the One God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Among all the holy personalities of the times before the coming of Christ, the most remarkable is the Prophet and God-seer Moses, whose memory is celebrated today. He delivered the Jewish people from slavery, miraculously led them out of Egypt, gave them the God-written law and led them to the Promised Land. He is the first sacred and divinely inspired writer of Genesis; he was glorified by the entire Old Testament Church; our Savior Christ Himself often pointed to him, and conversed with him on Tabor. Let us listen, brethren, to what the holy history tells us about him.

Moses was born in Egypt at the most unfortunate time, when the Egyptian kings issued a decree to cast all Jewish babies into the Nile River. Moses' mother, after his birth, kept him secretly with her for three months; finally, surrendering to the will of God, she took a reed basket, tarred it, put her infant son in it and lowered it into the water in a bay of the Nile River. Meanwhile, she left behind her daughter, Moses' sister, and ordered her to watch from afar what would happen to the baby. And so, by God's providence, the daughter of Pharaoh the King came at that very time and to the very place where the basket with the baby was floating. Seeing the basket, the princess ordered her maids to take it and, opening it, saw a crying baby in it, understood that this baby must be one of the children of the Jews, and out of compassion she decided to save his life. Looking at this, Moses' sister went to the princess and said to her: "Would you like me to call a wet nurse to raise this baby?" and, having received permission, brings her mother to her. Thus Moses was delivered from death, returned to the bosom of his own mother, and was safely nursed and brought up by her. Wondrous are the destinies of God! Ineffable is the wisdom, goodness and power of the Providence of the world!

Saint Kyriaki and the Widow Who Lost Everything

 By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Tell me, sister Marina, something from the people. You have traveled a lot, learned many destinies of people and understood the paths of Providence."

Sister Marina thought about it, and after a long hesitation and speaking as if she knew nothing, that she was unworthy, and so on, she narrated the following:

"In the village of Izdeglavlje, I spent the night with a widow. That widow told me how once a pestilence struck her house and in four days she carried seven dead people out of the house. Among the dead was her husband, several sons and other family members. It was with great difficulty that she could prepare everything for the funeral as it should be. When all seven were buried, she was left with three small children. Then her neighbors and relatives come and advise her to move out of that house and into a hut, because there is a curse on the house. But what hut was there to move in to? 

 

Homily for the Third Sunday of Matthew - Divine Providence (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Divine Providence

Third Sunday of Matthew

(July 6, 2008)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The basic message of today's Gospel reading, my beloved brethren, is faith in God's Providence, that is, that God provides for all creation and certainly above all for mankind.

The word "providence" (πρόνοια) comes from the verb pronoo (προνοώ), which means to foresee, to be interested in something or someone. By divine Providence we characterize God's great interest in the world He created and in man who is His most perfect creation.

In today's Gospel reading some specific examples are mentioned, such as that God takes care of the birds of the sky that do not sow or reap or gather goods in storehouses and yet God preserves them, and for the lilies of the field that do not toil, do not spin and yet they are distinguished by such beauty that all the adornment of Solomon of the Old Testament, who was famous for ornamentation, cannot be compared.