Holy Martyr Hesychios the Senator in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Hesychios lived during the reign of Emperor Maximian (302) and was first in rank in the palace and in the council of the Senate. Because Maximian ordered that all Christians who were imperial soldiers, if they would not deny Christ, should be stripped of their belts (the sign of their royal dignity) and live as private persons and dishonored men, many Christians, on account of this unlawful decree, chose rather to live without any outward honor than to retain honor and lose their souls. One of these Christians was Saint Hesychios.

When the emperor learned of this, he gave orders that Hesychios too be stripped of his luxurious garments and clothed in a poor cloak without sleeves, woven of wool, and that he live among the women.

After this had been done, the emperor summoned Hesychios and asked him whether he was not ashamed that he had fallen from the honor of the magistracies into this dishonorable way of life, and whether he realized that none of the Christians would be able to restore him to his former honors and powers. The Saint replied that the present honor is temporary, whereas that of Christ is boundless and eternal. Enraged, the emperor ordered that a millstone be fastened around his neck and that he be thrown into the River Orontes (in Syria), in which the Saint received his blessed end.

Venerable Martyr Eudokia the Samaritan in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Eudokia was from Heliopolis of the province of Lebanon in Phoenicia, during the reign of Trajan. At first she lived a dissolute life, attracting many lovers by her beauty and amassing great wealth. Later, however, she came to Christ when she heard a certain monk named Germanos, who preached words of piety and repentance.

She was then baptized by Bishop Theodotos, having been persuaded through divine revelations. For it seemed to her that she had ascended into heaven, as though she had gone out of herself and was being guided by an angel, and that the angels rejoiced over her return; while at the same time a certain dark and terrifying figure roared and cried out that he was being wronged if she were taken away from him.

Eudokia therefore distributed her wealth, gave it to the poor, and entered a monastery. There she lived the ascetic life in a manner pleasing to God, until her former lovers denounced her and brought her before Aurelian, who had then ascended the imperial throne. But when she worked a miracle and raised to life the emperor’s son who had died, she also led the emperor himself to faith in Christ.

After several years she was tried by Diogenes, governor of Heliopolis; yet, having again performed miracles, she was released. Finally, Vincent, who succeeded Diogenes, issued an order, and she was beheaded.

Venerable Basil the Confessor in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Venerable Basil lived during the reign of Leo the Iconoclast. He left the world and the things of the world and became a monk. And after first practicing asceticism in a manner pleasing to God, later, when the struggle against the holy icons began, he strongly resisted the iconoclasts. As a result, he was arrested and underwent many punishments, yet he did not yield. On the contrary, he preached the truth unto death, having as his fellow-combatant also the divine Prokopios the Decapolite.

For this reason they tore his entire body and his neck with iron claws and cast him into prison. But it happened that the tyrant died, and thus the Venerable one was set free. And coming out of prison, he continued the same manner of life. He prepared and guided many on the path of virtue and brought back those who had gone astray to the Orthodox faith, until he departed with joy and thanksgiving to God, Whom he had longed for since infancy.

The ascetic tradition of our Church always presents as a way of life something that provokes the reasoning of the worldly man, who does not live in God — even if he is superficially characterized as a Christian: namely, that temperance as a limitation of bodily pleasures constitutes the delight of the believer; poverty as a conscious choice constitutes his wealth; non-possession as the renunciation of owning any material things — especially of interior attachment to them — is his great property; humility is his praise.

And this is due to the fact that the Christian struggles against the central passion of man, self-love (philautia) with all its offshoots: love of pleasure (philedonia), love of money (philargyria), love of glory (philodoxia) — so as to transform it and make it love of God (philothea) and love of mankind (philanthropy). That is, he strikes his passions with the corresponding virtues, so that, by transforming through the grace of God self-love into love of God and love of man, he may find the point of harmony with the grace of God.

We must not forget that what is always sought is God Himself and His grace in the life of man, and the only place where man truly finds God is love. From this perspective we do not find it difficult to understand what we read, for example, in the Gerontikon concerning our saints, who said:

“I go where there is toil, and there I find rest.”

This same understanding we also observe in the ascetic life of Venerable Basil. Our Hymnographer guides us and says:

“Desiring the blessedness of God which is beyond human understanding, O inspired one, you regarded temperance as your delight, poverty as your wealth, non-possession as abundant property, and humility as your glory” (Vespers sticheron).

In other words, no one can truly encounter God, or feel the grace of the Spirit of God actively within him, while the passion of egoism with its consequences remains active within him. From this viewpoint one also understands the blessing of the period of Great Lent, which provides countless opportunities for examining our blameworthy passions and transforming them into divinely-inspired passions — that is, into love toward God and toward one’s fellow man.

The Holy Hymnographer Theophanes, apart of course from the ascetic conduct of Venerable Basil, also emphasizes in several hymns of his Canon the Venerable’s particular contest concerning the holy icons. The era of Venerable Basil chiefly confronted this reality: the Christological heresy of the iconoclasts with the immense warfare they had unleashed against the Orthodox — and there the Venerable one struggled: both through his teaching and through his martyrdom, from which he also received the title of Confessor.

The Hymnographer therefore, considering together Venerable Basil and his disciple Prokopios the Decapolite (27 February), notes something very beautiful regarding their struggle for the holy icons: the Venerables revered the icons because they preserved upright the image of God within their own soul. The honor they rendered to the icons of our Church was thus the continuation of the honor they gave to the image of God within their heart.

And this means: he who has the eyes of his soul open and beholds with reverence his grace-filled self — the one reborn by the grace of God in the Church through holy baptism and the other mysteries — he alone can also stand rightly before the icons, which make perceptible the living presence of Christ, the Theotokos, and the saints within our Church.

Consequently, in the opposite sense: the opponents of the icons, those who claim that they are “idolatrous” things, are precisely those who first of all have demolished within themselves the image of God and the true image of man.

“Having preserved with piety the image within the soul, O venerables, you struggled in martyrdom, reverencing the immaculate image of Christ” (Ode 3).

Saint Theophanes does not spare hymns in order to highlight, as we said, the joint struggle of Venerable Basil together with his disciple, Saint Prokopios. Not one or two, but six hymns within the Canon speak of the disciple — the fellow-athlete, co-struggler, like-minded companion, equal partner of Venerable Basil, Prokopios. For example:

“You obtained, Father, a fellow-athlete and prudent soldier, ever advancing in virtues, with whom, rejoicing, O all-blessed one, you contended in the martyrdom of steadfast struggle” (Ode 1);

“Bearing the name of the heavenly kingdom, you walked the road leading to it, having found Prokopios as one like-minded" - that is, of one soul and one faith (Ode 4).

Why this particular emphasis? Although Saint Theophanes says nothing explicitly about this, he clearly has in mind what the word of God always notes: “A brother helped by a brother is like a fortified city.” For if any stumbling should occur, the other immediately hastens to help. Therefore: “Woe to the one who is alone.”

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

Prologue in Sermons: February 28

To Avoid Sins, One Must Reflect on Their Consequences

February 28

(From the Lemonarion, the story of the monk Julian, whom an Angel saved from fornication.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Why is it, brethren, that we are so inclined toward sin?

It is because we do not reflect on its consequences. We only wish to taste a little of sin’s sweetness, and about the rest we scarcely think at all.

“Oh well, nothing will happen; everything will pass; God will forgive everything,” we say — and like a foolish fish rushing onto the hook, so we hasten toward sin and fall into the claws of the devil. This is not good.

In order to avoid sin, we must reflect on what consequences will follow if we commit it, and flee from it as from fire.

Saint Prokopios the Decapolite in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Prokopios first followed the monastic life and practiced every form of ascetic discipline with great exactness. He completely purified himself from his passions, while he also reproved and abhorred all those who impiously denied the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God. Then, for the sake of his faith, he was scourged and was revealed as a great confessor; and after performing many miracles, he departed unto the Lord.

According to the hymnography of our Church, Saint Prokopios constitutes a confirmation of that which God granted to man from the very beginning of his creation: namely, that he was fashioned according to the image and likeness of God. Although man distorted this divine gift through his fall into sin — so that the image of God in man was darkened and the likeness lost — Saint Prokopios, like our other saints, made use of the supernatural coming of God as man in the person of Christ. Through this coming, Christ restored humanity to its original condition and even beyond it: He purified the image of God in man and reopened the prospect of attaining the likeness, that is, deification, which is now accomplished within the living Body of Christ, the Church.

Prologue in Sermons: February 27

What Benefit the Remembrance of Death Brings Us

February 27

(From the Teachings of Saint John Chrysostom on Death)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Both the word of God and the Holy Fathers teach us that reflection upon death brings great benefit to us. The wise Sirach says: “Remember your end, and you will never sin” (Sirach 7:36). Likewise, Saint John Chrysostom teaches: “Keep death always before your eyes; for by reflecting upon it, you will not sin.”

Thus teach both Holy Scripture and the Holy Father - but is this truly so?

Saint John Chrysostom says:

“I beseech you, brethren, continually keep death before your eyes! Reflecting upon it, you will not sin. For we do not know at what hour the Lord will come to judgment. Shall we appear before Him unprepared and uncleansed from sins?

The Life of Saint Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

Saint Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

By Aristeidis G. Theodoropoulos, Educator

The “initiate of the Lord and filled with divine zeal,” the God-appointed, compassion-loving and wonderworking Hierarch of Gaza.

Among the God-bearing hierarchs who shone in a manner worthy of God during the 4th–5th centuries A.D., a prominent place is held by the loving and wonderworking shepherd of the people of Gaza, Saint Porphyrios, commemorated by our Orthodox Church on February 26.

This venerable and illustrious native of Thessaloniki is hymned, among other titles, as “an imitator and equal of the Apostles,” as one “who practiced virtue with longing and despised gold for Christ’s sake,” and as “the bulwark of the orthodox dogmas and the downfall of idol-worshippers.”

This most wise hierarch of Christ distinguished himself through simplicity, humility, meekness, freedom from resentment, chastity, compassion, tenderness of heart, and generosity in almsgiving, as well as through his ability to interpret difficult passages of Holy Scripture.

Saint Porphyrios of Gaza in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

It would not have been possible for the Holy Hymnographer Joseph, as he has done in many other similar cases, not to make use of the opportunity afforded him by the very name of Saint Porphyrios in order to highlight his sanctity. According to the Hymnographer, the Saint is first of all distinguished among the holy Shepherds of the Church, because he constitutes their flower, shining forth in brightness and in the purple radiance of its color.

The acrostic of the Canon which he composed for him emphasizes precisely this truth:

“I revere the purple-glowing flower of the Shepherds. — Joseph.”

Furthermore, the Saint moves continually in the heavens with joy, because he wears the all-radiant and splendid garment of the soul, shining like purple, which he acquired through the purification of his soul from the passions by the streams of his tears:

“By the streams of your tears, O blessed Porphyrios, you quenched the flame of the passions of sin, cleansing the defilement of your soul; and, clothed in a robe dyed in purple, you dwell forever in the heavens, rejoicing unto the ages.” (Vesperal sticheron)

Prologue in Sermons: February 26

Joseph interpreting the dreams of the chief cupbearer and baker.

 

Belief in Dreams is Dangerous

February 26

(From the discourse of Saint Antiochus: “That One Ought Not to Believe in Dreams”)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Many Christians have grown accustomed to placing faith in dreams. As soon as they rise from their beds, they immediately begin to reason: that they saw this or that, and that this means some particular matter awaits them; that another dream signifies some joy or misfortune that will happen to them; that another means that someone will come or will not come; and so on. The speculations of such people often have no end.

And thus, instead of beginning the day with prayer and undertaking some good work, they begin it with sin: they spend the whole morning interpreting dreams, telling fortunes with cards, troubling their household and infecting them with superstition, depriving both themselves and others of peace.

What, brethren, shall we say to such people? Much could be said against belief in dream-fantasies. For the present, let us limit ourselves to one observation: they stand in danger of falling into the nets of the devil if they do not abandon their irrational faith in dreams.

Saint Tarasios of Constantinople in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Tarasios defined as dogma the veneration of the august and holy icons, and through him the imperial and Roman authority returned to the venerable traditions of the Holy Apostles and of the Ecumenical Synods, and the Holy Church was united with the other Patriarchates. Tarasios lived piously and became respected by the emperors, and he also founded a sacred monastery beyond the strait, where he gathered multitudes of monks. He was very merciful to the poor, governed the Church well for twenty-two years and two months, and reposed in peace; his body was then laid in the monastery built by himself. In bodily appearance he was in every way like Gregory the Theologian, except for his age and the scar beneath his eye. For he was not altogether advanced in years. 

Three are the levels that the hymnography of the feast of Saint Tarasios sets forth:

Venerable Walburga of Heidenheim the Wonderworker

Saint Walburga or Walpurga (c. 710–777) was an 8th-century English-born Benedictine nun, abbess, and missionary to Germany who is recognized by some Orthodox jurisdictions (notably in Western Europe) as a saint who lived before the Great Schism. She is commemorated on February 25, honored for her piety, miracles, and role in establishing German monasticism. 

Walburga was the daughter of Saint Richard the Pilgrim and Wunna his wife, and sister to Saints Willibald and Wunnibald, and she remained and was educated at the abbey at Wimborne under the Abbess Saint Tetta when her menfolk set off for the Holy Land. Later she joined her brothers in Germany, when her uncle, Saint Boniface, sent to Wimborne asking for sisters to help with missionary work.

After a couple of years with Saint Lioba at Bischofsheim she was appointed abbess of the convent of nuns founded by her brothers in Heidenheim, and when Winnibald died, his monastery for monks was added to hers to make a double community, which she ruled until her own death. 

Prologue in Sermons: February 25

On Communion with God

February 25

(From the Discourse of Saint Antiochus on the Calling of God)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We must seek communion with God. Why? Because it is to this communion that God Himself calls us.

“If you will listen to My voice,” He says, “you shall be My chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation; and you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. I have chosen you as My own special people.”

And Wisdom says: “Draw near to Me, you who desire Me, and be satisfied with My sweetness, for I am sweeter than honey. He who eats of Me shall hunger no more, and he who listens to Me shall not be put to shame.”

And again: “Come, eat My bread and drink the wine which I have prepared for you; forsake folly and you shall live, and seek understanding.”

And David says: “Draw near to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed.”

The 1st and 2nd Finding of the Head of Saint John the Baptist in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The honorable and venerable head, revered even by the angels, was first found — according to the good pleasure and revelation of Saint John the Forerunner — by two monks in the house of Herod, when they had come to Jerusalem to venerate the life-giving tomb of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. From these monks a certain potter received it and carried it to the city of Emesa. Because the potter felt joy and happiness in his heart through it, he honored it greatly. Then, as he was about to die, he entrusted it to his sister, giving the command not to move it or open it, but only to honor it. After the woman’s death, many received the head in succession, one after another. Finally, the head of the Forerunner came into the possession of a certain monk and presbyter, Eustathios, who belonged to the heresy of the Arians. He was driven out by the Orthodox from the cave in which he dwelt, because he exploited the healings that occurred through the honorable head, claiming that they were due to his heretical faith. Therefore, by divine providence, as he fled he left behind the head of the divine Forerunner in the cave. It remained hidden there until the time of Marcellus, who was archimandrite, during the reign of Valentinian the Younger and the episcopate of Uranios of Emesa. At that time, since many revelations were made concerning it, it was found in a jar and was brought into the Church by Bishop Uranios, performing many healings and miracles.

Once again, the finding of the honorable head of the Forerunner gives our Church the occasion to emphasize his exalted position among all the saints. We believers are reminded that he was the one who “proclaimed the saving coming of Christ the Savior, perceived the descent of the Holy Spirit who dwelt upon Him at the Lord’s baptism, and mediated between the Old and the New Grace” (Vespers sticheron); that he was the one who, “when Herod transgressed the law, rebuked him, and therefore the coward, like a madman, cut off his head” (Matins kathisma); that he was the one who “sealed the Old Testament and became the end of the prophets, while preparing the way for the New” (Ode 4); and finally that he was the one who “appeared with the power and spirit of the Prophet Elijah as an unshakable tower” (Ode 5), and was praised by the Lord “as the greatest among all men” (Ode 7).

Homily for the Commemoration of the First and Second Finding of the Head of John the Baptist (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

 

On the Commemoration of the First and Second Finding of the Head of John the Baptist 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

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

I congratulate you all on the feast of the first and second finding of the honorable head of John the Baptist. In our Church there are three feasts in honor of the finding of the head of John the Baptist. By God’s providence it came to pass that over the many centuries since the time when John the Baptist bore witness to his faithfulness to God — when Herod executed the Forerunner at the instigation of Herodias — his head appeared in various places.

The head of the Forerunner was cut off and taken to Herodias, who in fury and malice seized it, pierced the tongue that had denounced her lawlessness, and buried it in an unclean place on the Mount of Olives. The steward of the palace was a man faithful to God, and his wife became one of the Myrrhbearing women. He washed the head of John, placed it in a large clay vessel, and buried it near Jerusalem, on his estate on the Mount of Olives. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the burial place was lost.

Prologue in Sermons: February 24

The Holy Servants of God Themselves at Times Indicated the Places for their Monasteries

February 24

(From the Lemonarion, the story of John the monk, whom Saint John the Forerunner healed of illness.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some monasteries flourish, are adorned, and prosper because the places on which they stand were beloved by the saints to whom they are dedicated, and these saints themselves chose even their abbots. This we shall now prove by the following example.

There was a certain hieromonk, very pious and loving toward the brethren, who lived in a monastery near Jerusalem. Archbishop Elias wished to make him abbot of that monastery, but the elder, seeking solitude, departed with one of his disciples for Mount Sinai. On the way, near the Jordan, he was seized with a fever and could go no farther. With great difficulty he reached a cave and settled there.

At night, in a dream, a certain man appeared to him and asked: “Where are you going, elder?”

“I am going to Mount Sinai,” replied the elder.

The one who appeared said: “I beg you, do not go.”

Saint Polycarp of Smyrna in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Polycarp was a disciple of John the Theologian and Evangelist together with Saint Ignatius the God-bearer. After Boukolos, the most holy Bishop of Smyrna, he was ordained by the bishops, for the blessed Boukolos had foretold his entry into the priesthood. He was arrested during the persecution of Decius and was brought before the proconsul. He endured his martyric contest through fire and became the worker of sublime miracles. For even before his ordination he filled, by his prayer, the grain stores of the woman who had raised him — stores which he had previously emptied in order to provide for the needs of the poor. Moreover, after his elevation to the priesthood he halted the force of a wildfire; and by his supplication to the Lord he brought rain down upon the parched earth, and again stopped it when it rained without ceasing.

The Christ-centeredness of the life of Saint Polycarp is the principal element highlighted by the hymnography of his feast. Making use of his very name — Polycarp (“much-fruited”) — the Hymnographer sees the Saint as the richly-fruited ear of grain that sprang up from the seed planted in the earth by Christ, and also as the richly-fruited branch extending from Christ the Vine. Already in the first stichera of Vespers we hear: 

“When the Fruit of the Virgin and life-originating Seed fell to the earth, then He caused you to spring forth as a richly-fruited ear of grain.”  

“When the true Vine that was hung upon the wood of the Cross was lifted up, then He extended you as a heavily-laden branch, cut by the sickle of august martyrdom.” 

Prologue in Sermons: February 23

One of the Effective Means for the Conversion of Schismatics to Orthodoxy

February 23

(A Homily from the Paterikon on Melchizedek)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Why is it, brethren, that among us there are few who convert from schism to Orthodoxy? There are many reasons for this. But one of the chief reasons, in our opinion, is our hot-tempered zeal. When Orthodox Christians and the so-called Old Believers meet to discuss matters of faith, the matter rarely ends in peace. They argue, quarrel, and part ways. Of course, in such a case no benefit for the cause can be expected. From evil comes only evil. But if the discussion were conducted under different conditions — if it were carried on meekly and thoughtfully — then the outcome would be different.

There once lived a monk in the land of Egypt who was distinguished by coarseness and ignorance, because of which he told everyone that Melchizedek was the Son of God. This was reported to Archbishop Cyril, and the latter summoned the monk to him. Being a wise man and knowing that by meekness one can best turn a person from evil to good, Cyril did not enter into dispute with the monk, but gently said to him:

The Finding of the Relics of the Holy Martyrs in Eugenios in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

In the years of Emperor Arcadius, when the most holy Thomas was patriarch upon the throne of Constantinople, the holy relics of the martyrs were found beneath the earth, and immediately the high priest took them with great reverence. Great help was then also granted by the saints, for even incurable diseases were healed. After the passage of many years, through a divine revelation, it was disclosed to a certain cleric and calligrapher named Nicholas that some of the many relics were those of Andronikos and Junia, of whom the divine Apostle Paul makes mention in the Epistle to the Romans.

Our Church never ceases to proclaim unceasingly her faith concerning the power of the relics of her saints, given that they bear the grace of God which the saint possessed while living. For, as we have often said, humans stands as a unified being — both soul and body — before God. This means that the glory of God dwelling in the sanctified soul of the saint is also transmitted to his holy body. For this reason we faithful consider the holy relics to be among the greatest treasures of our faith, making the saint living and present among us, even if he has departed from this life.

Prologue in Sermons: February 22

The Benefit of Hearing the Word of God

February 22

(From the Discourse About a Jester Who Was Saved With Two Wives)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

It is known that the Lord Jesus Christ, during His earthly life, by His divine word turned many sinners to salvation. Such were Matthew the tax collector, Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, and many others. But what now? Does the word of God continue to act so savingly upon sinners to this day? Does there remain in the word of God that same power which it had when it came forth from the lips of the Savior Himself? Undoubtedly.

This is evident from the fact that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and also from examples that show the extraordinarily beneficial action of the word of God upon the human heart even after the Ascension of the Savior.

In the city of Tarsus in Cilicia there lived a jester named Babylas. He had unlawful cohabitation with two women, and by his deeds he was a vessel of the devil. Once it happened that he was in church, and while there he heard the reading of the Gospel. The words, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17), had an extraordinary effect on him. Immediately he felt deep repentance, wept, began to reproach himself for his former life, and made a promise to amend his ways.

Venerable Timothy of Symboloi in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

This blessed one embraced the monastic life from a young age and extinguished the stirrings of the passions through great self-control and fervent prayer. He attained to the heights of dispassion and was shown to be a vessel of the Holy Spirit, remaining a virgin until the end of his life, both in soul and in body. He never wished to look upon the face of a woman. Living in the mountains and wandering in the deserts, he watered his soul with the coolness of tears. For this reason he also received gifts of healings: he cast out demons from people and cured every other disease. Having lived in such a manner, he reached a deep old age and departed to the Lord.

Entirely paradoxical is the life of Saint Timothy according to human reasoning: he lived in the mountains, wandered in the deserts, did not wish to see the face of a woman, and yet he proved to be, as his hymnographer Saint Theophanes notes, “father of orphans, protector of widows, clothing of the naked, food of the hungry.” To pursue God unceasingly by withdrawing from people and yet to become the greatest social benefactor is indeed, at the very least, a paradoxical condition. But Saint Timothy lived what most ascetic saints also lived: the more you turn toward God, the more God turns you toward people. Why? Because “God is love.” And we find Him precisely where He is chiefly manifested: in His creatures made in His image and likeness. As the Lord Himself said in the Parable of the Judgment: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Therefore the measure of our love for God is revealed by the measure of our love for our fellow human being. And did not the same happen with Saint Anthony? He withdrew from the world for God’s sake, and in the end God led him back to the world. And Saint Seraphim of Sarov: he sought isolation and seclusion, yet the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him to tell him to go out and help the world. It is also the complaint of Elder Paisios the Athonite: “I came to the Mountain to find quietude, and I entered into the program of people.” But as we have said: the criterion of our faith and of the saints is love. Where there is love, there is God. Can one depart from love, even for reasons of “faith”? He loses God. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”