Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

 

1. Saint Justin was from Flavia Neapolis in Syria, the son of Priscus, son of Bacchius. He came to Rome during the reign of Emperor Antoninus. Opposing the error of idolatry, he presented written defenses on behalf of the faith and confession in Christ, by which he demonstrated the truth and power of this faith, while overthrowing the errors of paganism on the basis of Holy Scripture. Because he was envied by the philosopher Crescens, he was put to death, though only after first enduring many tortures. Saint Justin, because of the purity and holiness of his life, and having reached the highest summit of virtue and become completely filled with every kind of divine and human wisdom, left behind writings for all the faithful that are full of every wisdom and benefit. For they offer the knowledge of God to all who study them.

2. The Service of the day does not focus only on Saint Justin the Philosopher and Martyr. Since other martyrs also suffered together with him — such as Saints Justin (another martyr of the same name), Chariton, Charito, Evelpistus, Hierax, Peon, and Valerian — the hymns refer generally to all of them, and only to a small extent to Saint Justin the Philosopher alone. Yet Justin holds a unique place among them all, since he is "the founder of the first Christian theological school and a new and striking presence in the Church." This is because, although "part of his theological thought did not become part of the Tradition of the Church, the Church had no difficulty understanding and honoring him, since Justin the teacher, though only a layman, became a martyr of her faith, and because he was the first who, even without complete success, seriously attempted, with boldness and prudence, to set Christian truth in dialogue with philosophical thought, especially Platonism" (Stylianos Papadopoulos).

June: Day 1: Teaching 3: Venerable Dionysius of Glushetsk

 

June: Day 1: Teaching 3:
Venerable Dionysius of Glushetsk
 
(According to the Gospel, what should our charity be like?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the memory of the Venerable Dionysius of Glushetsk is celebrated. The Venerable Dionysius, known in the world as Dmitri, was born in the vicinity of Vologda in the year 1362. Who his parents were and how the first years of his life passed are unknown. Information about the Saint begins from the time of his monastic tonsure by Dionysius of the Holy Mountain, abbot of the Monastery of the Savior on Kamenny Island in Lake Kubenskoye. Dionysius remained in that monastery for nine years, and afterward sought a more secluded place and withdrew to the Glushitsa River. After some time, other ascetics began to gather around him and settled near his cell.

Seeing the increase of the brotherhood, Dionysius asked Bishop Gregory of Rostov for a blessing to establish a monastery. “Your desire is praiseworthy,” said the bishop, “for the Lord Himself taught: ‘Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20).”

Holy Martyr Hermias of Comana in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Hermias lived during the reign of Emperor Antoninus, in the city of Comana, and was a soldier. He was advanced in age and had white hair. He was arrested because he confessed his faith in Christ and was brought before the governor Sebastian, who ordered first that his jaws be broken, the skin of his face removed, and his teeth torn out. Then they lit a furnace and threw him into it. Yet he remained unharmed by the fire, so an order was given that he be killed with poisonous potions. He drank the poisons, and when he remained unharmed by them as well, he drew to the faith of Christ the very man who had administered them to him. Because that man confessed Christ as God, they cut off his head. Then they tore out the sinews of the Saint's body and cast him into a red-hot cauldron; afterward they pierced his eyes, and for three days they hung him upside down. Finally, after cutting through his neck, he departed to the Lord.

2. It is natural to see courage and bravery in young people. To see them, however, in people who are old and advanced in years is something marvelous and extraordinary. For the elderly person, seeing his strength abandon him, feels more vulnerable and usually seeks shelter and security. Thus fear becomes a characteristic of old age, increasing along with advancing years.

Prologue in Sermons: May 31

He Who Regrets What He Has Given to the Poor Loses His Reward from God

May 31

(A Homily in Praise of Those Who Give Alms to the Poor)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

When we give a poor man a small coin, we do not usually regret it and give it with a peaceful spirit. But when we must give away something more substantial, and actually do so, we often regret such a sacrifice, joined as it is with self-denial, and we give it with sadness and dissatisfaction, sometimes even with reproaches toward the one receiving it. In the latter case our misfortune is twofold: we regret what has been given away, and we lose our reward from God for it; and in some cases we may even incur punishment from God.

It is said, among other things, in the Prologue, in the Homily in Praise of the Merciful, “Almsgiving has value only when it is offered with love and good will... It is better not to do good at all than, having done it, to grieve over it and become despondent... Almsgiving is measured not by the amount given, but by the love of the heart... And if the rich do not give with love, they will not escape punishment. Almsgiving is valued not by the quantity distributed, but by the love of the heart.” That almsgiving has value in the eyes of God only when it is done with love, and loses its value when one grieves and becomes despondent over what has been given away, is evident from the following.

Synaxarion of the Holy Twenty-Three Hagarane New Martrys of Thyateira

 

Synaxarion

By Haralambos M. Bousias

On the same day [May 30], the commemoration of the Holy and Glorious Twenty-Three New Martyrs from among the Hagarenes, who contested in Thyateira.

Verses

Three together with twenty Martyrs of Thyateira,
You have now magnified Christ by your contests.

The glorious New Martyrs of Thyateira, who came from among the Hagarenes, recently [1649] contended for the faith of Christ, the faith that brings salvation. As obedient students sitting at the feet of the Sheikh of Thyateira, the most wise teacher of the Mohammedan law, they followed him into the knowledge of the truth, which the grace of the All-Holy Spirit had taught him. When the twenty-three young men came to know the truth of the gospel, they abandoned the error of their fathers and enlisted themselves under Christ, remaining faithful to Him even unto martyrdom. Having therefore all struggled lawfully, they endured their sufferings with steadfastness. The Sheikh suffered death by strangulation, while his blessed martyr-disciples endured impalements, the burning of their limbs, and suspension upon the gallows. After their martyric consummation, they became workers of miracles by their own agency through the grace of God.

Venerable Isaac of Dalmatoi in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The Synaxarion of Venerable Isaac may focus exclusively on his gift of foresight, the courage of his heart, and his Orthodox faith even unto sacrifice, as seen in the incident involving the heretical emperor Valens. Yet his liturgical service does not concern itself with these matters at all. The Hymnographer of our Church prefers instead to present the foundation of the Venerable One’s stance: namely, his venerable life manifested through his ascetic struggles for the purification of his heart and, consequently, his being filled with the virtues and the radiant illuminations of the Holy Spirit.

And this is understandable. No one can possess courage of heart, an Orthodox phronema (mindset), or the gifts of foresight and spiritual discernment unless he has first made himself a fitting vessel for the indwelling of the Triune God Himself. In other words, the Hymnographer approaches the Venerable One at the most fundamental level, in order to show us that what is truly noteworthy in the life of a saint is not some miraculous event, but rather the saint’s purified heart itself. This is the constant goal set before us by our faith, according to the words of the Lord Himself: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” God always seeks from us a pure heart, not miraculous powers, which are entirely His own gift.

Prologue in Sermons: May 30

On Honesty

May 30

(A Story from the Paterikon.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

All of us, brethren, ought to be honest, that is, to act according to justice. How should this be understood?

Once, three brothers went out for the harvest and hired themselves out to reap sixty fields. On the very first day of labor, one of them became ill and returned to his hut. One of the remaining brothers said to the other:

“See, our brother has fallen sick. Let us stand in prayer and ask God to help us reap both our own share and the portion that fell to him.”

They stood in prayer, and the Lord helped them successfully complete not only their own work but also the work of their sick brother.

29 May 1453: The City Has Fallen! A Lamenting Synaxarion of Constantine Palaiologos (Photios Kontoglou)

29 May 1453: The City Has Fallen! 

A Lamenting Synaxarion of Constantine Palaiologos 

By Photios Kontoglou

(Excerpts from a manuscript text by Photios Kontoglou, 1949)

This King Constantine Palaiologos, whom I wish to recount, was not one who was fortunate, long-lived, and glorified in his life, but rather a man afflicted and sorrowful. As many days as he lived in this world, he never ate bread in peace. The water he drank was bitter as poison. He came into the world in a storm-tossed age, to become king over a nation that was in anguish and unceasing struggle from the time the inhabited world was formed, and which by then had become utterly exhausted, poor, and struck from both East and West. And he was the last of his line, a true Palaiologos, and he took upon himself the sins of his people and, instead of a crown, wore a crown of thorns. Worn and old was his royal mantle; humbled was his scepter. Sorrowful was his face, humble his appearance. His words were like hymns. He was raised among weapons, yet he seemed like a saint. Therefore, a synaxarion would be fitting for him rather than a royal history.

“The City Has Fallen": But Why?

Fr. George Dorbarakis

May 29 is the anniversary of the tragic day for Ecumenical Hellenism - the Fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. The thousand-year-old Empire fell at that time and was delivered as prey to the barbarous hordes of the Ottomans, who filled most parts of the Great City with the corpses of Christians. “And in some places the ground could not be seen because of the multitude of the dead,” the well-known historian of the Fall, George Phrantzes, tells us in his Chronicle. He continues:

“It was a dreadful sight, and one heard many and varied lamentations, and saw countless enslaved noblemen, noblewomen, virgins, and monks, whom the Turks mercilessly dragged by their clothes, hair, and braids out of the churches, while they wept and wailed... One saw the divine Blood and Body of Christ being poured upon the ground and cast away...”

Venerable Ypomoni in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

It is a remarkable case, that of the princess who later became an empress, then the mother of an emperor, and afterward a nun: Helen Dragas, who later became Ypomoni. For it is certainly not easy for someone to leave behind honors and glory — even in a period of decline — and shut herself up in a monastery, living as an ordinary mortal and carrying out even the most difficult and humble obediences. This reveals an exceptional humility, which is the necessary condition for receiving the grace of God in abundance.

Even more remarkable, however, is that she not only became a nun, but attained such heights of holiness that our Church recognized them and proclaimed her sanctity. The miracles recorded through her interventions, both in earlier times and in more recent years, are many. One example is the case of a taxi driver who, only a few years ago on this very day, was transporting a simple nun from Athens to Loutraki. During the journey he revealed his problem — skin cancer. He received her blessing, and it acted immediately as a cure for his illness. When, after a brief stop, he looked for her, she had vanished. No one around the place where he had stopped had seen her. He later recognized her in the doctor's office he visited, because the doctor had an icon of Saint Ypomoni hanging on the wall.

Holy Martyr Theodosia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. This sacred and holy maiden was from Tyre. At the age of eighteen she was arrested by the pagans and thrown into prison to be tried, because she openly confessed her faith in God. When the judges had already taken their seats, she was brought before the governor Urbanus, who ordered her to offer sacrifice to the idols. When she refused and would not be persuaded, he commanded that she be tortured with severe blows to her sides and breasts, and that they continue even to the bones and inner organs, for he saw that despite the relentless tortures she endured everything in silence. Realizing that she still had life within her, he addressed her again, urging her to sacrifice. Then the Saint looked him straight in the eyes and, opening her mouth as much as she could, said to him with a smiling face: "Why are you deceived, man? Do you not know that now I have been counted worthy to have communion with the martyrs of God?" The governor, realizing that he had become the laughingstock of the young woman, grew angry and ordered that she be tortured even more severely than before. Afterwards he had her cast into the sea currents, within which she received her blessed end.

2. According to the customary practice of many hymnographers, the name of a saint becomes the occasion for theological reflection. The Saint commemorated today bears the name Theodosia, and therefore, as the Holy Hymnographer notes, “You have become a gift of God, wise martyr Theodosia, shining through your contest and through the radiant beams of virginity, setting ablaze the minds of all who ever honor you in faith” (Kathisma).

Prologue in Sermons: May 29

A Lesson for the Miserly

May 29

(A story from the Leimonarion concerning almsgiving.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some wealthy people may be called people of calculation. These are those who, when their financial affairs are going well, are willing enough to help the poor; but as soon as their business declines even a little, they stop helping the needy and say: “What can we do? When income is abundant, it is no hardship to share some of it. But when times are difficult, should we begin spending our capital on the poor? Who would agree to that?” And so the poor leave such people empty-handed, and whether they will ever receive help from them again, God alone knows.

But what then? Do such calculations actually help the miser increase his prosperity? Do they assist him in enlarging his wealth? Hardly. The frequent bankruptcies of the miserly, together with the other lessons sent to them from above, convince us of the opposite. To confirm this truth, we offer the following account. 

Synaxis of the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God

 

Synaxis of the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - May 28)

According to a Slavic tradition of unknown origin, the story associated with the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God dates back to the year 304 AD, when the city of Nicaea was under siege by an Arabic army under Amer. One of the soldiers of Amer, whose name was Constantine, saw an Icon of the Theotokos and threw a stone at it. Then he began to trample it underfoot. That night, the Mother of God appeared in a dream to the soldier who had perpetrated this sacrilege and said: "You have insulted me most grievously, and it shall lead to your death." The following day, during the battle, the impious soldier was struck in the head with a stone and fell down dead.

As we go on to read, this event was later mentioned by the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod that took place in Nicaea in 325, and they ordained that the following hymn, "Your womb became a Holy Table, bearing the Heavenly Bread, Christ our God; from whom everyone who eats does not die, as the Nourisher of all things has said, O Birth-Giver of God," should be sung before the desecrated Icon of the Mother of God, which later became known as the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God.

Though this is the traditional story of the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God, the fact of the matter is that it is not accurately told. This can be most easily determined by the fact that there was no Arab invasion of Niceae in the fourth century. Fortunately with a little research we can determine what the actual story behind the Nicene Icon of the Mother of God is, at least for the most part.

Holy Hieromartyr Eutychios of Melitene in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Eutychios, or Eutyches, shone forth as a true laborer of Christ and servant of the Church, both through his constant and fruitful teaching and through his blameless and edifying works. He was a vigilant and most skillful fisher of souls, and also their loving father, ready even to give his life for their safety and salvation. He was arrested and remained steadfast in our holy faith, and he received a martyr’s end: the tyrants cast him into the waters, and he was drowned in them.

2. The Holy Hymnographer dedicates many hymns to emphasize the Saint’s particular martyrdom — his drowning in the waters — while at the same time giving the spiritual interpretation of the tragic event: before his own drowning, he himself had “drowned” the senseless atheists through the power of his words, while by his death through drowning he also drowned the wicked devil, the “bodiless dragon.”

Prologue in Sermons: May 28

To Simple Folk

May 28

(A discourse about the shoemaker whom the emperor’s scribe found at midnight praying in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Chalkoprateia.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

To you, simple folk, our word shall be addressed, and this is what we shall say to you. In order to turn you away from the thought that one can be saved only in a monastery or in some desert, today we propose that you listen to an incident which happened to a certain inhabitant of Constantinople.

“One night,” he says, “I went to church to pray. At midnight I saw near it a man who, standing at the church doors, prayed for a long time and with tears. Then the church doors opened before him by themselves, and he entered in. After praying fervently in the church, he came out, and the church doors again closed behind him by themselves. Marveling at this vision, I followed him and learned where he lived.

A few days later I visited him and said: ‘On Friday I saw you praying in church, and I saw that the church doors both opened and closed before you by themselves; therefore I have come to you so that you might reveal to me your virtues, that I may learn to imitate them and through you obtain forgiveness of sins.’

Synaxarion of Venerable John the Russian and the New Confessor

Synaxarion

By Monk Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis

On the twenty-seventh day of the same month [May], we commemorate the Venerable John the Russian, the New Confessor, whose divine relic, having been brought from Asia Minor, is preserved incorrupt in New Prokopi on the island of Euboea.

Verses

The captive appeared full of graces,
Having taken captive the ruler of darkness.
On the twenty-seventh John was taken from here unto God.

This man lived in the eighteenth century, having been born in a certain village of what is called Little Russia, from pious parents, by whom he was raised in a God-loving manner in piety and honorable morals. Having reached manhood, he entered military service during the reign in Russia of Peter the Great, who, having undertaken war against the Turks, was defeated, and very many of the soldiers became captives to the neighboring Tatars, among whom was also John. Having been sold to a certain Ottoman cavalry commander, he was led by him to a certain town whose name was Prokopion, situated a day’s journey from Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Venerable John the Russian in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Russia may boast of its remarkable offspring, Saint John; Asia Minor may exalt because in its land the holiness of the Venerable Father was manifested; New Prokopi on the island of Euboea may shine radiantly because there his grace-flowing relic came to rest; yet all the faithful throughout the whole earth celebrate the great Venerable New Confessor. And this is because our saints are the boast and blessing of all the Orthodox everywhere on earth. A saint, that is, may have been “bound” to a certain place while he lived in this life, yet in the end he belongs to the whole Church, which means that every believer can regard the saint as his own, can have him as friend and protector, brother and father. The good Hymnographer of the Venerable one, the sacred teacher Joseph from Kermeira of Cappadocia, repeatedly comes and emphasizes this truth to us through his service:

“Rejoice, most excellent offspring of Russia and honored praise of all the faithful without exception” (Lity).

“Your homeland Russia boasts of your swaddling clothes, while the Asiatic land rejoices in your holy relic” (Second Apolytikion).

Yet: “Come then, all you Orthodox, let us celebrate his divine memory” (Doxastikon of the Lity).

Prologue in Sermons: May 27

From Unrighteous Wealth You Will Not Be Happy

May 27

(A discourse of Saint John Chrysostom concerning those who take garments from orphans.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

People driven by greed do not distinguish whether the means by which they increase their wealth are sinful or not. Their only goal is to obtain money, and everything else means nothing to them. And because of this, orphans are often left hungry because of them, widows suffer distress, and debtors robbed by them weep. Yet the hard-hearted rich pay no attention to this and continue their work. What do you think, brethren? Will all the evil that greedy men do pass without punishment or not? Will the Lord require from them the tears of the unfortunate, or will He not require them? How should we look upon this?

Holy Apostle Carpos of the Seventy in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. This great Apostle of the Lord, who was numbered by the Lord Himself among the seventy disciples and apostles, and who ministered to the great Paul in his preaching, as well as carried his divine epistles to those to whom they were sent, taught many of the pagans to worship the Holy Trinity. Therefore, when his mind was illumined by the divine radiance of the Paraclete (on the day of Pentecost), and he arose like an unsetting sun from the East, he enlightened the whole world with his divine teachings, performing exceedingly wondrous miracles daily and saving many from evil spirits.

He drew many cities and peoples to the Christian faith, and through holy baptism the believers were thus separated from the unbelievers, with the result that he endured many persecutions and afflictions from the unbelievers. And this was because, advancing with complete steadfastness toward the harshest and most painful tortures, he did not shrink at all before the wrath of rulers. Therefore, because he glorified God also with his very body, he was glorified by Him in a radiant manner. He reposed in the Lord, and now works miracles daily through his relics, healing every kind of illness and driving away unclean spirits.

Prologue in Sermons: May 26

One Must Not Leave Church Before the End of the Service

May 26

(A discourse on how the devil leads people out of church before the dismissal.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some people, out of laziness, leave church before the end of the service and think that it is nothing serious. But in reality, brethren, this is very wrong; for it is none other than the devil himself who leads us out of church before the proper time. Therefore, when we leave church before we should, we thereby do what is pleasing to the enemy of our salvation. We shall now prove this to you.