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.’

Prologue in Sermons: May 10

Answer to Simple Folk on the Question: What Must One Do to Be Saved?

May 10

(A Word on Spiritual Benefit)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Many ask: “What must we do to be saved?” How should this question be answered? It seems that one may answer in two ways. One may answer at length, on the basis of Scripture, for the Savior Himself said: “Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life” (John 5:39). But one may also answer briefly, because not all are capable of fully grasping the essence of the teaching that leads to salvation, and not all, by their condition and upbringing, are able to understand the Scriptures. Here, for example, is a model of a brief and simple teaching on salvation, taken from the Prologue, from a word on spiritual benefit.

Prologue in Sermons: April 14

 To the Common People, That They Also Can Be Heirs of the Kingdom of God

April 14

(A Word from the Paterikon about the vision of Abba Samuel.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

To you, common people, will our word be today, and this is what we shall say to you.

Once the Venerable Samuel, while sitting with the brethren, suddenly felt himself caught up in ecstasy and fell face down. After quite a long time he rose and began to weep bitterly. The brethren begged him to tell them the reason for his weeping. For a long time he did not answer them, and at last he said: “I, brethren, was taken up to judgment and saw a multitude of people going to torment, and a multitude of common people going into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

And so for you, common people, this is a consoling lesson from the Venerable one, that for you also there is great hope to inherit the heavenly dwellings.

But you will no doubt say to me, as is your custom: “I am simple and ignorant; I know nothing — how then shall I enter there?” Very simply, brethren: act as I tell you, and you will seize for yourselves the Kingdom of Heaven.

Venerable Paul the Simple in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Only a few days have passed since we celebrated our Holy Father Nicholas Planas (March 2). And now today, our Church celebrates another Saint as well, with the same gift of holiness: the simplicity according to God.

Simplicity made Paul into a great holy man; simplicity also made Father Nicholas Planas into a great saint. It is not accidental that some have proposed, with the same designation as for Venerable Paul, to call Father Nicholas “the Simple” (like Paul).

The late Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis, the Hymnographer of Venerable Paul, points this out first of all for Venerable Paul: “You have beautified yourself, venerable one, with the ways of simplicity, and you have been revealed as simple, meek, and measured, blessed Paul, and you became a true servant of Almighty God through your brilliant life” (Sticheron of Vespers).

March: Day 5: Teaching 2: Holy Martyr Conon the Gardener

March: Day 5: Teaching 2:
Holy Martyr Conon the Gardener
 
(Lessons From His Life: 
a. All Of Us Must Labor; 
b. We Must Be Simple-Hearted; and 
c. How To Imitate The Martyrs?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Martyr Conon the Gardener. Saint Conon was from Nazareth of Galilee and lived and labored in Pamphylia, working as a gardener. In character he was simple, not a learned man, but he feared God and kept His commandments.

During the persecution of Christians under Decius, the governor Publius ordered that he be seized and compelled him to offer sacrifice to idols. And when Conon remained firm in his confession, nails were driven into his feet and he was forced to run. The Holy Martyr grew weak, fell to his knees, and after praying, surrendered his spirit to God.

Prologue in Sermons: February 1

Simplicity of Faith, Combined with Almsgiving, Works Miracles

February 1

(A Homily on Saint Benedict, How He Redeemed a Poor Man by Asking God for Gold.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Simplicity of faith, both in itself and especially when joined with almsgiving, works miracles. Of this we are convinced both by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Holy Fathers. The Lord teaches about simplicity of faith: "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matt. 17:20). And Saint John Chrysostom says of almsgiving that it possesses “a greater grace than raising the dead.” Is this true, my brothers? Yes, it is truly so, and there should be no doubt about it.

There was, says the Church tradition, in the land of Rome a monk and glorious wonderworker named Benedict, who even raised the dead. He was exceedingly merciful and generous to everyone who asked of him. By his kindness, he was a father to many monasteries and a perfect non-possessor. Because of the alms he distributed so generously, the brethren of his monastery often endured extreme need, and there were days when neither in his own monastery nor in all the other monasteries to which he gave charity could even a single gold coin be found.

Prologue in Sermons: January 21

How One Should Speak with Simple, Illiterate People about the Salvation of the Soul

January 21

(From the Instruction of Saint Basil on Virtue.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

There are many simple, illiterate people who are not acquainted either with the Scriptures or with the power contained in them. How, brethren, should you — the educated — relate to such people, and how should you instruct them? You may say: “This is not our concern; this pertains to you, the spiritual shepherds.” No, that is not true. “For teachers alone are not sufficient for the instruction of everyone individually, but God desires that each person instruct and edify another,” says the blessed Theophylact. And the Apostle Paul teaches: “Therefore comfort one another and edify one another” (1 Thess. 5:11). And Chrysostom adds: “Even if we correct everything in ourselves, yet do not benefit our neighbor, we shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

What then, you will say, should we do? This is what: when you speak with a simple person about the salvation of the soul, speak with him as simply as possible, and all will be well. “But what should we say to him?” you will object again. Say whatever the Lord places upon your heart.

Prologue in Sermons: December 15

To the Young Monks on How One Should Conduct Oneself in Order To Be Saved

December 15
 
(A Teaching From the Sayings of Father Moses, Which He Sent to Abba Poemen)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Young, inexperienced monks often get carried away in their judgments about salvation, giving free rein to their fervent imaginations. Some seek miracles, others interpret the words of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers as they please, and still others engage in fruitless debates about faith with hot-blooded and unreasonable people. And what comes of this? Such monks become like poisoned fish, often going mad or becoming a laughingstock to others. How can we reason with such people, and what can we say to them? We say simply: believe with simplicity of heart, do not be too clever, and you will be saved. They will ask: what should we do then? We answer: here's what.

June: Day 16: Saint Tychon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Amathus

June: Day 16:
Saint Tychon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Amathus
 
(Lessons From His Life: 
a. How Should Children Be Raised? 
b. One Should Possess a Childlike Simplicity of Faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Tychon of Amathus, whose memory we celebrate today, was a miracle worker even in his childhood. His father sold grain, and the holy youth helped his father in the trade, but instead of selling it for money, he gave the grain away to the poor for free. When his father learned of this, he was very sad, because the grain trade was the only means of subsistence for his family, and he became angry with his son. But the holy youth, who knew the Holy Scriptures well, said to his father: "Calm down, father, I have not squandered your property, but lent it to God, and I have a true receipt in His Holy Scriptures, which says: he who has mercy on the poor lends to God." The youth, in the simplicity of his soul, believed the words of the Holy Scriptures so much that he invited his father to see if the wheat in his granary was exhausted, and what happened? That part of the granary which had been empty before was now full of the best wheat.

May: Day 9: Teaching 1: Translation of the Honorable Relics of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

 

May: Day 9: Teaching 1:
Translation of the Honorable Relics of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
 
(The Life of Saint Nicholas Is a Rule of Faith, an Image of Meekness and a Teacher of Temperance)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Nicholas of Myra, today celebrated in ecclesiastical hymns and readings, was born in the Lycian city of Patara, and in his youth was given over to the service of God under the guidance of his uncle Nicholas, the Bishop of Patara, who later elevated him to the rank of presbyter. During his uncle's journey to the Holy Land, Nicholas governed the Patara flock, and upon his return he himself went to Jerusalem and during the journey by his prayers twice calmed a storm. Returning from Jerusalem, he wanted to continue his service in his native city, but, by special inspiration of God, he moved to the city of Myra, where he was soon elected bishop and showed himself an example of "faith, meekness, and temperance." During the persecution of Christians by Diocletian, he, along with others, was subjected to imprisonment, in which he remained until the triumph of Christianity under Constantine the Great . At the First Ecumenical Synod, Saint Nicholas showed particular zeal in disgracing the heresy of Arius. Glorified by God with the gift of miracles, the great Saint died in old age, in 342, in the city of Myra, where his relics remained until their transfer to the Italian city of Bargrad (Bari) in 1087.

December: Day 20: Holy Martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer

December: Day 20:
Holy Martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer
 
(About the Innocence of Childhood That Adults Should Imitate)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Once the Apostles were arguing about which of them was the greatest. Jesus Christ, hearing what they were talking about, called a child and, embracing him, set him among them and said: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself as this child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And whoever receives such a child in My name receives Me” (Matt. 18:2-4; Mark 9:37). Tradition says that the child whom Jesus embraced was the same one who, under the name of Ignatius the God-Bearer, was a disciple of John the Theologian, then a Bishop of the Antiochian Church, and finally was honored to receive a martyr's crown for the name of Jesus Christ. His memory is celebrated today.

II. If the Lord has set up children's innocence as a model, then it means that He has found in it such qualities of soul and heart that every Christian must have in order to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. What, you may ask, is there in children that adults could profitably learn from them?

"Whoever is Kind to the Poor Lends to the Lord": The Simple Faith of Saint John the Merciful

 

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

If you have read the life of Saint John the Merciful - which I urge you to read for the umpteenth time - you will see that when Saint John the Merciful was young (he was around 17-18 years old at the time) he saw a vision from God, he saw a princess who told him:

"If you conquer me, I will lead you to the King's throne. For I am the King's best daughter. And if you succeed and get me as your life partner, I will make you king too!"

And when he asked her: "Who are you?" she told him that she was empathy, mercy, compassion.

So the Saint entered this struggle, as a young child, and put himself to the test: "It appears this is how things are?" he said.

Homily on the Origins of Modern Godlessness (St. Luke of Simferopol)

On the Origins of Modern Godlessness

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on February 27, 1948 -
Friday of the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee)

You know what the Jews, the contemporaries of Christ, said: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

It was about Him. And when the Lord came to Nazareth, where He grew up, where He was brought up, there people treated Him with contempt, did not consider Him a saint or a prophet, and said: “After all, we know that this is the son of the carpenter Joseph.” A significant part of the human race still treats the Savior with the same contempt - that portion that was once Christian, but now has become apostate. Why, why? Precisely because the teaching of Christ is extremely simple, so simple that it is accessible to the understanding of the simplest, most uneducated person.

And proud people scorn everything simple, lowly, while people bow before what they consider great and significant. And because of their pride, because of their arrogance, they do not want to know the Lord Jesus Christ, they have chosen other teachers, other leaders.