Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessaloniki in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Matrona was a servant of a certain Jewish woman, who was called Pantilla. She would follow her mistress as far as the synagogue, but she did not enter inside; rather, she would turn back and go to the church of the Christians. Once she was seen doing this, and so they seized her and beat her very severely, and afterwards they shut her up in prison for four days, without anyone being able to approach her and without food. Then they brought her out and lacerated her with whips. Again they imprisoned her and left her there for many days, where she also gave up her soul to God. It is said that her holy relic was thrown down from the wall by Pantilla, and for this she suffered a just punishment, falling by accident into the winepress, into which the pressed must was being poured from above. There she ended her life and her soul departed.

The contrast is striking: on the one hand, Saint Matrona, the servant, the obscure one, the despised; and on the other, Pantilla, the mistress, the glorious, the rich. By worldly standards, there is no basis for comparison. The scale tilts automatically toward the side of Pantilla. Would not the modern secularized man say this, even if he is a “Christian”? When, for example, what appears as a priority for most people — the pursuit of pleasures, money, and glory — s what Pantilla represents, who would not choose her position, while pitying the “wretchedness” of Matrona? And yet how much delusion there is in such a value judgment! For it is the judgment of the surface. In depth, there where the heart is and where the Lord, the righteous Judge, sees — there where things operate on the level of eternity — things are entirely different: Matrona is the glorious one and the mistress, the bright star, and Pantilla is the obscure one, the non-existent, the servant and the miserable one. The Hymnographer of our Church, Saint Theophanes the Hymnographer, repeatedly emphasizes this reality, because he operates precisely with the criteria of the regenerated person, the Christian, who sees things from the perspective of the revelation in Christ, that is, of the truth.

Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus (St. Patrick of Ireland)

The Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus is a forceful denunciation by Saint Patrick of a violent raid carried out by a group of British soldiers led by Coroticus, who killed and enslaved newly baptized Irish Christians. Patrick is deeply grieved that fellow Christians committed such acts, especially against recent converts. He declares the perpetrators excommunicated and no longer part of the Christian community unless they sincerely repent.

Patrick defends the Irish believers, insisting that their baptism makes them fully equal in Christ, despite how others may view them. He condemns the greed and cruelty of selling captives into slavery among pagan peoples (likely the Picts and Scots). Throughout the letter, he urges the soldiers to repent, release the captives, and seek forgiveness. He concludes with a warning that failure to do so will bring divine judgment.

Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus 

By St. Patrick of Ireland

1. I declare that I, Patrick, – an unlearned sinner indeed – have been established a bishop in Ireland. I hold quite certainly that what I am, I have accepted from God. I live as an alien among non-Roman peoples, an exile on account of the love of God – he is my witness that this is so. It is not that I would choose to let anything so blunt and harsh come from my mouth, but I am driven by the zeal for God. And the truth of Christ stimulates me, for love of neighbors and children: for these, I have given up my homeland and my parents, and my very life to death, if I am worthy of that. I live for my God, to teach these peoples, even if I am despised by some.

Prologue in Sermons: January 23

The Crown of Love for One’s Neighbors

January 23

(Commemoration of Paulinus the Bishop, who gave away all his possessions in alms, and afterward even gave himself to be sold to the pagans.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The crown of love for one’s neighbors is to lay down one’s life for them. “Greater love than this,” says the Savior, “no one has, than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). But what does it mean to lay down one’s life for one’s friends? It means that, in time of need, one must be ready for every kind of feat of self-denial. If life is required—give your life; freedom—give your freedom; property—be deprived of your property. In a word, be ready to sacrifice everything, not excluding even yourself.

Does this amaze you, brethren? Do not be amazed. True, perhaps such people are not found today, but in former times they did exist. And behold how far their love for their neighbors sometimes extended.

Saint Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, in order to ransom his fellow countrymen from captivity by the Vandals, distributed all his possessions and was left with absolutely nothing. At that time a widow came to him and asked that he give her money to ransom her son from captivity. The servant of God searched all the corners of his cell, hoping to find something, but found nothing. Coming out to the petitioner, he said: “Believe me, I have nothing with which to ransom your son except myself. Therefore, if you wish, sell me as a slave in exchange for your son, and let him return.”

The Example of the Centurion (Fr. George Metallinos)

The Example of the Centurion 

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos

4TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW (Matthew 8:5-13)

“When Jesus heard it, He marveled…” (Matthew 8:10)

1. Today's Gospel presents us with the rough portrait of a soldier who is drawn to the charm of our Christ. When one sees so many qualities in a person's soul, it is understandable to feel a certain surprise. Life and history have accustomed us to perceive a soldier somewhat differently, as a hard and violent individual. Not infrequently, the abuses of certain individuals lead to a disgust towards the military class and, in general, towards anyone in uniform, as they are believed to be associated with violence and imposition.

The centurion has a specific reason for coming to Christ. He rushes to meet Him, to plead for his servant, who suffered from paralysis. Just this act elevates this man significantly in our consciousness, considering the status of slaves, especially during that time. Slaves were only human in form; socially, they were not different from animals. They performed all the heavy labor – similar to what foreign workers do today or what illegal immigrants endure – and they lived at the mercy of their masters, who treated them as they wished. For such a socially degraded being, the centurion comes to plead. What weighs even more heavily on his action is that he sees his servant not as his property, but as a member of his family. For it is certain that he would not have shown greater concern for one of his children.

February: Day 19: Holy Apostle Philemon

February: Day 19:
Holy Apostle Philemon*
 
(On the Attitude of Servants to Masters)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle Paul in his epistle to Philemon, a rich and dignified man who lived in Asia Minor, in the region of Phrygia, whose memory is celebrated today, asks him to accept his slave Onesimus, who had fled from him, as a beloved brother (Phil. 1:16). Without any hesitation, Philemon fulfilled the request of the Apostle Paul. Philemon not only forgave his slave for his unauthorized flight, but even granted him freedom. Philemon did such a magnanimous deed without a doubt because he was a true Christian. It is known about him that he himself preached the Christian doctrine and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles.

February: Day 15: Holy Apostle Onesimus

February: Day 15:
Holy Apostle Onesimus
 
(On the Attitude of Masters to Servants)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. In Asia Minor, in the region of Phrygia, there lived a rich and dignified man named Philemon. Having heard the preaching of the apostles, he converted to Christianity, and then he himself was numbered among the seventy apostles. He had a slave Onesimus, later the Holy Apostle Onesimus, one of the seventy, whose memory is celebrated today. Having committed some offense against his master and fearing punishment, he fled to Rome, where at that time the Apostle Paul was preaching the gospel. Onesimus followed him; he received baptism from him and did not abandon the Apostle even in his imprisonment. The Apostle Paul came to love his new follower very much, “our faithful and beloved brother,” as he calls him in his epistle to the Colossians. At the same time he wrote an epistle to Philemon, Onesimus’s master, and asked him to forgive the latter. “I beseech you,” he wrote to Philemon, “for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains... I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart." This is how the Apostle spoke about Onesimus. Philemon not only forgave Onesimus, but also set him free. Then Onesimus began to serve the Apostle Paul with even greater zeal and after his death he himself began to preach the gospel in Spain, Greece, Asia Minor and, already in his old age, was appointed Bishop of Ephesus after Timothy and John the Theologian.

Homily for the Epistle Reading of the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost - Slaves of Sin and Slaves of Righteousness (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily for the Epistle Reading of the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Romans 6:17-19

Slaves of Sin and Slaves of Righteousness

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on July 22, 1945)

 

Jesus Christ said: “The one who saves his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for My sake will save it” (Matt. 10:39). To understand these words, you need to know what the human soul is. The soul is nothing but a collection of thoughts, concepts, aspirations. There are good souls, and there are those inclined to evil, full of sinful desires. For most people, the soul is subordinate to the flesh and strives to serve its passions, is inclined to a well-fed, contented life. Such a soul must be destroyed, all its base carnal demands, which defile both the body and the soul itself, must be destroyed.

The Holy Apostle Paul addresses the Romans who believed in Christ, who left their former pagan way of life, full of sin and lewdness, with the following words: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:17-18).

Holy Hieromartyr Neophyte the Cretan (+ 1753)

St. Neophyte the Cretan (Feast Day - June 16)

Metropolitan Neophyte the Cretan, of Greek origin, was born around 1690, on the island of Crete, and reposed on June 16, 1753, in Bucharest.

He came to Wallachia when he was a hieromonk, in the entourage of Constantine Mavrocordatos (in the third reign: 1735-1741), as a teacher of his children. Born in Constantinople as a Phanariote member of the Mavrocordatos family, Constantine succeeded his father, Nicholas Mavrocordatos, as Prince of Wallachia in 1730, after obtaining boyar support.

Also with the help and support of Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos, he became "titular" (honorary) Metropolitan of Myra in Lycia (ordained in Bucharest January 27, 1737), and, a year later, he was elected Metropolitan of Wallachia on November 7, 1738, where he served as a shepherd of Christ's flock until his death.