Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 21

 

The Month of September

Day 21

22. The More the Lord Rewards a Person for His Labor, the More That Person Should Labor

(From the Life of Saint Dimitri of Rostov)

When, brethren, we find ourselves in a lowly condition and suffer want, then, in most cases, we labor diligently and strive with all our strength to rise above our circumstances or escape from poverty. But when this happens, or when the Lord simply blesses us with good fortune, then laziness also appears in us, and we are no longer the diligent workers that we were when we were in a lowly condition and suffering want. Should it be this way? No. If the Lord has blessed you with good fortune, then all the more should you show your gratitude to Him through greater labor. Show that you value His great mercies, and then, surely, the Lord will bless you even more and reward you with even greater mercies, and will grant you even greater happiness. The Saints deeply reflected upon this truth and always acted according to it. For our instruction, let us learn from one of them.

Saint Dimitri, Metropolitan of Rostov, made it a rule of his life to act in such a way that whenever the Lord raised him to a higher position, he would labor all the more. And just as he resolved to act, so he actually acted. When he was made an archimandrite, it is written in his Life that he “increased his labor in proportion to his rank, knowing what is written: ‘To whom much has been given, from him much will be required’” (Luke 12:48). Dimitri also edited the Lives of the Saints, concerned himself with the good order of the monastery, and with the salvation of the brethren entrusted to his care. “No less,” it is further written, “did he assist in other spiritual matters that were greatly beneficial to the Holy Church, by word, counsel, discernment, and deed.”

October: Day 14: Teaching 4: Venerable Nicholas Sviatosha

October: Day 14: Teaching 4:*
Venerable Nicholas Sviatosha
 
(Humble Yourself, Proud Man!)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the feast of Venerable Nicholas Sviatosha, who was once a glorious and rich Russian prince, and after receiving monastic vows at the Kiev Caves Monastery in 1106, became a humble monk who served sometimes as a gatekeeper, sometimes as a simple worker, with ardent love and great joy performing all the most menial tasks in the monastery, it would be very appropriate to offer to your love, my brethren, the following teaching of Saint Dimitri of Rostov on humility.

II. "Nowhere will you find peace, O man, except in humility, and you will not experience such confusion as in pride. If you want peace and quiet, be humble; otherwise, in rumor and confusion, in sorrow and grief, you will exhaust your life and will always be subject to a fall. Humble yourself before everyone, and you will be exalted by the Lord. It is of little use that you yourself become exalted, and not that God will exalt you. Your exaltation is a falling away from God, and exaltation from God is accomplished by His grace. If you yourself become exalted, God will humble you; but if you humble yourself, God will exalt you. But even with such exaltation, be humble, and the Lord will exalt you for all eternity. 'Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you,' says the Apostle (James 4:10).

October: Day 28: Teaching 3: Saint Dimitri, Metropolitan of Rostov

October: Day 28: Teaching 3:
Saint Dimitri, Metropolitan of Rostov
 
(On the Benefits of Reading the Lives of Saints)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Dimitri, Metropolitan of Rostov, whose blessed repose is now celebrated, was born in 1651 in the town of Makarov, near Kiev, and was named Daniel. His father, Savvas, nicknamed Tuptalo, was a regimental centurion. From his youth, Daniel showed both ability and zeal for learning. Having completed his studies at the Kiev school, at the age of 17 he entered the Monastery of Saint Cyril in Kiev as a monk and was named Dimitri. Distinguished by his gift of speech and zeal for pastoral service, Dimitri served as a preacher in various cities and was abbot in various monasteries. His lot fell to him to accomplish a great deed for the enlightenment of the Russian people – to compile the lives of the saints. The collection of the lives of the saints, known as the Chetiikh-Minei, was begun by Makarios, the Metropolitan of Moscow, who lived in the sixteenth century. Then the Metropolitan Peter Mogila of Kiev wanted to publish the lives of the saints in a more understandable language, but he died without fulfilling his intention. After his death, this work was entrusted to Saint Dimitri, who was then the abbot of the Baturinsky Monastery. He was engaged in this work for 20 years, in the rank of Archimandrite in Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky and Metropolitan of Rostov. The lives of the saints he collected, in 12 large volumes, represent a great edifying reading for the Orthodox Russian people. Peter the Great appointed Dimitri the Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl. In the rank of Metropolitan, Dimitri showed great zeal as an archshepherd. He founded a school in Rostov, supported it with his own income, zealously preached the word of God, set an example of holy life and helped those in need. Since there were many schismatics in his diocese, Saint Dimitri wrote "Investigation of the Schismatic Brynsk (Old Believer) Faith" to denounce them. The Saint died at the age of 58. Before his death, he called the singers to him and listened to the singing of the hymns he had composed. Then, having dismissed the singers, he kept one who had been a copyist of his works, talked with him for a long time, and, dismissing him, humbly bowed to the ground to him. The singer, touched by the Saint's humility, said: "Are you bowing so low to me, the least servant, holy master?" The Metropolitan bowed again and then, kneeling, began to pray. The next day they found him, already dead, in a prayerful position. This was in Rostov, in 1709. 43 years after the death of Dimitri, his honorable relics were found incorrupt and in 1763 Empress Catherine II transferred them to a new reliquary.

September: Day 21: Teaching 1: Saint Dimitri of Rostov

 

September: Day 21: Teaching 1:
Saint Dimitri of Rostov
 
(On Helping Those in Need of Food)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Dimitri, Metropolitan of Rostov, whose memory is celebrated today, was born in 1651 in the Kiev province of pious parents, the sotnik Savva and Maria, and was named Daniel at baptism. After home schooling, he was educated at the Kiev fraternal school. At the age of eighteen, he, at the inclination of his heart, took monastic vows, and six years later the Chernigov Archbishop Lazar Baranovich ordained him a hieromonk and appointed him a preacher at the cathedral. The strict ascetic life that Saint Dimitri led distinguished him from others, so that in his youth he was made abbot of a monastery in the Chernigov province. But burdened by the cares connected with this title, he soon gave up the abbotship and retired to the Kiev Caves Lavra, where he devoted himself to prayerful exploits and scholarly pursuits. Here he began to compile the "Lives of the Saints", under the name "Cheti-Minei", i.e. monthly readings, which later became the favorite and precious reading of the pious Russian people. In 1701, Saint Dimitri, for his virtues and labors, was consecrated to the rank of Metropolitan of Tobolsk and Siberia for the dissemination of the Christian faith among the numerous pagans living in this distant country. However, due to his poor health, he could not go there, as a result of which the following year he was appointed Metropolitan of Rostov.

The Justinianic Bubonic Plague of 542 and the Establishment of the Feast of the Reception of Christ

By St. Dimitri of Rostov

The celebration of the Reception of the Lord was established in the reign of Justinian,1 but earlier, although the Reception of the Lord was commemorated in the Church,2 it was not solemnly celebrated. The pious Emperor Justinian established that this feast should be celebrated as a feast of the Lord and the Theotokos, along with other great feasts. Special circumstances motivated the establishment of this festival. During the reign of Justinian in Byzantium and its environs, for three months, starting from the last days of October, there was a strong plague, so that at first five thousand people died a day, and then ten thousand; the bodies of even rich and high-ranking people were left without burial, for the servants and slaves all died and there was no one to bury the masters themselves.