Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 3

The Month of September

Day 3

4. Against Falsehood

(From the Life of the Hieromartyr Anthimos. September 3)

It seems to us that in recent times no sin has become so widespread among people as the sin of falsehood. They lie everywhere and about everything. They lie simply by knowing the truth and concealing it; they lie by presenting a matter not as it actually is; they lie with the aim of harming one person or another; they lie out of greed and bribery, in order to obtain something for themselves through falsehood; finally, they lie out of flattery and the desire to please people, in order by lying to curry favor with someone. In a word, words flow everywhere like rivers, yet there is nothing with which to quench one’s thirst, because the water is rotten. But this sin of falsehood, which, incidentally, is now given so little attention, is in reality a grave sin before God, hateful to Him and severely punished by Him. Thus the word of God says: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22). And in another place: “The Lord shall destroy all those who speak lies.” For this reason we, too, must not give ourselves over to the sin of falsehood, but avoid it in every way and always speak the truth alone. But in order to acquire the habit of the latter, what must we do? We must, precisely, first of all remember that falsehood is a grave sin and one severely punished by God; secondly, we must remember also that whoever lies imitates the devil, who, according to the word of the Lord, “did not stand in the truth ... and is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44); and thirdly, we must learn the truth from the saints, who stood for it even when, for its sake, they had to lay down their very lives. Yes, brethren, regarding the truth, the saints can always give us saving lessons, and by their example can always turn us away from falsehood. Therefore, for a lesson in truth, we intend now to direct you to the saints as well, and we hope that the lesson they give you will not remain without benefit for you.

Homily on the Holy Martyr Mamas (St. Basil the Great)

  

Homily 23

On the Holy Martyr Mamas

By St. Basil the Great

I am not unaware of the greatness of the panegyric encomia demanded by this festival; but just as I know this, so also I am conscious of my own weakness. For the subject requires that something worthy be said both of those who have gathered here, and of the hope they have placed in us, and of the subject itself. Since today we are celebrating the memory of the greatest of the martyrs, every mind is alert and every ear prepared, expecting to hear something worthy of the martyr; and out of longing for him, they have come to the church. For grateful children demand great encomia for their fathers, and would never consent that the greatness of those being praised should be placed in jeopardy through the smallness of the speaker. Thus, the greater the eagerness, the greater the danger. What, then, shall we do? And how shall we both fulfill your desires and ourselves not depart without accomplishing what is required of the occasion? Let us invite each soul to depart having renewed in its mind the things with which it came to the commemoration, having fed itself from its own resources, and gladdened itself with its own provisions.

Remember the martyr for me, all of you who have benefited through dreams of him; all of you who, having come upon this place, have found him a fellow-worker with you in prayer; all of you for whom, when he was called upon by name, he stood beside you in your deeds; all of you whom he has brought back from your journeys; all of you whom he has raised up from sickness; all of you to whom he has restored children who had already died; all of you for whom he has extended the appointed term of life. Gather all these things together for me, and compose an encomium from a common contribution. Share with one another what each of you knows with the one who does not know; let the one who does not know receive from the one who does know what he does not know; and thus, by feasting one another from our common contribution, pardon the weakness of our speech. For these are the encomia of a martyr: the abundance of spiritual gifts.

Holy Martyr Mamas in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Mamas was from Gangra, a city of the Paphlagonians. His parents were Christians, and they were arrested for their faith in Christ and thrown into prison. There, in the bonds of imprisonment, the Saint was born. Because his parents died in prison, the infant was taken in by a Christian woman named Ammia, who raised him. The Saint continually called this foster mother of his “Mama,” and for this reason he was named Mamas. When he was fifteen years old, he was arrested as a Christian and beaten with rods; afterward they hung a heavy weight of lead around his neck and threw him into the sea. But by the power of God he was saved from the danger and hid in a cave, being nourished on the milk of deer. Yet again they arrested him, threw him into a furnace, and cast him to the wild beasts. Finally, they pierced him with an iron trident, and thus he departed from this life.

2. The grace possessed by Saint Mamas is threefold. First, because he was the child of martyrs, from whom, even though he never knew them, he surely received the continual blessing of their bold prayers before the Lord. Second, because he was brought up as a Christian by a devout woman, who imparted to him the streams of the Christian faith and surely never ceased speaking to him about his sanctified parents. Third, and most importantly, while still a child he himself became a confessor and martyr of the Christian faith, belonging to that distinguished company of the holy child-martyrs.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 2

The Month of September

Day 2

3. To Mothers Who Are Widows and Have Young Children

(From the Life of the Holy Martyr Mamas. September 2 in the Festal Menaion)

One often encounters in this world such a sorrowful sight: a widow dies surrounded by helpless young children. How terrible is her situation! Even as she struggles against death and grows weaker, you see that what torments her, what torments her beyond expression, is the grievous fate she imagines awaits her orphans after her death. “What will they do after I am gone? What will they live on? Who will need them?” such a woman thinks. And thus to bodily illness is added yet another torment, that of the soul; fear presses upon her heart, pity for her children strikes it with sorrow, and, looking ahead to the bitter fate of her children, who will then be complete orphans, the poor widowed mother gives herself over to boundless grief.

Widowed mothers who have young children! What do you think? Must all of you likewise look with such sorrow upon the future fate of your orphaned children without you? Is it really only left for you to think that without you your children will inevitably be both unhappy and helpless? And finally, is there truly no means by which you might in some way comfort and encourage yourselves when reflecting upon their future fate?

The Chapel of Saint Mamas on the Island of Hydra

The Chapel of Saint Mamas is located on the island of Hydra high in the Klimaki area, on a plateau west of Mount Eros on the (internal) road to Episkopi. It is an all-white chapel in a deserted location overlooking Myrtos Beach.

It is said that the founder of the church was Th. Rigas and he was in danger of a storm coming to Hydra, but he made a vow to Saint Mamas that if he was saved, he would build him a chapel, which he did.

September: Day 2: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Mamas

September: Day 2: Teaching 1: 

Holy Martyr Mamas
 
(Lessons From His Life: 

a. God's providence in the lives of orphans; 

b. the good sides of orphanhood; 

and c. an exhortation to take care of orphans)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the holy martyr Mamas. The parents of Saint Mamas were noble and wealthy Christians, originally from Asia Minor, and their names were Theodotos and Rufina. For their Christian faith they were imprisoned. Theodotos died in prison, and his wife, overcome with grief, gave birth to a premature son, and soon after also gave up her soul to God. The merciful God did not leave the infant without help and care. At that time there lived in Caesarea a virtuous and pious rich widow, Ammia. The Lord inspired her with the good thought to ask the ruler of the country for permission to bury the bodies of deceased Christians. Having received permission to do so, she herself went to the prison and when she saw the poor baby between the dead parents, her heart was filled with compassion, and she decided to take the child and raise him as her own son. She nursed him, calling him Mamas. Having reached adolescence, he loved God and his neighbors, learned a pious life and was awarded the crown of martyrdom for his firm confession of his Christian faith.

Encomium to the Holy Great Martyr Mamas (St. Neophytos the Recluse)

Encomium to the Holy Great Martyr Mamas

 

By St. Neophytos the Recluse

Mamas the great and renowned, the beauty of Christ's martyrs, the fervent protector of the wounded, the physician of terrible pains and divine healer, the one who dries wounds and easily removes their stench, cleans the rot of demonic wounds, truly having a storehouse of divine medicines and healing free of charge those who come with faith to this sacred temple.

He who did not take into account the terrible threats of impious tyrants, who considered tortures with help from above as the arrows of infants. He received from the forefather Adam the gift which he had from God before the transgression, to have authority over wild animals as if they were tame. He milked them like obedient sheep and made cheese for his own and some poor people's sustenance. He did not, like Abel, sacrifice the best sheep, but offered himself to God through martyrdom and various tortures. He is the one who gathered us all together to glorify God, because on this day after leaving the temporal life, he was transferred to the eternal and to a bright place. That is why it is to our benefit that we celebrate his annual and blessed memory today.