August: Day 13: Teaching 1: Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh

August: Day 13: Teaching 1:
Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh
 
(A Role Model for Christians)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The great Saint Tikhon, the intercessor of the whole Russian land and the glorious wonderworker, the discovery of whose holy relics is commemorated today, was born in 1724 in the village of Korotsko, now in the Valdaysky district of the Novgorod province. His father Savva Kirillov was a very poor village deacon and died soon after his birth, so that the Saint did not remember him. The eldest son took his place and became the breadwinner of the family. Their mother Domnikia, three brothers and two sisters had to subsist on the meager wages of a psalmist. There was often no bread. The future luminary of Russia in his infancy and adolescence sometimes toiled until the sweat of his brow, harrowing the whole day for some peasant, just so that they would feed him with bread. But, in poverty, what a wonderful family it was! This is what happened one day: there was a coachman in their village, a well-to-do man, but childless. He often said to Timothy's mother (the secular name of Saint Tikhon): "Give him to me, I will feed him and arrange for him." One time, the elder brother, the breadwinner, was not at home: the mother, unable to bear to see her orphans without bread, without shoes, after crying, took Timothy and led him to the coachman. But the elder brother soon came, rushed after his mother, fell on his knees before her and said: "Where are you taking him? I would rather go out into the world with a bag, than give my brother to a coachman." The mother returned home. What brotherly love! And what it means to support a person in time! If it were not for such a good brother, we, perhaps, would not have had the great Saint, who for his great soul-saving writings can truly be called the Russian Chrysostom.

July: Day 10: Teaching 2: The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord in the Royal City of Moscow

July: Day 10: Teaching 2:
The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord in the Royal City Moscow
 
(On the Meaning of the Sufferings of Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today, the Holy Church commemorates the bringing of the Lord's robe to Moscow and its placement. In 1624, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, being on good terms with Abbas, the Shah of Persia, sent ambassadors Vorobyin and Kuvshinov to him. The Shah, having conquered Iberia, was returning victorious. Upon receiving the ambassadors, he spoke to them of his intention – to send the robe of the Savior, which he had found in the treasury of a certain church, to the Russian sovereign. The ambassadors reported this to the Tsar and the Patriarch, who were uncertain of how to respond; meanwhile, the Shah's envoy Irusambek arrived in Moscow with many gifts and a letter. First of all, he presented the Patriarch Philaret with a golden box adorned with precious stones. Within it was enclosed the Lord's robe. The Patriarch received it with honor, yet he himself was perplexed about how to regard the received gift, and thus convened a synod, at which Nektarios, the Archbishop of Vologda, communicated the following: "During his diaconate under the Patriarch of Constantinople, he was obliged to be in Iberia. There, in one church, he noticed burning lamps at a pillar on the right side and inquired about this from the priests. They replied that there was the Chiton of Christ and recounted its history: after the Crucifixion of the Savior, when soldiers cast lots for His garments, it was awarded to a soldier from the Iberian land. That man brought it back to his homeland and gifted it to his sister, with whom, according to her wish, the robe was buried." Soon a tree grew over her grave, from which fragrant myrrh flowed. During the reign of Constantine the Great, in 342 AD, a church was built here, and a bishopric was established in Iberia. However, during the Persian rule, both the tree and the temple disappeared, and what happened to the chiton remains unknown. When the question of the authenticity of the vestments was not resolved at the synod, a fast was appointed, after which Metropolitan Cyprian, by order of the Patriarch, placed the brought vestment upon the sick: all the sick were healed – and everyone was convinced of its sanctity, which was later transferred to the Dormition Cathedral and placed in a specially arranged room, in the corner, on the west side of the cathedral.

February: Day 9: Holy Martyr Nikephoros

February: Day 9:
Holy Martyr Nikephoros
 
(On the Need To Make Peace With Enemies)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyr Nikephoros, whose memory is celebrated today, was a layman and was in great friendship with one priest, Saprikios, but due to some circumstances this friendship subsequently not only cooled, but also turned into enmity.

Nikephoros, however, gradually softened and tried to make peace with Saprikios. Saprikios, on the contrary, did not want to hear about reconciliation.

Meanwhile, at this time, a persecution of Christians began. The priest Saprikios was one of the first to be tortured. He endured them with fortitude, and was finally condemned to death. Having learned of this, Nikephoros hastened to ask forgiveness from the martyr. But although Saprikios had enough spiritual strength to accomplish the feat, at the same time he did not have enough love or humility in his heart to make peace with his enemy. He did not pity or forgive his former friend, who tearfully begged him for reconciliation, who now suffered for him, for Saprikios the martyr, who was depriving himself of the crown of victory through his vindictiveness.