Prologue in Sermons: April 7

 What Evil Does Drunkenness Cause to a Person?

April 7

(An exhortation to kings and princes, to bishops and priests, and to all Christians, that they should not become drunk.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Whoever gives himself over to the vice of drunkenness, for the most part forgets everything around him. He has only one thing on his mind — where he might drink; he watches only for opportunities to satisfy his vile passion wherever feasts are held (Prov. 23:30). And yet, if he were fully to realize what a terrible evil he is doing — to himself, to his family, and to society — he would surely be horrified. Indeed, the harm caused by drunkenness, both to drunkards themselves and through them to others, is scarcely imaginable. Ruin awaits drunkards, if they do not abandon their passion — inevitable ruin; their condition is dreadful.

October: Day 24: Teaching 2: Venerable Arethas the Recluse of the Kiev Caves

October: Day 24: Teaching 2:
Venerable Arethas the Recluse of the Kiev Caves

(Modern Idolatry)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the feast of the today celebrated Venerable Arethas of the Caves, who once suffered from stinginess and made an idol out of his wealth until the grace of God placed him in the right relationship with earthly acquisitions, it will be appropriate, my beloved brethren, to talk with you about our idolatry - not of pagan deities, but of various passions and vices.

II. The ancient peoples, ignorant of the true God, worshiped false gods. Even the Jews, who knew the true God, sometimes joined them. Did they not worship the deities "Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians, and Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites"? (IV Kings 23:13). Worshippers even sacrificed their own children to the latter.

Prologue in Sermons: October 7

Consequences of Drunkenness

October 7

(Various Passages of Holy Scripture Cited in the Discourse of Saint Antiochus on Drunkenness)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

To warn us against the destructive passion for wine, the word of God points out the harmful consequences that come from it. “Do not mix with a drunkard,” it says, “for every drunkard will come to poverty” (Prov. 23:20-21). "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine" (Prov. 23:29-30). "Drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:10). "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness, and that day come upon you suddenly" (Luke 21:34). "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise" (Prov. 20:1).

Second Sunday of Pentecost: Don't Insult the Priest!

  

Second Sunday of Pentecost

Don't Insult the Priest!

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Here is a very instructive story of one priest: “My father,” said this shepherd, “was a priest for a long time at the Church of Saint Andrew, where I have served since 1824; he gave me the following obvious proof of the truth that it is dangerous to insult a priest. In his parish there was a certain Maxim, from the Little Russian Cossacks, a man of an obstinate character, especially when he drank, which, unfortunately, happened to him quite often. My father, in accordance with his duties as a shepherd, admonished him at every opportunity, urged him to reform and stop drinking. Once, seeing this Maxim, again behaving outrageously while drunk, he made a remark to him: 'How badly you act, Maxim, how you sin!' However, Maxim, instead of adhering to the counsel given, uttered a considerable amount of rudeness and foul language to his spiritual father, and in response to my father's remark, 'But I am your spiritual father,' retorted, 'May I never see you, even when I am dying.' Thus, the matter concluded there.

Elder Gabriel's "Performance" in a Pub

R.B. Revaz gave the following testimony of an encounter he had with Saint Gabriel (Urgebadze) of Georgia:

In the late 1980s, my family was on the verge of destruction due to my chaotic life. Not a day went by that I didn't drink alcohol. I also became addicted to gambling. I lost my job, my friends... Because of this, all my relatives suffered. Deep down I was aware of my condition, but I was unable to cope with myself. Most likely, I was already getting used to this kind of existence. As they tell me, and I remember myself, I lost my human appearance, everything around me irritated me, and at some point I felt like another person. At that time I was not looking for any spiritual refuge, much less it never occurred to me to go to church, since I did not take clergy seriously at that time.

This would have continued for a long time if one fine evening Elder Gabriel had not walked into that pub where I, finishing another glass of beer, was preparing to commit a reckless act. Yes, dear friends, you definitely read it: Elder Gabriel entered a pub!