Homily on the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on the Feast of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon and on the Birthday of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Maria Alexandrovna

By St. John of Kronstadt

"Go therefore and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice?" (Matthew 9:13).

Celebrating the memory of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon and the birthday of the Most Pious Empress, what would be more appropriate and edifying to offer a conversation about from the church pulpit than about the mercy for which the Holy Great Martyr was famous during his life and which he miraculously shows to this day to all who resort to him with faith and zeal. A word about mercy is all the more appropriate now that we see this Christian virtue as if embodied in the Empress, this true mother of the Russian people.

So, a brief word about mercy. What virtue is most characteristic of a Christian and constitutes a primary obligation? Mercy. The Only Begotten Son of God, who came down from heaven to earth due to unfathomable mercy toward perishing sinners, and shed His blood for them in the redemptive suffering on the cross, Himself persuades us to be merciful to one another: "Be therefore merciful, as your Heavenly Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36). "Go therefore and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice?" You know that the entire life of Jesus Christ was a continuous manifestation of the greatest benefactions to suffering humanity: He healed all kinds of diseases, cast out evil spirits from people, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, the ability to walk to the lame, restoring uprightness to the hunchbacked. He raised the dead and provided unspeakable joy to those who mourned for them. He preached to the people daily, enlightening their minds and hearts with salvific truths. He healed the souls of sinners oppressed by sins and forgave their transgressions. He called out to all sinners: "Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). To His Disciples and Apostles, He bestowed the grace to perform similar acts of mercy: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). All these deeds they performed before the eyes of many witnesses. After the Apostles, this same gift was also received by many believers in the Lord Jesus Christ in fulfillment of His promise: "These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18). Or: "He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do" (John 14:12). Thus, the Saints performed numerous miraculous deeds of mercy.

July: Day 1: Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian

July: Day 1:
Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian
 
(On Imitating Them)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian, who suffered in Rome in 284. They were brothers and were raised in Christian piety. Having studied the art of medicine, they, with the help of God's grace, healed all kinds of illnesses. Helping people, they also healed animals. The good healers did not take payment or reward for healing from anyone and therefore were called unmercenary doctors or unmercenaries. They demanded only one thing from those being healed: that they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Healing the sick in Rome itself and in the surrounding cities, they converted many to Christ. Giving healing to the sick, they also helped the poor from their estates left to them by their parents, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and did other works of mercy.

June: Day 28: Teaching 1: Translation of the Relics of the Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John

June: Day 28: Teaching 1:
Translation of the Relics of the Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John

(The Perniciousness of Pride and the Means of Combating It)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The sick turned to the holy unmercenary physicians Cyrus and John, whose translation of relics is commemorated today, not only during their lifetime, but also after their death. Thus, a certain city governor's son fell ill; local physicians treated him unsuccessfully. The father and son finally turned to the unmercenary physicians Cyrus and John, who appeared to the sick man and ordered him to "abandon his pride" and, as proof of his humility, demanded that he sweep their temple himself. The sick man fulfilled the demand - and was healed. When, after some time, he again forgot the lesson given to him, the illness returned. Now he had to carry water to the sick in order to be healed.

Second Sunday of Pentecost: Every Good Deed is Supported by God Himself and His Saints

Second Sunday of Pentecost

Every Good Deed is Supported by God Himself and His Saints

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

"Without God,  you can't get anywhere" – says an old proverb. Indeed, what can we, the weak, accomplish without the help of the Creator, the Almighty and the Providence of God?! He is our Creator, who has given us breath and life; He is our Providence, who cares for all that we need in life, particularly for that which leads us to salvation. "If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor," as it is written in the word of God (Psalm 126:1). 

Once the Apostles of Christ fished all night, but there was no catch. The Divine Teacher came to them and ordered them to cast the net... And in an hour, or even less, the catch was so great that the Apostles could hardly pull the net out, and the boat even began to sink from the multitude of fish. What did such a successful catch depend on? On the blessing of God. "We have worked all night and caught nothing," the Apostles said to the Savior. Everyone works, they work with zeal, but everyone complains that their work is in vain. Why is this? Because their work was undertaken without God's blessing.

June: Day 1: Teaching 1: Venerable Agapitus the Unmercenary of the Kiev Caves

 

June: Day 1: Teaching 1:
Venerable Agapitus the Unmercenary of the Kiev Caves

(Lessons From His Life: 
a. Healing Diseases is a Gift From God, and 
b. In Illness One Must Resort to God in Prayer)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Agapitus, celebrated today, labored in the Kiev Caves, under the guidance of Venerable Anthony. To his difficult monastic labors the Venerable One added the labor of gratuitous service to those suffering from illness. If any of the brethren fell ill, the Venerable One immediately hastened to provide assistance and remained at the sick person’s bedside until the patient recovered. The Venerable One served the sick brother with all zeal, personally lifting him from his bed, laying him down, carrying him from one place to another, and all this was accompanied by prayer for the healing of the sick person.

The means used by the Venerable One for healing were the simplest, and even ordinary plants used for food were given to the sick and, by the power of faith and prayer of the Venerable One, provided real help in the most serious illnesses. The fame of the healing power of Venerable Agapitus spread far, and many sick people came to him and received benefit. But he always refused those who begged him to come to the city or the surrounding areas to heal the sick, strictly keeping to his monastic vow not to leave the monastery and fearing that by gaining human glory he would harm his salvation; for he deeply believed that the power of healing lies not so much in medical skill as in the gracious help brought down by humble prayer. Thus, when the Chernigov prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich, being seriously ill and hearing about the successes of the healing of Venerable Agapitus, sent to ask him to come to him, the Venerable One resolutely refused, but with a boyar sent by the prince he sent a plant from his farm, and the sick man quickly and completely recovered. The prince himself came to the Kiev Caves Monastery to thank his deliverer, but the Venerable One hid and, not accepting the gifts from the prince, said to those who brought him them: “I have never taken anything from anyone; for it is not my art, but the power of Christ that heals the sick.” This unmercenrary doctor and man of prayer died in extreme old age around 1095 A.D. and was buried in the Antoniev Cave.

November: Day 1: Teaching 1: Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian

November: Day 1: Teaching 1: Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian
 
(On Dissatisfaction With One's Condition)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saints Kosmas and Damian, whose memory is celebrated today, were brothers; their father, a Greek, was a pagan; and their mother, Theodotia, professed the Christian faith. She was widowed in her youth and led a pious life, and according to the words of the Apostle Paul: "A true widow," he says, "trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers day and night." Theodotia accustomed her children to a godly life, strictly watched over them, instructed them in virtue, and taught them the Divine Scriptures.

From infancy, Kosmas and Damian tried to fulfill the law of God, and when they reached adulthood, like two lamps, they shone with good deeds. In order to be of greater benefit to their neighbors, they took up medical science, learned the healing properties of herbs and plants, and became skilled doctors. The Lord blessed the good doctors and granted them healing, miraculous powers. The brothers did not seek earthly glory or wealth, never took money or gifts from the sick, strictly following the words of the Savior, Who said to the Apostles: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, freely have you received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). For such selflessness, the Church called them "unmercenaries."

Elder Ioannikios Androulakis Was Operated On By The Holy Unmercenaries

Elder Ioannikios Androulakis of Crete had great love for today's celebrated Holy Unmercenaries, as he himself had confessed:

In 1972, the same abdominal discomfort started again as when I was rector in Pachia Ammos. I went to the hospital in Ierapetra and after examinations the doctors found that I had gallstones and that they had to proceed with their removal a few days later.

As Abbot of Exakoustis Monastery, I was known to many people in the wider area and as soon as it was learned that I was hospitalized, many people visited me. Even the nursing staff, throughout the night, gathered around my bed and asked me to talk to them about our faith.

The Healing of Elder Ambrose Lazaris by the Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damianos

Once, when Elder Ambrose Lazaris was at Mount Athos, without receiving a blessing, he had climbed a fig tree outside Koutloumousiou Monastery to cut figs, but he broke the branch and fell badly, bruising his leg.

The night that followed, shortly after midnight, and while he was in terrible pain, the Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damianos appeared from the chapel that commemorates them nearby and immediately fixed his leg as it was before.

Saints Cyrus and John Resource Page

Sts. Cyrus and John the Wonderworker (Feast Days - January 31st and June 28th)

 

 Verses

Cyrus and his fellow athlete John go towards the sword,
Working miracles together even after the sword.

 

Saints Cyrus and John the Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries

 

The Discovery of the Relics of the Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John

 

The Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John in the "Life of Saint John the Merciful"  

 

January: Day 31: Teaching 2: Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cyrus and John

 

June: Day 28: Teaching 1: Translation of the Relics of the Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John

 

Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

Miracles 1 - 4 of Saints Cyrus and John as Recorded by Saint Sophronios of Jerusalem 

 

Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John for Theodora Who Had an Eye Disease and for her Husband Christodoros Who Was Shipwrecked 

 

A Miracle of Saints Cyrus and John for Theopompos Who Was Demon Possessed 

 

A Miracle of Saints Cyrus and John for the Physician Gesios

 

A Miracle of Saints Cyrus and John for Kosmiana Who Had a Back Injury

 

 

Father George Aspropoulos (+ 1929), the Priest Who Baptized Saint Joseph the Hesychast

On March 5, 1929, Father George Aspropoulos (1863 -1929), the virtuous priest of Lefkes on the island of Paros, who baptized the well-known Saint Joseph the Hesychast (who was baptized with the name Francis) and had a very positive effect on his subsequent course, reposed.

Father George was poor and suffered much in life, but he was full of mercy and good works and served his parishioners sacrificially as a humble shepherd. He was a model of faith and virtue, a bright lamp for all who knew him in the difficult times he ministered. This inspired young Francis to respect the cassock and its incalculable value.

In his 31st Epistle, Saint Joseph would later make a reference to Father George, who appeared to him once in a vision:

"I once saw the Priest who baptized us all in the homeland. What a holy man he was. He kept his virginity. He did much almsgiving. And in my sleep he said to me: 'When I was alive I thought that only Liturgies take souls out of Hades, but now that I have died, I have seen in practice that even the prayers you say take souls out of damnation. So don't stop praying for souls. Because the merciful God looks for cause and occasion to save a soul.'"