Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (St. Innocent of Kherson)

Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos 

By St. Innocent of Kherson

Three weeks ago, we celebrated the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The event commemorated by that feast is joyful in itself, but in some respects it may seem somewhat remote to us Russians, since it took place in Greece a full thousand years before our own day. As we celebrated the feast of the Protection of the Invincible Commander over Byzantium, it was quite natural to wonder: Is the Most Holy Virgin as merciful toward us as She was toward the Byzantines, who shared our faith? Can we point to any event in the history of our fatherland comparable to the Protection of Constantinople by the Most Holy Theotokos? Today, brethren, provides the answer—and the most joyful answer it is. For today we celebrate an event that most clearly demonstrates that the protection of the Mother of God extends over our fatherland as well. To the glory of the Most Holy Virgin, and to increase our spiritual joy in this, allow me, brethren, to recount this event to you, at least in its principal details.

October: Day 22: Teaching 3: Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

October: Day 22: Teaching 3:
Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
 
(What Event Was the Feast Established to Commemorate?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The present feast in honor of the wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was established in memory of the deliverance of the Russian state in 1612, through the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, from the power and dominion of the Poles.

Taking advantage of the fact that the royal dynasty had all but died out and that complete anarchy had ensued, with all its terrible consequences, the Poles conceived the plan of seizing the Russian kingdom and came very close to succeeding. Moscow, along with nearly half the kingdom, was already in their hands. Fortunately for the Russian people, the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and others were still free from the hardships and disorders of that time. Guided by Minin and Pozharsky, whose names are forever remembered in history, they did not delay in coming to the aid of their perishing fatherland.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 22

 

The Month of October

Day 22

53. On the Mercies of the Queen of Heaven Toward Our Fatherland

(The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God)

Today, brethren, we intend to set before you the truth that the mercies of the Queen of Heaven toward our fatherland are innumerable.

Behold, today we recall how, in 1612, under Prince Pozharsky, a small handful of exhausted soldiers, encouraged by the sole hope of the intercession of the Mother of God, was inspired with steadfast courage, advanced to destroy the enemy, and defeated them. Thus, the Orthodox faith of our Church remained intact, the succession to the throne remained secure, and the people's possessions were wrested from the greedy hands of the Poles and Russian traitors. Moreover, the former lost all hope of ruling, while the latter lost the ability to wreak havoc in Russia.

And all this took place after the true sons of Russia had entrusted themselves and their homeland entirely to the protection of the Sovereign Lady. Thus, today we recall Her benefaction, especially memorable because She bestowed it upon us at that disastrous time when our fatherland seemed to stand quite literally on the brink of utter destruction.

Venerable Hilarion the Great in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

 

1. Venerable Hilarion lived during the reign of Constantine the Great. He was born and raised in the city of Gaza by pagan parents. Out of his great love for learning, he went to Alexandria, where he received an education and also embraced the Christian faith. He became a zealous follower of Anthony the Great, whom he followed and with whom he lived for a considerable time. At some point, he returned to his homeland, and when his parents died, he distributed all the property they had left him among the poor. He then withdrew into the desert and undertook the greatest ascetic struggles, as a result of which the Lord endowed him with the gift of working miracles, through which he healed many people suffering from illnesses of the body and the soul. Later, he went out into the world, and after passing through many cities, places, and countries, he completed his life at the age of eighty.

October: Day 21: Teaching 3: The Day of the Accession to the Throne of His Majesty Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich

October: Day 21: Teaching 3:
The Day of the Accession to the Throne of His Majesty Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich
 
(On Children’s Reverence for Their Parents and Their Honor for the Imperial Authority)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On this most solemn and glorious day, the accession to the ancestral throne of our Most Pious Sovereign, Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich, the true Father of the Fatherland, whom all his loyal subjects, as obedient and loving children, ought to honor and to whom they ought in all things to render submission, as required by the word of God, the Holy Church, conscience, sound reason, each person’s own welfare, and the good of the state, it will be fitting, my brethren, to speak together about children’s reverence for their parents.

If children learn to honor their parents, they will become not only true citizens of the earthly kingdom but also worthy citizens of the heavenly kingdom.

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

The Month of October

Day 21

52. Those Who Are Generous See Their Earthly Goods Increase, While the Miserly See Theirs Diminish

(From the Life of Venerable Hilarion the Great)

In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 6, the Apostle Paul writes: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” How are we to understand these words? There is more than one way to interpret them. We may understand them to mean that whoever gives little to the poor will receive a small reward from God, while whoever gives much will receive a greater reward. But we may also understand them to mean that whoever sows sparingly, that is, gives little or nothing at all to the poor, will himself suffer want and lose even what he already possesses. Whoever gives bountifully, that is, with love and generosity, will also reap bountifully, so that he himself will have an abundance of everything. Whether we are right in saying this, let the events themselves show.

Miracles of Saint Artemios the Great Martyr (15 - 19)

In the seventh century an Anonymous author compiled a number of miracles of Saint Artemios, whose healing activities were predominantly centered in the Church of Saint John the Forerunner in Constantinople and who "specialized" in healing hernias and diseases affecting the genitals of mostly male patients. Below are five examples of the forty-five listed:

Miracle 15: Narses’ blasphemy

There was a certain man in voluntary service who was attending one of the men of prominence and who was devoted to the all-night vigil of the Forerunner every Saturday. Another young man named Narses, who was also in the same official’s service, with allusion to the saint frequently chided the one devoted to the all-night vigil, mocking both the singing of hymns and those involved in it. Not only that, but he even uttered blasphemous words, saying ironically: “Yes, and perhaps does St. Artemios heal hernia patients?”

Saint Gerasimos of Kefallonia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The ecclesiastical Hymnographer, in his effort to extol the holiness of Saint Gerasimos, makes a bold and potentially contentious judgment: Saint Gerasimos is the greatest of all the Church’s more recent saints! In the Hymnographer’s own words: “No other newly manifested saint, Gerasimos, has ever proved your equal” (Ode 1). Why? For what reason? Is it because of the multitude of his miracles, which are indeed exceedingly numerous, and to which a large part of the hymns in his liturgical service refers? Is it because of his wise and profound theology? Is it because of some extraordinary gift not found in other saints, even those of more recent times? Certainly not. The Hymnographer knows what he is saying when he speaks hyperbolically, because he understands the spiritual life and the spiritual path of the Church: a saint is great and stands first on the ladder of holiness when he is foremost in humbling himself, that is, when he strives to maintain an awareness and a sense of his own lowliness and sinfulness. The truly great person is the one who stands first in humility.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 20

The Month of October

Day 20

51. On Patience

(From the Life of Holy Great Martyr Artemios)

The Lord teaches us to endure with patience the sorrows and sufferings we encounter in life. “By your endurance you will save your souls,” He says (Luke 21:19). “But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). In a word, the Lord teaches us patience. But the question is: how are we to learn it? From where are we to draw it? Where can we find it amid our sorrows? Brothers and sisters, the answer to these questions is simple: when you compare your sorrows and sufferings with those of the Savior, and when you also turn to that same Savior, imploring Him to grant you patience, then patience will undoubtedly be given to you, and you will endure your sorrows and sufferings with a cheerful heart.