Homily Two on the Seventh Sunday of Luke (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

Homily Two on the Seventh Sunday of Luke 
(24th Sunday After Pentecost)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

In today's Gospel, among other things, the healing of a sick woman is described. She had been treated by physicians for twelve years, had spent all her possessions on medicines, and had received no benefit from them: she had been treated for twelve years, yet had not been cured (Luke 8:43). Why did this happen? Is it perhaps sinful to use medicines? Is it displeasing to God to seek treatment from physicians?

Homily Three on the Seventh Sunday of Luke (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

Homily Three on the Seventh Sunday of Luke
(24th Sunday After Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

In the Gospel read today, two miraculous benefits bestowed by our Savior were spoken of: upon the woman with an issue of blood and upon Jairus, the ruler of the Jewish synagogue. The Lord healed the first in an instant, through her touching His garment; in the case of the other, He raised from the dead his only daughter, who was twelve years old.

November: Day 8: Teaching 3: Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers

 

November: Day 8: Teaching 3:
Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers
 
(Everything can and should be done for the glory of God.)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of the Holy Archangel Michael, who is distinguished by his extraordinary zeal for the glory of God, and who is therefore depicted in a militant form, as a warrior fighting for the glory of the Creator and Almighty, as the conqueror of Satan, who, because of his opposition to the will of the Lord, was cast down from heaven by the Holy Archangel Michael and the other Holy Angels, it will be appropriate, brethren, to offer you the instruction of Saint John Chrysostom concerning the fact that everything can and should be done for the glory of God.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 8

The Month of November
 

Day 8

70. The Good Angels Bestow Benefits upon People

(The Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers)

The Holy Orthodox Church teaches us to believe that the Holy Angels are our invisible friends, defenders, and protectors; that they guard us from every evil, both visible and invisible, and are always ready to bestow one benefit or another upon us. Is all this true, brethren? And is it true, even in a particular instance, for example, that the Angels are always ready to bestow one benefit or another upon us? Yes, brethren, everything that has been told us about the Angels, both in general and in particular, is indeed the very truth, and there should be no doubt about it whatsoever, for everything we have said is confirmed by an example. What example is this, you may ask. Listen, for we now present it for your consideration.

The Historical Journey of the Sacred Relic of Saint George of Neapolis

 

By Archimandrite Epiphanios Arvanitis,
Protosyngellos of the Sacred Metropolis of New Ionia, Philadelphia, Heraklion, and Chalcedon

November 2, 2026, will remain indelibly etched in the ecclesiastical history of New Ionia.

It was a day of profound emotion, spiritual joy, and historical vindication, on which the fourth and final translation of the incorrupt Sacred Body of the Holy New Hieromartyr George of Neapolis, Patron Saint and Protector of our Sacred Metropolis, took place, bringing it to his new and magnificent church, in the heart of the “Ionian Center” in New Ionia.

This was not simply the transfer of a sacred relic from one church to another. It marked the completion of a historical journey spanning 229 years, 102 of which were spent in Greece.

It was a journey inextricably linked to the uprooting, refugee experience, faith, and hope of our ancestors.

Saints Iakovos, Porphyrios, and Paisios Designated Patrons of the Archdiocese of Canada

The Holy Archdiocese of Canada announces that, at the first Clergy Assembly presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Apostolos of Canada, it was decided, following his proposal, to establish the three contemporary Saints of the Orthodox Church — Iakovos of Evia (Tsalikes), Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Venerable David the Elder; Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva; and Paisios the Athonite — as patrons of the Holy Archdiocese of Canada. His Eminence’s proposal was unanimously accepted by the participating clergy.

Saint Lazarus of Mount Gelasion and the Abducted Girl

By Gregory the Cellarer

15. As he neared the great <city> of Antioch, Lazaros saw some people standing in the middle of the road, lamenting over a girl who had just been abducted by the Armenian army as it passed by there. When he found out about this, he immediately started to pursue the<se soldiers>. Reaching the place where they had taken up their quarters, he went up to some of them and asked if they would point out their commander to him. Since they wanted to know why he was looking for him, the father responded, “Some of you have abducted a girl and that’s why I’m trying to see him, so that I may take her away, with his backing, after I’ve looked around and found her, wherever she may be.” The words were not even out of his mouth before the men, hearing <the word> “girl,” grew angry and began shouting at him roughly, “Abba, an evil demon led you here; be off so that you don’t lose your life along with the girl!” The <soldiers> made this angry response in order to frighten him, but the father was not scared at all by their words and instead became even bolder. He replied to them, “I’m telling you straight, that if you don’t hand her over to me right now I’m going to go directly to the katepano, and then I won’t just recover the girl from you on his orders, but I’ll also demand your punishment.” When they heard these words, the <soldiers> quickly changed their brutality into docility and their brash insolence to humility and started begging him to go away, saying that they would look <for her> after he had gone and would release her when they found her. But as they saw that Lazaros would not be convinced by their words unless he got the girl, they looked around and found her and brought her to him. “Take this girl, Father,” they said, “who hasn’t been touched by us and hasn’t suffered any harm, and go away, <but> give us your blessing yourself in compensation.” The father prayed for them and, taking the girl, turned back.
  

Holy Hieromartyr Cyril, Metropolitan of Kazan and Sviyazhsk (+ 1937)

Hieromartyr Cyril, Metropolitan of Kazan and Sviyazhsk (in the world, Constantine Ilarionovich Smirnov), was born into the family of a psalm-reader on April 26, 1863, in the city of Kronstadt, Saint Petersburg Governorate.

In 1887, Constantine graduated from the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy with the degree of Candidate of Theology. After he was married, on November 21st 1887 he was ordained a priest and assigned to the Church of the Resurrection of the Temperance Society in Saint Petersburg, while simultaneously serving as a teacher of religious instruction at the Elisavetpol Gymnasium and the Second Saint Petersburg Gymnasium.

Beginning in 1900, Father Constantine was appointed rector of the Holy Trinity Cemetery Church in Kronstadt. He had served as a priest for fifteen years. The unexpected death of his daughter Olga, who suffered terribly as she was dying after swallowing a needle, followed by the death of his wife, who did not survive her grief, moved Father Constantine, at the age of thirty-eight, to embrace monasticism that same year in 1902, taking the name Cyril. Soon afterward, he was appointed head of the Urmia Spiritual Mission in Persia and elevated to the rank of Archimandrite.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 7

 

The Month of November

The 7th Day

69. Apostates from the Faith Are Strictly Punished by God

(From the Life of Holy Martyr Hieron)

As is well known, it sometimes happens among you, brethren, that some of you, either by listening too long to the ravings of the schismatics, or by being enticed by their wealth and beguiled by their various promises, abandon the Orthodox faith and join the schism. What do you think? Will such apostates escape punishment for their apostasy, or not? Know that they will never escape it, and the Lord will strictly call them to account. For examples show that He deals so severely with apostates from the faith that He even punishes them with death. To convince you all the more of this, we present the following examples.