Homily One on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (St. Luke of Simferopol)

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on February 25, 1945)

Great Lent is approaching, a time of prayer and repentance, the most important time of our lives, for there is nothing more important for the Christian soul than repentance and prayer.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came out to preach His message, the first thing He said was: “Repent!” (Matthew 4:17).

There are many great human deeds, but there is none so great, so important as repentance and prayer, for in prayer the spirit of man has direct communication with the Spirit of God. And the one whose prayer becomes bottomlessly deep and therefore extremely effective knows from his own experience how communication with the Spirit of God occurs. He knows that in prayer people receive direct instructions from God and the true direction of their life activities.

Before the "Triodion" (Demetrios Panagopoulos)

 By Demetrios Panagopoulos

There is a lot of talk every year during the days that the Triodion opens, both by the so-called believers, as well as by the non-believers, the indifferent, and indeed mainly by them.

But there is a misunderstanding regarding the interpretation of the words "opening of the Triodion".

Because we see the unbelievers, the cold, the indifferent in matters of religion, but also many of the Christians in name, interpreting the words "opening of the Triodion" to mean that the period has come for revelry, masquerade, debauchery, intoxication, corruption of soul and body. That is why we see so many strange things taking place these days.

However, the real interpretation of the "opening of the Triodion" is not the above, but the below.

The Findings of the Head of Saint John the Baptist

The Findings of the Head of John the Baptist are Orthodox feasts in honor of the most revered part of the relics of John the Baptist - his head. In the tradition of the Orthodox Church, there are legends about three discoveries of the head of John the Baptist; a separate celebration has been established in honor of each. The first discovery took place in the 4th century, the second in the 5th century, and the third in the 9th century. The feast of the first and second miraculous findings is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on February 24 (March 9) - in non-leap years, and on February 24 (March 8) in leap years. In addition, on May 25 (June 7) the third finding of the head is celebrated.

Currently, the actual location of the relic remains unclear, with many who claim to at least have some portion of the head. In medieval times, it was rumored that the Knights Templar had possession of the head, and multiple records from their Inquisition in the early 14th century make reference to some form of head veneration. Islamic tradition places the head of John the Baptist in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, while Catholicism places it in the Church of San Silvestro in Capite. In addition, mention is made of the front part of the skull in the Cathedral of Amiens (France), brought there from the Fourth Crusade when the crusaders looted Constantinople, and parts of the head are said to be in Turkish Antioch and in one of the monasteries of Armenia. The Romanian Prodromos Skete on Mount Athos also makes a claim, among others.

Fr. John Romanides as a Professor of Dogmatics at Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston (8 of 8)

...continued from part seven.

f. Death and Selfless Love

"Death is the devil's weapon throughout the world; it is also God's weapon against the devil. God created man for selfless love. Man in turn fell into a double death. Deprived of divine grace, he is unable to do good, even if he wants to do good. As long as he is under the state of death, he is unable to live according to his original purpose.

He has within himself the instinct of self-preservation, which manifests itself in two ways - psychologically and physically. Everyone wants to secure themselves. When he tries to secure himself psychologically, he sins. When he strives psychically, then he takes steps towards salvation. Man seeks physical security, because he needs food, shelter, clothes, etc. (to be protected from the elements of nature). It is obvious that he is automatically interested in himself. If not, he will kill himself. Being concerned about physical security is a natural phenomenon. It is not a sin. Christ Himself cared about it. These are called blameless passions, but they are not considered sins (sadness, lamentation, etc. are blameless passions when they have a good purpose). According to the Platonists, all these are sins, due to the body being the prison of the soul; they belong to the appetitive and incensive parts of the soul.

"If a Priest, Be a Priest; If a Ploughman, a Ploughman" (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By  Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

In Parliament recently, when they were debating the Bill on the "civil marriage of homosexuals" and "adoption", the phrase "If a Priest, be a Priest; if a Ploughman, a Ploughman" (ἤ παπᾶς παπᾶς ἤ ζευγᾶς ζευγᾶς) was heard as a response to the Church and its spokesmen, some journalists considered it a contemptuous response to the Archbishop, after the positions formulated by the Church on this matter.

The Origin of the Phrase

Takis Natsoulis in his book Words and Proverbial Phrases (Λέξεις καί φράσεις παροιμιώδεις) writes about the origin of this proverb:

"If a Priest, be a Priest; if a Ploughman, a Ploughman". This is also an expression that we hear regularly and the first person who said it and it reached our time was the Old Man of Morea, Theodoros Kolokotronis.

One day when they had appointed a meeting, in order to go and hold an ambush, after receiving information that they would pass through an Arvanite village, one of his lads was late in coming. He was a priest who had given up his teleliturgical duties and had dedicated himself to the holy struggle of liberating his homeland from unbelieving enemies. Where he was ready to give the order to the troops to begin, seen from afar was Papa-Lefteris coming running.

When the Old Man asked why he was late, he replied that, as he was passing through the village, he saw the widow of the ill-fated Thanasis who was killed, trying to plow her field, but it was impossible for her. "Then I felt sorry for her and remained behind to help her."

"If a Priest, be a Priest; if a Ploughman, a Ploughman," Kolokotronis told him then and ordered them to begin.

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin 

What should we do, listeners, in such a case when we do not receive from God what we ask for, despite the fact that we ask ourselves for something good, we ask with all our hearts, we ask with repentance for our sins? What to do? We must continue to pray more and more, and we will receive what we pray for.

The Canaanite woman mentioned in the current Gospel serves as the surest proof of this. She had a sick daughter possessed by an evil spirit. Jesus Christ appears in the country where she lived. Knowing about His miraculous power, the Canaanite woman hurried to Him and began to ask for the healing of her daughter. Jesus Christ at first did not answer a word to her request. She, despite this, did not retreat from Him. Jesus Christ refused her, but she did not stop asking, and even more persistently asked Him. How did it end? The mother’s prayer was heard: her daughter immediately recovered (see: Matt. 15:22–28).

Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew Resource Page

 

Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew 

(Sunday of the Canaanite)

 

(Matthew 15:21-28)

 

Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew: Gospel Reading

 

Gospel Commentary for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew (St. John Chrysostom)

 

Gospel Commentary for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophylact of Ochrid)

 

Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew - Sunday of the Canaanite Woman (Monk Agapios Landos)

 

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Matthew (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily on the Sunday of the Canaanite Woman (Metropolitan Panteleimon of Antinoes)

 

17th Sunday of Matthew: The Unity of Human Nature (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

 

(2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1)

 

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1

 

 

The Childhood Home of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Consecrated in Cyprus

In the village of Druseia of Paphos, a large number of people arrived from various regions of Cyprus to attend the consecration of the restored family home of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi, who reposed in 2009 at Vatopaidi Monastery on Mount Athos.

It was in this house where he lived his childhood years with his peasant family and from where he left for Mount Athos to become a monk at the age of 15. Prior to this, he had to drop out of elementary school in the 4th grade in order to help his parents with the agricultural work.

This house, once deserted after the death of his parents Pantelis and Eugenia, was left to remind the few relatives of the humble mother and father of the late Elder, but also of the childhood of little Socrates, which was Elder Joseph's name before his monastic tonsure.

On Jealousy (St. Anthimos of Chios)

On Jealousy

By St. Anthimos of Chios

This passion can bring someone into great harm. Jealousy makes you abuse the other, criticize them, envy them, slander them, betray them. As a man grows, so does this passion. By no other means can it be eradicated except by supplication to God, by clear confession and contempt for this passion.

Even animals are jealous. But the animals as well children if they are jealous they do not feel it, but we who possess reason should we also possess such passions? Those who feel jealous never progress, we all have this evil, but some fight it and others mitigate it. When you fight it, it doesn't hurt you. This passion makes you to be envious, to hate your sibling, to be angry, to be full of malice. If one does not take care to eliminate it from themselves it will consume them.

Source: From the book Άγιου Ανθίμου Χίου, Διδαχές Πνευματικές – Άρτος Ζωής, published by the Monastery of the Panagia Voithia in Chios. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.