Encomium to the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

By St. Ephraim the Syrian

It is time, beloved brethren, to turn our attention to athletic contests; it is time to tread the spiritual course; it is time to double the gains of the talents. For I said that there were a certain legion of Forty Martyrs, who lived in piety, who immediately from the beginning showed that their company would be famous and revered.

So I have gathered you here, to tell you about the Martyrs, a description of a prophetic image. That is, Moses, after fasting forty days, accepted God's law on Mount Sinai; but they, after sacrificing their bodies, equal in number to the forty days of fasting, enjoyed eternal life. And Moses, when he saw the people seized with rage, was enraged and broke the tablets on the mountain; but they, when they saw the demons seized with rage, kept their faith steadfast. Again for the second time the meek Moses took the tablets in his hands, and thus gave the law of God to all the Jews; but these Forty Martyrs, with a single cruciform seal, proclaimed Christ with themselves to all men.

The Love of the Heavenly Father (Elder Ephraim of Arizona)

By Elder Ephraim of Arizona

 

Our God is love and "he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." Any Christian who does not have the love of God in his heart does not have the life of Christ in his soul. This great work of God's philanthropy, for God to come down, for the Word of God to become man, to take flesh, to dwell among us, to draw near to us, was nothing but the infinite philanthropy of divine love. God's love is what protects us and takes care of us for everything. We humans sin and grieve God. We often disrespect, but His philanthropy is infinite and He forgives all. All of us, including me first, have grieved this great heart of God, which is called love for man. That is why we should be careful in our life, and then not to give Him the bitterness of sin again.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son described in the  Holy Gospel is the most perfect example possible of God the Father’s love for sinful man. We see the prodigal son, who represents every sinful person on the earth, asking his father for his entitled portion of the inheritance.

The Location Where the True Cross of Christ Was Found by Saint Helen

Descending 29 steps below the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, one comes to the Armenian Chapel of Saint Helen, which has a dome and an elaborate mosaic floor. Descending 13 more steps below this chapel, which is the deepest part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we enter the Franciscan Chapel of the Finding of the Cross. In this 12th century chapel, there is a purple-white slab of marble with an engraved Cross  (that says "Jesus Christ Conquers") which belongs to the Greek Orthodox, and this spot marks the exact location where according to tradition the True Cross of Christ, together with the Crosses of the Robbers, the Crown of Thorns and the Sacred Nails were found in a miraculous manner by Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, on March 6, 326.

 

Reflection for the Monday of Meatfare Week (St. Theophan the Recluse)

Monday of Meatfare Week

(1 John 2:18–3:10; Mark 11:1–11)

By St. Theophan the Recluse

Yesterday the parable about the prodigal son invited us to return from dissipation to the good path. Now the holy Apostle John inspires us for this, giving assurance that if we do this, when the Lord appears, we will be like Him. What can compare with such a dignity?! I should think that upon hearing this, you would be filled with a desire to attain this for yourself. It is a good and most importantly needful thing! Do not delay undertaking that through which it is attained.

Seek Patience, Not Deliverance (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

Saint Ephraim of Katounakia once said:

There is an Eldress, whose name I will not mention. She suffers from cancer, surgeries, this and that, and still while in prayer she saw the Panagia on her throne.

"Move forward you who are venerables," she said. So all the venerables moved to the front of the parade, where the Panagia was.

"Move forward you who are the great martyrs," she said.

Meanwhile the Eldress, who was an Abbess, just stood by.

Homily on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son (St. Justin Popovich)

By St. Justin Popovich

Behold the Gospel which concerns the mind and body of each of us. It is the Gospel of loving-kindness. It is the Savior’s wonderful parable, in which he depicts the whole of our life. Mine, yours, that of every human being on the face of the earth. Today’s Gospel concerns all of us. All of us.

How marvelous we are! These divine treasures here on earth. Look at our body, the eye, the ear, the tongue. What amazing wealth. The eye. Is there anything more wondrous that we could possibly conceive in this world? And yet, this eye was created by the Lord, as was the soul and body. The soul, in fact, is entirely from heaven. What riches! The body. An amazing gem which has been given to you for eternity, not just for this fleeting life on earth. And the soul, also committed to eternity. Listen to what Saint Paul preaches today: "The body is for the Lord" (1 Cor. 6:13). The Lord made the human body for eternal life, for eternal righteousness and eternal love; both body and soul. All of these are gifts from God, sublime, great, abundant and - most importantly - immortal and eternal.

Saint Gerasimos of Jordan and the Resurrection of a Dead Monk

When he was still alive, Saint Gerasimos of Jordan resurrected a dead man. But how did this great and paradoxical miracle happen? Once a certain monk of his Lavra reposed and the Saint, who was then abbot, did not know about it. When the semantron for his funeral was struck, the Elder also went to the temple. When he saw the body he was sad, because he did not say farewell to him before he passed away. So he went near the coffin and said to the deceased:

"Get up, brother, let us say our farewells."

Homily One for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on March 4, 1945)

To you, young shoots, to you, spring sprouts, to you, buds sprinkled with God's dew, my word now is directed to you. For the deeply touching Parable of the Prodigal Son, illuminated by the divine light of Christ’s love, applies first of all and most of all to you. In this parable, the Lord Jesus Christ showed us how often young people go astray, how often they follow the path of destruction. For this youngest son followed the hard path of destruction, who became bored in his father’s house, who wanted freedom, who wanted to arrange his life according to his own desire.

And he asked his father to give him his due share of the inheritance, and left him for a distant country. And there, in pursuit of pleasure, in pursuit of fun, he soon took the path of destruction, soon squandered his property, living with dissolute women, began to starve and began to herd pigs. Severely starving, he would have been glad to eat what the pigs were fed, but they didn’t give him that either. He sank as low as possible, reaching a bestial state, living in the company of pigs.

Saint Nicholas Planas - a short biography

By Archimandrite Alexandros Mostratos,
Preacher and Chancellor of the Metropolis of Paronaxia

The life and work of the holy Priest Nicholas Planas, a saint of our days, is the supreme expression of the true Christ-like life of every conscious believer and more so of the genuine and perfect Priest.

The beautiful, courageous and saint-bearing Naxos had the divine favor and blessing to be his birthplace. He was born in the year 1851. His parents, Captain John and Augustina, were pious and benevolent people, like all the islanders, and wealthy. They also had a commercial boat, which went from Naxos to Smyrna, Constantinople, and even to Alexandria in Egypt. Inside some of their estates they also had a small chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas.

Saint Nicholas Planas was sanctified from infancy. Most of the time as a child he was in this Sacred Temple and spent many hours there chanting what he knew and many times wearing, instead of a priestly phelonion, some kind of sheet, imitating the Priests. One day he chanted so rapturously that he caused the admiration of the passers-by.