Homily at the Paraklesis of the Theotokos: The Mother of God as an Intercessor For Us Sinners (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily at the Paraklesis of the Theotokos: 
The Mother of God as an Intercessor For Us Sinners 

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1960)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, one hymn of the Church says: “Every tongue is at a loss and every mind is overwhelmed to praise You worthily. Transcending this world we hymn you, O Theotokos, yet being good do accept our faith, for you know our divine longing. You are the Protectress of Christians and we magnify you" (Irmos 9 of the Canon for the Theophany).

In fact, what worthy praise can we give with our sinful and meager lips to the Purest of all creatures, Higher than the Angels and Archangels, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, who was honored to be the Mother of the Most High God, the Intercessor of the Christian race! But nevertheless, in order to be worthy Christians, we must always glorify (and not be disobedient to the will of God!) the Cause of our salvation, looking at Her love for us.

Homily Three for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Three for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew
(8th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt 

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today, my brethren, the Gospel was read concerning the miraculous feeding of five thousand men, not counting women and children, with five loaves and two fish. Let us recount this story of the miracle in a manner understandable to all. 

After the Lord heard of the beheading of John the Baptist, He withdrew alone to a deserted place. As we see further, our Lord went to pray in solitude to His Heavenly Father, seeking to lighten His heart, burdened with sorrow over the violent death of the great Prophet and Forerunner. Oh, brethren, even the Lord was not estranged from sorrows, and great, mortal sorrows, as He Himself declared before His sufferings: "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death" (Matt. 26:38; Mark 14:34). Thus, He went into the wilderness to pour out His sorrow in prayer before His Heavenly Father – for His friend John the Baptist. But would the people forsake the great Wonderworker and the most eloquent Teacher? And behold, the people followed Him on foot from the cities; a great multitude proceeded after Him.

August: Day 3: Venerable Anthony the Roman

August: Day 3:
Venerable Anthony the Roman
 
(On Trust in God's Providence)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Anthony the Roman, the Wonderworker of Novgorod, whose memory is celebrated today, was born in Rome of pious parents who belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church. At that time the division of the Churches into Eastern and Western had already taken place, and in Rome they persecuted those who deviated from the Western Church; therefore, Anthony's parents hid their true faith. After their death, Anthony distributed part of his property to the poor, and with the rest he bought church vessels and other things, put everything in a barrel and threw it into the sea; and he himself withdrew into the desert, being 18 years old. He asked the monks he met to tonsure him and lived for about 20 years in one of the monasteries. Then he went to the sea and settled on a rock, but in the year 1106, on the 5th day of September, a storm arose, which tore his rock from the shore and carried the stone block across the sea. The stone, by the arrangement of God's Providence, did not sink, floated on the waters and finally reached Novgorod. At first, Anthony, not knowing the Slavic language, could not understand where he had arrived, but in Novgorod there were people who knew both Latin and Greek; they explained everything to him. At that time, Mstislav, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, reigned in Novgorod. The Saint Nikitas of Novgorod gave Anthony the village where he landed and built him a wooden church. Anthony subsequently founded a monastery here and was its first abbot. The church vessels that were cast into the sea in a barrel miraculously arrived in Novgorod.

Homily Two for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Two for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew
(8th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt 

When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late; send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat" (Matthew 14:15–16).

Once the Lord sailed alone to a deserted place for prayer; the people, hearing of it, went after Him on foot from the cities. When Jesus came out of the boat, He saw a great multitude and had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When evening came, His disciples approached Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late; send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." What? What are you saying, Apostles of Christ? That the people should abandon their Lord for food and drink, depriving themselves of the sweetest conversation with Him, more delightful than honey? Is it not He who said: "Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink? Is not life more than food?" (Matthew 6:25); "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Oh no, the people will not forsake the Lord: what do they care for food and drink? Food and drink are always with them; yet the Lord in the flesh is not always present, and He Himself is their food and drink. Behold how eagerly they listen to every word of His, how they fix their eyes upon His Divine countenance: oh, for them it is true delight to see and hear the Lord Himself; and they have forgotten about food and drink. Indeed, He will prepare for them a wondrous feast.

The Revival of the Veneration of Saint Stephen in Ioannina

The Veli Pasha Mosque in Ioannina

By Christos Klitsinaris

The Veli Pasha Mosque between the Cultural Center and the People's Market of our city (Ioannina), was built about 200 years ago by Veli, son of Ali Pasha, on the site of another mosque, built in 1670.
 

However, in order to build this mosque, a famous Byzantine church of Ioannina, of the today celebrated Protomartyr of Christianity, Saint Stephen, was demolished.

I remember as a child some elders when they passed by there making the sign of the cross. Should we, the people of Ioannina today, also make our cross as a testimony when we pass by there? After all, these were sacred grounds that were desecrated.

August: Day 2: Saint Basil the Fool for Christ of Moscow

August: Day 2:
Saint Basil the Fool for Christ of Moscow
 
(On Standing Reverently in the Temple of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Blessed Basil of Moscow, celebrated today for his holy, God-pleasing life, left his parents' home at the age of 16 and took on the difficult feat of foolishness for Christ. Having neither shelter nor refuge, he walked around Moscow both summer and winter in tattered clothes. People did not understand him, considering him insane, and often showered him with ridicule and beatings, but he made it a rule to endure everything patiently. Taking advantage of convenient opportunities, Basil instructed many in goodness and even gave lessons in piety to Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself. 

Once Tsar Ivan was standing in church and thought about how to decorate his new palace on Sparrow Hills. After the service, Basil went to see the Tsar. "Where have you been? I did not see you in the church," said the Tsar. "But I saw you," answered Basil, "only you were not in the church, but on Sparrow Hills. Let us now lay aside all worldly cares," they sing in church, said Basil and then disappeared. The Tsar understood the words of the blessed one and began to have even greater respect for him.

Homily Two on the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily Two on the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord 

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1963)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Holy Church glorifies the power of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, and at the same time remembers the sufferings of Christ, which He endured on the Cross. The reason for the establishment of this feast was an extraordinary event, miraculously revealed to the inhabitants of the capital of the Greek empire from the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord.

A severe plague broke out in Constantinople, which took thousands of lives daily. And so the city's inhabitants turned to God with prayer, adding to this a religious procession with the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord through the streets of the Byzantine capital, sprinkling all the houses and buildings with holy water. And since at the end of the religious procession the plague immediately ceased, then in memory of this miraculous event it was established to celebrate the Cross of the Lord every year on August 1. In addition, other events were added to this event, in which the power of God was also miraculously revealed: the victory of the Greek army over the Saracens, and the Russian army over the Volga Bulgarians, since these events also took place on August 1 by the power of the Life-giving Cross and the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God. But, remembering these events and glorifying the power of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the Church also now remembers the sufferings of Christ.

August: Day 1: Teaching 4: The Holy Maccabean Martyrs

August: Day 1: Teaching 4:
The Holy Maccabean Martyrs
 
(On Standing Firm For One’s Holy, National Faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today, brethren, the Holy Church solemnly celebrates the feast day in memory of the Seven Maccabean Martyrs, their mother Solomone, and their teacher Eleazar. They lived nearly two hundred years before the birth of Christ, yet despite this, the Christian Orthodox Church continues to joyfully celebrate their memory to this day. What have they done to deserve this? What actions and feats have they accomplished to earn themselves eternal remembrance in prayer? To understand this, let us turn to the history of the time in which they lived.

Esteemed Church, the Holy Maccabean Martyrs lived during the reign of the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. This king, having plundered Jerusalem and slaughtered many thousands of Jews, initiated a wicked persecution of their faith, seeking to eradicate it entirely in order to subject them more securely and swiftly to his rule. To this end, he commanded the Jews, under threat of death, to "cease burnt offerings and sacrifices and libations in the sanctuary, abolish Sabbaths and feasts, establish pagan altars and groves and shrines, and to sacrifice swine and other animals that are abominable to the pagans, to leave their sons uncircumcised, and generally to change all previous religious beliefs, institutions, laws, morals, and ancestral customs" (1 Maccabees 6). It was a difficult time for the Jews. To change the faith and customs of their ancestors meant to change their nationality; it meant to lose everything – both faith and nationality. However, being faithful to the law of God and the covenants of their forefathers, the Jews disregarded the threats of the wicked king. For them, death was preferable to betraying their faith. Holding on to their beliefs, they feared neither severe tortures nor death, to which the tormentors subjected the Jews.

August: Day 1: Teaching 1: The Procession of the Honorable Cross of the Lord

  

August: Day 1: Teaching 1:
The Procession of the Honorable Cross of the Lord
 
(The Necessity of Bearing the Cross in the Matter of Salvation)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the 1st day of August, the Orthodox Church celebrates the miraculous power of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord, commemorating the signs that have occurred from it and from the holy icons of Christ the Savior and the Mother of God.

In the year 1164, the Right-Believing Russian Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky and Manuel, the Greek Emperor, were compelled to wage war against the enemies of their homeland. According to the custom of pious Christian sovereigns, which has been preserved since the time of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and sacred icons of the Savior and the Mother of God were carried with the armies of Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky and Emperor Manuel to sanctify the warriors, instill in them a steadfast hope for divine assistance, and grant them grace-filled strength in their struggle against enemies, even when they were relatively stronger. Armed with such spiritual fortitude, on the day of the decisive battle against their foes, both sovereigns witnessed their troops being overshadowed by an extraordinary light emanating from the Lord’s Cross and the holy icons. Encouraged by this sign of invisible divine help, the armies of both sovereigns achieved a decisive victory – the former over the Bulgarians and the latter over the Saracens.