The Circumcision of the Lord: Homily 1: On the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ (Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko)

1. The Feasts of the Lord

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko 

II. The Circumcision of the Lord:

Homily No. 1: On the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ

I. The Feast of the Nativity of Christ ends, and with it a new feast begins — the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ. Feast follows feast.

Recall, brethren, from sacred history that when God entered into a covenant with Abraham and promised him a descendant as numerous as the sand of the sea, as numerous as the stars in the sky, He established the rite of circumcision as the seal, or visible sign, of this covenant. Abraham was also given this new name, replacing his former name, Abram. Then, when the Lord gave the law to the Jewish people through Moses, He also commanded (Lev. 12:3) that every Jewish male child be circumcised, otherwise he could not belong to the Jewish people chosen by God and could not be a participant in those great promises of God given to Abraham and all his descendants.

Homily on the Day of the Repose and Second Uncovering of the Relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh)

Homily on the Day of the Repose and Second Uncovering of the Relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov

By Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

(Delivered on January 2/15, 1978)

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

Next to the icon of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, whose memory we celebrate today, there lies in our church, under glass, a small scrap of cloth. It is a gift received several years ago: a fragment of the shirt that Saint Seraphim was wearing when he was attacked by robbers in the forest and beaten by them nearly to death. He could have defended himself; he was strong in body and unbreakable in spirit; he was armed with a heavy axe. But after the image of Christ — Who, like a lamb before its shearers, is silent; after the Old Testament image of Christ, the Man of Sorrows, Who accepts not only humiliation but also blows and wounds and death, giving Himself up without resistance, and through this receiving the power to forgive — so too Seraphim gave himself into the hands of the robbers. To the shedding of blood he believed in Christ; to the readiness to pour out his blood and exhaust his life he believed in Christ.

The Passion of Saint Theagenes of Parium (BHL 8106)

1. Learn, brothers, what great signs, wonders and good deeds God accomplished in our country at the time when an edict of the tyrant Licinius circulated the whole eastern region which was beneath his rule, to the effect that all those who were serving the state in whatever office should be called to offer sacrifice. It was the devil, who was waging war against the servants of God, who incited Licinius to this action. One of these servants of God was blessed Theogenes who by his great sufferings overcame the devil like a most strong athlete. He had been conscripted into military service, and arrived at Phrygia in the legion entitled Second Trajan under the command of the tribune Zelicentius and the praepositus Possidonius. This legion had its base in a place in Hellespontus. Theogenes was brought to the tribune and the praepositus, and was forced to undertake military service. However, since he was faithful and filled with God, he said in the middle of the legion, "I am a Christian, and I have been accepted into service by the great emperor, the king of kings. I serve him, and I cannot serve another." Zelicentius said, "Serve. Accept the military cloak, the sword-belt and weapons, and be a soldier of Licinius, the great king." Theogenes replied, "I serve my king and cannot serve another." Zelicentius said, "Do you not accept that Licinius is your king?" Theogenes said, "I do not. I am a Christian, and I am not allowed to deny my king." Zelicentius asked, "Are not those standing about Christians who serve in the army also?" Theogenes replied, "I do not know. Each knows how he serves. Yet I know what I have undertaken. I am not permitted to deny my king, and I ought not to serve another king. I am not passing from the service of one to the other."

Saint Sylvestor of Rome in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Sylvester was ordained Bishop of Old Rome on account of his great virtue, succeeding the previous bishop Miltiades, who had died. He performed many miracles and was the one who guided the great emperor Constantine to faith in Christ. Through Holy Baptism he cleansed him of the passions of his soul and body, and he proved that Christ is the One foretold by the Old Testament. He also restored to life a bull that a Jew had killed by means of magic and was, of course, unable to bring back to life himself. The Saint became the cause of the salvation of many people and departed to the Lord in deep old age.

Saint Sylvester, although he belongs to the Fathers of the Western Church, is honored by universal Orthodoxy. This is because he lived at a time when the West was united with the East, that is, in an era when the schism of the Western Church had not yet distanced it from the truth of the faith. And not only this: in his own time, and also throughout the ages, he was a Father and Teacher of Orthodoxy, to such an extent that he championed it by struggling against the deviations of heresies. He powerfully revealed the one nature of the Triune God, yet in three hypostases — Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet one divinity.

Prologue in Sermons: January 2

True Repentance and the Prayer of the Righteous for a Sinner Work Miracles

January 2
 
(On How our Holy Father Basil the Great Delivered a Deceived Youth from Demons Through his Prayers)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In the lives of saints, we sometimes encounter miraculous, terrifying, and astounding events. To convince you of this truth, today we present to you one such event, recorded in the life of Saint Basil the Great.

In Constantinople, there lived a nobleman who had an only daughter, whom he wanted to dedicate to the service of God. The devil, unable to tolerate the nobleman's desires, aroused in one of his servants a passion for the girl. This servant, determined to marry her at any cost, went to a sorcerer to seek advice and assistance in his matter. The sorcerer referred the young servant to Satan, who asked him, "Do you believe in me?" "I believe," the youth replied. Satan continued, "Yes, you all believe in me when you need my help; and when I help you, you return to your Christ. Write to me in your own hand that you renounce Him forever, and then I will fulfill your desire." The youth granted Satan's desire, and Satan granted the youth's desire. Driven by demons, the nobleman's daughter, in turn, felt an irresistible passion for her father's servant and began begging him to give her in marriage. No matter how much her father objected, how much he cried, how much he begged her to abandon her intention, the daughter remained adamant and declared to her father that she would commit suicide if she did not marry the servant. The father then relented and gave his daughter to the young man. 

Time and the World of Decay (Photios Kontoglou)

 

Time and the World of Decay 

By Photios Kontoglou

The most dreadful and most inscrutable power in the world is Time, the Kairos. What this power truly is — no one knows. And all who have tried to define it have struggled in vain. The mystery of Time has remained incomprehensible, even though Time itself seems so natural to us. We cannot understand Time in itself — what it is — but we sense it only through the energy it exerts, through the marks it leaves upon creation. Its mysterious breath changes everything. Nothing remains stable — not even what appears stable and eternal. An unceasing motion whirls all things around, day and night, and no power can halt this elusive and hidden movement.

This thing we call Time is something we have grown accustomed to; we are familiar with it. Otherwise, terror would seize us if we were truly able to grasp what it is and what it does. As we have said, it works day and night, for ages upon ages, ceaselessly, silently, secretly, and it changes everything with an underground force — intangible, invisible, disobedient — so much so that one forgets it and thinks it does not exist, though it is the only thing that truly exists and that our mind, in no way whatsoever, can comprehend as ever not existing — how it could ever be destroyed, how it could ever cease. For how could that “someday” exist, when that “someday” is Time itself? How can one imagine that this very “someday” could ever cease to exist?

January: Day 1: Teaching 2: Circumcision of the Lord

January: Day 1: Teaching 2:
Circumcision of the Lord
 
(On the Reasons Why the Lord Underwent Circumcision)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the eighth day after His birth, deigned to undergo circumcision, and He was given the name Jesus, which had previously been foretold by the Archangel Gabriel to the Holy Virgin Mary.

II. a) Jesus Christ accepted circumcision, firstly, in order to fulfill the law, which required that every Jew be circumcised on the eighth day, a precursor to Holy Baptism in Christianity. "I came not," He said, "to destroy the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. 5:17). He obeyed the law in order to make us, who were guilty and subject to the law, free. Concerning this, the Holy Apostle Paul says: "God sent His Son, who was under the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law" (Gal. 4:4.5).

January: Day 1: Teaching 4: New Year's Day

January: Day 1: Teaching 4:
New Year's Day
 
(True Happiness Can Only Be the Lot of True Christians)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Greeting each other today on the New Year, we wish each other happiness. The Holy Church also wishes us all good things today, and prays for this to the Lord.

II. But know, brethren, that true happiness on earth can be the lot of only a true Christian: for only he can enjoy a pure, calm conscience — the most precious of all treasures; only he can, with firm trust in God, endure all the misfortunes and temptations that are so numerous in life and inevitable for everyone; only he can rightly use the blessings of this world for the glory of God, for the salvation of his soul, and for the benefit of his neighbors; only a true Christian can always be content with any share that the Lord sends him — and it is in this contentment that true happiness on earth consists. Without Christian piety in his heart, a person is unhappy amid the misfortunes of life, which he will not be able to bear with complacency; unhappy even with all the abundance of worldly goods, which he uses only to the detriment of his soul, and which will never bring him inner peace and contentment, inaccessible to sinful souls.

Prologue in Sermons: January 1

 

The Proof that our Church is Orthodox, and the Schismatic Church is Not Orthodox, is that We Perform Miracles, While the Schismatics Do Not.

January 1
 
(The Miracle Saint Basil Performed in Nicaea)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Proof, on the one hand, that our Church is true, holy, and Orthodox, and, on the other, that a schismatic Church is not Orthodox, but a Church of the deceivers, can be found, among other things, in the fact that in our Church, as in the past, true miracles have been, are still being, and, of course, will continue to be performed. Among the schismatics, however, true miracles do not exist, have not existed, and never will exist. To illustrate this, brethren, we will give you an example.