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 21, 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.

Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople: Patron of Chanters and Healer of Throat Ailments

By Archimandrite Demetrios Kavvadias 

On the 6th of November, our Holy Church commemorates Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, who, in the relevant hymnographic texts, is compared with the righteous Abel and Zechariah, the father of the Honorable Forerunner. This is because he too, being a righteous man, met a martyr's death following an ambush and was deemed worthy of the crown of incorruption, just like those blessed men of the Old Testament.

Saint Paul was born at the beginning of the fourth century AD in the holy city of Thessaloniki, which has given birth to and nurtured many saints. His parents were pious, and he grew up hearing of the wondrous life and martyrdom of Saint Demetrios the Myrrhgusher. He was educated and pious, and was distinguished by the purity of his life, his gentleness, and his steadfast adherence to the unadulterated Orthodox faith.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 6

The Month of November  

Day 6

68. The Saints of God Deliver Those Who Love and Venerate Them Not Only from Calamities, but Even from Death

(From the Life of Venerable Barlaam of Khutyn)

It is well known that in our Orthodox Russia hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians, out of love for the saints of God and faith in their effective intercession before God, set out to pray at their monasteries, especially those in which their holy relics repose. There they ask the saints of God to help them in one need or another, to deliver them from every visible or invisible evil, and to heal their spiritual or bodily illnesses. What do you think, brethren? Is there any benefit for those who love the saints of God in praying to them and visiting their monasteries, or is there not? Know that there is indeed a benefit, and a great one; for the saints of God not only help those who come to them in their needs, not only often deliver them from one evil or another, and not only heal one illness or another, but, do not forget, sometimes even deliver them from death. You may say: Can even this really happen? Yes, brethren, it can, and we shall now convince you of this.

Saints Galaktion and Episteme: Models of Love, Faith and Sacrifice

By Lambros K. Skontzos

 

Among the saints of our Church are many blessed couples who attained holiness within marriage, living a truly Christian life.

Among them is the holy couple Saints Galaktion and Episteme, a holy pair who lived during the third century AD and whose lives revealed the beauty of the Christian faith, purity of heart, and absolute devotion to Christ.

Their lives include several interesting details that further illuminate their spiritual greatness.

November: Day 5: Teaching 3: Holy Apostle Hermas

November: Day 5: Teaching 3:
Holy Apostle Hermas
 
(An exposition of the commandments by which one can save one's soul.)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of Saint Hermas, the apostolic man, whom the Holy Apostle Paul highly praises (Rom. 16:14), and who is known for his book titled The Shepherd, which in the early centuries was read even in churches alongside the Apostolic Epistles, we think it will be beneficial to become acquainted with those soul-saving commandments set forth in this book, which by fulfilling one can save one's soul. We think that the words of an apostolic man will be more persuasive to you than our own feeble discourse. He begins his exposition of them as follows:

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 5 and 6

The Month of November

Day 5

67. How One Should Act During Public Calamities

(From the Life of Jonah, Archbishop of Novgorod - November 5, Menaion. The Commemoration of the Fiery Ash That Fell from the Air Because of Human Sin, during the Reign of Leo the Great - November 6, Menaion.)

Here on earth, we are often afflicted not only by personal calamities but also by public calamities, which are especially terrible for us. In a personal calamity, either one person or one family suffers; perhaps even several may suffer. But in such sorrow, however great it may be, good people can always help and alleviate it. But what can one do in a public calamity? For example, a lack of rain, unfavorable weather, famine, or plague—who can prevent these things? Who can escape them? Who can put an end to the evil they cause? Certainly no one; there is no point in even discussing this. How, then, should we act during such calamities? By what means can we be delivered from them? Whose help should we hope for? To whom should we turn?

Greek Orthodox Theology in the 20th and 21st Century

Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea (Polyzogopoulos), Director of the Office of Representation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Athens, spoke to To Vima recently about the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the contemporary world. In this interview he also spoke about his recent book Theological Portraits of the Twentieth Century: Studies and Essays on the Renewal of Orthodox Theology (Armos, 2026), where he gave a brief summary of the development of Greek Orthodox theology in the 20th century and its role in the 21st century.