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

 

 By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us: "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you" (John 12:35). You still have the light of Christ, you still have the possibility to go to the temple, to listen to the commandments, to listen to the Gospel. Walk in this light. Because when death comes, that light will go out for you. Beyond the grave there is no repentance and you will be repaid according to what you have done in your life.
 

Therefore walk in the light while you have the light, so that the darkness, the eternal darkness, the darkness of death does not overtake you. The holy apostle Paul says: "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). Now, while we live, is for us the accepted time, a time of salvation. Now we must think about our salvation and prepare for eternal life. This is what all Christians do, all who love Christ.

Saint Ephraim the Syrian, the Ascetic Bishop

 

By Alexandros Christodoulos

Saint Ephraim, who is called "the wonderful" by Symeon the Metaphrastes, was born of poor parents in the city of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, around 306. His ancestors confessed Christ during the persecution of Diocletian, that is why he writes that "I am a relative of martyrs". He himself continued this family legacy of love for Christ. During his childhood he was taught about Christ by his parents but also by the holy bishop James, the great Hierarch of Nisibis. He quickly left the world and departed for the mountains with the anchorites, where he became his disciple. He taught him the love of virtue and the uninterrupted study of the word of God. He became a vessel of the gifts of the Holy Spirit after spiritual struggles and his advancement in purification and sanctification.

Testimony of a Miraculous Rescue by St. Paisios the Athonite in America

Testimony of Loukas Georgiou (Retired Colonel, Salamis)

When I was serving in Cyprus, in 1989, the sergeant mentioned to me that, when he was studying at the Theological School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, he had a journalist friend from Thessaloniki who knew Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994) very well.

So, this journalist told him that at one time (he didn't remember exactly when) he had to go to America, to meet a Greek-American for a business appointment.

So he went, met the Greek-American, finished the work he had, and then they visited some cities in America.

Homily on the Holy Hierarch of Christ Gregory the Theologian (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)

By Archimandrite George Kapsanis

(Delivered in 1991 at the Athonite Monastery of Gregoriou)

We thank Saint Gregory the Theologian, because with the Grace of the All-Holy Spirit given to him, he taught and dogmatized in a classical way about the Divinity of the Word and the three Persons of the Holy Trinity and silenced the heretics.

Saint Gregory's theology is not only from human learning, which the Saint had in abundance, but it is also from his pure intellect, with which he observed the heavenly and divine mysteries, as the liturgical service repeatedly says today.

Brief Life of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos

Saint Bessarion Korkoliakos, the Agathonite, was born in Petalidi, Messenia in 1908, where he learned his first letters. His secular name was Andrew. At the age of 18 he went to Kalamata, where he connected with spiritual people and decided to enter the holy clergy. He became a Monk and took the name Bessarion. Then he was ordained a Deacon, Priest and received the office of Archimandrite.

His higher studies were at the Scholarcheio. However, the continuous study of the sacred books, the texts of our Church, the books of the chanter's stand, had made Saint Bessarion a man of broad and profound theological education.

Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Resource Page

St. Bessarion of Agathonos (Feast Day - January 22)

 Verses

Sacrificer of the Master Christ Bessarion,
Cover those who sing your hymns in their prayers.

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Bessarion of Agathonos

 

Brief Life of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos

 

Incidents from the Life of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos
 

Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Remembers the Christmas of 1941

 

Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Revered Saint Anastasios the Persian

 

When Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Met Saint Paisios the Athonite

 

"Saint Bessarion, I Can't Reach To Kiss You": A Miracle Before the Relics of our Venerable Father Bessarion

Prayer of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos to Saint Mary of Egypt

 

Elder Bessarion: A Saint in the People's Consciousness 

 

Fr. Bessarion Korkoliacos Still Showing Signs of Holiness

 

Elder Bessarion of Agathonos Has Been Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

 

Agathonos Monastery Receives a Rare Gift Before the First Celebration of the Feast of Saint Besasarion of Agathonos

The Three Day Feast of the Newly-Canonized Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Begins With a Procession of His Incorrupt Relic

 

A Homily on the Sainthood of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Before His First Feast

 

Homily on the Fifteenth Sunday of Luke (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

 By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

At one time, Jesus Christ passed through Jericho. And then someone named Zacchaeus, the head of the publicans and a rich man, sought to see Jesus, who He was, but could not follow the people, because he was small in stature. Running ahead, he climbed a fig tree to see Him, because He had to pass by it. Jesus, when He came to this place, looking, saw him and said to him: "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I need to be in your house." And he hastened down and received Him with joy. And everyone, seeing that, began to grumble and said that He had come to a sinful man. Zacchaeus, having repented, said to the Lord: “Lord, I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone, I will repay fourfold.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is the son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.”

Saint Zosimos of Syracuse as a Model for our Lives

 

 

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Zosimos came from Sicily. When exactly he lived is not recorded in the Synaxaria. What we know is that his parents were pious and raised him "in the education and admonition of the Lord." And also, because they had an estate near a Holy Monastery called Saint Lucia and they took him to this Monastery from a young age, little Zosimos had the blessing of associating with those monks, who, as evidenced by the way of life they inspired in him, had the right faith and were pious and service-loving monks. The abbot made sure that Zosimos learned letters and especially theological letters. Then he became a monk in this Holy Monastery and after the death of its Abbot he was elected Abbot. Later, when the Bishop of Syracuse reposed, God through the Church made him the Bishop of Syracuse. He sacrificially loved the rational sheep of Christ's flock and spent his life in shepherding them.

A Homily on the Sainthood of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Before His First Feast

 

In the heart of winter, in the city of Lamia and the Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos there, as well as in front of the Sacred and Incorrupt Relic of Saint Bessarion of Agathonos, which in the afternoon of June 20th was universally welcomed for the first and only time in the Cathedral of the Metropolis of Fthiotidos, a Multi-Hierarchical Panikhida (Service for the Repose of the Departed) was held, during which the Lamentations of the Saint were chanted.

The Service of the Epitaphios of Saint Bessarion was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Theologos of Serres and Nigrita, and was broadcast directly on Greek television, radio and the internet.