Venerable Pelagia of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (1 of 2)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Venerable Pelagia lived during the reign of Emperor Numerian and was from the city of Antioch. She lived among the orchestras and theaters of the time and was a prostitute, gathering a great deal of money from this wicked occupation. But when she was catechized in the Christian faith by Bishop Nonnus, who was a holy man, and earnestly repented, she was baptized and cast aside everything connected with her former sinful life as rubbish. Then she put on garments made of hair and, presenting herself as a man, secretly went to the Mount of Olives, where she enclosed herself in a cell, living out the rest of her life there in a manner pleasing to God. In this cell she reposed in the Lord.

2. Venerable Pelagia belongs to that company of people about whom the Lord, addressing the Pharisees, had said: “The tax collectors and the prostitutes go before you into the Kingdom of Heaven.” These are people who, although they do not have a good name socially, unlike the Pharisees, for example, who were considered the best Jews and therefore the closest to God, are distinguished by their good disposition and good intention, and who, for this reason, as soon as the call comes from God, immediately respond and follow God. The Lord spoke the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, as well as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, concerning such people, in order to show that what ultimately counts before God is awareness of one’s sinfulness, the “God, be propitious to me, the sinner,” and not an image of a person’s self-justification, perhaps because of some of his good deeds, which brings nothing upon him from God except condemnation.

Venerable Pelagia of Antioch in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (2 of 2)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“She who was once ensnared by the serpent was revealed as a snare for him, restraining his dominion and trampling upon his cunning, by the power of God” (Ode 6).

The first part of the life of the Venerable Pelagia is well known: she lived in licentiousness, steeped in sins. And this was because of her ignorance of the true God, which causes a person to walk as one blind, making choices in which the only one who rejoices is the wicked devil. Just as the Apostle Paul says as early as the first chapter of his Letter to the Romans (1:24ff.): “God gave them up” (those who are ignorant of God) “to their vile desires and allowed them to dishonor their own bodies. For they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and they revered and worshiped creation instead of the Creator.” “She was ensnared by the devil,” the Hymnographer of her service also observes.

But what happened? Because there was ignorance and she was a well-intentioned person, God therefore brought her into an encounter with Saint Nonnus, the Bishop of Antioch where Pelagia also lived. He catechized her in the Orthodox faith, and she was converted and earnestly repented, with the result that she was baptized in the name of the Lord and began a way of life that even the greatest ascetics, and even the Holy Angels, would have envied! A new Venerable Mary of Egypt! Now enclosed, wearing rough garments like Saint John the Forerunner, she remained until the end of her life on the Mount of Olives, in a cave, truly attaining great heights of holiness.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 8

The Month of October

Day 8

39. To Orthodox Women on How Christian Women Should Regard Their Female Friends Who Love to Dress Elegantly

(From the Life of the Venerable Pelagia)

Toward your female friends who are accustomed to dressing richly and elegantly, you, Christian women, for the most part do not conduct yourselves as you should. Usually, you look upon them either with condemnation or with envy. And, of course, neither the one nor the other can be praised, for both are sins before God, and both deprive those among you who envy and condemn of peace of soul. You must therefore look upon your elegantly dressed friends differently. You must look upon them not with condemnation and envy, but with such a disposition of soul that you may not only remain free from sin, but also learn good lessons for yourselves from women who adorn themselves elegantly and, through this, benefit your souls. “How can this be?” you will surely say. What lessons can we learn from women who dress themselves up? How can we derive benefit for our souls through them? Listen, Christian women; we hope that, by the example we intend to present below, we shall give you convincing answers to your questions.

Saint John the Hermit and the Spread of Veneration for Him During the Years of Venetian Rule in Rethymno and at the Sacred Monastery of the Savior of Koumbes

By Kostis Elias Papadakis

Your Eminence, Holy Abbot, Reverend Fathers and Sisters of the Monastery of the Savior, Ladies and Gentlemen,

My lecture, as you will already have understood from the title, consists of two parts:

a) the synaxarial, which concerns the Life and Conduct of Saint John the Hermit, and

b) the historical, which concerns the spread of the veneration and recognition of the Hermit as a Saint from the place of his ascetic struggle, the Akrotiri of Chania, to our prefecture of Rethymno and, more specifically, to the Sacred Monastery of the Savior of Christ, Koumbes.

Eight years ago I wrote my book on the Sacred Monastery of the Savior (Sacred Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior Christ, Koumbes, Rethymno, and Its Modern Founder, Nestor I. Vassalos the Dionysiatis, Rethymno 2011, p. 243), in which I demonstrated that, during the years of Venetian rule, one of the chapels of this Monastery was dedicated to Saint John the Hermit. This book of mine is the fruit of today’s lecture, through which the Monastery of the Savior is now officially introducing, with the blessings of the Church as well, the Apolytikion of this great Saint into its daily services, rediscovering once again its Renaissance roots and remembering its first Abbot at that time, Philotheos Phokas.

Holy Great Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. These Saints lived during the reign of Maximian. Sergius was a Primicerius, that is, a leader, of the school of the Kintilians, while Bacchus was a Secundicerius, that is, second in rank, of the same school. From the beginning they were initiated into the Christian faith and learned the God-inspired Scriptures well. For this reason, they were accused before the emperor as Christians, and he ordered them to offer sacrifice with him to the idols. Because of their refusal, their belts and collars were removed, and they were dressed in women’s garments. With irons on their feet, they were paraded through the center of the city for mockery and insult, and afterward they were led to the governor Antiochus, in the city of Euphratesia. As they approached, an angel appeared to them and filled them with strength and courage. Bacchus, after being beaten for a long time with raw sinews, gave up his spirit amid these tortures, while Sergius, after being interrogated in various ways, had his feet fastened in iron sandals. After being forced to run for a long time, he was then shut up in prison, and again had his feet fastened in the same sandals, until finally his head was cut off with a sword.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 7

The Month of October

Day 7

38. Angels Encourage and Strengthen Us in Times of Suffering

(From the Life of the Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus)

It is known that the good Angels, fulfilling the will of God, bestow many benefits upon us human beings. Thus, they care for our salvation, inspire us with good thoughts and desires, turn us away from evil deeds and intentions, protect us from the attacks of evil spirits, carry our prayers before the throne of God, and, finally, intercede for us before God. But what do you think, brethren, have we listed all the benefits that the good Angels bestow upon us? No, you must learn of yet another, and the greatest, benefit that the good Angels render to us. And this benefit consists in the fact that the Angels do not abandon us even during sufferings, whenever we are called upon to endure them, but during them they comfort, encourage, and strengthen us.

Holy Apostle Thomas in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. The Holy Apostle Thomas, who was from Judea and by profession a fisherman, known as one of the twelve disciples of the Lord and having the reputation of being the doubting disciple, since after His Resurrection he asked to touch the Lord in order to be convinced, after receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, went and preached the word of God to the Medes and Parthians, the Persians and the Indians. While he was in the eastern parts of India, he was arrested by King Smidaeus, because Azanes, the king’s son, his wife Tertia, and his daughters Mygdonia and Narka had believed in Christ through his preaching and had been baptized by the Apostle. For this reason, he was handed over to five soldiers, who took him up a mountain, where they pierced him through with their lances. Thus he departed to the Lord.

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

 

The Month of October

Day 6

37. Through Almsgiving One Can Acquire a House in the Heavenly Dwelling

(From the Life of the Holy Apostle Thomas)

Blessed Augustine, in a treatise on greed and luxury, speaking about almsgiving, says, among other things, in the person of God: “The Lord said: ‘I have received, I will repay... I have received the earth, I will give heaven; ... I have received an inn, I will give a house’” (from the book Imperishable Food). What, then, is this last statement really true? Will the Lord truly give us a house in the heavenly dwelling in return for almsgiving? Yes, brethren, it is indeed true, and there is absolutely no reason to doubt what Blessed Augustine said in the person of God. Why? Because his words justify themselves in deed and demonstrate by their very fulfillment that they are truth, and immutable truth at that.

Once the Indian prince Gundaphor, wishing to build himself a house modeled after the palaces of the Roman emperors, sent one of his subjects, Avan, to Palestine to find the best architect. There Avan met the Apostle Thomas, and when Thomas learned from Avan why he had been sent, he told him that he was a most skilled builder, and the two of them went to India. Upon arriving there, Avan presented the Apostle to the king as a most accomplished architect, and the king, giving Thomas a large quantity of gold and silver and showing him the place where the house was to be built, ordered him to begin the construction and then departed on a journey to foreign lands. After the king’s departure, Thomas immediately distributed all the gold and silver he had received to the poor. 

 

Prologue in Sermons: October 6

A House Not Made with Hands

October 6

(The Commemoration of the Holy Apostle Thomas)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

I will tell you the following story from the life of the Holy Apostle Thomas. After the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles cast lots to determine where each of them should go to preach the word of God. Parthia, Media, and India fell to the lot of Thomas, and he began preparing for his journey. 

 

Meanwhile, at that very time, an Indian merchant named Avan came to Jerusalem seeking a skilled craftsman who could build his king a magnificent palace, and he became acquainted with the Apostle. Thomas told him that he himself was a skilled builder and went with him to India. Upon arriving before the king, Thomas offered him his services, and the king, thinking that he really was a skilled builder, entrusted him with the construction of a building and, showing him the site, gave him a substantial amount of gold and silver for the expenses. Taking the money, the Apostle distributed it to the poor, while instead of building the palace he devoted himself diligently to spreading the word of God. 

 

After some time, when the king wished to know how the work was progressing, someone told him that the roof was already being built, and the king, delighted by this news, sent Thomas an even greater amount of gold than before. The Apostle distributed this to the poor as well, while the palace still remained unbuilt.