The
Holy Apostle Andronicus
Andronicus
was one of the Seventy Apostles. He was a kinsman of St. Paul, as Paul
himself writes: "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my
fellow prisoners; they are prominent among the apostles and they were
in Christ before me" (Romans 16:7). Paul also mentions St. Junia,
assistant of Andronicus. Andronicus was installed as bishop in
Pannonia, but did not remain in one place, rather preached the Gospel
throughout Pannonia. With St. Junia, he succeeded in converting many
to Christ and destroyed many idolatrous temples. They both possessed
the power of Grace to work miracles through which they drove out
demons from men and healed every type of disease and illness. They
both suffered for Christ and thus received the two-fold wreath: the
apostolic wreath and the martyr's wreath. Their holy relics were
discovered in the regions of Eugenius (February 22).
The
Holy Martyr Solochon
Solochon
was an Egyptian by birth and a Roman soldier under Commander Campanus
during the reign of the nefarious Emperor Maximian. When the directive
from the emperor was handed down that all the soldiers must offer up
sacrifices to the idols, Solochon declared himself a Christian. Two of
his companions also declared themselves Christians: Pamphamir and
Pamphylon. The commander ordered that they be flogged and cruelly
tortured from which Saints Pamphamir and Pamphylon died. Solochon
remained alive and was subjected to new tortures. The commander
ordered the soldiers to open his mouth with a sword and to pour the
sacrifices of the idols into his mouth. The martyr broke the iron
sword with his teeth and did not consume the foul sacrifice of the
idols. Finally, they pierced a quill through both ears and left him to
die. The Christians removed the martyr and brought him to the home of
a widow where he gradually, by food and drink, became a little
stronger and, again, continued to counsel the faithful to be
persistent in their faith and in their sufferings for the Faith.
Following that, he gave thanks to God, completed his earthly life and
presented himself to the Lord in the kingdom of heaven in the year 298
A.D.
St.
Stephen, Patriarch of Constantinople
Stephen
was the son of Emperor Basil the Macedonian and brother of Emperor Leo
the Wise. He succeeded to the patriarchal throne after Photius and
governed the Church of God from 889-893 A.D. He died peacefully and
presented himself to the Lord Whom he greatly loved.
Reflection
Following
a terrible earthquake in Antioch, St. John Chrysostom spoke to the
people: "Great are the fruits of an earthquake. Behold the
Man-loving Lord Who quakes the city and strengthens the soul, Who
sways the foundation and strengthens the thoughts, Who shows the
weakness of the city and makes the will of the people powerful! Turn
your attention to His love for mankind: He sways for a while - and
strengthens forever; earthquake - for two days, but the devotion
should remain for all times; you were sorrowful for a short time - but
strengthened forever. A mother, wanting to wean her child from of the
habit of frequent crying, strongly rocks its little crib not in order
to harm it, but to frighten it. Precisely, thus the Lord of all, Who
holds the universe in His hands shakes it, not in order to destroy it,
but rather to bring back those men to salvation who live
lawlessly." Behold this is how the Holy Fathers, the pillars of
the Universal Church, knew how to explain God's love for man, both
assaults in the same way as good works, and misfortune the same way as
fortune. Let us who are slow to give thanks to God be ashamed when He
gives and quick in our murmuring toward him when He takes away.
Contemplation
To
contemplate the action of God the Holy Spirit upon the holy martyrs
for the Faith:
1. How
the Holy Spirit gives them wisdom to speak before judges;
2. How
the Holy Spirit gives them courage to die on the scaffold.
Homily
About
the Holy Spirit the Comforter
"But
the Comforter the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My Name, He
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said to you" (St. John 14:26).
What
practical meaning do these words have, if not that it is necessary
that we pray daily that the Holy Spirit be sent to us just as we pray
every day for our daily bread? God is willing to send us the Holy
Spirit every day but He seeks that we pray daily for the Holy Spirit.
For as, in regard to bread which is, at one time abundant and at
another time scarce, so it is also in regard to the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit comes to us and departs from us, according to our
zealousness and our slothfulness in prayer, according to our good
deeds and our patience. That is the reason why the Church established
that morning services begin with an invocation of the Holy Spirit:
"O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
Come!", and after that comes the prayer: "give us our daily
bread!" Why? Because, without the Holy Spirit, we do not even
know how to use bread as it should be used for our salvation.
"He
shall teach you all things." That is: every day and every night,
according to the conditions and circumstances in which you will find
yourself in, He will direct you, counsel you, teach you what you
should think, what you should say and what you should do. For that
reason, implore from God only the Holy Spirit and all else He Himself
will bring with Him all that you will need at that particular moment.
When the Holy Spirit shall descend upon you, you will know all,
understand all and you will be capable of all that is necessary.
"And
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to
you." That is: do not be afraid that you will forget my teaching
and my words. The Holy Spirit also knows all that I know so when He
will be present in you all My teaching will be present in you,
together with Him.
O Lord,
Holy Spirit deign to descend upon us not according to our merits but
according to the merits of the Lord Jesus and according to Your
infinite goodness.
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May
31st (New Style) • May 18th (Old Style)
The
Holy Martyr Theodotus and the seven maiden Martyrs: Thecusa,
Alexandra, Claudia, Falina, Euphrasia, Matrona and Julia
Theodotus
was married and an innkeeper in Ancyra during the reign of Diocletian.
Although married, he lived according to the word of the apostle:
"Let those having wives act as not having them" (1
Corinthians 7:29). He maintained the inn in order to unsuspectedly
help Christians. His inn was a shelter of the persecuted faithful.
Theodotus secretly sent help to those Christians who fled to the
mountains and secretly gathered the bodies of those who died and
buried them. At that time, seven maidens were brought to trial and
tortured for Christ, ridiculed and finally drowned in a lake. One of
them, St. Thecusa appeared in a dream to Theodotus and told to him to
remove their bodies from the lake and bury them. In the darkness of
night, Theodotus, with a companion, went out to fulfill the wish of
the martyr and, led by an angel of God, succeeded to locate all seven
bodies and bury them. But this companion betrayed Theodotus to the
judge and the judge subjected him to cruel tortures. Theodotus endured
all sufferings as though he were in someone else's body keeping his
whole mind engrossed in the Lord. When the torturer transformed his
entire body into wounds and knocked out his teeth with a stone, he
ordered him to be beheaded. When he was led to the scaffold, many
Christians wept for him and
St.
Theodotus said to them: "Brethren, do not weep for me but glorify
our Lord Jesus Christ Who helped me to complete this mortification and
to overcome my enemy." Having said this, he place his head on the
block under the sword and was beheaded in the year 303 A.D. A priest
honorably buried this martyr's body on a hill outside the town. Later
on, a church was built on this spot in the name of St. Theodotus.
The
Holy Martyrs Peters, Dionysius, Andrew, Paul and Christina
Peter, a
handsome young man; Dionysius, a distinguished man; Andrew and Paul,
soldiers; and Christina, a sixteen year old virgin, all courageously
confessed Christ the Lord and endured sufferings and death for His
Name. Nicomachus, who along with them was tortured, denied Christ in
the middle of his tortures and, instantly lost his mind and, as a mad
man, bit his body and threw up foam from his mouth until he died. This
occurred in the year 250 A.D.
The
Holy Martyrs Heraclius, Paulinus and Benedimus
All
three were Athenians. They suffered for the Faith during the reign of
Decius. For the Name of Christ, they were burned in a fiery furnace.
Reflection
To
conceal your virtues and mortifications was the custom of ascetics,
both female and male, not only in the earliest times of Christianity
but throughout all ages to the present time. Eudocia, wife of the
glorious Prince Dimitri of Don, the liberator of Russia from the
Tartars, was left a comparatively young widow in the year 1389 A.D.
Imbued with devoutness, this princess built many churches, distributed
alms and secretly weakened her body by fasting and long vigils. She
wore an iron chain around her body. Meanwhile, she always appeared
happy before the public, clothed in opulence and adorned with pearls.
The public said many things about her and they began to spread rumors
about her immoral life. Her sons heard about this and, insulted and
embittered openly informed their mother what was being rumored about
her. The mother opened her luxurious robe and the children, with great
horror, viewed her body which was completely withered, dried up and
drawn in by the iron chains.
Contemplation
To
contemplate the action of God the Holy Spirit upon the martyrs:
1. How
the Holy Spirit extends them comfort in sufferings;
2. How
occasionally, according to His pleasure, make their bodies unscathed
by fire.
Homily
About
the testimony of the Spirit of God
"The
Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, He will testify to
Me" (St John 15:26).
God's
Son sent God the Holy Spirit into the world to testify about Him until
the end of time. "He will testify to Me."
How will
God the Spirit testify about God the Son? God the Spirit will testify
in many ways:
By
attracting the souls of men to Christ's Church;
By
revealing to them the meaning of the Holy Scripture;
By
leading their minds to the commandments of Christ;
By
giving warmth, freshness, power and gentleness to the words of Christ;
By
converting repentant sinners into righteous ones;
By
fulfilling all the promises and prophecies of Christ upon men and upon
nations and upon God's Church;
By
strengthening the Church of Christ and holding it firm against all the
tempest of times and all the evils of Hades and men throughout the
ages of ages.
The
Spirit which works in these and many other similar ways is the Spirit
of God, the Spirit of Truth, Good, Life creating and All-powerful.
Not one
of Christ's words goes against the Spirit of God nor does the Spirit
of God go against a single word of Christ. That is why when the Spirit
of God pleases to enter into the heart of man, He becomes alive and
becomes a true witness to all that Christ said and did. Then, man
believes joyfully and unwaveringly. For how would he not believe the
greatest and the most enduring Eyewitness and Participator of all the
words, all the miracles and all the works of Christ?
That is
why, brethren, let us pray before all and above all that this
Eyewitness and Participator, the Holy Spirit and All-powerful, settle
in our hearts so that our faith may become alive, unwavering and
joy-creating. O God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, come and
abide in us.
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June
1st (New Style) • May 19th (Old Style)
The
Holy Priestly-Martyr PAtrick (Patricios), Bishop of Brussa along with
the three presbyters: Acacius, Menander and Palyenus
They
suffered for the Faith of Christ during the reign of Julian the
Apostate in Asian Brussa. Junius, the imperial deputy, brought these
saints to a hot spring and asked Patrick: "Who created these
curative waters if not our gods Aesculapius and others whom we
worship?" St. Patrick replied: "Your gods are demons and
these waters, as everything else, were created by Christ the Lord, our
God." Then the deputy asked: "And will your Christ save you
if I toss you into this boiling water?" The saint replied:
"If He wants. He is able to preserve me whole and unharmed, even
though I desire that in these waters I become separated from this
temporary life to live with Christ eternally; but let His Holy will be
done on me, without which not even a hair does not fall from the head
of men!" Hearing this, the deputy ordered that Patrick be tossed
into the boiling water. Drops of boiling water splashed on all sides
and bitterly scalded many of those present but the saint of God, on
whose lips were continually in prayer, remained unharmed as though he
were standing in cold water. Seeing this, the deputy became enraged
out of embarrassment and ordered Patrick and his remaining three
presbyters be beheaded with an ax. Then the innocent followers of
Christ recited their prayers and placed their heads under the ax of
the executioner. When they were beheaded, their joyful souls ascended
into the illuminating kingdom of Christ to reign forever.
St.
John, Bishop of the Goths
John was
a bishop in Georgia but when the Kahn of the Tartars in Georgia began
to torture Christians, he left for four years to live among the Goths
in Bessarabia. The diocese of the Goths was established during the
reign of Constantine the Great. Learning of the death of the Kahn,
John returned to his duties in Georgia and guided his flock zealously
and devoutly. Before his death, he said: "In about forty days, I
go to be judged with the Kahn," i.e., through death, John goes to
the throne of God. And so it happened, on the fortieth day he died and
went to the Lord. He died peacefully in the eighth century.
The
Holy Prince John (Ivan) Vologda
John was
a miracle-worker, god-fearing and virtuous from his youth. He was cast
into prison by his uncle, Prince John (Ivan) Vasilevitch, along with
his brother Dimitri where they remained for thirty-two years. Before
his death, John was tonsured a monk and received the name Ignatius.
Reflection
The
great hierarchs, the pillars of the Orthodox Church, knew how to blend
meekness and resoluteness into their character. Meekness toward the
righteous and penitents and resoluteness toward the unrepentant
criminals. One Sunday, following the Divine Liturgy, the Tsar Ivan the
Terrible approached Metropolitan Philip to receive the metropolitan's
blessing. The metropolitan pretended not to see the Tsar and gazed at
the icon of the Savior. The Tsar's adjutant approached the
metropolitan and said to him: "Your Eminence, the Ruler is before
you, bless him." The metropolitan looked at the Tsar and said:
"O Tsar, fear the judgment of God. Here, we offer up the Unbloody
Sacrifice to God and outside the sanctuary, the blood of Christians is
being spilled. How many innocent suffer? You are lofty on the throne
but, nevertheless, you are a man." The enraged Tsar reminded the
metropolitan to keep silent, but the metropolitan said to him:
"Where is my faith, if I remain silent?" When the Tsar began
to threaten the metropolitan he quietly replied: "I am a visitor
and guest on earth and am ready to suffer for the truth!" After a
period of time, the evil Tsar strangled the metropolitan but did not
strangle the saint.
Contemplation
To
contemplate God the Holy Spirit as the Inspirer of wisdom and truth:
1. How
He inspired with wisdom and truth the prophets, evangelists and
apostles who wrote the Holy Scriptures by His inspiration and
guidance;
2. How
He inspired with wisdom and truth the Holy Fathers who interpreted
Holy Scriptures by His inspiration and guidance.
Homily
About
the holy men of God
"Holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter
1:21).
This is
witnessed by the Apostle Peter who himself was a holy man of God, a
rock of faith and a knight of the Cross. As a holy man of God he, by
his own personal experience, explains how the holy men of God spoke
and what they said and he says: "They spoke as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit." However, they did not speak according to their
own reasoning nor according to their own memory nor according to their
own speculation nor according to their own eloquence but rather they
spoke from the Spirit and according to the Holy Spirit. The wisdom of
God flowed through them and the truth of God was revealed through
them. Holy Scripture was not written with "the false pen of the
scribes" (Jeremiah 8:8), but was written by the servants and the
chosen ones of the Holy Spirit of God. Neither was Holy Scripture
written by men whose writing was a vocation, but rather it was written
by the saints of God, directed and compelled by the Spirit of God.
Often, not even wanting and, at times even protesting, they had to
write as the Holy Prophet Jeremiah witnesses saying: "I will not
make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His Name. But His word was
in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary
with forbearing and I could not stay" (Jeremiah 20:9).
O my
brethren, Sacred Scripture is not of men but of God; it is not of the
earth but rather from heaven; neither is it from the body but from the
Spirit; yes, from the Holy Spirit of God. Inspired by the wisdom and
truth of the Holy Spirit, these holy men of God wrote: Prophets,
Evangelists, Apostles, Fathers, Teachers, Hierarchs and Shepherds.
O God
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth, inspire us by Your
Life-creating breath, that we may recognize Wisdom and Truth and by
Your help to fulfill them.
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June
2nd (New Style) • May 20th (Old Style)
The
Holy Martyr Thalelaeus
Thalelaeus
was born in Lebanon. His father was called Berucius and his mother was
called Romila. Thalelaeus was an eighteen-year old youth, handsome of
countenance, physically tall and with reddish yellow hair. He was a
physician by profession. He suffered for Christ during the reign of
Numerian. When he bravely confessed his faith in Christ the Lord
before his tormenting judge, the judge ordered the two executioners,
Alexander and Asterius, to bore through his knees with a drill, to
thread a rope through the perforated bones and to hang him from a
tree. But God through an invisible power, took away the sight of the
executioners. In place of Thalelaeus they bored through a board and
hung it from a tree. When the judge-torturer found out, he thought
that the executioners did this intentionally and ordered them both to
be flogged. Then Alexander and Asterius, in the midst of their
flogging, cried out: "The Lord is alive to us and, from now on,
we are also becoming Christians. We believe in Christ and suffer for
Him." Upon hearing this, the judge-torturer ordered that both be
beheaded. Then the judge took the drill to bore the knees of
Thalelaeus himself but his hands became paralyzed and he begged
Thalelaeus to save him, which the innocent martyr of Christ did, with
the help of prayer. Following that, Thalelaeus was thrown into water
but appeared alive before his tormentor (for Thalelaeus prayed to God
inwardly to prolong his sufferings that he not die immediately). When
he was thrown before wild beasts, they licked his feet and were
amiable toward him. Finally, Thalelaeus was beheaded and took up his
habitation in life eternal in the year 284 A.D.
The
Holy Martyr Asclas
Asclas
suffered in the town of Antinoe in Egypt during the reign of
Diocletian. He was flogged, scraped, burned with candles but he
remained unwavering in the Faith to the end. When the tormentor Arrian
was crossing the Nile by boat Asclas, through prayer, stopped the boat
in the middle of the river and would not allow it to move until Arrian
wrote that he believes in Christ as the One and Almighty God. But,
ascribing this miracle to a magical skill of Asclas, the tormentor
forgot what he wrote and continued to torment the man of God. Finally,
they tied a stone around his neck and tossed him into the Nile river.
On the third day Christians found the body of Asclas along the shore
with the stone around his neck (as the martyr foretold them before his
death) and honorably buried him in the year 287 A.D. Leonides, the
holy martyr, also suffered with him. Arrian, their tormentor, later
repented, believed in Christ with his whole heart and openly began to
express his faith before the pagans. The pagans also killed him and so
Arrian, a one-time tormentor of Christians, was made worthy of the
martyr's wreath for Christ.
The
Venerable Stephan of Piperi
This
saint was born into the Niksich clan in the village of Zupa of poor
but devout parents, Radoje and Jacima. According to tradition, he
first lived a life of asceticism in the monastery of Moraca where he
was abbot. The Turks drove him out of Moraca and he settled in Rovacki,
Turmanj in the place which today is called Celishte. Later, he settled
in Piperi in a cell where he remained in labor and god-pleasing
asceticism until his death. He died peacefully in the Lord on May 20,
1697 A.D. His relics repose there even today and with many miracles
they glorify Christ the God and Stephan, God's chosen one.
Reflection
When a
man acquires a Christian conscience, he zealously labors to correct
his life and to please God. For him, all else becomes of little
importance. We have examples of such men not only among the great
ascetics and spiritual fathers but also among powerful rulers
themselves. Emperor Theodosius the Great gives us such an example who,
for a brief time, fell into heresy after which he repented. St.
Ambrose, his earlier critic, spoke over his lifeless body: "I
loved this man who, divesting himself of all imperial insignias,
openly in church bewailing his sin and, with sighs and tears, begged
forgiveness. What ordinary men are ashamed to do, the emperor was not
ashamed to do. After his glorious victory over the enemies of the
empire, he decided not to approach Holy Communion until the return of
his sons only because his enemies were slain in battle."
Contemplation
To
contemplate God the Holy Spirit as an Inspirer of meekness and
gentleness:
1. How
He inspired meekness and gentleness to the ascetics and hermits
throughout the ages;
2. How
He inspired and, even today, inspires meekness and gentleness to all
truly repentant souls.
Homily
About
the spirit of the world and the Spirit from God
"We
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of
God" (1Corinthians 2:12).
Brethren,
the spirit of this world is the spirit of pride and cruelty and the
Spirit of God is the Spirit of meekness and gentleness. The apostle of
God asserts that the followers of Christ did not receive the spirit of
this world rather the Spirit "which is of God" i.e., who
proceeds from God the Father as a sweet-smelling fragrance as from
flowers and as a good fragrance pours out on the soul of man making it
mighty, bright, peaceful, thankful and pleasant.
Men by
nature are meek and gentle. St. Tertulain writes: "the soul of
man by nature is Christian." But, by the spirit of this world, it
is irritable and enraged. The spirit of this world made wolves out of
lambs, while the Spirit Who is from God makes lambs out of wolves.
The
apostle still adds that we received the Spirit of God "that we
may know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1
Corinthians 2:12). Therefore, that we may know what is from God in us
and what is not from God and that we may sense the sweetness of that
which is from God and the bitterness from that which is not from God,
rather from the spirit of this world. As long as man is outside of his
nature, beneath his nature, he considers bitterness as sweetness and
sweetness as bitterness. But, when by the Spirit of God he returns to
his true nature, then he considers sweet as sweetness and bitter as
bitterness.
Who can
return man to God? Who can heal man of poisonous sinful bitterness?
Who can teach him by experience to distinguish true sweetness from
bitterness? No one except the Spirit Who is from God.
Therefore
brethren, let us pray that God grants us His Holy Spirit as He granted
the Holy Spirit to His apostles and saints. And when that Holy Spirit
of God enters into us, the kingdom of God has arrived in which is all
sweetness itself, only good, only light, only meekness and only
gentleness.
O Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of meekness and gentleness, come and abide in us.
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June
3rd (New Style) • May 21st (Old Style)
St.
Constantine and Empress Helena
Constantine's
parents were Emperor Constantius Chlorus and the Empress Helena.
Chlorus had other children by another wife, but from Helena he had
only Constantine. After his coronation Constantine fought three great
battles: one, against Maxentius, a Roman tyrant; the second, against
the Scythians on the Danube and the third, against the Byzantines.
Before the battle with Maxentius, while Constantine was greatly
concerned and in doubt about his success, a brilliant Cross appeared
to him in the sky during the day, completely adorned with stars and
written on the Cross were these words: "By this Sign
Conquer." Astonished, the emperor ordered a large cross to be
forged similar to the one that appeared to him and that it be carried
before the army. By the power of the Cross he achieved a glorious
victory over the enemy who was superior in members. Maxentius was
drowned in the Tiber river. Immediately after that, Constantine issued
the famous Edict of Milan in the year 313 A.D. to halt the persecution
of Christians. Defeating the Byzantines, Constantine built a beautiful
capital on the Bosphorus which from that time on was called
Constantinople. Before that, however, Constantine succumbed to the
dreaded disease of leprosy. As a cure, the pagan priests and
physicians counseled him to bathe in the blood of slaughtered
children. However, he rejected that. Then the Apostles Peter and Paul
appeared to him and told him to seek out Bishop Sylvester who will
cure him of this dreaded disease. The bishop instructed him in the
Christian Faith, baptized him and the disease of leprosy vanished from
the emperor's body. When a discord began in the Church because of the
mutinous heretic Arius, the emperor convened the First Ecumenical
Council in Nicaea, 325. A.D., where the heresy was condemned and
Orthodoxy confirmed. St. Helena, the pious mother of the emperor, was
very zealous for the Faith of Christ. She visited Jerusalem,
discovered the Honorable Cross of the Lord, built the Church of the
Resurrection on Golgotha and many other churches throughout the Holy
Land. This holy woman presented herself to the Lord in her eightieth
year in 327 A.D. Emperor Constantine outlived his mother by ten years.
He died in Nicomedia in his sixty-fifth year in 337 A.D. His body was
interred in the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Constantinople.
The
Venerable Martyr Pachomius
Pachomius
was born in Little Russia. The Tartars captured him in his youth and
sold him to a Turkish furrier as a slave. He spent twenty-seven years
in slavery in the town of Usaki in Asia Minor. He was forced to become
a Muslim. He went to Mt. Athos, was tonsured a monk and spent twelve
years in the monastery of St. Paul. He decided to suffer for Christ.
His spiritual father, the Elder Joseph, accompanied him to Usaki where
Pachomius presented himself to his former master as a Christian in the
monastic habit. The Turks subjected him to tortures, threw him into
prison and beheaded him on the Feast Day of the Ascension, May 8, 1730
A.D. Many miracles occurred from his blood and relics. Pachomius was
buried on the island of Patmos in the Church of St. John the
Theologian. Thus this Little Russian peasant became a martyr and
wreath-bearer in the kingdom of Christ.
Reflection
We see
that vice is something shameful and sinful in that it always hides and
always takes upon itself the appearance of good works. St. John
Chrysostom beautifully says: "Vice does not have its own
particular face, but borrows the face of good works." This is why
the Savior said: "they come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves" (St. Matthew 7:15). Call a
liar, a liar; a thief, a thief; a murderer, a murderer; an adulterer,
an adulterer; a slanderer, a slanderer and you will infuriate them.
However, call a man whatever you want: honest, honorable, unselfish,
truthful, just, conscientious and you will make him light up with joy
and please him. Again, according to Chrysostom, I quote: "good
works are something natural in man while vice is something unnatural
and false." If a man is even caught in a vice, he quickly
justifies his vice by some good works; he clothes it in the garments
of good works. Indeed, vice does not posses its own particular face.
The same is true of the devil, the father of vices!
Contemplation
To
contemplate God the Holy Spirit as the Inspirer of justice, peace and
joy:
1. How
He inspired with justice, peace and joy all the lovers of Christ's
justice;
2. How
He inspired and, even today inspires, with justice, peace and joy all
the sufferers for Christ's justice.
Homily
About
the children of God
"The
Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God" (Romans 8:16).
He who
has the Spirit of God in himself - only he has the witness that he is
the child of God. Without the Spirit of God there is no such witness.
Not even the entire universe can give this witness. The universe,
alone, without the Spirit of God - what else does it witness to us
other than that we are its slaves, its victims, which it unmercifully
swallows? In essence, the pagans thought that also. The opponents of
God today, do they not think likewise? They do think so. For indeed,
it is difficult to take that thought away from man who did not
recognize the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, the Witness of
Heaven. The same apostle says: "For you have not received the
spirit of bondage" (Romans 8:15). What is this spirit of bondage?
It is every other spirit except the Spirit of God, Who Christ the Lord
sends to those who love Him. The spirit of bondage is the spirit of
materialism, the spirit of fortune-telling, the spirit of naturalism,
the spirit of pessimism, the spirit of despair, the spirit of vice.
Only the Spirit of God is the All Holy Spirit of adoption and freedom.
O what
happiness, O what peace, O what joy when the Spirit of God cuddles in
the cleansed heart of man as a sparrow does in its nest! Then our hope
opens hundreds of doors in the prison of the universe and our embrace,
wider than the universe, stretches out to the One Who is greater and
more merciful than the universe. To Whom? To the Father! And then we
cry out: "Abba, Father!" (Romans 8:15).
The
witness of God, which comes through the eyes, can even lead us to
doubt that we are the children of God. But, the witness which comes to
us from the heart, from the Spirit of God, does not leave even the
slightest doubt. God witnesses about God. What kind of doubt can there
be? God the Holy Spirit caresses us in the heart of our very being.
Can there be any kind of doubt there? No; for then we know and feel
completely confident that God is the Father and we, the children of
God. No one's servants, no one's slaves, rather the children of God.
O Lord
God, Holy Spirit come abide in us and remain with us as a Witness of
the Trinity and the Kingdom, as a Witness of the immortal Paradise.
To You
be glory and thanks always. Amen.
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June
4th (New Style) • May 22nd (Old Style)
The
Holy Martyr Basiliscus
Basiliscus
was a kinsman of St. Theodore Tiro. He was tortured together with
Eutropius and Cleonicus. When the latter two (Eutropius and Cleonicus)
were crucified, and expired (March 3), then Basiliscus was again
returned to prison. At that time, there occurred a change in the
emperor's deputy so that Basiliscus remained imprisoned for a long
time. With tears, Basiliscus prayed that God not deprive him of a
martyr's death. After lengthy prayers, the Lord Jesus Himself appeared
to him, promised to fulfill his wish and sent him to his village to
bid farewell to his mother and brothers. At that time Agrippa, a new
deputy, was appointed and ordered that Basiliscus he brought from the
village immediately. Enroute from the village to the town of Amasea
the Lord, through His martyr, worked a great miracle and, as a result,
many people believed in Christ. Agrippa ordered the martyr to offer a
sacrifice to the idol Apollyon. Basiliscus said: "Apollyon means
`one who kills - the destroyer,' " and with fervent prayer turned
the idol into dust and with a heavenly fire burned the temple. The
frightened Agrippa attributed this to magic and ordered Basiliscus
beheaded. At that moment, Agrippa went insane and, in his madness,
went to the scaffold, found a little blood of the martyr in the dust,
placed it under his belt and he was healed. Coming to his senses he
was baptized. Later on, Marinus, a citizen of Comana, the place of the
execution of Basiliscus, built a church over the relics of the saint
where many afflicted people found healing.
The
Holy Martyr John Vladimir, King of Serbia
John
Vladimir was of princely lineage from Zahumlje. His grandfather was
called Hvalimir and his father Petrislav. As a ruler, he was wise,
merciful, meek, chaste and brave. He fervently prayed to God and
voluntarily built churches and supported them. However, he had
difficult struggles both internally and externally. Internally, from
heretics and the Bogomils and externally from Tsar Samuel and Tsar
Basil who wanted to conquer him. Samuel deceitfully captured him and
cast him into prison. While he languished in prison an angel of God
appeared to him and foretold that he would shortly be freed, but that
he would die a martyr's death. Getting to know him better, Samuel grew
to like him and gave his daughter Kosara to be his wife. When Samuel
died, his son Radomir was crowned Tsar. But Vladislav, his twin
brother, slew Radomir and deceitfully summoned Vladimir and beheaded
him in the year 1015 A.D. The relics of this saintly king repose
uncorrupt in his monastery near Elbasan and over his relics,
throughout the ages and even today, numerous miracles occur. In 1925,
a church was built to honor this crowned martyr adjacent to the
monastery of St. Nahum since John Vladimir was the benefactor of this
glorious monastery.
The
Second Ecumenical Council
This
Council was called during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Great in
Constantinople in the year 381 A.D. Its goal was to confirm the
Orthodox teaching concerning the Holy Spirit about Whom the Patriarch
Macedonius of Constantinople erroneously taught. He erroneously taught
that the Holy Spirit is God's creature and not a divine person (Hypostasis)
equal to the Father and Son and One in essence with Them in the Holy
Trinity. Macedonius was condemned by this Council and the teaching
about the Holy Spirit was added to the Nicaean Symbol of Faith (the
Nicene Creed).
The
Holy Righteous Melchisedek, King of Salem
Melchisedek
was a contemporary of our forefather Abraham. According to the words
of the Apostle Paul he was a king, priest and proto-type of the Lord
Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7).
Reflection
How was
Moses able to fast for forty days? How were the many Christian
ascetics able to live a long life in extreme abstinence from food and
drink? For the physical man who does not know about the spiritual
life, it is impossible to believe. It is impossible even to prove it
to him for the understanding of this is achieved only by experience.
When the torturers of St. Basiliscus detained him for three days
without food and water and when they offered him food to eat, he
refused saying that he was not hungry. "I am," says he,
"filled with immortal food and do not want to receive mortal
food. You are fed by earthly bread, but the heavenly word of God feeds
me; wine makes you happy, and the Grace of the Holy Spirit makes me
happy; meat satisfies you and fasting satisfies me; physical power
strengthens you and the Cross of Christ strengthens me; gold makes you
rich and the love of Christ enriches me; clothing adorns you, and good
works adorn me; you are made happy with laughter and I am comforted by
the Spirit through prayer." Here is a man, one out of many, and
there are many more upon whom the word of the Lord is confirmed.
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God!" (St. Matthew 4:4).
Contemplation
To
contemplate the Grace of God the Holy Spirit in the Mystery (Sacrament)
of Baptism:
1. How
that Grace cleanses man from original sin;
2. How
It includes man among the citizens of the freedom of Christ.
Homily
About
the bodies of men as temples
"Do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in
you, Whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were
bought at a price" (1 Corinthians 6: 19-20).
For
what, brethren, did our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit?
Because, we are purchased at a price. The Lord Jesus purchased us with
His cares, labors, sufferings and death. Because of this price we were
made worthy to become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
But,
someone will say that price was paid a long time ago and we live
twenty centuries later! It is all the same: the price was not paid for
one time and for one generation but rather for all times and for all
generations from Adam to the Dreadful Judgment. And if there would be
billions and billions of human beings born on earth, the price is paid
for all of them. The price is so great and rich that if all the sand
in the sea were changed into men, the price would be sufficient.
Brethren,
from what moment do our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit?
From the moment of our baptism. Although the price is paid for all men
only those who are baptized become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Brethren,
what is the consequence that the Holy Spirit lives in us? The
consequence is this, that we are not our own anymore. When the Holy
Spirit takes up His abode in our bodies, then He becomes the Master
over us and not us over it (the body) nor over ourselves. Then,
brethren, we are the possession of God the Holy Spirit.
Brethren,
what does it mean at the Mystical Supper (Last Supper) when the Lord
washed even the feet of Judas and when Judas received a piece of bread
from the Lord, it says: "Satan entered him" (St. John
13:27). O what dreadful words! O what a horrible punishment upon the
traitor of God! Brethren, does that not mean that when we reject God,
Who washes and feeds us, the Spirit of God departs from us and, in His
place, Satan settles in? O what a stern meaning! O what a terrible
reminder to all of us who are baptized! The Holy Spirit settled in us
during our baptism and made us a temple for Himself. But, the Holy
Spirit does not dwell in us by force but rather according to our good
will. If we transgress against Him, He departs from us and in place of
Him, Satan enters and our physical temple is transformed into a
pigsty.
O
All-good Holy Spirit do not leave us. Have mercy on us and forgive us.
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June
5th (New Style) • May 23rd (Old Style)
St.
Michael, Bishop of Synnada
Michael,
this holy and learned hierarch, dedicated himself to the service of
Christ from early childhood. Together with St. Theophylact of
Nicomedia, he lived a life of asceticism. At one time during a period
of drought, these two saints, by their prayers, brought forth abundant
rain on the earth. Because of his ascetical and chaste life from his
early youth, he was chosen and consecrated bishop of Synnada by
Patriarch Tarasius. He participated in the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea,
783 A.D.). At the request of the emperor, he went to Caliph
Harun-al-Rashid to conduct negotiations for peace. During the reign of
the nefarious Leo the Armenian, Michael was removed from his episcopal
throne because of his veneration of icons and was banished into exile,
where in misery and poverty and, remaining faithful to Orthodoxy, died
in the year 818 A.D. and took up habitation in the kingdom of Christ
the King.
The
Venerable Martyr Michael
After
the death of his parents, Michael distributed all of his goods to the
poor and went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Following that, he entered
the monastery of St. Sabas the Sanctified where he was tonsured a
monk. Michael was quite young and of a handsome countenance but, from
much fasting, he appeared withered and pale. At that time, the Arabs
ruled Jerusalem. One day Michael was sent by his spiritual father to
the city to sell his handiworks. He was met on the streets by the
eunuch of the Arabian queen who brought him to her to display his
handiworks. When the queen saw this handsome monk she became inflamed
with unclean passion and proposed carnal sin to the monk as once did
the wife of Potiphar to the chaste Joseph. When Michael rejected the
impure offer and began to flee, the angry queen ordered that he be
beaten with canes and after that brought him to the king with the
change that he blasphemed the faith of Muhammad. The king proposed
that Michael embrace the Islamic faith, but he refused. He was then
given a potent poison to drink. Michael drank the poison but nothing
happened to him. Then the king ordered Michael to be beheaded in the
center of Jerusalem. Monks discovered his body and removed it to the
monastery of St. Sabas where they honorably buried him. St. Michael
suffered for Christ and was glorified in the ninth century.
The
Venerable Female Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk
Euphrosyne
was the daughter of Prince Vseslav of Poltsk. When her parents wanted
to betroth her, she fled to a convent and was tonsured a nun. An angel
of the Lord appeared to her three times and revealed to her where she
must establish a new convent for virgins. She even attracted her
sister Eudocia to the monastic life and many other maidens from the
ranks of the aristocracy. Her cousin, Zvenislava, by birth Princess
Borisov, brought all of her riches, clothes and precious stones and
said: "All the beauty of this world, I consider vanity and these
adornments prepared for my marriage, I give to the Church of the
Savior and I, myself, wish to be betrothed to Him in a spiritual
marriage and place my head beneath His good and easy yoke."
Euphrosyne also tonsured her a nun and gave her the name Eupraxia. In
her old age, Euphrosyne desired to die in Jerusalem and for that she
prayed to God. God heard her prayers and, indeed, when she visited
Jerusalem she died there. Euphrosyne was buried in the monastery of
St. Theodosius on May 23, 1173 A.D.
Reflection
A
spiritual man interprets all things and all manifestations in nature
in a spiritual and symbolic manner and, from all, draws benefit from
it for his soul. At one time, the brethren came to St. John the Short (Colovos)
and began to tell him how a heavy rain fell and watered the palms and
how new branches began to sprout on the palms so that the monks would
have enough material for their handiwork. St. John thought and said to
the brethren: "In the same manner the Holy Spirit enters the
hearts of the saints so that It renews itself and lets out the
branches of the fear of God."
Contemplation
To
contemplate the Grace of God the Holy Spirit in the Mystery (Sacrament)
of Baptism:
1. How
that Grace gives power to the soul to follow Christ the Lord;
2. How It
is a pledge of God's adoption of the baptized man.
Homily
About
how we need not grieve the Spirit of God
"And
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, where by you are sealed unto the
day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).
Brethren,
"The Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit" is recited over
all of us who are baptized by water and Spirit. The Spirit of God is
given to us not because of our merits and, no one should ever think
that, but according to the mercy of the Living God. Even in normal
relations between men, happy is the one who gives the gift and happy
is also he who receives the gift. Giving is joy on both sides. The
greater the gift, the greater the joy. God rejoices when He gives the
Grace of His Holy Spirit: why then should men not rejoice who receive
it? The needy one who receives usually rejoices more than the rich man
who gives; why then should not miserable men rejoice who receive this
enormous gift from the rich God?
In what
way do men grieve the Holy Spirit? The apostle who commanded that we
not grieve the Spirit of God immediately adds, by what means is the
Spirit grieved: "All bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamor, and evil speaking (swearing) and all malice. All of that to be
put away from you" (Ephesians 4:31), says the apostle. In other
words, the Spirit of God is grieved by our every sin. Let every sin be
put away from us and the Spirit of God will be joyful and by Him we
will be rejoicing. When we have an important guest in our home we
endeavor to do everything that is well pleasing for that guest. Can
there be a greater guest than the Holy Spirit of God? Since He is our
greatest and most desired guest, we need to invest the utmost effort
to please Him. We know with what we please the Spirit of God - with
the same, with which we please Christ the Lord. The Lord said:
"If you love me, keep my commandments" (St. John 14:15). He
who, therefore, keeps the commandments of Christ has love toward the
Son and toward the Holy Spirit. He who pleases the Son, keeping His
commandments, also pleases the Father and the Holy Spirit. The apostle
especially recommends: "be you kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another" (Ephesians 4:32). If we are
kind, if we are tenderhearted (merciful), if we forgive one another,
by this we please the Spirit of God Who is a guest in our hearts. The
Spirit of God then rejoices in us and our entire being trembles from
certain inexpressible joy.
O my
brethren, let us take care that we not grieve our Most High Guest Who
comes to us with the richest gifts.
O God
the Holy Spirit, forgive our negligence toward Your Immortal Majesty
and do not leave us empty and worthless without You.
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June
6th (New Style) • May 24th (Old Style)
The
Venerable Simeon the stylite of the wonderful mountain
This
wonderful saint Simeon was born in Antioch in the year 522 A.D. during
the reign of Emperor Justin the Elder. His father perished in an
earthquake and he was left alone with his mother Martha. At age six,
he withdrew to the desert to a spiritual father John under whose
guidance he submitted himself to a life of austere fasting and
prayerful asceticism to the astonishment of all who saw him. Enduring
horrible demonic temptations, he received great comfort and grace from
the Lord and His angels. The Lord Christ appeared to him under the
guise of a handsome youth. After this vision, a great love for Christ
burned in Simeon's heart. He spent many years on a "pillar"
praying to God and chanting psalms. Under God's guidance, he withdrew
to a mountain named "Wonderful" by the Lord Himself. Because
of the name of this mountain, Simeon was surnamed the "Man of the
Wonderful Mountain." Because of his love for God, he was endowed
with the rare gift of grace, by which he healed every infirmity, tamed
wild beasts, discerned into distant parts of the world and the hearts
of men. He left his body and gazed at the heavens and conversed with
angels, frightened and cast out demons, prophesied, at times lived
without sleep for thirty days and even longer without food and
received nourishment from the hands of angels. The words of the Lord
were completely fulfilled in him: "He that believes in me, the
works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall
he do" (St. John 14:12). In the year of our Lord 596 A.D. and in
the seventy-fifth year of his life, St. Simeon presented himself to
the Lord that he, together with the angels, may satisfy himself gazing
upon the face of God.
The
Holy Martyr Meletius Stratelates, along with the 1218 soldiers, their
wives and children
Meletius
was accused of demolishing a pagan temple during the reign of Emperor
Antoninus. Nailed to a tree, Meletius gave up his holy soul. Many
soldiers under his the command, who refused to deny Christ their Lord,
suffered with him. They all honorably suffered in the eleventh century
and took up habitation in the kingdom of Christ the God.
Venerable
Nicetas, the stylite
As a
youth, Nicetas lived an unrestrained and sinful life. Entering into
church by chance, he heard the words of the Prophet Isaiah: "Wash
yourselves (from sin) and you will be clean" (Isaiah 1:16). These
words entered deeply into his heart and caused a complete turnabout in
his life. Nicetas left his home, wife, property and entered a
monastery near Pereyaslavl, where he lived an ascetical life of
difficult mortifications until his death. He wrapped chains around
himself and enclosed himself in a pillar for which reason he was
called a Stylite. God endowed him with abundant grace so that he
healed men of various tribulations. He cured Prince Michael Chernigov
of palsy. Certain evil doers spotted the chains on him and, because of
their brightness, thought they were made of silver. They killed him
one night, removed the chains and carried them away. This occurred on
May 16, 1186 A.D. After his death, he appeared to the Elder Simeon and
ordered that his discovered chains be placed next to his body in the
tomb.
Reflection
The
Apostle Paul said: "To the pure all things are pure" (Titus
1:15). Even the food of man, by itself, cannot be called impure
although some food in man can provoke impure thoughts and desires in
man. Concerning this, the wonderful St. Simeon the Stylite reflects on
a conversation with his Elder John. John the Elder said: "Man
does not soil food and drink for the Lord says in Scripture: `Even as
the green herb have I given you all things' " (Genesis 9:3). To
that Blessed Simeon responded: "If man then does not soil food,
nevertheless it gives birth to impure thoughts and darkens the mind
and it gives root to and fattens passions and transforms the spiritual
man into the physical, nailing his thoughts to earthly desires."
Is not the water which falls from the clouds clean? But when too much
rain falls, the crops decay from it. Likewise heavy foods provoke the
decay of the spiritual and moral being of man.
Contemplation
To
contemplate the Grace of God the Holy Spirit in the Mystery (Sacrament)
of Chrismation (Confirmation):
1. How
that Grace anoints the soul cleansed from original sin by baptism,
with the joy of sonship;
2. How
that Grace confirms man in the Faith of Christ and seals him for the
kingdom of God.
Homily
About
how the love of God is shed abroad in the hearts of men
"The
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is
given to us" (Romans 5:5).
Love is
joy and love anoints the heart of man with joy. Brethren, love is
power and love anoints the heart of man with power. Love is peace and
love anoints the heart of man with peace. And from joy, power and
peace, courage is born and love anoints the heart of man with courage.
The love
of God, as a fragrant oil, is shed abroad in our hearts by no other
than the Holy Spirit, the All-gentle and All-powerful Spirit.
Completely undeserved by us, the Spirit of God is shed abroad in us:
the love of God in our hearts in the Mystery (Sacrament) of
Chrismation. However, in time we neglect this love and by sin we
alienate ourselves from God and fall into the disease of spiritual
paralysis. And the Holy Spirit unwilling to abide in an impure vessel,
distances Itself from our heart. When the Holy Spirit distances Itself
from us, then joy, power, peace and courage also departs from us
immediately. We become sorrowful, weakened, disturbed and fearful. But
the All-good Spirit of God only distances Itself from us but does not
abandon us completely. He does not abandon us but He offers to us who
are sick, remedies through the Mystery of Repentance and the Mystery
of Holy Communion. When we again cleanse ourselves through the
Mysteries (Sacraments) of Repentance and Communion then He, the Holy
Spirit of God, again abides in us and the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts. We fall, we rise, we fall and we rise! When we fall,
the Spirit of God stands by us and raises us if we desire to be
raised. However, when we are raised, the Spirit of God stands within
us all until we, by sin and foolishness, do not desire to fall. Thus,
we in this life interchangeably become a fertile field and a
wilderness, sons of repentance and prodigal sons, fullness and
emptiness, light and darkness.
O
All-good Holy Spirit of God, do not depart from us either when we want
You and when we do not want You. Be with us all the time until our
death and save us for life eternal.
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