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The wondrous Icon of Panagia "Ierosolymitissa" ("Lady of Jerusalem") to visit Greece

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The wondrous icon of Panagia "Ierosolymitissa" ("Lady of Jerusalem"), enthroned in the Holy Tomb of the Theotokos, Gethsemane (source)
  
The wondrous icon of the Theotokos "Ierosolymitissa" ("Lady of Jerusalem"), a wonderworking and acheiropoietos icon (i.e. not made by human hands), of which St. Paisios of Mount Athos commented that it most-closely resembled the appearance of the Theotokos as she appeared to him, will soon visit Greece.

The icon, which rests in the All-sacred Tomb of the Theotokos at Gethsemane, will be taken on March 24th, 2015 by the Exarch of the All-holy Tomb of Christ in Greece, Archimandrite Damianos, to the Holy Church of the Anargyioi (Holy Unmercenaries) in the Plaka, Athens. It will remain there throughout the rest of Great Lent, Holy Week and through Friday of Bright Week (The Feast of the Life-giving Spring of the Theotokos.

Throughout this time (with the exception of the Sunday and Monday of Pascha), the Holy Church of the Unmercenaries will remain open from 7AM (on days when there is Divine Liturgy) or 8AM (on days when there is not Divine Liturgy), until 7PM for veneration. This site lists the schedule of services, including nearly daily supplication services to the Theotokos. This is a great blessing for the people of Greece, and I recommend any who are able to go and venerate this truly wondrous icon (only otherwise available with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land) and ask for Panagia's help.
  
Panagia "Ierosolymitissa" ("Lady of Jerusalem"), detail (source)
  
Most-holy Theotokos, save us!

St. Porphyrios: "And what is Paradise?"

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Jesus Christ, the "Prince of Peace" (source)
  
"And what is Paradise? Christ," said the Saint, "When you love Christ, then, despite your sense of sinfulness and your weaknesses, you have the certainty that you have surpassed death, because you are in communion with the love of Christ. And may God make us worthy to see the Face of the Lord, both from the earth, and from there, where we will go."
-St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

(source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Excerpt from Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes on the Precious Cross

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Christ crucified (source)
  
Excerpt from a talk of Metropolitan Avgoustinos (Kantiotes) of Florina (+2010), at a summer camp in 1988.
  
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galacians 6:14)
  
My beloved children, I wanted to offer you a few words, similar to those that I said when you came, and which I hope that you will pay attention to. The occasion is given to me by the group that appeared here, carrying high the precious Cross, with the inscription: “By this [sign], we conquer.”
  
I will speak of the Cross, and at the end I will give you a small cross as a keepsake. I will talk to you about the Cross, which is the symbol of struggle and of victory, it is the weapon of Christianity. The Apostle Paul includes this at the end of his epistle to the Ephesians, where he speaks about thr spiritual armor of the Christians. And as you are not just plantings of the Lord, but also strugglers and fellow fighters against the world, yourselves and satan, therefore, I will offer you some words regarding the Cross, due to their timeliness, I hope that you will give them greater care.
  
The Cross, my beloved children, the Cross is everywhere. It was at the summit of Hagia Sophia. It was illumined in the evening and enlightened the Bosporus, until the dark day when the Turks uprooted it, and in its place, placed the crescent moon. Let us hope that, “again with time and seasons”, that we might raise it again on the dome of Hagia Sophia. The Cross is on the domes of all churches. In the Holy Altar, the icon of Christ on the Cross takes center place, and under its shadow, stands the Holy Table and the Chalice and Paten and the Gospel. The Cross is on the graves. The Cross is on the Greek flag. The Cross is everywhere.
  
What is the Cross? I will not speak of myself, but someone else who loved it very much, and preached it to all the ends of the earth will. This is the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Galacians, writes: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galacians 6:14) With these words, the Apostle tells us what the Cross is. But let us try to explain this.
  
Men have a tendency to boast. Scientists, rich people, great and small people take boast in two-thousand things. It is a rare thing to find a man who is not boasting in something...But while the world boasts in these false boasts, the apostle Paul boasts in another great boast, one exalted, eternal. He takes boast in the Cross of Christ. Why is this?
  
He does not boast in the wood. The wood of the Cross was known even before Christ, but this was not something worthy of praise, but of fear, for upon the cross were crucified the most-incomparably terrible people of the Roman society, who were condemned to the ultimate penalty, the penalty of death. Paul boasts, because upon the Cross was sacrificed our Lord Jesus Christ, and from then on, the wood of condemnation became the wood of blessing. Christ was crucified, not because He did anything wrong, like the other two “who were crucified with Him”, who confessed: “we are receiving our just punishment” (Luke 23:41). No, Christ was sinless, He was innocent, He never worked any offense. And as an innocent person, He should not have been crucified, as I remark in my book: “Towards Golgotha”, which I encourage you to read, but He was crucified on behalf of our sins.
  
All of us—small, great, men, women—we are sinners and on us lies the burden of responsibility and guilt. On behalf of justice for our small and great sins, the debaucheries, the licentiousness, the arrogances, the blasphemies, and the other sins of our age, we should have been punished. Divine righteousness should have ordered that the earth open to swallow us up, and lift up the waters of the rivers and lake from Olympus to the Alps, and with a universal flood to drown everyone.
  
Did God do this? Glory to Your forbearance, O Lord! You did not that which we deserved. You did not punish us. And not only did You not punish us, but You came to this world as a man, and took upon Your shoulders the sins of the whole world, of all the ages, as the One Who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and You redeemed with Your precious Blood the debt of our sins. Christ was punished instead of us. The sinless One for the sinners, the Righteous for the unrighteous. “The blood of Jesus Christ...cleanses us from every sin” (John I 1:7). One drop of the blood of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is sufficient to blot out the sins of the whole world. If we could put the sins of all men on one side of a scale, and on the other, only one drop of the blood of Christ, the scale would lean towards the precious Blood!
  
This, therefore, is why we honor the Cross. Because it is the Holy Altar on which was sacrificed our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this occurs Divine Liturgy, which is the re-enacting, or more properly, the continuation of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, in order for us to partake within us of the Body and the Blood of Christ. This is the proclamation of the Priest: “Drink of it all of you, this is my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
  
Therefore, when we speak of the Cross, we are not thinking of faith in the sacrifice of the crucified Redeemer of the world, and not simple of the wood of the Cross, like the heretics condemn us of. As the Cross is in for parts, therefore it is the deep and enlightened nous of the Church, extending to the heights, to the depths, to length and width. Therefore, is from the height of the Cross—geometrically speaking—we noetically extend the summit of the wood above, towards heaven, passing the stars, the sun, the moon, we will pass all asteroids, and reach the courts of the Lord, and the Angels will behold the radiance and will chant of the grandeur of the Cross. If again we extend the wood of the Cross down, from the bloodied feet of Christ, we will pass the bark and the layers of earth, and reach the abyss, and the demons will tremble and shake. Finally, if we noetically extend the horizontal wood of the Cross, upon which the Spotless Hands of Christ were nailed to the left and the right, towards the East and the West, we will make the sign of an unending circle, a divine embrace, which desires to embrace and to unite and to make brethren of all men of the East and of the West, of the left and of the right. And if sometime there is some power that could unite the superpowers of America and Russia, which satan divided into to armies and pitted them against each other with fiery weapons. One day, may they gather together and have nothing happen, if, as I said, there were some power to unite them. This power is not the hammer and the sickle, nor the stars and the stripes, nor any other worldly symbol, but he Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us mention a hymn among ourselves:
“O paradoxical wonder!
The length and breadth of the Cross
is equal to heaven,
for with divine grace
it sanctifies the whole world
with it the barbarian nations are conquered,
with it the scepters of rulers are strengthened...”
[Prosomoion from the Praises on the Feast of the Holy Cross]
  
I return to the word of the Apostle Paul: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galacians 6:14) In other words, the boast of Paul is the Cross of the Lord. This is the boast, in other words, the deep faith in the Cross of Christ, which made him dead to the world and to sin. In order to understand better what it means to say: “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”, I will give you an example. Go to the graves and you will find the grave of the most greedy person, he who would kill for one cent. Put in front of it a sack of gold coins. What will happen? Will he be moved? No, because he is dead. Now go to the grave of the greatest lover of pleasure and licentious person, and place before the grave the most beautiful women. Will he be moved? No, because he is dead. Continue on to the grave of someone who loved positions and power and medals, and give him the greatest staff of authority. Will he extend his hand to take it? No, because he is dead. Therefore, when the Christian, every Christian with deep faith in the Crucified, deadens his sinful mind and nails down his passions, like Paul, then he becomes dead to sin, to the world, and the world to him, and he will confess with joy: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me...” (Galacians 2:20)
  
(amateur translation of text, source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

The Relic of St. Barbara to visit Athens

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St. Barbara the Great Martyr (source)
  
Apostoliki Diakonia, the publishing and missionary arm of the Church of Greece, celebrates its 80th year of existence. Their headquarters are in Athens, and are centered around the shrine of St. Barbara in the Athens, where they treasure a wondrous icon and a portion of the Holy Relics of the Saint (see here for more details about that pilgrimage).
  
The wondrous icon of St. Barbara, treasured by the Holy Pilgrimage of Apostoliki Diakonia in Athens (source)
  
According to this new announcement, in honor of the anniversary of their founding, Apostoliki Diakonia will host the large portion of the Relics of St. Barbara (currently treasured in the Church of San Martino in Venice) at the church of St. Barbara from May 10th to May 24th. They will be greeted by the Archbishop of Greece Ieronymos on May 10th. The body of the Saint was transferred from Constantinople to Venice in 1003 AD.

If you are able to, I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to venerate a great martyr, Christian example, and wonderworker of the Church, who has helped so many through her intercessions.
     
The Church of San Martino in Venice (source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Paisios on Spiritual Transformation

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St. Paisios the Athonite, depicted with St. Arsenios of Cappadocia and St. Euphemia the GreatMartyr (source)
  
"When man is helped to believe in God and in the life to come, eternal life--in other words, the deeper meaning of life--and repents, his life changes, and immediately divine consolation comes through the Grace of God, which alters man, showing him all of his inheritances. This has happened to many people who repented, struggling with philotimo, humbly, while they became full of grace and became Saints, and we venerate them today with reverence and ask for their intercessions, while previously they had many passions and inherited [negative] dispositions."
-St. Paisios the Athonite
  
(amateur translation of text from source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Paisios: "Everyone wants to sin and wants God to be good to us."

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St. Paisios the Athonite and St. Arsenios of Cappadocia (source)
  

"Men who are distanced from God are always inconsolable and doubly-tormented.

Whoever does not believe in God and in the life to come, remains inconsolable and condemns his eternal soul.

Whichever master one serves, from him will he be paid. If one serves the dark master, he will make your life dark from here. If one serves sin, one will be paid by the devil. If one works virtue, he will be paid by Christ. And whoever works for Christ, will shine so brightly, will rejoice. But we say: "Have we lost it working for Christ?"

But this is terrible! Don't we recognize the sacrifice that Christ made for man! Christ was crucified in order to deliver us from sin, in order to re-purify the human race. What did Christ do for us? What do we do for Christ?

Everyone wants to sin and wants God to be good to us. Let Him forgive us and let us sin. We, in other words, want to do whatever we want and we want Him to forgive us...Men don't believe, and because of this they rush towards sin. All evil begins from there, from faithlessness.

They don't believe in the other life, they don't keep track of anything. They wrong people, abandon their children...

Things take place...serious sins. Not even the Holy Fathers had forseen such sins in the Holy Canons--like Sodom and Gomorrah, when God said: "I don't believe that these sins are occurring, I will go to see them myself!"

If men don't repent, if they don't return to God, they loose eternal life. Man must be helped to sense the deeper meaning of life, to come to his senses, in order to sense divine consolation. Our goal is for man to ascend spiritually, not simply to not sin."
-St. Paisios the Athonite
  
(amateur translation of text from source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. John Klimakos (of the Ladder) on Joy-making Mourning

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St. John Klimakos (of the Ladder), Abbot of Mount Sinai (source)
  
St. John Klimakos (of the Ladder) on Joy-making Mourning*
"He who is clothed in blessed and grace-filled mourning as in a wedding garment knows the spiritual laughter of the soul."

"My friends, God does not ask or desire that man should mourn from sorrow of heart, but rather that, out of love for Him, he should rejoice with spiritual laughter.  Remove the sin, and the tear of sorrow is superfluous for your eyes.  What is the use of a bandage when there is no wound?  Before his transgression, Adam had no tears, just as there will be none after the resurrection, when sin will be abolished; for pain, sorrow and sighting will then have fled away."
 
"When our soul leaves this world we shall not be blamed for not having worked miracles, or for not having been theologians, or not having been rapt in divine visions.  But we shall certainly have to give an account to God of why we have not unceasingly mourned.**"
(source)
  
*Note: The English translation "Joy-making Mourning" is the rendering of the single Greek word "Harmolype", which is a beautiful and profound description of true Christian repentance.
  
**Note: The Ladder of Divine Ascent of course was written for a primarily monastic audience, but the advice and passions and virtues described are common and applicable to both married and monastic alike. See this article for more details.
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Excerpt from the Homily on the Annunciation by St. John of Damascus

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The Annunciation of the Theotokos (source)
  
Excerpt from the Homily on the Annunciation by St. John of Damascus (amateur translation)
The present precious, radiant and surpassingly-glorious royal gathering, let us hymn O faithful of all races and tongues, and of every rank and surrounding people, rejoicing in soul, and spiritually, let us celebrate, and let us speedily weave God-pleasing hymns for the Queen from [David's seed], and let us gather for a new feast of spring, and the celebration of all celebrations of our hope.
  
Today, therefore, truly the noetic Powers of the Heavens reclined, and invisibly celebrate together with those on earth.
  
Today, the prophecy of David is fulfilled, which says: “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad.” For behold, the greatest joy has filled her who is Full-of-grace.
  
Today, from the cold winter, the warm and flowery spring has shown forth, and the golden sun of rejoicing and happiness has dawned for us.
  
Today, God-planted Eden is re-opened, and God-fashioned Adam, due to His goodness and love for man, enters again to dwell within.
  
Today, the forefather's condemnation of sorrow is dissolved, and the corrupting exile and arduous penance of Eve ceases.
  
Today, the ranks on high gather together with those on earth to dance together for this Holy gathering, and the world shines with light.
  
Today, the spotless Church of God is magnified in form, and is adorned as with golden garments by the beauty of this day.
  
Today, the much-seen and holy city of Jerusalem rejoices with those below and those above, and New Sion prophetically is joyful.
  
Today, Bethlehem, the famed birth-place of David, is shown to be as heaven, and is adorned with a radiant bridal garment.
  
Today, the city of Nazareth, and the precious Gethsemane, and every city and land hastens towards this wholly-bright feast.
  
Today, kings of the earth and all people of this incomparable Royal city [Constantinople], royally celebrate the blessed memory of the Mother of God.
  
Today, daughters of kings and queens, gather for the memory of the King's Bridal Chamber, from the rising of the sun till dusk.
  
Today, young men and maids, mothers and virgins, and noble people of every rank, bless the Mother and Virgin and nourishment of our life.
  
Today, the Holy of Holies is hymned by everyone, as heaven and earth and all creation celebrates together.
  
Today, the holy book of the Prophets from all time, is brought amidst us, and each of them proclaims before-hand the grace of this Feast.
  
Today, the Patriarch Jacob rejoices, who spoke of you prophetically as that mystical ladder leading from earth to heaven.
  
Today, that former Prophet and defender of the people of Israel [Moses], speaks of you as that bush which was burning, but not consumed.
  
Today, Zacharias, the noteworthy among Prophets, through his own prophecy cries out: “And behold a golden lampstand, and the radiance above it.”
  
Today, Isaiah, the great preacher among the Prophets, prophecies with great voice: “A rod will raise by from the root of Jesse, and a flower from the root will come forth.”
  
Today, Ezekiel the wondrous cries out: “Behold, the gate was shut, and none can enter through it nor exit, except for the Lord God alone, and it remained shut.”
  
Today, Daniel the sublime, proclaims the future as the past, as he cries out: “The stone was cut from the mountain without hands,” in other words, without a man.
  
Today, David, the melodist who escorts the bride, speaking of her virginity like a truly adorned city, says: “Glorious things have been spoken of you, the city of the Great King.”
  
Today, Gabriel the Taxiarch, descends from the vaults of heaven to the greatly-hymned Virgin and Theotokos, and greets her crying out: “Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, the Lord is with you.”
  
Today, we and all men take up the Angel's voice, and offer encomiums like his, to her who is the forerunner of the taking away of the curse, saying:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Joachim and Anna, who spotlessly gave birth to you with prayer, and who hasten also at this time to her who lived under their roof.
  
Rejoice greatly, O Theotokos and Virgin, for you truly heard the encomium of the Angel: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, from the royal line of David, and from the Levitical line from Anna the godly-minded one, who sprouted forth beyond all hope.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, who from infancy was raised in the Holy of Holies.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, who through an angel received tidings of joy, and became the forerunner of unspeakable and indescribable joy for the whole world.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, for the King of all was adorned with a body [through you] as if adorned with a royal purple robe.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, who bore within your womb the radiance of the goodness of the Father, and that Light that nothing can contain.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, the fragrance-bearing earth and life-bearing vessel and new myrrh container of the Spirit, which filled the world with fragrance like a myrrh-seller.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, the exalted and established Throne of the Creator and Redeemer of all, Who holds heaven and earth in His hand.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, the spiritual temple of the majestic glory of Him Who was incarnate for us, and Who put on flesh for our salvation.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, who bears life and light as a new-born babe, and nurses with milk Him Who poured forth honey formerly from the rock.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, the rejoicing in soul of the whole world and the universal reverence, and the good intercessor for all sinners.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, O gate of those troubled and hope of those without hope, and the awesome protection for those who with good heart confess you to be the Theotokos.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, you who bore the Master Who loves man for the salvation of our common race of men, and who entreats Him on behalf of everyone, as a Mother.
  
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, the wondrous and sympathetic refuge of all Christians, and the most-exalted vision of greatly-worked beauty...
(source)
  
The Annunciation of the Theotokos (source)
  
Most-holy Theotokos, save us! Amen!

Excerpt from the Homily on the Raising of Lazarus by St. Amphilochius of Iconium

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The Raising of Lazarus (source)
  
Excerpt from the Homily on the Raising of Lazarus by St. Amphilochius of Iconium (amateur translation)
Bring the Evangelist John once again into our midst,
For it is good to relate of the beginning of the Resurrection.
For you heard when he perfectly said:
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom He raised from the dead.”
Do you see that the beginning of the Resurrection is depicted before-hand with Lazarus, whom the whole multitudes of the faithful knew?
The multitudes knew him, and the chief priests reviled the wondrous work, transforming it into guile. Truly, they reviled the resurrection of Lazarus, because after his resurrection, as you have heard, they took counsel together to put him to death.
Do you see this utter guile?
He whom the Lord raised, him they thought to put to death, not understanding that even if they would put him to death, again the Lord could have resurrected His friend.
They took counsel together to put Lazarus to death.
Nothing had astonished the Judeans like the resurrection of Lazarus. This wonder alone they were unable to slander.
They slandered the sight of the man born blind, saying that it wasn't him, but it was someone like him.
They slandered the raising of the daughter of Jairus, saying that she was passed out, not totally dead.
They slandered the resurrection of the son of the widow [of Nain] saying that he appeared to be dead, not that He had taken him from the tyranny of death.
They slandered the withered fig tree, saying that it was picked clean, and not that the word of the Master had withered it.
They slandered the transformation of the water into wine, saying that those at the dinner were drunk, and did not see that they were joking.
Only the resurrection of Lazarus were they unable to slander.
They knew who Lazarus the man was. They followed in his funeral, they saw his tomb sealed, they and they talked about him at supper with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus.
They knew that he laid in the tomb for exactly four days, and that a person four-days-dead always began to have his flesh decompose, his bones rot, his nervous system dissolve, his internal organs separate, and his belly to become bloated.
This they kept in mind when they saw that Lazarus had been resurrected, and was complete, perfect as if from a lathe, standing in his former biological state, and they were astonished...
(source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"This is our God and there is none like Him"

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Christ entering Jerusalem (source)
  
This is our God and there is none like him. He has found out every just way and given it to Israel his beloved. But after this he appeared and lived among mankind. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, our Saviour.
-Troparion from the 9th Ode
from the Canon of Palm Sunday.
(Also see Baruch 3:35-37)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"I have come to serve Adam who has become poor..."

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Icon of Christ "Behold the Man", with the Theotokos and "a sword piercing her heart". In the background is a portion of the Pillar on which Christ was flogged. These are treasured by the Patriarchal Church of St. George, Constantinople (source)
  
Myself rich in godhead, I have come to serve Adam who has become poor, whose form I, the Creator, have willingly put on, and to lay down my life as a ransom for his, I who am impassible in my godhead.
-Troparion from the First Ode of the Canon of Holy Monday
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"I gave my back to scourgings..."

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Christ being scourged, and being led to be crucified (source)
  
I gave my back to scourgings, while I did not turn away my face from spittings. I stood at Pilate’s judgement seat and endured the Cross for the salvation of the world.
-Matins of Great and Holy Friday
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Homily on Great and Holy Friday, by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

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The Crucifixion of Christ (source)
  
Homily on Great and Holy Friday, by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes (+2010)
It is Holy Friday today, my beloved and brethren fellow-sinners, a holy day full of memories, a day which calls forth strong emotions and tears. Let us, at this hour, cleanse our heart and mind of every worldly idea, every evil thought and idea, let us cleanse our mind, and with the wings of imagination let us go back centuries, and let us noetically visit the Holy Lands.
  
One can go there, but not be there, while one might not travel bodily to the Holy Lands, but be there spiritually. Therefore, let us go with our thought to that place which is called the place of the Skull, called Golgotha. There is playing out the drama of dramas, where the great battle was waged between the light and the darkness, truth and falsehood. There on Golgotha, the Redeemer of the world is now being crucified.
  
Many behold His sacrifice from heaven, the ranks of the holy Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim and Seraphim, who from the theoria of eternity behold the drama, and were ready with their flaming swords to slaughter the executioners. From the earth, that mass beheld Him, the people who four days before, on Palm Sunday, cried out: “Hosanna” (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9-10, John 12,13) and now they are below the Cross mocking Him. Beholding Him also are the idolatrous soldiers, the regiment which was headed by the Centurion, who received the command to ascend the place of the Skull to fulfill the judgment of the Judean court. These wild Romans, who had fought battles and were used to human blood being shed, remained unmoved, or more properly, not unmoved, but continuing the mocking which thy began in the Praetorium of Pilate.
  
Following the events, they were casting lots below the Cross and drinking...But straightaway the middle one among those three being crucified, Jesus of Nazareth, caught their attention. They saw that He was different from the others. They were blaspheming, condemning the day that they were born, throwing out sharp insults against everyone, while the Crucified One was silent. His silent is mysterious, a silence which is moving. Christ is silent. And when He opens His spotless mouth to say the seven words of the Cross, His words are not condemnation, but blessings, words which made a deep impression on everyone who heard and saw Him. These words were noted by those who crucified our Christ. The soldiers heard Him say: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), they heard “I thirst” (John 19:28), they heard: “Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), they heard: “It is finished” (John 19:30).
  
All of these they heard and they thought: “Who is this, who appears totally different than the other convicts...” And when at noon they saw the sun turn dark, and darkness cover all of creation, and the earth quake, and the graves open, then they believed.
  
There remained not a single hesitation or doubt, and together with the Centurion they said in fear: “Truly, this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). This was truly not by chance, but He has a supernatural origin, He is the Son of God, the true God.
  
From the time that the Centurion said those words, about twenty centuries have passed. And this witness and confession does not remain alone. It is continued until today. Many, countless witnesses say that Christ is God, the God-man. Do we have examples? We have. What are they? Let me offer a few.
  
“Truly this was the Son of God.” First, His teaching cries out. Open the books of all the religions, read all the books of the philosophers, hear the words of the greatest rhetors. You will see that the teaching of Christ surpasses, is incredible. I don't doubt that the others said important things, but their words resemble small flecks of gold mixed into a ball of various metals. They resemble a small light, like the light of a candle, before the sun. The words of Christ are light and life, and always made a great impression.
  
Even His enemies who heard Him were compelled to confess: “No man ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46). "Let the human spirit goes forth", as someone said, "let science progress, let discoveries occur, for humanity will never reach the height of the teaching of Jesus Christ". And someone else said: "I don't know if there are other rational beings on other planets, but even if we hypothesize that they exist and dwell there, they could not possibly have a higher religion that that which was preached by Christ".
  
“Truly, this was the Son of God.” His teaching cries out, and so do His wonders. The wonders of Christ! Wherever He stretched forth His hands, wherever His divine command was heard, there the wind stopped, the sea was calmed, the demons fled, the blind saw, the deaf heard, the dumb spoke, the lepers were cleansed, the paralytics stood up, and even the dead were raised from their graves. True wonders, not fantasies. Wonders which occurred not at night in some unseen corner, but before the eyes of the multitude, and sometimes even by the enemies, who saw these and said in astonishment: “We never saw anything else this before” (Mark 2:12). The wonders of Christ are countless. And even if the sea would become ink and heaven paper and the trees pens, it would not be enough to recount all of the wonders that our Lord Jesus Christ worked, that He works, and that He will work until the end of the ages.
  
“Truly, this was the Son of God”. His spotless life further cries this out. Christ is holy, not in a relative sense like many men, but in the absolute sense. It is He Who never committed any wrong or vice, “there was no guile in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9, I Peter 2:22), it is He Whose life was radiant from every angle, He Whose virtue “covered the heavens” (Amb. 3:33) Which virtue of Christ should we offer first? His poverty and simplicity, for no one else lived so humbly that He had not even “a place to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20)? His meekness and forbearance before His enemies and crucifiers? His boldness and lack of fear before rulers and Pilate when He proclaimed the truth? His humility, to the point that He bent to wash the feet of His disciples? Or before all, His love towards God and men who were suffering? All of these create the greatest icon of the life of Christ on earth. Some tried to find fault, they searched the Gospels, they scratched their heads, but they couldn't find any blemish. The sun even has its spots, but Christ is the Spotless Sun. It is He who said: “Who convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46), and the question remains unanswered throughout the centuries.
  
“Truly, this was the Son of God”. This is shown by His teaching, His wonders, His holiness of life, and ultimately by the witness of the centuries. The Centurion was not alone in bearing witness to this. Generations of generations of Saints bear witness. Small children like St. Kerykos, who were held in the arms of their mothers, chaste virgins, simple workers like fishermen, wise scientists: all confessed that Christ is truly God.
  
We also today, my beloved, behold the Passion of our Savior. How are we following this divine drama? Like the Angels, with love and worship, or like the multitude, who cried out “Hosanna”, and then “Crucify Him, crucify Him” (John 19:6)? Let us follow like the Centurion, who abandoned hesitation, and believed and confessed the Son of God. If there is any who have any doubt regarding the person of Christ, he only needs to approach, to test, to study with sincerity. And then, like the Centurion, he will be led by realities to confess also that Christ is “truly the Son of God”, that He is one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, that He is the God-man and Redeemer. Him, O children of the Greeks, let us hymn and greatly praise, unto all the ages. Amen.
(+) Bishop Avoustinos

Recorded homily which occurred in the Church of St. Panteleimon, Florina, on April 24th, 1981.

(amateur translation of text from source)
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"Let all mortal flesh keep silent..."

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Christ descending to Hades to free the dead from all time (source)
  
Let all mortal flesh keep silent and in fear and trembling stand, pondering nothing earthly-minded. For the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords comes to be slain, to give himself as food to the faithful. Before him go the ranks of angels: all the principalities and powers, the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged seraphim, covering their faces, singing the hymn: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
-Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, Great and Holy Saturday***
(source)
  
***Note: This ancient hymn is also chanted during the Divine Liturgy of St. James, and during the Divine Liturgy at the Consecration of a Church. However, it is perfectly suited to be chanted on Great and Holy Saturday (see here for more info).
  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Gregory Dialogos on the Mystery of the Resurrection

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
The Holy Myrrhbearers at the empty Tomb of Christ (source)
  
St. Gregory Dialogos on the Mystery of the Resurrection
Given to the People in the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the Holy Day of the Resurrection
1. It has been my custom, beloved brethren, to speak to you on many of the Gospel readings, by means of a sermon I had already dictated for you. But since I have been unable, because of the weakness of my throat, to read to you myself what I had prepared, I notice that some among you listen somewhat indifferently. So, contrary to my usual practice, I shall for the future make the effort during the sacred solemnities of the Mass to explain the Gospel, not through a sermon I have dictated, but by speaking directly to you myself.
  
So for the future it shall be the rule for me to speak to you in this way. For the words which are spoken directly to sluggish souls awaken them more readily than a sermon that is read to them; moving them by that touch as it were of authority, so that they listen with more attention. I am not, as I well know, competent to fulfill this office: but let your charity make good what my ignorance denies me. For I have in mind Him Who has said: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it (Ps. lxxx. ii). We all have in mind a good work , and it will be perfected by His divine assistance (II Tim. iii. 17). And also, this great solemnity of the Sunday of the Resurrection gives us a fitting occasion for speaking to you: for it would indeed be unfitting that the tongue of our body should be silent in the praises that are clue this day; that day on which the Body of our Author rose again from the dead.
  
2. You have heard, Beloved, how the holy women who had followed the Lord came to His tomb, bringing with them sweet spices, so that with tender affection they might tend Him in death Whom they had loved in life. And this tells us something which we should observe in the life of our holy Church. And it is important we give attention to what here took place: to see what we mint do to imitate them. And we also, who believe in Him Who died, truly come with sweet spices to His tomb, when we come seeking the Lord, bringing with us the sweet odour of virtue, and the credit of good works.
But these women who came bringing sweet spices beheld angels. And this signifies that those souls who, because of their holy love, come seeking the Lord, bearing the sweet spices of virtue, shall also see the citizens of heaven. And let us also take note of what it means that the angel is seen sitting on the right side. For what does the left side mean but this present life; and the right hand side, if not life eternal? Because of this it is written in the Canticle of Canticles: His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me (Cant. ii. 6).
  
And so, since Our Redeemer has now passed over beyond the mortality of this present life, tightly does the Angel, who had come to announce His entry into eternal life, sit at the right side . And he came clothed in white: for he was announcing the joy of this our present solemnity. For the whiteness of his garments signifies the glory of our great Feast. Should we say ours 0t His? That we may speak truly let us say that it is both ours and His. For this day of our Redeemer’s Resurrection is also our day of great joy; for it has restored m to immortality. It is also a day of joy for the angels: for restoring us to heaven, it has filled up again the number of its citizens. On this our festival day, and His, an angel appeared, clothed in white robes, because they are rejoicing that because we are restored to heaven the losses their heavenly home had suffered are now made good.
  
3. But let us hear what is said to the women who came? Be not affrighted! As though he said to them: Let them fear who love not the coming of the heavenly citizens. Let them fear who, steeped in bodily desires, have no hope of belonging to them. But you, why should you fear, meeting your own? Matthew also, describing the appearance of the Angel, says of him: And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow (Mt. xxviii. 3). Lightning awakens dread and fear, the white radiance of snow is soothing. For Almighty God is both terrifying to sinners, and comforting to those who are good. Rightly then is the Angel, the Witness of the Resurrection, revealed to us with countenance like the lightning, and his garments white as snow: so that even by his appearance he might awaken fear in the reprobate, and bring consolation to the just.
  
And rightly also, for the same reason, there went before the Lord’s People in the desert, a column of fire by night, and a column of smoke by day (Ex. xiii: 21, 22). For in fire there is fear; but in the cloud of smoke the comforting assurance of what we can see: day also meaning the life of the just, and night the life of sinners. Because of this Paul, speaking to converted sinners, says: For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord (Eph. v. 8). So a pillar of cloud was set before them by day, and a pillar of fire by night: because Almighty God shall appear mild of countenance to the just, but fearful to the wicked. Coming to judge us, He shall comfort the one by the mildness of His countenance, and terrify the other with the severity of His justice.
  
4. Now let us hear what the angel says. You seek Jesus of Nazareth .  Jesus, in the Latin tongue, is saving ; that is, Saviour . Then however many were called Jesus, by name, not because of the reality it means. So the place is added, to make clear of what Jesus he is speaking: Of Nazareth . And to this he adds the reason they seek Him: Who was crucified . And then he goes on: He is risen, he is not here . That He was not there was said only of His Bodily Presence; for nowhere is He absent in the power of His divinity. But go , he continues, tell his disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee .
  
Now we have to ask ourselves, why did he, speaking of the Disciples, single out Peter by name? But, had the Angel not referred to him in this way, Peter would never have dared to appear again among the Apostles. He is bidden then by name to come, so that he will not despair because of his denial of Christ. And here we must ask ourselves, why did Almighty God permit the one He had placed over the whole Church to be frightened by the voice of a maid servant, and even to deny Christ Himself? This we know was a great dispensation of the divine mercy, so that he who was to be the shepherd of the Church might learn, through his own fall, to have compassion on others. God therefore first shows him to himself, and then places him over others: to learn through his own weakness how to bear mercifully with the weakness of others.
  
5. And well did he say of Our Redeemer that: He goeth before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you . For Galilee means, passing-over . And now our Redeemer has passed over from His suffering to His Resurrection, from death to life, from punishment to glory, from mortality to immortality. And, after His Resurrection, His Disciples first see Him in Galilee; as afterwards, filled with joy, we also shall see the glory of the Resurrection, if we now pass over from the ways of sin to the heights of holy living. He therefore Who is announced to us from the tomb is shown to us by crossing over: for He Whom we acknowledge in the denial of our flesh is seen in the passing over of our soul. Because of the solemnity of the day, we have gone briefly over these points in our explanation of the Gospel. Let us now speak in more detail of this same solemnity.
  
6. There are two lives; one of which we knew, the other we did not know of. The one is mortal, the other immortal; the one linked with human infirmity, the other to incorruption; one is marked for death, the other for resurrection. The Mediator between God and man, the Man Jesus Christ, came, and took upon Himself the one, and revealed to us the other. The one He endured by dying; the other He revealed when He rose from the dead. Had He then foretold to us, who knew His mortal life, the Resurrection of His Body, and had not visibly shown it to us, who would believe in His promises? So, becoming Man, He shows Himself in our flesh; of His own will He suffered death; by His own power He rose from the dead; and by this proof He showed us that which He promises as a reward.
But perhaps some one will say: Of course He rose: for being God He could not be held in death. So, to give light to our understanding, to strengthen our weakness, He willed to give us proof, and not of His Resurrection only. In that hour He died alone; but He did not rise alone from the dead. For it is written: And many bodies of the saints that had slept arose (Mt. xxvii. 52). He has therefore taken away the argument of those who do not believe.
  
And let no one say: No man can hope that that will happen to him which the God-man proved to us in His Body; for here we learn that men did rise again with God, and we do not doubt that these were truly men. If then we are the members of our Redeemer, let us look forward to that which we know was fulfilled in our Head. Even if we should be diffident, we ought to hope that what we have heard of His worthier members will be fulfilled also in us His meanest members.
  
7. And here there comes to mind what the Jews, insulting the Crucified Son of God, cried out: If he be the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him . Had He, yielding to their insults, then come down from the Cross, He would not have proved to us the power of patience. He waited for the little time left, He bore with their insults, He submitted to their mockery, He continued patient, and evoked our admiration; and He Who refused to descend from the Cross, rose again from the sepulchre. More did it matter so to rise from the sepulchre than to descend from the Cross. A far greater thing was it to overcome death by rising from the sepulchre, than to preserve life by descending from the Cross.
  
And when the Jews saw that despite their insults He would not descend from the Cross, and when they saw Him dying, they rejoiced; thinking they had overcome Him and caused His Name to be forgotten. But now through all the world His Name has grown in honour, because of the death whereby this faithless people thought they had caused Him to be forgotten. And He Whom they rejoiced over as slain, they grieved over when He was dead: for they know it was through death He had come to His glory.
The deeds of Samson, related in the Book of Judges, foreshadowed this Day (Judges xvi. 1-3). For when Samson went into Gaza, the city of the Philistines, they, learning he had come in, immediately surrounded the city and placed guards before the gates; and they rejoiced because they had Samuel in their power. What Samson did we know. At midnight he took the gates of the city, and carried them to the top of a hill outside. Whom does Samson symbolize, Beloved, in this, if not our Redeemer? What does Gaza symbolize, if not the gates of hell? And what the Philistines, if not the perfidy of the Jews, who seeing the Lord dead, and His Body in the sepulchre, placed guards before it; rejoicing that they had Him in their power, and that He Whom the Author of life had glorified was now enclosed by the gates of hell: as they had rejoiced when they thought they had captured Samson in Gaza.
  
But in the middle of the night Samson, not alone went forth from the city, but also bore off its gates, as our Redeemer, rising before day, not alone went forth free from hell, but also destroyed the very gates of hell. He took away the gates, and mounted with them to the top of a hill; for by His Resurrection He bore off the gates of hell, and by His Ascension He mounted to the kingdom of heaven.
  
Let us, Beloved, love with all our hearts this glorious Resurrection, which was first made known to us by a Figure, and then made known in deed; and for love of it let us be prepared to die. See how in the Resurrection of our Author we have come to know His ministering angels as our own fellow citizens. Let us hasten on to that great assembly of these fellow citizens. Let us, since we cannot see them face to face, join ourselves to them in heart and desire. Let us cross over from evildoing to virtue, that we may merit to see our Redeemer in Galilee. May Almighty God help us to that life which is our desire: He Who for us delivered His only Son to death, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with Him reigns One with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
  
(non-Orthodox host site)
  
Christ is risen from the dead, by dead, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life! Truly the Lord is risen!

Elder Sophrony on the Light of the Resurrection

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
The Resurrection of Christ (source)
  
We offer an astonishing witness and retelling by Elder Sophrony [Sakharov (+1993)], who relates a resurrectional experience of God, which the holy one confesses, he experienced in the [Monastery] of his repentance with his whole being:

"And on Great Saturday (likely 1924), the [Uncreated] Light visited me after Holy Communion, and I sensed it as a touch of divine eternity with my spirit. Gladsome, full of peace and love, the Light remained with me for three days. It dissolved the darkness of nothingness, which stood before me.

"I was resurrected, and within me, together with me, the whole world was resurrected. The words of St. John Chrysostom at the end of the service of Pascha I heard with astonishing power: 'Christ is risen, and there is not one dead left in the tomb.' Depressed by the sight of general death, at that instant I experienced: In reality, my soul was resurrected, and I don't see any dead men anymore...If God is like this, I must soon abandon everything and seek only union with Him."

"The descent of this (Light) to us is nothing other than the revelation of God to man: the revelation of heavenly mysteries. Without this light, the earth would remain without true knowledge of God. Based on my personal experience, I returned to myself to name that Light the Light of the Resurrection. With the coming of that Light, the spirit of man comes to the plane where there is no death. The radiance from this Light grants man the experience of the Resurrection as a foretaste of the blessedness to come."

"Christ, after His Resurrection, appeared exclusively to those who were able to understand His already deified and enlightened flesh, which remained invisible to others."

"Without faith, however, (in the Resurrection) every trial becomes absurd:  void of meaning...We struggle for the Resurrection, both of the individual and of every other fellow man."

The Resurrection of Christ is the "greatest event of the created world."

(amateur translation of text from source)
  
Christ is risen from the dead, by dead, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life! Truly the Lord is risen!

St. Tounom the Emir (+1579)

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
St. Tounom the Emir - Commemorated on April 18th and on Bright Tuesday(source)
  
From Monk Parthenios, who visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1846:
"At the Great Gates themselves, on the left side, stands a column made out of marble with a fissure from which the grace, that is, the Holy Fire, came forth. This column is honored by Orthodox as well as non-Orthodox, and even the Armenians. I would like to write a little about this incident, how the Orthodox Eastern Christians unanimously speak of it and the Turks themselves confirm it. In the wall there is an inscribed marble slab, and they say that this very incident is written on it; but we could not read it because it is written in Syrian letters, in the Arab tongue; and I only heard about it, but did not read it. But the incident happened something like this: At one time when the Greeks were completely oppressed by the Turkish yoke, some rich Armenians took it into their heads to force the Greeks out of the Holy Sepulchre and out of the Church of the Resurrection. They gathered a large sum of money and bribed the Ottoman Porte and all the Jerusalem authorities, assuring the unbelievers that the Holy Fire comes forth not simply for the sake of the Greeks, but for all Christians, and "if we Armenians are there, we also will receive it!" And the Turks, who are greedy for money, accepted the bribe and therefore did as the Armenians wished, and they affirmed that only the Armenians would be allowed to receive the Holy Fire. The Armenians rejoiced greatly and wrote to all their lands and to their faithful, that more of them should go on a pilgrimage. And a great multitude of them did come. Holy Saturday approached: the Armenians all gathered in the church, and the Turkish army drove the poor Greeks out. Oh, what unspeakable grief and sorrow filled the Greeks! There was only one comfort for them -- the Grave of the Saviour, and they were being kept away from it, and the Holy Gates were locked to them! The Armenians were inside the church and the Orthodox were on the streets. The Armenians were rejoicing and the Greeks were weeping. The Armenians were celebrating and the Greeks were bitterly lamenting! The Orthodox stood opposite the Holy Gates on the court and around them stood the Turkish army, watching so that there would not be a fight. The Patriarch himself with all the rest stood there with candles, hoping that they would at least receive the Fire from the Armenians through the window. But the Lord wished to dispose things in a different way, and to manifest His true Faith with a fiery finger and comfort His true servants, the humble Greeks. The time had already come when the Holy Fire issues forth, but nothing happened. The Armenians were frightened and began to weep, and ask God that He send them the Fire; but the Lord did not hear them. Already a half hour had passed and more, and still no Holy Fire. The day was clear and beautiful; the Patriarch sat to the right side. All of a sudden there was a clap of thunder, and on the left side the middle marble column cracked and out of the fissure a flame of fire came forth.

The pillar that was cracked and shows the signs of being burnt to this day, in the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (source)
  
The Patriarch arose and lit his candles and all the Orthodox Christians lit theirs from his. Then all rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs from Jordan began to skip and cry out, "Thou art our one God, Jesus Christ; one is our True Faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And they began to run about all of Jerusalem and raise a din, and to shout all over the city. And to this day they still do this in memory of the incident and they jump and shout, running around the Holy Sepulchre, and they praise the one true God, Jesus Christ, and bless the Orthodox Faith. Beholding this wonder, the Turkish army, which was standing around on guard, was greatly amazed and terrified. From amongst them one named Omir [other places written as Tounom the Emir], who was standing at the St. Abraham's Monastery on guard, immediately believed in Christ and shouted, "One is the true God, Jesus Christ; one is the true faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And he jumped down to the Christians from a height of more than 35 feet. His feet landed on the solid marble as if though on soft wax. And to this day one can see his footprints imprinted as though in wax, although the non-Orthodox tried to erase them. I saw them with my own eyes and felt them with my own hands. And the column with the fissure still bears the scorch marks. As for Omir the soldier, having jumped down, he took his weapon and thrust it into the stone as though into soft wax, and began to glorify Christ unceasingly. For this, the Turks beheaded him and burned his body; the Greeks gathered up his bones, put them into a case and took them to the Convent of the Great Panagia, where they gush forth fragrance until this day."
(source)
  
St. Tounom The New Martyr (source)
  
Selected hymns to the New-martyr Tounom the Emir (amateur translations below)

Doxastikon of the Stichera
Plagal of the Second Tone
Today, as a radiant lamp shining on the heavenly firmament, is the memory of Tounom, who was enlightened by God, and he was the deposer of error, mystically shining upon the hearts of the faithful. For he, having beheld the Holy Light mystically, saw it sent from God to the pillar in the courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection, and lighting the lamps of the Orthodox, who were locked out by the wrath of the Heterodox. This dissolved the darkness of faithlessness, and this made him a confessor, and a fervent preacher, and now he is an inheritor of the heavenly Kingdom, as a confessor and all-perfect Martyr, who ceaselessly intercedes to Christ that we be granted the good transformation before our end.

Doxastikon of the Aposticha
Plagal of the Fourth Tone
He Who sent down from on high the Holy Light like a tongue of fire upon the Orthodox Patriarch alone, and consumed and rent the pillar of the courtyard of the All-sacred Church of the Resurrection, filled you with wonder, and changed you towards the good, O Martyr Tounom, therefore you were born again as not only a confessor, but also a Martyr of piety. You became an inheritor of the good things prepared as reward for the world, and you beheld the Lord, the Giver-of-Light. Do not cease to intercede that He might dissolve the darkness of soul-destroying ignorance and the trials of life.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the First Tone.
Like the Thief who cried, "Remember me", O Christ, at the eleventh hour, and proceeded to faith in Christ, Tounom the Emir steadfastly suffered with holiness at the hour of the receiving of the Holy Light by the Orthodox. Let us honor him with hymns.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone.
Let us hymn him who beheld the Holy Light as fire descending strangely upon the Orthodox, in the pillar of the courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection, and was changed for the good, and became a preacher of Christ and a Martyr at the eleventh hour. Let us cry out with fervor: Rejoice, O blessed Tounom.
  
Oikos
A perfect Champion, you were shown to be before your end, O Tounom the Emir, honored by God, for you saw the Holy Light descending strangely upon those of true dogma, and you faithfully glorified Christ, Who rose radiantly. We cry out to you:
Rejoice, O lamp of Jerusalem,
Rejoice, energy of noble Martyrs.
Rejoice, wondrous adornment of the faith,
Rejoice, holy impress of struggle.
Rejoice, for you confessed Christ before your end,
Rejoice, for you drove out the error of the sons of Hagar.
Rejoice for you increased the army of the Lord,
Rejoice, you who struggled perfectly as in the stadium.
Rejoice, the deposing of the error of the faithless,
Rejoice, the boast of Martyrs of the faith.
Rejoice, you who were equal to the [Good] Thief,
Rejoice, you who took up Christ's calling.
Rejoice, O blessed Tounom.
 
Synaxarion
On the 18th of this Month (or Bright Tuesday), the Holy New Martyr Tounom the Emir, who believed through the miracle of the Holy Light in the year 1579, and was perfected with in fire.

Verses
The Holy Light, O Tounom, enlightened your darkness,
Leading you towards Christ, the Light of the world.

Doxastikon of the Praises
Plagal of the First Tone
Let us praise the Martyr of Jerusalem, who came forth as a rose from among thorns, pouring forth fragrance through his martyrical confession for the world. Let us cry out: O Tounom who was glorified by God, who received the crown of the eleventh hour from the hands of the Lord, Who grants the rewards to the last as to the first, and made you worthy to partake of the Tree of Life in the heavenly pasture. Do not cease to intercede on behalf of those who honor your memory.

Megalynarion
Rejoice, O you who confessed the name of Christ, having seen the divine Light, O martyr Tounom, the lamp of the Orthodox, and lamp-lighter of the Martyrs, who received a crown.
(source)
  
The Resurrection of Christ (source)
  
Christ is risen from the dead, by dead, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life! Truly the Lord is risen! 

St. Raphael helps a pregnant woman

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
  
St. Raphael helps a pregnant woman (amateur translation)
I wanted to write to you of a miracle that St. Raphael worked for me. My name is Eleni X. from Alexandria, Hematheias. In November 2011, I learned from my gynecologist that I was pregnant with my second child. My doctor told me to return the next month, in other words, December to listen to the baby's heartbeat.

The time passed, and the day came that we were to do the ultrasound to hear the baby's heartbeat. We went to the doctor, and he puts the ultrasound on, and looks here and there, and nothing. The sac was larger than last time, but it was empty. Nothing was there. My husband and I froze. We heard the doctor tell us that he couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat, and he couldn't see any embryo. He called us into his office, and told us that we had to proceed with induction, so that there would not remain any products of conception, because there was a danger of causing sepsis and death. It was Tuesday when all of this took place. We set up the appointment for Friday (three days later). Those days, we were very saddened. I therefore called one of the fathers of the Brotherhood of St. Raphael, Ano Souli, Marathon, whom I met over the telephone, and who supported me with his good words, and with his blessings and prayers. Full of pain, I related to him everything that took place, and I entreated him to pray for me and for my child. He gave me courage and strength. He said that I shouldn't loose hope, but that I should have faith in God and His Saints. He said that he would pray for me, but that I must pray as well, and entreat St. Raphael to take up the situation, and that I should say to St. Raphael: "O saint Raphael, go ahead in front of me, and I will follow you!" This I did. Friday came, and we went to the doctor to do the procedure. We reached the doctor's office. The doctor was in the operating room, because he had a delivery. As soon as he finished, I would go have the procedure. I waited a short time together with my husband and a friend of ours.

The phone rang, and it was the doctor, who asked his employee if I had arrived yet, and told him that he was ready for the procedure. Then, the doctor said to wait because he wanted to see me first, because he wanted there to be no doubt [of no heartbeat] before the procedure. The doctor came down, and again put on the ultrasound.

My husband was sure that there was no baby, and so he was waiting outside. The doctor put on the machine, and what did he see!

My God, the little heart of the embryo was beating normally, and even I could see it!! The doctor lost it. He looked again 2-3 times. He went out perplexed to go look at his computer to see my history. (How could he know that St. Raphael's had his hand in the matter).

After a short time, he entered again to the ultrasound, and called my husband and told us that the procedure couldn't take place, because there was a little baby, and its little heart was beating normally. My joy was so great that it couldn't be described with words. We were so happy. We left the doctor and our first thought was to go with our friend to light a candle to St. Raphael.

We thanked St. Raphael from within our hearts for the miracle that he worked. He is my patron Saint, along with the Archangel Michael and our Panagia.

He helps us daily with his presence. I will thank him my whole life! I thank you for everything, my Saint Raphael!

Note: St. Raphael, other than being a protector of many sick people, is also a protector of pregnant women, as many women had experienced this, and he frequently appears himself in a dream, telling them to call upon him to protect them and those children that they are bearing, that they might be helped to have a good delivery.
(source)
  
Christ is risen from the dead, by dead, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life! Truly the Lord is risen! 

St. Nikolai Velimirovic on Christ appearing to St. Thomas

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
St. Thomas touching the Risen Christ (source)
  
"The Lord appeared this second time for Thomas' sake - for the sake of one man, one sinner. He who is surrounded by the angelic choirs that joyfully hail Him as Conqueror of death, leaves His heavenly flock and hastens to save one wandering sheep. Let all those who, coming to great glory and power in this world, forget their weak and humble friends and, with shame and scorn, draw back from them, be ashamed at His example. In His love for mankind, the Lord turned from no sort of humiliation or effort. In His love for mankind, He - glorified and almighty - came down a second time into one simple room in Jerusalem. Oh, that blessed room, out of which there poured more blessings on the human race that there could ever be from all the palaces of emperors!"
-St. Nikolai Velimirovic, "Homilies"
(source)
  
"The firmness of faith depends on God's grace. Who can comprehend the mysterious depths of God's providence? Who can say that God, in His providence, did not wish here to make use of Thomas' unbelief for the belief of many? In any case, two things have here been clearly shown: the terrible sickness of human nature, revealed in the stubborn unbelief of one of the apostles (who had innumerable reasons to believe), and God's most abundant wisdom and love. In His purity and holiness, God does not use evil that good may come, nor make use of evil means to achieve good ends, but, in His wisdom and His love for mankind, He corrects our evil ways and turns them to good."
-St. Nikolai Velimirovic, Homily: "The Gospel on the Apostle Thomas' Doubt and Faith"
(source)
  
Christ touching the Risen Christ (source)
  
Christ is risen from the dead, by dead, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life! Truly the Lord is risen!

Homily on St. George the Trophy-bearer by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
St. George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer, offering to Christ his head, which was severed out of love for Him (Source)
  
Homily on St. George the Trophy-bearer by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes (+2010)
Today is the feast of one of the greatest martyrs of our faith, of St. George the Trophy-bearer. This feast coincides with the most beautiful season. And, as our church chants today, let us run to the fields to pick flowers and weave wreaths to crown the hero of our Christian faith.
  
But to pick flowers is the easiest thing. We must do something else today, something higher and greater. What is this? We must get to know who this St. George was. And through this, I will try to give you a short answer.
  
The homeland of St. George was Asia Minor. He was born in the area of Caesarea, and was a compatriot with St. Basil the Great. His parents were rich and noble. His father was martyred for Christ while St. George was still small in his cradle. His mother, who was only 20 years old then, was one of those mothers who believed in God. Because of this, she did not enter into a second marriage, like many do today, whose husbands have not even decomposed yet in the grave, when they are looking for a new man. No! In Asia Minor, there was one marriage, one and only. Like the birds, where if you kill one of a pair of mates, the other remains until the end crying in its cage. The same as then. I don't say that those who enter a second marriage sin, but that the primary marriage is the one which is blessed by God, the Holy Trinity, the All-Holy Spirit.
  
Therefore, his mother remained a widow. Are you listening you women, are you listening you men? These feasts did not occur so that we can eat and have a good time. They occurred so that we might live like the Saints. Then St. George blesses us and is with us.
  
The young widow had George when she was young. And together with her milk, she raised him and formed him. Blessed therefore is the mother. Behind every Saint is a mother. And behind St. George is a mother, who took him to her chest, and together with her milk, nursed him on the faith, the faith in Christ.
  
George, the only son of the widow of the martyr, grew and discerned his inclinations. Early, he decided to enlist and become a soldier. He joined the military, therefore. He was distinguished as a soldier and as a general. He was first in battles. He had the heart of a lion. Thus he reached the rank of soldier, and even higher, of commander.
  
But St. George, beyond military metals, had God. Because above everything else is God. Later, everything else comes as well. And if the faith in God is endangered, we must be ready to sacrifice metals and ranks and positions and staffs and miters and everything. A thousand times a monk on the Holy Mountain would die rather than betray Orthodoxy. A thousand times an honored soldier [would die] rather than a soldier who does not believe. A thousand times a villager who has God inside of him [would die], instead of an atheist scientist. A thousand times a worker or farmer that had God inside of him, instead of the riches of the world. This is our holy faith. Our Church does not come from the great and strong of the day, it is founded on the faith of the humble and down-trodden.
  
The hour of St. George's trial came. It was the time of the final persecution of the first centuries. On the throne of Rome was one of the wildest beasts, the Emperor Diocletian (284-304). He had wild hate against the Christians. Because of this he ordered that whoever was a Christian, should loose their rank, and if they remained in the faith, they would be put to death.
  
When the order arrived, George's hour had come. Before everyone, he confessed and said: “I am a Christian, and above the Emperor, I have Christ!”
  
Diocletian ordered him to be seized. They took removed his metals, they took his weapons, and they threw him bound into prison. From the heights to the depths! But he had joy and exaltation.
  
Should I now relate his martyrdoms? They are many. Whoever wishes to, read the Synaxarion to see. In short I will tell you. They beat his stomach with an iron rod. Afterwards, they put on him an iron helmet which around the inside had bloodletting nails, and they let them cut into the head of the Saint. His flesh was torn and the ground was covered [in blood]. Then they made him wear iron shoes with nails and forced him to run. Then, they put him in a pit of lime, to dissolve him. But the lime he conquered, and the iron he conquered, and everything else. This is not strange. Christ said this: Do not fear, you will tread upon scorpions and serpents, and not a hair from your head will fall, unless God desires it. (Luke 10:19, 21, 18, Matthew 10:29)

After these, outside of Caesarea, there was a temple of idols full of statues. They seized St. George therefore, and took him there, that he might sacrifice. He appeared with the face of an angel. He looked at the idols, and said with a loud voice: "In the name of Jesus the Nazarene, I ask you, O statues and idols, what are you?" And they responded: "We are not gods, but demons!" Then the Saint prayed, and immediately an earthquake struck the temple, and the statues fell and broke into pieces and dust.
  
And only this? And the other miracle of St. George is wondrous. Outside of Caesarea, in a ravine, there was a spring of beautiful water, but no one dared to approach it, because near there was a great dragon, a gigantic serpent, which would come out and eat men and beasts. St. George approached the spring with his spear. The beast growled, exited with speed and opened its huge mouth to swallow him. But St. George--let the faithless disbelieve, we believe--what did he do? He pierced it within its bowels and the beast was torn apart and died. Because of this, you see St. George in icons depicted on horseback with his spear, which on its tip has the Cross of the Lord, in order to kill the dragon.

These things seem unbelievable today. People of the world perceive these as myths. But we know that St. George did not only this, but things thousands of times higher occur. History is full of miracles worked by the Saints of our Faith, with the power of Christ. We have a living faith, totally alive, and we must love it and devote ourselves wholly to it.
 
This is, therefore, my beloved, the life of the Saint in short. Because of this, St. George is one of the most beloved Saints.

One more thing I want to tell you, and I'll stop. We saw the fearsome dragon which was at the spring, and did not allow anyone to refresh themselves. But besides that dragon, which St. George killed with his spear and with the Cross, in our days first and foremost, another dragon appears much worse than that dragon which St. George killed. And that worse dragon, which chokes all of mankind and endangers with the greatest destruction, is atheism, God-less materialism. With this dragon, our small country must struggle heroically, to not fall into its mouth.

Because of this, even though others might betray their faith and their ideals, you poor children, the heroic children of the Church and the fatherland, remain faithful to God, and struggle with bravery, chest to chest, for everything that is most-holy of our land.

With the help of St. George, we will go forward, we will overcome the obstacles.

I pray that you remain fixed and immovable in the faith, through the intercessions of St. George, and all the Saints. Amen.

+Bishop Avgoustinos
 
(From a homily in the Holy Church of St. George Lakkias, April 23rd, 1968. Amateur translation of text from source)
  
St. George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer, on horseback, killing the dragon (source)
     
Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life! Truly the Lord is risen!
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