Excerpt from the Homily on the Betrayal of Judas, by St. John Chrysostom

May 1, 2013, 8:14 am

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The Mystical Supper (source)

   
Excerpt from the Homily on the Betrayal of Judas, by St. John Chrysostom
Translated by Monk Moses of the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood from the original Greek, in Patrologia Graeca 49.373–80. See this link for the whole text of this beautiful and moving sermon.

  
Today, beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed. It was on this approaching evening that the Jews seized him and took Him away. But do not be dejected, hearing that Jesus was betrayed; rather, be dejected and weep bitterly—not over Jesus Who was betrayed, but over the traitor, Judas. For, indeed, the One Who was betrayed saved the whole world, while the one who betrayed Him lost his own soul. And the One Who was betrayed is seated at the right hand of the Father, while the one who betrayed Him is now in hades, awaiting the inevitable punishment. Thus, weep and moan for his sake; mourn for his sake, since even our Master shed tears on his account. Seeing him, Jesus was troubled and said: One of you shall betray Me ( John 13:21). Oh, how great is our Master’s compassion! The One Who was betrayed grieved for the one who betrayed Him. Seeing him, Jesus was troubled and said: One of you shall betray Me. Why was He disheartened? In order to show His tender love and, at the same time, to teach us that it is altogether fitting to mourn, not for the one enduring evil, but for the one committing it. Committing evil is worse than enduring it; or rather, enduring evil is not evil, but committing it is evil. While enduring evil procures us the Kingdom of Heaven, committing evil results in Gehenna and punishment for us. For Blessed, says the Lord, are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:10). Do you see how enduring evil has as its recompense and reward the Kingdom of Heaven?

...What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? Tell me, did Christ teach you that? Did He not restrain in advance your covetous intention, saying: Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses (Matt. 10:9)? Did He not continually advise this, and also say: If someone shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matt. 5:39)? What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? Oh, what madness! Tell me, for what? With what small or great accusation do you betray the Teacher? That He granted you power over demons? That He granted you the power to put an end to sicknesses? To cleanse lepers? To raise the dead? That He brought an end to the tyranny of death? For these benefactions you give this recompense? What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? Oh, what madness! Or rather, what covetousness! For it is covetousness that produced all this evil: lusting after money, he betrayed the Teacher. Such is the root of this evil; worse than the devil, it excites to frenzy the souls it has conquered and renders them oblivious to everyone, both to themselves
and to their neighbors, as well as to the laws of nature, driving them out of their minds and making them insane. See how much it cast out from the soul of Judas: the fellowship, the intimacy, the common
table, the miracles, the instruction, the counsel, the admonitions—all of that was then cast into oblivion by covetousness. Thus Paul rightly said: The love of money is the root of all evil (I Tim. 6:10)...

...I have said all this so that no one will accuse Christ, saying: “Why did He not change Judas? Why did He not make him sensible and good?” How ought Judas to have been made good? By force or voluntarily? If by force, he would not have become better, for no one becomes good by force. But if, by his own deliberate choice, Judas had wanted to, then Christ would have used all means to amend his will and intent. But if he did not want to take the medicine, it is not the Physician Who is at fault but the one who evaded the treatment. Look at how much Christ did in order to win him over and save him: He taught him all wisdom by deeds and by words; He placed him above the demons; He prepared him to perform numerous miracles; He inspired fear in him with the threat of hell; He impelled him forward with the promise of the Kingdom; He continually censured his unspeakable plans, without making them public; He washed his feet along with the others and shared His table with him. He did not leave anything undone, either small or great, but Judas of his own free will remained uncorrected...

But it is time then to approach that fearful table. Therefore, let us all approach with fitting discretion and sobriety. And let no one be Judas any longer; let no one be wicked; let no one possess venom, bearing one thing in his mouth and another in his mind. Christ is present, and He Who set in order that meal of old also sets this one in order now. For it is not a man who causes the elements that are set forth to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ Himself, Who was crucified for our sake. Fulfilling the figure, the priest stands and utters the words. But the power and the grace belong to God. This is My Body, the priest says. These words transform the elements set forth; and just as the words Increase and multiply and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28) were said once, but throughout all time they give our nature the power to beget children, so also from that time until now and until His Coming, these words that were said once accomplish the perfect Sacrifice on each altar table in the churches.

Therefore, let no one hide festering sores within; let no one be filled with wickedness; let no one have venom in his thoughts, lest he partake unto condemnation. For truly it was after Judas had received the Holy Gifts that the devil fell upon him, out of contempt not for the Body of the Lord but for Judas, on account of his shamelessness—so that you understand that the devil especially falls upon and repeatedly attacks those who partake of the Holy Mysteries unworthily, as with Judas at that time. For honors benefit those who are worthy, but honors cast into greater torment those who enjoy them unworthily. I do not say these things to frighten you, but in order to warn you. Therefore, let no one be Judas; let no one that enters have the venom of wickedness. The sacrifice is spiritual food; and just as bodily food that enters a stomach having foul juices makes the illness even worse—not because of its own nature but because of the sickness of the stomach—so also does it usually happen with the spiritual Mysteries. For they also, when they enter a soul that is full of wickedness, ruin and destroy it even more—not on account of their own nature but on account of the sickness of the soul that receives them.

Therefore, let no one have evil thoughts within, but let us purify our mind, for we are truly drawing near to the spotless sacrifice. Let us make our soul holy; it is possible for this to happen even in a single day. How, and in what way? If you have anything against your enemy, expel your anger, treat your wound, put an end to your enmity, so that you may receive healing from the holy table—for you are approaching the fearful and holy sacrifice. Stand in awe before the meaning of this sacrifice. The slain Christ is laid out before us. On what account was He slain and why? In order to make peace between heaven and the earth, in order to make you a friend of the angels, in order to reconcile you entirely to God, to make you, an enemy and opponent, into a friend. He gave His life for those who hate Him, but you continue to hate your fellow servant? And how can you come to the table of peace? He did not decline to die for you, but you cannot bear, for your own sake, to get rid of your anger toward your fellow servant? And what sort of forgiveness are you worthy of?

He abused me, you say, and hurt me a great deal. But what is this? The damage is only to property; by no means did he wound you like Judas did Christ, but nevertheless Christ gave His own Blood for the salvation of those who caused it to pour forth. What can you say is equal to that? If you do not forgive your enemy, you do not hurt him but yourself. You wound him many times in this present life, but you make yourself unpardonable at the judgment in the day to come. For God hates nothing so much as a man who remembers past wrongs, nothing so much as a puffed-up heart and a soul inflamed. Listen to what He says: When you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember, standing high-up at the altar, that your brother has something against you, leave … your gift at the altar and go … be reconciled to your brother, and then … offer your gift (Matt. 5:23–24).

What are you saying?—that I should leave my gift? Yes, for it was for the sake of peace with your brother that this sacrifice took place. Thus, if it is for the sake of peace with your brother that this sacrifice took place, but you have not accomplished that peace, then you take part in the sacrifice to no purpose, the good work is of no benefit to you. Therefore, let us first do that on account of which the sacrifice has been offered, and then we will benefit well from it. The Son of God came down in order to reconcile our nature to the Master. And not only for that did He come down, but also in order to make us who do these things sharers in His name. For He says: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). Do also, according to human strength, that which the only-begotten Son of God did, becoming an agent of peace both for yourself and for others. On account of this, O peacemaker, He even calls you a son of God. And therefore He did not mention any other commandment regarding the time of the sacrifice except to be reconciled with one’s brother, showing that this is the most important of all.

I had wanted to extend my discourse, but what has been said is enough for those who are attentive, if they call it to mind. Beloved ones, let us continually call to mind these words, the holy greetings, and the awe-inspiring kiss of peace with each other. For this joins our minds together and makes everyone become one Body, since we all also partake of one Body. Let us be joined together in one Body, not
mingling with the bodies of one another, but uniting our souls with each other in the bond of love. In this way we will be able to partake with boldness of the meal which is set forth. Even if we possess countless righteous deeds, if we bear remembrance of wrongs, they are all to no avail and in vain, and we will not be able to reap from them any benefit toward our salvation.

Therefore, being conscious of these things, let us bring an end to all anger, and purifying our conscience, let us approach with all meekness and gentleness the table of Christ, to Whom is all glory, honor, and power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
   

The Betrayal of Judas(source)

  

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

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The Ceremony of the Washing of the Feet on the Holy Island of Patmos

May 1, 2013, 7:19 pm

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Christ washing the feet of the Disciples: "I came not to be served, but to serve..." (source)

   

The Ceremony of the Washing of the Feet (The Niptir) on the Holy Island of Patmos
For the text of this beautiful service in English, see here.

For four hundred years now, on the pleasantly cool island of divine visions, holy little Patmos, on Great Thursday every year, there’s been a tradition of re-enacting the drama of the Last Supper, which neither time nor the years of subjugation to the Turks, Italians and Germans were able to expunge. 

This re-enactment, a symbolic scene, is a celebration which involves a great deal of grandeur, religious feeling and picturesqueness. It takes place to this day in other places as well, including, in the Orthodox world, Jerusalem and Antioch.

It’s an important event in the holy days of Great Week, not only for the island of Patmos, but for the other islands in the area: Samos, Ikaria, Leros, Kalymnos, and, in former times, for the  coastal towns and cities of Asia Minor on the opposite shore.

At the time of the Italian occupation, the number of pilgrims who came to the island to attend this wonderful ceremony was considerably fewer, but since the liberation, the ceremony of the Washing of the Feet has regained its former eminence so that, in the peaceful life of the island, it is, once more, a religious event of great significance.

There is evidence for this religious ceremony of the Washing of the Feet from the 4^thcentury, to be precise after the synod of Elvira in about 300 A. D. It was performed in very many monasteries and bishoprics in the middle years. In particular, the Byzantine emperors in their palace, in imitation of the gentle Nazarene, washed the feet of twelve of the poor among their subjects and afterwards presented them with gifts.

The whole ceremony, or rather its symbolic re-enactment, is nothing more nor less than a recollection and replication of the practical teaching of the Lord, who wished simply, by His example of washing the feet of his disciples, to teach stark humility towards the other people who share the planet with us.

On Great Wednesday, in one of the two large squares in Hora (those of Xanthou and Patriarch Theofilos II) alternately, towards the evening, a large, wooden, squarish platform is erected by a construction team of the elders of the town. Around it, the child play wild games of hide and seek. Decorating begins in the very early hours of Great Thursday. Liturgical fans and silver crosses, at intervals, with arches of palms and myrtles and with valuable carpets on the ground make for a grand sight.

The entrance, the central arch, is made of the fragrant spring flowers of the island, dominated by the blossoms on the twigs of spikenard, with its faintest of scents. On the platform, twelve seats have been placed. Six on the right and six on the left. And in the centre, opposite the entrance a chair for the Abbot. In the centre, there’s a little table with a silver bowl on it.

The tall trees surrounding the square- Xanthou, that is- with their verdant foliage cast their protective shade on the congregation of the faithful, beneath the burning spring sun. In complete silence, with moving compunction, they follow the swift development of this religious performance by the monks, brothers of the monastery, who perform the role of the disciples in this re-enactment of the divine drama of the Last Supper.

Great Thursday. The time is eleven in the morning. In the monastery, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great has ended, with the handing out of the antidoro, the blessed bread, the “pearl” which people on the island keep for difficult times, especially someone’s last moments. With the Abbot at their head, the monks of the monastery move down to the church of the community, that of the Great Mother of God, as if by ancient custom. All the priests are attired in the same, precious, purple and gold, Byzantine vestments, gifts to the monastery from the Byzantine era, which have survived wonderfully to this day, untouched by time.

Priests and Deacons proceeding to the town square for the service (source)

   

The great bells of the monastery toll gravely and slowly. The whole atmosphere of the island resounds sweetly to their deep peals. In the delighful natural environment of spring, everything is charming. With heightened religious emotions, with deep compunction, the island lives the holy Passion of Christ for the whole of this week in a unique way and with a special tone.

From the Great Mother of God, the priests, each one with the name of one of Jesus’ disciples, proceed in twos to the appointed square. Behind them comes the abbot in a purple robe, holding his staff- since he’s a Patriarchal Exarch- and a small, gilded Bible, flanked by four deacons. All of them, priests and Abbot, wear their monastic cowls, which lend gravity and a graphic tone to the measured proceedings. Before them walks an ordinary monk, holding a huge basin and the “water of the bowl” in a silver pot. The ecclesiarch brings up the rear. As the best chanter in the monastery, it’s his job to sing psalm 50, “Have mercy on me, God”. The disciples and the Teacher arrive at one of the two chapels- Saint Foteini or Saint George, depending on the square- where the ceremony will take place. The ecclesiarch takes his position first, opposite the platform, at a prominent point, from where he will read the appointed excerpts from the four Gospels.

The four deacons cense the approach and escort the priest-disciples, two by two, onto the platform, where they bow deeply to each other and then take their seats, beginning from the outside and working inwards. They follow that order as given in the Gospels, starting with the sons of Zebedee. And thus they continue until all twelve are seated. The last one is Judas. In former days, his role was assigned to an ordinary layman, who was rewarded with 50 small coins and a cottage cheese. Later, however, the role was given to a monk. Last comes the Abbot and the four deacons escort him onto the platform, standing at his side. In the meantime, the ecclesiarch chants the beautiful Byzantine melodies for “When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of the feet at the supper” (dismissal hymn) and “United in the bond of love, the Apostles…” (katavasia, canticle five).

Once everyone is seated on the platform the whole drama of the Holy Last Supper begins to unfold.

The Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in the role of Christ, before 12 Priests in the roles of the Disciples(source)

   

It has been divided into three parts and in the first there is a wide-ranging lesson from the great teacher of love, concerning the phrase “love one another”, which is full of incident and divinely-inspired significance. After this, there follows the second part, which is the washing of the disciples’ feet as a practical demonstration of Christ’s humility. The third part is a reconstruction of Christ’s anguish at prayer on the Mount of Olives, when He’s tested as a person, finally triumphing as God.

From his prominent position, the reader, methodically and slowly reads excerpts from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, referring to the dialogue conducted between the Teacher and His disciples. The first to be read is from Saint Mark: “At that time, Jesus took his twelve disciples and began to tell them what would happen to him”. Then follows a dialogue taken from John (4, 10-11), Mathew (20, 22-9) and Mark (10, 32-45), explaining to them what was to happen and urging them warmly to love one another.

Then, after this dialogue, comes the second part, the washing of the disciples’ feet: The reader’s text is from Saint John: “Knowing that the Father had given everything into his hands, Jesus arose from the supper and removed his outer garment. He took a towel and fastened it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet…”. At that moment, the Abbot ties a dark red, square, velvet vestment, the “towel”, round his waist and begins to pour water from the pot into the bowl. Beginning with Judas, he washes the disciples’ feet, in fact sprinkling them on their shins with rose water through an aspergillum. This is the most impressive part of the scene, together with the role of Saint Peter, who is rebuked for his initial refusal and then goes on to request that the Lord wash “not only my feet, but also my hands and head”.

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit here, while I go and pray over there. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very troubled”. At this point, the Abbot, together with the three disciples mentioned, descends from the platform and proceeds towards the edge of the square, while the disciples kneel on cushions in front of the platform, obeying His command to “wait here and keep watch”.

This is when the third part of the Last Supper is played out. It is when Christ’s soul is sick unto death and when He cries aloud “not as I wish, but you”. But at the same time, the disciples’ devotion to their teacher is also tested, at the most difficult part of the drama. At the edge of the square, the Abbot prays before the icon of “The Coming One”, a large, very old icon from an iconostas, of rare Byzantine craftsmanship, one of the treasures of the monastery. It’s a symbolic depiction of the prayer of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

A photograph of the procession in prior years. The monks are carrying the historic icon of Christ "The Coming One"(source)

   

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass”. And again: “Nevertheless, not as I wish, but you” (Math. 26, 40-42). Apprehension and sorrow weigh heavily on Him. And He repeats: “Is it not possible for this cup to pass?” When he turns to His disciples, He find then with drooping eyelids. He turns back to pray to His heavenly Father, strengthened now in the role He’s been ordered to shoulder for the salvation of the human race. He shouts to His disciples: “Let’s go. It’s time for the Son of Man to be betrayed in order that he may be glorified”, rousing them from their deep sleep when He approaches them for the third time.

The three get up from their knees and go back to the platform, together with the Abbot. The symbolic re-enactment of the Last Supper ends here. The Abbot takes up position near the platform and holds the Gospel and a small bunch of marjoram with which he will sprinkle the crowd with the blessed water from the basin. The laity kiss the Gospel and embrace, wishing each other “Many years”.

Finally, with the same good order and with the monastery bells tolling, the monks return to their place of abode, the grey Byzantine fortress which has been a sacred ark over many centuries.

And the people, inducted into divine matters and with souls exalted, disperse to their homes, in order to continue the rest of Great Week with the same depth of compunction, on the island of Patmos where Saint John the Evangelist had his divinely-inspired visions.
(source)
   

The Monastery of St. John the Theologian, Patmos(source)

   

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

Discourse On the Passion of the Saviour, by St. Ephraim the Syrian

May 2, 2013, 8:42 pm

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The Crucifixion of Christ (source)

  
Discourse On the Passion of the Saviour, by Our Venerable Father Ephrem the Syrian
Text copyright to Archimandrite Ephrem © (source)

  
I am afraid to speak
and touch with my tongue
this fearful narrative
concerning the Saviour.
For truly it is fearful
to narrate all this.

Our Lord
was given up today
into the hands of sinners!

For what reason then
was one who is holy
and without sin given up?

For having done no sin
he was given up today.

Come, let us examine closely
why Christ our Saviour
was given up.

For us, the ungodly,
the Master was given up.

Who would not marvel?
Who would not give glory?

When the slaves had sinned
the Master was given up.

The sons of perdition
and the children of darkness
went out in the darkness
to arrest the sun
who had the power
to consume them in an instant.

But the Master, knowing
their effrontery
and the force of their anger,
with gentleness,
by his own authority,
gave himself up
into the hands of the ungodly.

And lawless men, having bound
the most pure Master,
mocked the one
who had bound the strong one
with unbreakable bonds,
and set us free
from the bonds of sins.

They plaited a crown
of their own thorns,
the fruit borne
by the vine of the Jews.

In mockery
they called him ‘King’.
The lawless spat
in the face of the most pure,
at whose glance
all the Powers of heaven
and the ranks of Angels
quake with fear.

See, once again grief and tears
grip hold of my heart,
as I contemplate the Master
enduring outrage and insults,
scourgings, spitting
from slaves, and blows.

Come, observe well
the abundance of compassion,
the forbearance and mercy
of our sweet Master.

He had a useful slave
in the Paradise of delight,
and when he sinned
he was given to the torturers.

But when the Good One
saw his weakness of soul
he took compassion on the slave
and had mercy on him
and presented himself
to be scourged by him.

I wished to remain silent
because my mind
was utterly amazed;
but then again I was afraid
lest I reject
by my silence
my Saviour’s grace.
For my bones tremble
when I think of it.

The fashioner of all things,
our Lord himself,
was today arraigned
before Caiaphas,
like one of the condemned;
and one of the servants
struck him a blow.

My heart trembles
as I think on these things:
the slave is seated,
the Master stands,
and one full of iniquities
passes sentence
on the one who is sinless.

The heavens trembled,
earth’s foundations shuddered;
Angels and Archangels
all quailed with terror.
Gabriel and Michael
covered their faces
with their wings.

The Cherubim at the throne
were hidden beneath the wheels;
The Seraphim struck their wings
one with the other
at that moment,
when a servant gave
a blow to the Master.

How did earth’s foundations
endure the earthquake
and the tremor
at that moment,
when the Master was outraged?

I observe and I tremble
and again I am stunned,
when I see the long-suffering
of the loving Master.

For see my inward parts
tremble as I speak,
because the Creator,
who by grace fashioned
humanity from dust,
he the Fashioner is struck.

Let us fear, my brethren
and not simply listen.
The Saviour endured
all these things for us.

Wretched servant,
tell us why
you struck the Master?

All servants,
when they are set free,
receive a blow,
that they may obtain
freedom that perishes;
but you, miserable wretch,
unjustly gave a blow
to the liberator of all.

Did you perhaps expect
to receive from Caiaphas
a reward for your blow?

Had you perhaps not heard,
had you perhaps not learned
that Jesus is
the heavenly Master?

You gave a blow
to the Master of all things,
but became slave of slaves
to age on age,
a disgrace and abomination,
and condemned for ever
in unquenchable fire.

A great marvel, brethren,
it is to see the gentleness
of Christ the King!
Struck by a slave
he answered patiently,
with gentleness
and all reverence.

A servant is indignant,
the Master endures;
a servant is enraged,
the Master is kind.

At a time of anger,
who could endure
rage and disturbance?
But our Lord
submitted to all this
by his goodness.

Who can express
your long-suffering,
Master?

You that are longed for
and loved by Christ,
draw near, with compunction
and longing for the Saviour.

Come, let us learn
what took place today
in Sion, David’s city.

The longed-for and chosen
offspring of Abraham,
what did they do today?

They gave up to death
the most pure Master
on this day.

Christ our Saviour
was unjustly hanged
on the tree of the Cross
through lawless hands.

Come, let us all
wash our bodies
with tears and groans,
because our Lord,
the King of glory,
for us ungodly people
was given up to death.

If someone suddenly hears
of one truly beloved
having died,
or again, suddenly sees
the beloved himself
lying a dead corpse
before their eyes,
their appearance is altered,
and the brightness
of their sight is darkened.

So, in heaven’s height,
when it saw
the outrage to the Master
on the tree of the Cross,
the bright sun’s
appearance was altered;
it withdrew the rays
of its own brightness,
and unable to look on
the outrage to the Master,
clothed itself
in grief and darkness.

Likewise the Holy Spirit,
who is in the Father,
when he saw
the beloved Son
on the tree of the Cross,
rending the veil,
the temple’s adornment,
suddenly came forth
in the form of a dove.

All creation was
in fear and trembling
when the King of heaven,
the Saviour suffered;
while we sinners
for whom the only immortal
was given up
ever treat this with contempt.

We laugh each day
when we hear of the Saviour’s
sufferings and outrage.

We enjoy ourselves daily
filled with great zeal
to deck ourselves in fine clothing.

The sun in the sky
because of the outrage to its Master
changed its radiance
into darkness,
so that we, when we saw it,
might follow its example.

The Master on the Cross
was outraged for your sake,
while you, miserable wretch,
ever deck yourself
in splendid raiment.

Does your heart not tremble,
does your mind not quail,
when you hear such things?

The One who alone is sinless
was for you given over
to a shameful death,
to outrages and revilings,
while you hear all this
with lofty indifference.

The whole rational flock
should look intently
on its shepherd,
and ever long for him
and respect him,
because for its sake
he suffered, he
the dispassionate and all pure.

Nor should it deck itself
in corruptible garments,
nor yet indulge in pleasure
and worldly nourishment,
but should give its Maker pleasure
by ascesis and true reverence.

Let us not become
imitators of the Jews;
a people harsh and disobedient
and that ever rejects the blessings
and benefactions of God.

God Most High
for the sake of Abraham
and his covenant
from the beginning bore
the stubbornness of the people.

From heaven he gave
them Manna to eat;
but they, the unworthy,
longed for garlic,
evil-smelling foods.

Again, he gave them water
from the rock in the desert,
while they in place of these
gave him vinegar
when they hanged him on a Cross.

Let us be careful, brethren,
not to be found
as fellows of the Jews
who crucified the Master,
their own Creator.

Let us always be fearful,
keeping before our eyes
the Saviour’s sufferings.

Let us always keep in mind
his sufferings,
because it was for us he suffered,
the dispassionate Master;
for us he was crucified,
the only sinless One.

What return can we make
for all this, brethren?

Let us be attentive to ourselves
and not despise his sufferings.

Draw near all of you,
children of the Church,
bought with the precious
and holy blood
of the most pure Master.

Come, let us meditate
on his sufferings with tears,
thinking on fear,
meditating with trembling,
saying to ourselves,
‘Christ our Saviour
for us the impious
was given over to death’.

Learn well, brother,
what it is you hear:
God who is without sin,
Son of the Most High,
for you was given up.

Open your heart,
learn in detail
his sufferings
and say to yourself:
God who is without sin
today was given up,
today was mocked,
today was abused,
today was struck,
today was scourged,
today wore
a crown of thorns,
today was crucified,
he, the heavenly Lamb.

Your heart will tremble,
your soul will shudder.

Shed tears every day
by this meditation
on the Master’s sufferings.

Tears become sweet,
the soul is enlightened
that always meditates
on Christ’s sufferings.

Always meditating thus,
shedding tears every day,
giving thanks to the Master
for the sufferings
that he suffered for you,
so that in the day
of his Coming
your tears may become
your boast and exaltation
before the judgement seat.

Endure as you meditate
on the loving Master’s
sufferings,
endure temptations,
give thanks from your soul.

Blessed is the one
who has before his eyes
the heavenly Master
and his sufferings,
and has crucified himself
from all the passions
and earthly deeds,
who has become an imitator
of his own Master.

This is understanding,
this is the attitude
of servants who love God,
when they become ever
imitators of their Master
by good works.

Shameless man, do you watch
the most pure Master
hanging on the Cross,
while you pass the time
that you have to live on earth
in pleasure and laughter?

Don’t you know, miserable wretch,
that the crucified Lord
will demand an account
of all your disdainful deeds,
for which, when you hear of them, you show no concern,
and as you take your pleasure
you laugh
and enjoy yourself with indifference?

The day will come,
that fearful day,
for you to weep unceasingly
and cry out in the fire
from your pains,
and there will be no one at all
to answer
and have mercy on your soul.

I worship you, Master,
I bless you, O Good One,
I entreat you, O Holy One,
I fall down before you, Lover of humankind,
and I glorify you, O Christ,
because you, only-begotten
Master of all,
alone without sin,
for me the unworthy sinner
were given over to death,
death on a Cross,
that you might free
the sinner’s soul
from the bonds of sins.

And what shall I give you
in return for this, Master?

Glory to you, Lover of humankind!
Glory to you, O Merciful!
Glory to you, O Long-suffering!
Glory to you, who pardon
every fault!
Glory to you, who came down
to save our souls!
Glory to you, incarnate
in the Virgin’s womb!
Glory to you, who were bound!
Glory to you, who were scourged!
Glory to you, who were crucified!
Glory to you, who were buried!
Glory to you, who were raised!
Glory to you, who were proclaimed!
Glory to you, who were believed!
Glory to you, who were taken up!
Glory to you, who were enthroned
with great glory
at the Father’s right hand,
and are coming again
with the glory of the Father
and the holy Angels
to judge every soul
that has despised
your holy sufferings
in that dread
and fearful hour,
when the powers of heaven
will be shaken;
when Angels, Archangels,
Cherubim and Seraphim
will come all together
with fear and trembling
before your glory;
when all the foundations
of the earth will tremble,
and everything that has breath
will shudder at your great
and unendurable glory.

In that hour
your hand will hide me
under its wings
and my soul be delivered
from the fearful fire,
the gnashing of teeth,
the outer darkness
and unending weeping,
that blessing you, I may say,
‘Glory to the One, who wished
to save the sinner
through the many acts of pity
of his compassion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  

The Crucifixion of Christ (source)

     

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

St. Leo the Great on Christ's Passion

May 3, 2013, 4:36 am

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Christ carrying His Cross(source)

   
St. Leo the Great on Christ's Passion
IV. Christ Bearing His Own Cross is an Eternal Lesson to the Church
...And so the Lord was handed over to their savage wishes, and in mockery of His kingly state, ordered to be the bearer of His own instrument of death, that what Isaiah the prophet foresaw might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold a Child is born, and a Son is given to us whose government is upon His shoulders." When, therefore, the Lord carried the wood of the cross which should turn for Him into the sceptre of power, it was indeed in the eyes of the wicked a mighty mockery, but to the faithful a mighty mystery was set forth, seeing that He, the glorious vanquisher of the Devil, and the strong defeater of the powers that were against Him, was carrying in noble sort the trophy of His triumph, and on the shoulders of His unconquered patience bore into all realms the adorable sign of salvation: as if even then to confirm all His followers by this mere symbol of His work, and say, "He that taketh not his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me."

V. The Transference of the Cross from the Lord To Simon of Cyrene Signifies the Participation of the Gentiles in His Sufferings
But as the multitudes went with Jesus to the place of punishment, a certain Simon of Cyrene was found on whom to lay the wood of the cross instead of the Lord; that even by this act might be pre-signified the Gentiles' faith, to whom the cross of Christ was to be not shame but glory. It was not accidental, therefore, but symbolical and mystical, that while the Jews were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share His sufferings, as the Apostle says, "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him"; so that no Hebrew nor Israelite, but a stranger, was substituted for the Saviour in His most holy degradation. For by this transference the propitiation of the spotless Lamb and the fulfilment of all mysteries passed from the circumcision to the uncircumcision, from the sons according to the flesh to the sons according to the spirit: since as the Apostle says, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," Who offering Himself to the Father a new and true sacrifice of reconciliation, was crucified not in the temple, whose worship was now at an end, and not within the confines of the city which for its sin was doomed to be destroyed, but outside, "without the camp," that, on the cessation of the old symbolic victims, a new Victim might be placed on a new altar, and the cross of Christ might be the altar not of the temple but of the world.

VI. We are to See Not Only the Cross But the Meaning of It
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, Christ being lifted up upon the cross, let the eyes of your mind not dwell only on that sight which those wicked sinners saw, to whom it was said by the mouth of Moses, "And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not be assured of thy life." For in the crucified Lord they could think of nothing but their wicked deed, having not the fear, by which true faith is justified, but that by which an evil conscience is racked. But let our understandings, illumined by the Spirit of Truth, foster with pure and free heart the glory of the cross which irradiates heaven and earth, and see with the inner sight what the Lord meant when He spoke of His coming Passion: "The hour is come that the Son of man may be glorified"; and below He says, "Now is My spirit troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy Son." And when the Father's voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again," Jesus in reply said to those that stood by, "This voice came not for Me but for you. Now is the world's judgment, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Me."

VII. The Power of the Cross is Universally Attractive
O wondrous power of the Cross! O in effable glory of the Passion, in which is contained the Lord's tribunal, the world's judgment, and the power of the Crucified! For thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord and when Thou hadst stretched out Thy hands all the day, long to an unbelieving people that gainsaid Thee, the whole world at last was brought to confess Thy majesty. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord, when all the elements combined to pronounce judgment in execration of the Jews' crime, when the lights of heaven were darkened, and the day turned into night, and the earth also was shaken with unwonted shocks, and all creation refused to serve those wicked men. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord. for the veil of the temple was rent, and the Holy of Holies existed no more for those unworthy high-priests: so that type was turned into Truth, prophecy into Revelation law into Gospel. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord, so that what before was done in the one temple of the Jews in dark signs, was now to be celebrated everywhere by the piety of all the nations in full and open rite. For now there is a nobler rank of Levites, there are elders of greater dignity and priests of holier anointing: because Thy cross is the fount of all blessings, the source of all graces, and through it the believers receive strength for weakness, glory for shame, life for death. Now, too, the variety of fleshly sacrifices has ceased, and the one offering of Thy Body and Blood fulfils all those different victims: for Thou art the true "Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world," and in Thyself so accomplishest all mysteries, that as there is but one sacrifice instead of many victims, so there is but one kingdom instead of many nations.

VIII. We Must Live Not for Ourselves But for Christ, Who Died for Us
Let us, then, dearly-beloved, confess what the blessed teacher of the nations, the Apostle Paul, confessed, saying, "Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." For God's mercy towards us is the more wonderful that Christ died not for the righteous nor for the holy, but for the unrighteous and wicked; and though the nature of the Godhead could not sustain the sting of death, yet at His birth He took from us that which He might offer for us. For of old He threatened our death with the power of His death, saying. by the mouth of Hosea the prophet, "O death, I will be thy death, and I will be thy destruction, O hell." For by dying He underwent the laws of hell, but by rising again He broke them, and so destroyed the continuity of death as to make it temporal instead of eternal. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." And so, dearly-beloved, let that come to pass of which S. Paul speaks, "that they that live, should henceforth not live to themselves but to Him who died for all and rose again." And because the old things have passed away and all things are become new, let none remain in his old carnal life, but let us all be renewed by daily progress and growth in piety. For however much a man be justified, yet so long as he remains in this life, he can always be more approved and better. And he that is not advancing is going back, and he that is gaining nothing is losing something. Let us run, then, with the steps of faith, by the works of mercy, in the love of righteousness, that keeping the day of our redemption spiritually, "not in the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth," we may deserve to be partakers of Christ's resurrection, Who with the Father and the Holy [Spirit] liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.
(Source)
  

The Crucifixion of Christ(source)

  

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

A Paschal Homily by St. Justin Popovich

May 4, 2013, 2:40 pm

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Resurrection of Christ (source)

   

A Paschal Homily by St. Justin Popovich

Man sentenced God to death; by His Resurrection, He sentenced man to immortality. In return for a beating, He gives an embrace; for abuse, a blessing; for death, immortality. Man never showed so much hate for God as when he crucified Him; and God never showed more love for man than when He arose. Man even wanted to reduce God to a mortal, but God by His Resurrection made man immortal. The crucified God is Risen and has killed death. Death is no more. Immortality has surrounded man and all the world.

By the Resurrection of the God-Man, human nature has been led irreversibly onto the path of immortality, and has become dreadful to death itself. For before the Resurrection of Christ, death was dreadful to man, but after the Resurrection of Christ, man has become more dreadful to death. When man lives by faith in the Risen God-Man, he lives above death, out of its reach; it is a footstool for his feet:

“O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?” (I Cor. 15:55).

When a man belonging to Christ dies, he simply sets aside his body like clothing, in which he will again be vested on the day of Dread Judgement.

Before the Resurrection of the God-Man, death was the second nature of man: life first, death second. But by His Resurrection, the Lord has changed everything: immortality has become the second nature of man, it has become natural for man; and death – unnatural. As before the Resurrection of Christ, it was natural for men to be mortal, so after the Resurrection of Christ, it was natural for men to be immortal.

By sin, man became mortal and transient; by the Resurrection of the God-Man, he became immortal and perpetual. In this is the power, the might, the all-mightiness of the Resurrection of Christ. Without it, there would have been no Christianity. Of all miracles, this is the greatest miracle. All other miracles have it as their source and lead to it. From it grow faith, love, hope, prayer, and love for God. Behold: the fugitive disciples, having run away from Jesus when He died, return to Him because He is risen. Behold: the Centurion confessed Christ as the Son of God when he saw the Resurrection from the grave. Behold: all the first Christians became Christian because the Lord Jesus is risen, because death was vanquished. This is what no other faith has; this is what lifts the Lord Christ above all other gods and men; this is what, in the most undoubted manner, shows and demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the One True God and Lord in all the world.

Because of the Resurrection of Christ, because of His victory over death, men have become, continue to become, and will continue becoming Christians. The entire history of Christianity is nothing other than the history of a unique miracle, namely, the Resurrection of Christ, which is unbrokenly threaded through the hearts of Christians form one day to the next, from year to year, across the centuries, until the Dread Judgment.

Man is born, in fact, not when his mother bring him into the world, but when he comes to believe in the Risen Christ, for then he is born to life eternal, whereas a mother bears children for death, for the grave. The Resurrection of Christ is the mother of us all, all Christians, the mother of immortals. By faith in the Resurrection, man is born anew, born for eternity. “That is impossible!” says the skeptic. But you listen to what the Risen God-Man says:

“All things are possible to him that believeth!” (Mark 9:23).

The believer is he who lives, with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his being, according to the Gospel of the Risen Lord Jesus.

Faith is our victory, by which we conquer death; faith in the Risen Lord Jesus. Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The Lord “has removed the sting of death.” Death is a serpent; sin is its fangs. By sin, death puts its poison into the soul and into the body of man. The more sins a man has, the more bites, through which death puts its poison in him.

When a wasp stings a man, he uses all his strength to remove the sting. But when sin wounds him, this sting of death, what should be done? One must call upon the Risen Lord Jesus in faith and prayer, that He may remove the sting of death from the soul. He, in His great loving-kindness, will do this, for He is overflowing with mercy and love. When many wasps attack a man’s body and wound it with many stings, that man is poisoned and dies. The same happens with a man’s soul, when many sins wound it with their stings: it is poisoned and dies a death with no resurrection.

Conquering sin in himself through Christ, man overcomes death. If you have lived the day without vanquishing a single sin of yours, know that you have become deadened. Vanquish one, two, or three of your sins, and behold: you have become younger than the youth which does not age, young in immortality and eternity. Never forget that to believe in the Resurrection of the Lord Christ means to carry out a continuous fight with sins, with evil, with death.

If a man fights with sins and passions, this demonstrates that he indeed believes in the Risen Lord; if the fights with them, he fights for life eternal. If he does not fight, his faith is in vain. If man’s faith is not a fight for immortality and eternity, than tell me, what is it? If faith in Christ does not bring us to resurrection and life eternal, than what use is it to us? If Christ is not risen, that meant that neither sin nor death has been vanquished, than why believe in Christ?

For the one who by faith in the Risen Lord fights with each of his sins there will be affirmed in him gradually the feeling that Christ is indeed risen, has indeed vanquished the sting of sin, has indeed vanquished death on all the fronts of combat. Sin gradually diminishes the soul in man, driving it into death, transforming it from immortality to mortality, from incorruption to corruption. The more the sins, the more the mortal man. If man does not feel immortality in himself, know that he is in sins, in bad thoughts, in languid feelings. Christianity is an appeal: Fight with death until the last breath, fight until a final victory has been reached. Every sin is a desertion; every passion is a retreat; every vice is a defeat.

One need not be surprised that Christians also die bodily. This is because the death of the body is sowing. The mortal body is sown, says the Apostle Paul, and it grows, and is raised in an immortal body (I Corinthians 15:42-44). The body dissolves, like a sown seed, that the Holy Spirit may quicken and perfect it. If the Lord Christ had not been risen in body, what use would it have for Him? He would not have saved the entire man. If His body did not rise, then why was He incarnate?

Why did He take on Himself flesh, if He gave it nothing of His Divinity?

If Christ is not risen, then why believe in Him? To be honest, I would never have believed in Him had He not risen and had not therefore vanquished death. Our greatest enemy was killed and we were given immortality. Without this, our world is a noisy display of revolting stupidity and despair, for neither in Heaven nor under Heaven is there a greater stupidity than this world without the Resurrection; and there is not a greater despair than this life without immortality. There is no being in a single world more miserable than man who does not believe in the resurrection of the dead. It would have been better for such a man never to have been born.

In our human world, death is the greatest torment and inhumane horror. Freedom from this torment and horror is salvation. Such a salvation was given the race of man by the Vanquisher of death – the Risen God-Man. He related to us all the mystery of salvation by His Resurrection. To be saved means to assure our body and soul of immortality and life eternal. How do we attain this? By no other way than by a theanthropic life, a new life, a life in the Risen Lord, in and by the Lord’s Resurrection.

For us Christians, our life on earth is a school in which we learn how to assure ourselves of resurrection and life eternal. For what use is this life if we cannot acquire by it life eternal? But, in order to be resurrected with the Lord Christ, man must first suffer with Him, and live His life as his own. If he does this, then on Pascha he can say with Saint Gregory the Theologian:

“Yesterday I was crucified with Him, today I live with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him, today I rise with Him” (Troparion 2, Ode 3, Matins, Pascha).

Christ’s Four Gospels are summed up in only four words. They are:

“Christ is Risen! Indeed He is risen!”

In each of these words is a Gospel, and in the Four Gospels is all the meaning of all God’s world, visible and invisible. When all knowledge and all the thoughts of men are concentrated in the cry of the Paschal salutation, “Christ is Risen!”, then immortal joy embraces all beings and in joy responds: “Indeed He is risen!”

(source)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

St. Luke of Simferopol on St. George the Trophy-bearer

May 5, 2013, 4:30 pm

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer - 12th Century Mosaic from Xenophontos Monastery, Mount Athos (source)

   

St. Luke of Simferopol on St. George the Trophy-bearer

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you… If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also (John 15:19-20).

These words of the Lord Jesus Christ were spoken not only to His Holy Apostles, but to all those whom He so often called His little flock.

The little flock is made up of all those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and taken His law into their hearts – the law of love, His beatitudes, which are all commandments of love – and who fulfill His commandments.

In this small flock of His, the holy martyrs shine as stars of the first magnitude, serving as great examples for us of the most profound faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of boundless love for Him, and of self-denial in sufferings and unimaginable torments and tortures.

Among the enormous host of holy martyrs, the number of which likely exceeds ten thousand, there shine the holy great martyrs, those who endured especially terrible sufferings for Christ and whose exploits have the greatest significance for the entire Christian world. And even among the great martyrs, the great George the Trophy-Bearer, whom we are now honoring, stands out as one of the very greatest.

Why do I attribute such enormous importance to the exploits of the holy martyrs?

First of all, because by their blood and boundless love for the Lord Jesus Christ they contributed greatly to the preaching of Christ’s Apostles.

Think of this: had it not been for the tens of thousands of holy martyrs, would the preaching of the Resurrection of Christ, of the Resurrection of the crucified Lord, really have had such all-conquering force?

Could all nations, over the course of a few centuries, really have come to believe in a crucified Jewish Teacher as the True Son of God, as the Savior of the entire human race?

The pagans would have laughed at faith in the Crucified One had it not been confirmed by His Resurrection from the dead; had the Apostles not possessed the right to preach Him as having been Crucified and Resurrected, as having died and risen again, as the Conqueror of death and the devil.

The holy martyrs played a most profound and effective role in this great work, for you all know what a tremendous impression their sufferings had on pagan witnesses and even on the executioners themselves, when they underwent horrific torture fearlessly and silently, sometimes even with thanksgiving on their lips.

Today, along with the memory of St. George the Trophy-Bearer, we also celebrate the memory of Alexandra, wife of the wicked Diocletian who tortured and tormented more Christians than all the other Roman emperors.

You know that witnessing the sufferings of the Great-Martyr George immediately converted this pure-hearted woman to faith in Christ. She fearlessly declared herself a Christian before her terrible spouse, suffering death for our Lord Christ along with the Great-Martyr George.

Why does the blood of the martyrs have such enormous significance for the entire Christian world? Because this blood blessed and sanctified the earth; because this blood makes the devil himself and his dark angels fear and tremble more than anything else.

The exploits of the holy martyrs have a most profound significance in other regards as well. They serve as the most vivid examples for us of absolutely unwavering faith in Christ and of love for Him. We should be ashamed if we show cowardice, fearing with fear where there is no fear[Psalm 13:15].

The martyrs themselves did not fear anyone or anything; they were not seduced by anyone or anything.

The Emperor Diocletian, who martyred St. George, loved him very much, considering him his bravest and most essential soldier. When he saw that the severest torments could not break his faith in Christ, he even reached the point of offering George the second place in his great Roman Empire if he offered sacrifice to the gods.

In reply, St. George only laughed at this pledge; he, of course, rejected even the first place in glory and honor after the Roman Emperor, for his fidelity to Christ was firmer than adamant and His love for Him was boundless.

You have heard more than once from your pastors about the terrible torments the holy Trophy-Bearer George underwent for Christ. I will not enlarge on them. You yourselves will remember well how he was tortured for days on end with his legs fixed in stocks, with an enormous stone placed on his chest that nearly crushed him; you will remember how he was broken on the wheel, being tied to an enormous wheel under which a plank with nails and blades was placed, which cut and tore his holy body; how iron boots with sharp nails inside were placed on him, and how he was driven to run through the streets of the city in these boots; how he was thrown into a pit filled with quicklime, filled from the top with lime. He was supposed to have been burned in the lime; but when, three days later, Diocletian ordered a report on how St. George had been burned, the messengers returned to report to him that George was unharmed. When the Great-Martyr was brought alive before Diocletian, the latter could not believe his eyes.

The Great-Martyr George’s exploit was a difficult one. The good favor of the Lord Jesus Christ towards him for this great exploit was shown by how He Himself came to him in prison, encouraging and blessing him for the completion of his martyrdom.

George the Trophy-Bearer feared nothing. But do we, weak and worthless Christians, face in like manner that which, in whatever small and distant a measure, threatens us with some difficulty?

Did it not happen quite recently that there were hundreds of thousands of people among us that easily renounced faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, declaring in questionnaires that they were unbelievers, fearing something that did not in any way threaten them? They were not threatened in any way; they were required only to write in the questionnaire whether they believed or did not believe. And this was enough for them to commit the terribly grave sin of denying the Lord Jesus Christ, forgetting His dread words: But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Which is in heaven (Matthew 10:33).

Do we not really prefer the worthless and quickly fleeting goods of this world to those of eternity? Do we really place traversing the path He pointed out to us as the goal of our lives? Do we really always remember Christ’s words: I am the way, the truth, and the life [John 14:6]?

For the holy martyr and Trophy-Bearer George, He was truly the Path and the Life; he neither followed any other path, nor did he wish to know of any other. He was not frightened by threats or fears, boldly following the way of Christ.

Therefore, we bow down before all the martyrs, and especially such great ones as George the Trophy-Bearer, commending them by our ardent love.

They strengthen our faith and love by their miracles, for the majority of them work miracles. You will know from your pastors about the miracle performed three times by the Great-Martyr George, freeing from bondage the youth who were languishing and suffering in captivity. You will remember how, as they were thinking about their native home and the Great-Martyr’s feast day while they were supposed to be serving food or wine to their masters, George the Trophy-Bearer suddenly carried them away on a white horse, transporting them in an instant to the home of their parents, who were then celebrating the memory of the Great-Martyr.

Do not such miracles serve as a great and powerful fortification of your faith in that which the Lord Jesus Christ said? After all, He said that those who believed in Him could perform not only such miracles as did He, but even greater ones. The martyrs accomplished great deeds, confirming the truth of these words of Christ.

Let us then be ashamed of our cowardice in the face of the slightest fear presented to us by our imaginations.

Let us love the Lord Jesus Christ and His martyrs with all our hearts, and especially the Holy Great-Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer, whose memory we celebrate today.

Amen.

Originally delivered on April 23 / May 6, 1954.

Translated from the Russian.

(source)
 

St. George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer(source)

 

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

The 179 Venerable Martyrs of Ntaou Penteli

May 6, 2013, 10:37 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The 179 Holy Martyrs of Ntaou Penteli Monastery - Commemorated on Bright Tuesday (source)

   

The horrifying account of the martyrdom of the 179 holy martyrs of Pantokratoros Monastery in Ntaou Penteli was recorded soon after the event of 1680 by Cyril Degleri, abbot of Penteli Monastery. He and others record how Algerian pirates (some say they were Turkish or Albanian-Turkish pirates) docked their ship at the nearby port of Rafina during Holy Week of 1680. After failing in its raid of the fortified Ntaou Penteli Monastery in search of its treasures, under mysterious circumstances a servant of the monastery decided to betray the fathers and told the pirates of an access point otherwise unknown to outsiders (and recently discovered by archaeologists).

On Pascha, during the midnight service, after the final "Christ is Risen!" was joyfully chanted by the fathers following the Divine Liturgy, the pirates stormed into the katholikon and began the gruesome slaughter. 179 monks and hieromonks, including the abbot, were massacred by the pirates. The pirates took their treasure and escaped back to Rafina, after having set fire to the monastery.

Two escaped martyrdom however. One was a hieromonk and the other was a novice. They were not at the monastery that tragic evening, as they travelled to neighboring Nea Makri to serve the Paschal Divine Liturgy at a metochion of Pantokratoros Monastery where there were monks that kept the animals and farms of the monastery in Herotsakouli. They returned to Ntaou Penteli on Pascha Sunday evening only to find two dead monks at the entrance and their monastery burned down, save for the katholikon (which survives till today). When they entered the katholikon, they saw dozens of the fathers in a pool of blood. Some had been severely beaten, while others were cut in pieces.

On Bright Monday morning the heiromonk and the novice set out to seek help in burying the martyred monks from the neighboring fathers of Penteli Monastery, otherwise known as Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery. On the way they had a view of the port of Rafina and saw the pirates leaving. When the fathers of Penteli Monastery heard of the massacre, they went to Pantokratoros Monastery in Ntaou Penteli and helped bury all the bodies after a Bright Week funeral service was performed.

The names of the holy martyrs and the location of their burial were lost to history...until 1963.

   

The Monastery of Christ Pantocrator, Ntaou Penteli(source)

   

About the Monastery
Pantokratoros Monastery was built before the tenth century over the ruins of older churches and before that an ancient Greek temple. It is of the same architecture as Armenian and Georgian monasteries. It was named Ntaou after the ancient Greek epigram "Tao" found at the monastery. The founder was Nikos the Kamatiros and before the Ottoman occupation probably had over 600 monks. In its history it endured fires, as well as capture by the Franks and the Turks. It is in the district of Ntaou to the east of Mount Penteli. Mount Penteli, or Mount Amomon, was surrounded by many monasteries. This is why it was called the Mountain of the Pure because it was filled with monastics (Amomon means "pure"). Pantokratoros Monastery became a metochion of Penteli Monastery which was further up the mountain after its destruction in 1680. In 1692 Penteli Monastery was recognized by Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril as stavropegial along with the Holy Monastery of Ntaou Penteli and the Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas Kalision, which means that the monasteries were now directly under the Ecumenical Patriarch and not the local bishop (today they are once again independent).

From 1680 until 1963 Pantokratoros Monastery in Ntaou Penteli was deserted, except for one monk to take care of the grounds. In 1963, 283 years after the massacre, eleven nuns from Saint Patapios Monastery in Loutraki came with the blessing of Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens to Ntaou Penteli to revive it. It was still a metochion of Penteli at the time. The abbot of Penteli, Theoklitos, had cells built for the nuns and gave them land to farm by which to live. On March 18, 1971 under imperial edict (there was a King in Greece at the time) the metochion became autonomous from Penteli and became a coenobium once again. The monastery today looks very different from what it did in 1963, as it expanded for the needs of the nuns and has been beautified.

One of the most interesting features of the katholikon of Ntaou Penteli Monastery is that this one church has a total of eight altars. This indicates that Pantokratoros Monastery was one of the rare akoimiton monasteries of the Roman Empire, that is, it was a monastery in which there was continuous prayer twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Akoimiton means "unsleeping". The only reason a church would need eight altars is because canonically the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist cannot be performed more than once on the same day by the same priest on the same altar. With eight altars eight Divine Liturgies can take place in one day with eight different priests.

   

Several graves of the Holy New Martyrs of Ntaou Penteli (source)

   

The Discovery of the 179 Martyrs
The location of the bodies of the 179 martyrs remained unknown and lost to time when the nuns arrived in 1963. All the records indicated that the martyrs were buried by the monks of Penteli Monastery, but not where they buried them nor do they give the names of the monks. The nuns tried looking for the burial spot, but came out empty handed. What was completely unknown to them however was that the murdered monks were buried inside the monastery and not outside as they had assumed. In September of 1963 work on the monastery began. The nuns prayed for forty days that a discovery of the relics would be made. In the afternoon of the fortieth day the discovery was made.

The first 65 bodies were discovered by the abbess (Styliani) and nuns inside the katholikon when workers were working on the floor tiles replacing them with new ones. It was then that they noticed a beautiful fragrance not only in the katholikon but throughout the monastery. The abbess, understanding this to be a miracle of the martyrs, then requested that an excavation be done first of all in front of the Royal Doors of the katholikon in the solea. Doing so, they discovered an entire body incorrupt. They determined that this must have been the abbot at the time of the slaughter. Excavating the rest of the floor, they discovered the other 64 bodies. Upon completion, the Archbishop of Athens, Chrysostmos, was notified. He arrived at the monastery and confirmed everything. Till this day the relics of the martyred fathers continue to give off a beautiful fragrance and they flow with myrrh. When one venerates their relics, one can confirm this in person.

All 179 bodies of the martyrs were not found however. 114 remained missing. Certain pilgrims, such as Elder Iakovos Tsalikes and Metropolitan Antonios of Sisani, would see lights as if from oil lamps where the graves of the martyrs are today. But Elder Porphyrios told the current abbess, also named Styliani, that the nuns "walk on top of the graves of other saints". With this advice an excavation was done in 1990 around the perimeters of the katholikon, and in truth many more relics were found. These relics were placed in a larnax within the katholikon, as well as within another chapel built next to it.

The 179 martyrs were not officially proclaimed saints right away. However, because of the many miracles performed by these newly-revealed martyrs after the translation of their relics, Archbishop Seraphim of Athens requested of the Ecumenical Patriarchate an official canonization. The Ecumenical Patriarchate accepted the canonization in 1992 and established Bright Tuesday as their feast day, the day they were buried by the fathers of Penteli Monastery.

We still do not know the names of these 179 martyrs. This is because the pirates burned the monastery to the ground as well as all the old records of the monastery. However, because of certain dreams of the faithful, a number of names are acknowledged. They receive these revelations accompanied with the healing done on them, whether it be cancer, disease, sickness, or whatever else. For example, one father who appears and works miracles is named Mark.
   

Several graves of the Holy New Martyrs of Ntaou Penteli (source)

   

The Monastery Today
Today the monastery is populated with over 30 nuns. They survive mainly through their work in ecclesiastical embroidery and garment making, as well as Byzantine iconography. Other nuns do the farm work to sustain themselves with. Inside the monastery is also a reputable school of Byzantine music. All but a few nuns are highly educated beyond merely a high school education. They have taken in orphans and supported their education, poor girls they have helped marry, children with psychiatric issues they have helped, and whoever visits the monastery is generously given hospitality.

Recently a new church was built at the monastery exclusively dedicated to the 179 newly-revealed martyrs. It was built with the offerings of the faithful and took a little over six years to build.

Miracles
A certain priest named Fr. Seraphim had great reverence for the holy martyrs of Ntaou Penteli. A few years ago he began to suffer from severe headaches and travelled to Thessaloniki in order to have it checked. X-Rays revealed he had a tumor on his brain. The doctor advised him of the seriousness of the situation and the necessity for an immediate surgery. Sorrowfully he telephoned the abbess of Ntaou Penteli, and she advised him to first come to the monastery and venerate the holy relics before the surgery. Indeed he went, venerated the holy relics, and prayed for their help. The abbess then gave him a very small particle from the holy relics, which he was very moved by, and he had it put in a silver box and placed on the Holy Altar of his parish. The next day when he entered the church to conduct the Divine Liturgy, he noticed that surrounding the silver box containing the relic was a circle of something like oil. With great faith he took a piece of cotton, soaked it in the oil-like substance, and made the sign of the cross with it to his head. Following the Divine Liturgy Fr. Seraphim telephoned the monastery and informed the abbess of the miracle, and eventually sent a photograph showing the oil-like substance which came from the reliquary. Because of his great faith Fr. Seraphim put off going back to the doctor for six months, all the while praying for healing. He finally went back and received an X-Ray. To the astonishment of all, the tumor was completely gone.

(source)

   

The Holy Church of the 179 New Venerable Martyrs, Pantocrator Monastery, Ntaou Penteli (decorated for the feast of the Holy Martyrs on Bright Tuesday, 2011)(source)

   

Several testimonials from Pilgrims from the Holy Feast of the Venerable Martyrs - April 17th, 2012 (amateur translations)

"The Holy Fathers began to attract all these pilgrims and more to their home through their wonderworking grace. That which I experienced during the Divine Liturgy was unrepeatable! Grace, light, radiance...but their presence is astonishing; I sensed them next to me! There were moments when I got goosebumps from the emotion!"

   

"It is one thing to read about miracles, and another to hear of them with your ears and to see them with your eyes. You become confirmed in the faith, and become another man. It is awesome how much God glorifies those who loved Him and sacrificed for His love. After the Divine Liturgy, at the reception, I struck up a conversation with some other pilgrims, and heard about some miracles which were clearly astonishing! A clinically dead person in the ICU, and another with metastatic bone canver. And both are now most healthy, and they related to me how the Saints granted them health, contradicting the doctors. Do you believe or not, after such miracles?"

   

"We came to the Monastery in the grace of the Saints, but also to offer up our pain and problems to the Fathers, and also to honor them and thank them, as they stand always ready to help, and to entreat our Lord. There are terrible difficulties in our everyday life. However, we are not alone, God has given us the Saints as consolation, in these difficult days that we live in. The Holy Fathers are near to man and his needs. How I was moved when I saw people with candles in their hands entering the church, in gratitude!"

   

"I did not know about the Saints. We were taking a walk with my family, we got lost, and we "luckily" found the Monastery on their feast. Isn't this a miracle?"

   

"I am a physician. In the Hospital of Athens where I work in pathological anatomy. I saw within the span of one month, two miracles of the Holy Fathers, and I couldn't bear it. I said that I would go find them, to see who these Saints are. Most of us physicians, unfortunately, do not have faith. However, that which I experienced changed me completely. And in these two circumstances, that which occurred was naturally impossible, but the Saints accomplished them!"

(source)

 
For an excellent 45 minute documentary on the 179 holy newly-revealed martyrs as well as life at Ntaou Penteli Monastery, see here.

   

For the website of the Holy Monastery of the Pantocrator Tao (Ntaou) Penteli, see here.

   

Some of the Holy Relics of the New Venerable Martyrs(source)

   

Απολυτίκιον: Ήχος δ΄. Ο καθαρώτατος ναός του Σωτήρος.

Ως του Κυρίου αγιόλεκτοι άρνες, εξορμημένοι εκ χωρών διαφόρων, τη ποίμνη συνεδράμετε του Παντοκράτορος, όθεν θανατούμενοι απηνεία βαρβάρων, χαίροντες εξήλθετε εις ουράνιον μάνδραν, καθάπερ όσιοι και μάρτυρες Χριστού εκδυσωπούντες υπέρ των ψυχών υμών.

Apolytikion in Tone 4

As spotless lambs of the Savior, dashing out of various nations, the flock gathers together at Pantokratoros. Having been put to death by the rage of the barbarians, rejoicing you enter into heavenly pastures. Therefore holy martyrs of Christ, interceed on behalf of our souls.

(source)

   

Two hymns from the Paraklesis to the Holy Venerable Martyrs of Ntaou Penteli (amateur translations)

Tone Four.

O Venerable Martyrs of Penteli, being truly sons of the light and the Resurrection, as ones who stand rejoicing before Christ with much strength, through your holy intercessions, entreat Him on behalf of all those who call upon your prayers, and grant that their requests be fulfilled.

   

Plagal of the Second Tone.

Having cast off the evil works of the world, you hastened towards the Savior, taking up the Cross through asceticism, O true brothers in all things, and you beheld noetically, and were transported to Tabor, O Venerable Fathers of Penteli, workers of theosis. Therefore, you were also received by the Lord in martyrdom, on the Radiant Day [of His Resurrection], and ever behold His beauty, of which, make us worthy, fervently interceding for us.

(source)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene save a trauma patient

May 6, 2013, 8:37 pm

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Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene the Newly-revealed Martyrs - Commemorated on Bright Tuesday (source)

   

How A Cerebrally Dead Greek Young Man Was Reanimated!
On Bright Tuesday of 17th May 2000, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Goumenissa, Axioupolis and Polykastron Mr. Demetrios, the local authorities and a multitude of pilgrims gathered at the Holy Monastery of Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene to celebrate the feast of these three Newly-Revealed Orthodox Saints.

Closing his sermon to the congregation, the Metropolitan reported the personal testimony of pilgrims present at the congregation who had made public the outstanding experience of their miraculous healings by the Newly-Revealed Saints: Mr. Isaac Kapoulas – a policeman from Thessaloniki who had been cured from leukemia; Mrs. Aikaterini Tsotopoulou – a woman also from a suburb of Thessaloniki who had recovered from a severe craniocerebral injury; Mr. Stergios Ledas - a man from nearby Kilkis who had also recovered from heavy head injury; and Mr. Zacharias Georgousis from the local village of Vafeiohori who had been saved from an allergic shock.

Following the procession of the holy relics of the three saints, the congregation met again to listen to the astounding account by a high school pupil from the Terpni village in the neighboring area of Nigrita, Serres and his mother. The young man named Apostolos Gazepis narrated his miraculous healing from the injuries of a traffic accident on 5/5/2000, although the doctors had given up every hope for recovery and had therefore tried to persuade his parents to consent for his vital organs to be donated. The firm faith of his mother who never stopped praying for eight days to the Newly-Revealed Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene outside the Intensive Care Unit contributed to the reanimation and full recovery of the patient that also had the honor to see the Saints.

In her signed account of this overwhelming event, Mrs. Sophia Gazepi, mother of Apostolos, describes the tragic days until her son’s reanimation. It was on the 5th of May 2000, which was Bright Friday of the Zoodochos Pege, that her 17-year-old son Apostolos was riding a motorbike and crashed into a car. He was taken to the local hospital and then hurried to the General Hospital of Serres. Following a CT-scan of the head, the doctors informed the father that his son had suffered severe craniocerebral injury and, provided they managed to stabilize his cerebral pressure without further complications, there would be hope for recovery.

On the following day Mrs. Sophia asked for books about the miracles of Saint Raphael and began reading them and praying day and night along with the relatives and neighbours that stood by her side. In those very few moments she was allowed into the Critical Care Unit, and she blessed her son with the blessed oil from the Saints’ church.

The patient was attended by neurosurgeon Mr. Vogas. On the third day, the cerebral pressure rose high, the brain was bleeding and the young man was perishing. In their despair, his parents called for another specialist, although the attending doctor had reassured them that it was no longer a matter of medical care since the patient's condition was deteriorating. Dr. Nikolaos Baskinis was however brought from Thessaloniki, only to confirm the critical condition of the patient, especially regarding the heamatomas at the back of his head that made recovery doubtful. There was a faint hope if they operated on him, so the parents gave their consent. The operation revealed more wounds than the CT-scan and because the brain was swollen the doctors decided to leave the skull open and see what would follow. As soon as the neurosurgeons had left, the Hospital doctors announced to the parents that the young man was cerebrally dead. On Friday night, seven days after the accident, the Brain Death Determination Test was positive. The doctor on duty called the parents asking them to take courage and comfort themselves with their other child because Apostolos was dying since only his heart was beating. The mother was painfully praying to our Lord to bring her son to life as He had done with Lazarus.

All through this time, the parents, relatives, fellow-pupils, friends and acquaintances had been ceaselessly praying for Apostolos. They had talked to the Saints’ monasteries on the island of Lesvos and in the nearby location of Griva, asking for a commemoration of the young man’s name in the services. On the previous Tuesday, Apostolos’s mother had gone to the Church of the Mother of God in the town of Serres to attend the Supplication Service (Paraklesis) to the three Newly-Revealed Saints.

On Saturday there was the first evidence of relative improvement: seven Brain Death Confirmation tests were positive against two negative! By noon, his condition had further improved. Fateful visions seen by close relatives raised their hopes for the substantial assistance of the Virgin Mary and the Newly-Revealed Saints. After the 13th of May 2000, Apostolos started to recover. The neurosurgeon asked them to call him ‘Lazarus’ after that, because he had actually been ‘risen’ from death.

The medical report written by the neurosurgeon Dr. Evaggelos Vogas stated: “During his CT-exam, the patient needed intubation because of his comatose condition. The findings of the CT-scan were the following: fracture of left occipital bone with an underlying contusion of the left hemisphere of the cerebellum; extensive haemorrhagic contusions on the right frontal lobe with an ipsilateral fine subdural heamatoma; a dislocation of the median line to the left; and the receptacles of the cerebral base were closed ... On the evening hours of 5/8/2000 his Intracranial Pressure raises, which is very difficult to control ... On 5/9/2000 the patient is taken to OR for craniotomy and partial removal of contused right frontal lobe. At the end of the operation, the brain is pulsating, the subdural area is left open, while the pupils are in dilation with no reaction to light stimuli... On 5/12/2000 all Brain Death Determination tests are positive. On 5/13/2000 pupillary dilation retires and reaction to light is evident. Progressively until 5/16/2000 the patient starts breathing on his own....”

When Apostolos recovered, he had a problem with his left arm because of multiple injuries and the procedures during his intensive therapy. Among the many doctors he visited, Dr. Ilias Tsorlinis (of the Neurophysiology Laboratory) diagnosed ‘diffuse degeneration of the ulnar nerve on the left forearm, below the level of the branch projection for the ulnar flexor of the wrist, with no focal conduction block.’

One night Apostolos himself saw Saint Nicholas the Deacon in a vision talking to his father: "You have gone to so many doctors; why haven’t you come to me too?" His father answered: "How are you going to heal this?" and the Saint replied: "You know how."

In a second vision, Apostolos found himself in a chapel with icons and a table in the centre with the decapitated head of Saint Raphael. As he hesitated to approach the table, the Saint appeared in full form before him and told him how many times he had attended church lately, then grasped his arm, recited a prayer, and at this touch Apostolos’s arm was illuminated. His arm recovered fully in a short time!

In the life of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (written by Saint Nikitas Stethatos) we read: “The real visions remain in the mind for many years later, even until the end of life, as these had originally been revealed. Saint Gregory the Theologian testifies to that in his speech to Ceasarios ... And when he saw something related to his ill mother, the outcome proved that the vision had been real."

This article first appeared in Greek in issue no. 96 of 'Epaggelia' [‘The Promise’], the newsletter of the Holy Diocese of Goumenissa, Axioupolis and Polykastron, in May 2001.
   

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

On Lesvos, ye strove in contest for the sake of Christ God; ye also have hallowed her with the discovery of your relics, O blessed ones. O God-bearer Raphael, with thee, we all honour Nicholas the deacon and Irene the chaste virgin, as our divine protectors, who now intercede with the Lord.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Ye shone on the world like stars first as ascetics, then as athletes slain for Christ, and were translated to the heights through the great torments that ye endured; and them that praise you, ye keep and protect, O Saints.

(source)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

---

The wondrous icon of Panagia Glykophilousa

May 10, 2013, 1:19 pm

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The wondrous icon of Panagia Glykophilousa ("The Sweet-kissing"), treasured by the Holy Monastery of Philotheou, Mount Athos - Commemorated on the Sunday of St. Thomas, and Monday of Bright Week (source)

  
Like the Panagia Portaitissa, the Glykophilousa Icon is one of those which were saved during the iconoclastic period and brought miraculously to Mount Athos. It originally belonged to Victoria, the devout wife of the senator Symeon. Victoria was one who venerated the holy icons, especially that of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which she prayed each day. Her husband was an iconoclast who found her piety offensive, for he, like Emperor Theophilos (r. 829-842), found the veneration of icons distasteful. Symeon told his wife to give him her icon so that he could burn it. In order to save the icon from being destroyed, she threw it into the sea, and it floated away standing upright on the waves. After a few years, the icon appeared on the shores of Mount Athos near the Monastery of Philotheou, where it was received with great honor and rejoicing by the Abbot and Fathers of the Monastery, who had been informed of its impending arrival through a revelation of the Theotokos.

  
A spring of holy water sprouted forth on the very spot where they placed the icon on the shore. Every year on Monday of Bright Week there is a procession and blessing of water. Numerous miracles have occurred.
  

Chapel built at the "Agiasma", where the icon of Panagia wondrously reached Mount Athos, and a spring of holy water began to flow(source)

  
Although there are many miracles of the Glykophilousa Icon, we will mention only a few. In 1713, the Mother of God answered the prayers of the devout Ecclesiarch Ioannikios, who complained about the poverty of the monastery. She assured him that she would provide for the material needs of the monastery.
  
Another miracle took place in 1801. A pilgrim, after seeing the precious offerings (tagmata) hanging from the icon, a certain pilgrim planned to steal them. He stayed in the Temple after the Ecclesiarch closed it. Then he stole the offerings and left for the port of Iveron Monastery. There he found a boat that was leaving for Ierissos. After a while the ship sailed, but despite the excellent weather, it remained stationary in the sea. When the Ecclesiarch saw what had happened, the abbot sent monks out in various directions. Two went to the port of Iveron and when they saw the immobile ship, they realized what happened. Getting into a boat they went to the ship came aboard. The guilty man who committed this fearful sacrilege asked for forgiveness. The monks were magnanimous and did not want the thief to be punished.
  
A pilgrim from Adrianopolis visited Philotheou Monastery in 1830. He listened attentively to a monk tell the story of the holy Icon and the miracles associated with it, but he regarded the account as a fictitious tale which only a child might believe. The monk was grieved at the man’s unbelief, and tried to persuade him that everything he had said was absolutely true. The unfortunate pilgrim remained unconvinced.
  
That very day, as the pilgrim was walking on an upper balcony, he slipped and began to fall. He cried out, “Most Holy Theotokos, help me!” The Mother of God heard him and came to his assistance. The pilgrim landed on the ground completely unharmed.
  

Detail: Panagia Glykophilousa (source)

  
The Glykophilousa Icon belongs to the Eleousa (the Virgin of Tenderness) category of icons, where the Mother accepts the affection shown by the Child Christ. The icon is commemorated by the Church on March 27 and also on Bright Monday. The icon depicts the Theotokos inclining toward Christ, Who embraces her. She seems to be embracing Him more tightly than in other icons, and her expression is more affectionate.
  
The Icon is located on a pillar on the left side of the katholikon (main church).
(source)
  

Holy Saturday in the Katholikon of the Philotheou Monastery, Mount Athos. The wondrous icon of Panagia Glykophilousa is seen on the veneration stand on the left(source)

  
Philotheou Monastery
The Holy Monastery of Philotheou stands among chestnut trees on a plateau on the north-eastern side of the peninsula, near the ancient Temple of Asclepius. It was founded by the Blessed Philotheus, a contemporary of St Athanasius the Athonite, around the end of the 10th century.

  
Among the Byzantine Emperors who made donations to the Monastery, the names of Nicephorus Botaneates in the 11th century, Andronicus II and Andronicus III and John V in the late 13th and in the 14th century stand out. Among Serbian princes, Stefan Dushan (1346) helped to provide the manpower for the Monastery. In the 14th century, St Theodosius, subsequently Metropolitan of Trebizond, and brother of St Dionysius, founder of the monastery of that name, was a monk in the Monastery. During the early years of Turkish rule, in the early 16th century, the Abbot Dionysios, known as the Blessed Dionysios of Olympus, succeeded in turning it from an idiorrhythmic into a coenobitic monastery. However, the reaction of Bulgarian-speaking monks was such that he was forced to leave the Monastery. In about the mid 17th century, the Tsars of Russia gave permission to the monks to go there every seven years on alms missions. The policy of support for the monasteries was also followed by the Greek princes of the Danubian provinces. Grigorios Ghikas was one of the Monastery's best known benefactors.
  

Icon depicting the Saints of Philotheou Monastery(source)

  
In the 18th century the missionary of modern Greece St Cosmas the Aetolian was a monk at Philotheou. A fire which broke out in 1871 left unscathed the new katholikon, which had been built in 1746 on the foundations of an older church, but caused the Monastery economic problems, so that in 1900 the Holy Community took it under its guardianship. Of the other buildings of the Monastery, the holy water phiale is of fine white marble, and the refectory was extended in the 16th century. Philotheou has six chapels and three outlying chapels. Of its 12 kellia, half are now uninhabited. Philotheou prides itself on the possession of the miracle-working icon of Our Lady Glykophilousa, and of our Lady Gerontissa.
  
Among the objects kept in the sacristy, pride of place goes to the right hand of St John Chrysostom, a piece of the True Cross, other relics of saints, vestments, and sacred vessels. The library contains 250 manuscripts, two liturgical scrolls, and about 2,500 printed books (of which some 500 are in Russian and Romanian). The Monastery is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, and since 1574 it has occupied twelfth place among the Athonite monastic foundations. Since 1973 its has followed the coenobitic system. At present it has about 60 monks.
(source)
  

The entrance to Philotheou Monastery, Mount Athos (source)

  
Selected hymns from the service of Panagia Glykophilousa (written by Fr. Gerasimos of Little St. Anne's Skete, of Blessed Memory), commemorated on the Sunday of St. Thomas (Antipascha) (amateur translations below).
  

Doxastikon of the Theotokos in the Plagal of the Second Tone

Who can rightly tell of your goodness towards us, the saving appearances and gifts, O Virgin Theotokos? For your Holy Icon wondrously passed over the waves and was granted to us as a divine treasure, and a pledge of salvation. Through your invisible presence, you care for us, and you drove back the foreign army that had troubled your Mountain***. Therefore, we celebrate a dual feast: the receiving of your wonderworking Icon, which we praise, and the deliverance from the tyrranical siege. We cry out to you: ever protect and keep us, as you are our protection and defender, as I call you the Most-blessed One.
  
***Note: On the Sunday of St. Thomas (Antipascha), all the Monasteries of Mount Athos commemorate the driving away of the Turks from the Holy Mountain.
  

Doxastikon of the Litia of the Theotokos in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

As the servant of the awesome mystery of the incarnation of the Word, O Ever-Virgin Theotokos, strange and paradoxical things were worked for our salvation within your womb, through your incomparable motherly goodness. For in your divine Icon, you appear full of sympathy, kissing as a mother, Him Who was incarnate through you, the Son and Word of God. This was given to us as a heavenly treasure, and was thus named “Glykophilousa”, as we celebrate its arrival, we cry out to you: Hail, O Full-of-grace, the Lord is with you, granting to us through you, the great mercy.
  

Apolytikion in the First Tone

Your holy Icon we praise as a very precious boast of Philotheou Monastery, for in it we behold you, O Pure One, kissing Christ as a babe, and we behold your great glory, O Virgin, and we cry out: glory to your great deeds, O Pure One, glory to your sympathy, glory to your providence for us, O Spotless One.
  

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

The most-precious Icon of [Panagia] "Glykophilousa",
Which came to us from Byzantium,
Let us who have gathered venerate it, crying out:
I behold you as a Mother of the Pantocrator, [full of] sympathy,
Grant the gifts of your compassions
To those who cry out: Hail, O Queen of All.
  

Synaxarion

On this day [The Sunday of St. Thomas], we commemorate the paradoxical receiving of the wonderworking Icon of the Most-holy Theotokos that is called “Glykophilousa”, which miraculously was granted to our holy Monastery of the Venerable Philotheos, during the reign of Theophilos the Iconoclast.
  

Megalynarion

Rejoice, O divine Monastery of Philotheou, for you possess the sacred Icon of the Virgin, where she sweetly-kisses the Lord as an infant, and grants to all, grace and mercy.
(Source)
  

Replica of Panagia Glykophilousa carried in procession on the Monday of Bright Week(source)

  

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Elder Paisios on Panagia liberating the Holy Mountain from the Turks

May 12, 2013, 4:43 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Panagia Gerontissa ("The Abbess")(source)

 
Elder Paisios on Panagia liberating the Holy Mountain from the Turks (amateur translation)
Note: Between 1821 and 1830, Mount Athos was occupied by Turkish soldiers. They eventually left the Holy Mountain on St. Thomas Sunday, which is an additional reason why all of the Athonite Fathers celebrate this feast with such rejoicing. Below is a beautiful quote of Elder Paisios attributing this to the Panagia.

   

The good God ordains everything in the best way, but much patience and care is needed, because many times, when people struggle to free themselves from the net, they get tangled further.

God with patience untangles them. This situation will not go far. God will take a broom!

In 1830, because there were many Turkish soldiers, for a period of time, at Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos, there did not remain a single monk.

The Fathers had left, some with the Holy Relics, some to help in the [Greek] Revolution.

One monk would come from afar to light the vigil lamps and to sweep.

Inside and outside of the Monastery was the Turkish army, and this poor monk that was sweeping said: “My Panagia, what will happen with this situation?”

He prayed once with pain to the Panagia, and he beheld a woman approaching—it was the Panagia—who shone and whose face was radiating light.

She took the broom from his hand and said: “You don't know how to sweep well; I will sweep.”

And she began to sweep.

Later she disappeared into the Holy Altar.

And in three days, all of the Turks had left!

They were cast out by the Panagia.

(source)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Homily on St. Thomas Sunday, by St. John of Kronstadt

May 12, 2013, 10:25 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. Thomas touching the risen Christ(source)

   

Homily on St. Thomas Sunday, by St. John of Kronstadt
Christ is Risen!

Beloved brothers, so Bright Week has passed and taken with it our deeds to the throne of the Heavenly Master and Judge: there, brothers, there are our deeds now. I say this in order to frighten with the fear of the heavenly judgment those who unworthily, not Christian-like, spent the feast of the bright Resurrection of Christ and to comfort those who spent it with temperance and spiritual joy.

How did very many spend the feast of the bright Resurrection? I would not like to call to remembrance foul human deeds but they, together with those that performed them, need to be remembered and judged on behalf of God. The all-bright feast was met, after the bright Paschal service, with dark deeds: intemperance and drunkenness, fights, cursing, and all types of sin. Consider that we fasted before the feast only in order to, with even more eagerness, rush into all fleshly, sinful deeds so that we can unashamedly and with insolence indulge in every iniquity. Alas! Woe unto us!

All those who met the feast with intemperance and drunkenness, adultery, cursing, and other similar deeds of the flesh lost all the benefit which they had received (if they even received any) from the fast, lost the benefit from repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries, trampled them as an unreasonable animal under their feet, lost the acceptable time for salvation, given them by the mercy of the Lord, time which will not be returned. It was proper to say to you during the fast, behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) for it was just then that you had come to the saving font of repentance and to the all-cleansing, true Mysteries of the body and blood of the Lord. Now your confession and communion is put off until the next fast but who knows if the Lord will vouchsafe you to again confess and commune? Who knows if you will repose in those very iniquities with which again, after the font of repentance, you have defiled yourself? How painful, how piteous, beloved brothers, that so soon you have turned out to be betrayers of Christ and have given yourself over to the devil to serve him, the original murderer, the author of, and instructor in of every type of sin! You are, using the words of the Savior, and I, a great sinner, am as well are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do (John 8:44).

What, then, remains for us to do, beloved brothers? To pray and weep for our sins. To weep that not Christian-like and not even human-like did many of us meet the feast but like vile idol worshipers and like wild animals, which have not been fed for a long time with their favorite food. To weep that we have trampled upon the great, soul-saving Mysteries of Christ, that is, repentance and communion, and counted them as nought. To weep that the time, given for salvation, we have thoughtlessly lost. May we weep and pray to the Lord that He “not become angry with us neither destroy us with our iniquities” (first morning prayer) but would return us to the way of repentance and make us skilled performers of His commandments. Let us firmly decide from now on not to give ourselves over to intemperance and drunkenness and all the sins which follow, and with tears ask the Lord that He, with the Grace of the Holy Spirit, would strengthen us in our intentions and good deeds.

Brothers! May we all shed tears for we all unworthily met the great feast of the Lord and angered our Lord; not in this way, not in this way indeed, should we meet the feasts of the Lord. We need to meet them with spiritual joy in the Lord, for our deliverance from sins and for our eternal salvation through Christ, the Son of God, with deeds of mercy, temperance from passions, visiting the church of God in spirit and truth and with simplicity in food and clothing.

O, you, decorated with gold and a multitude of precious fabrics, women and maids! In the name of the Lord, I direct my speech to you! What a multitude of poor would you have been able to cause to rejoice on the all-bright day of the Resurrection of Christ and, in that way, worthily meet that great feast, if you would have, in generosity and Christian love, changed even a few of these decorations into money and given that money to the poor who are so many in our city? Would it not have been reasonable, in a Christian way, if you had fewer precious clothing and the money remaining you had given to the poor? What rich mercy would you have received on that day from Christ the Lord? Yes, truly Christian-like would you have then met the feast of Christ’s Resurrection. But now what? You are decorated like idols but the members of Christ are without clothes; you are satiated but the members of Christ are in want; you roll in every possible pleasure but those are in tears; we are in rich and decorated dwellings but those are in cramped conditions and uncleanness, in dwellings which are often not any better than a pigsty. We do not have Christian love and, therefore, there is no true feast of the Resurrection of Christ, for those truly celebrate the Resurrection who himself is raised from dead deeds to deeds of virtue and Christian faith and love, trampling on intemperance, luxury, and all of the passions. Brothers! May we celebrate the feasts of the Lord as Christians and not as pagans! Amen.
(source)
   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

St. Gregory the Great on St. Thomas Sunday

May 12, 2013, 10:28 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. Thomas touching the risen Christ (source)

   

Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. He was the only disciple absent; on his return he heard what had happened but refused to believe it. The Lord came a second time; He offered His side for the disbelieving disciple to touch, held out His hands, and showing the scars of His wounds, healed the wound of his disbelief.

Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events? Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance but in God’s providence. In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his Master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief.

The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.

Touching Christ, he cried out: "My Lord and my God."

Jesus said to him: "Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed."

Paul said: "Faith is the guarantee of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

It is clear, then, that faith is the proof of what can not be seen. What is seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he told: "You have believed because you have seen me?"

Because what he saw and what he believed were different things. God cannot be seen by mortal man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said: "My Lord and my God."

Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see.

What follows is reason for great joy: "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

There is here a particular reference to ourselves; we hold in our hearts One we have not seen in the flesh. We are included in these words, but only if we follow up our faith with good works. The true believer practices what he believes. But of those who pay only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: "They profess to know God, but they deny him in their works."

Therefore James says: "Faith without works is dead."
(source)
   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Homily on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers by St. Gregory Palamas

May 19, 2013, 4:35 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Holy Myrrhbearers beholding the Angel at the Life-giving, empty Tomb of Christ after His Resurrection(source)

   Homily of Saint Gregory Palamas For the Sunday of The Myrrhbearing Women (The Third Sunday of Pascha) (Gospel of Saint Mark 15:43-16:8)Translated by Fr. Hierodeacon Photios Touloumes

The resurrection of the Lord is the regeneration of human nature.  It is the resuscitation and re-creation of the first Adam, whom sin led to death, and who because of death, again was made to retrace his steps on the earth from which he was made.  The resurrection is the return to immortal life.  Whereas no one saw that first man when he was created and given life—because no man existed yet at that time—woman was the first person to see him after he had received the breath of life by divine inbreathing.  For after him, Eve was the first human being.  Likewise no one saw the second Adam, who is the Lord, rise from the dead, for none of his followers were near by and the soldiers guarding the tomb were so shaken that they were like dead men.  Following the resurrection, however, it was a woman who saw Him first before the others, as we have heard from Saint Mark’s Gospel today.  After his resurrection Jesus appeared on the morning of the Lord’s Day [Sunday] to Mary Magdalene first.

   

It seems that the Evangelist is speaking clearly about the time of the Lord’s resurrection - that it was morning - that he appeared to Mary Magdalene, and that he appeared to her at the time of the resurrection.  But, if we pay some attention it will become clear that this is not what he says. Earlier in this passage, in agreement with the other Evangelists, Saint Mark says that Mary Magdalene had come to the tomb earlier with the other Myrrhbearing women, and that she went away when she saw it empty.  Therefore, the Lord had risen much earlier on the morning on which she saw him.  But wishing to fix the time more exactly, he doesn’t say simply “morning,” as is the case here, but “very early in the morning.”  Thus the expression “and the rising of the sun” as used there refers to that time when the slightest light precedes from the east on the horizon.  This is what Saint John also wants to indicate when he says that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb in the morning while it was still dark and saw the stone pulled away from it.

   

According to Saint John, she did not come to the tomb alone, even though she left the tomb without yet having seen the Lord.  For she ran to Peter and John, and instead of announcing to them that the Lord was risen, told them that he had been taken from the tomb.  Therefore, she did not yet know about the resurrection.  It is not Mary Magdalene’s claim that Christ appeared to her first but that he appeared after the actual beginning of the day.  There is, of course, a certain shadow covering this matter on the part of the Evangelists that I shall, through your love, uncover.  The good news of the resurrection of Christ was received from the Lord first, before all others, by the Theotokos.  This is truly meet and right.  She was the first to see him after the resurrection and she had to joy to hear his voice first.  Moreover, she not only saw him with her eyes and heard him with her ears but with her hands she was the first and only one to touch his spotless feet, even if the Evangelists do not mention these things clearly.  They do not want to present the mother’s witness so as not to give the nonbelievers a reason to be suspicious.  In that now my words about the joy of the risen one are directed to believers, the opportunity of this feast moves us to explain what is relative to the Myrrhbearers. Justification is given by him who said:  There is nothing hidden that shall not be made known, and this also will be made known.

   

The Myrrhbearers are all those women who followed with the mother of the Lord, stayed with her during those hours of the salvific passion, and with pathos anointed him with myrrh.  After Joseph and Nicodemos asked for and received the body of the Lord from Pilate, they took it down from the cross, wrapped it in a cloth with strong spices, placed it in a carved out tomb, and closed the door of the tomb with a large stone.  The Myrrhbearers were close by and watched, and as the Evangelist Mark relates, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated opposite the grave. With the expression “and the other Mary” he means the mother of Christ without a doubt.  She was also called the mother of Iakovos [James] and Joses, who were the children of Joseph, her betrothed. It was not only they who were watching the entombment of the Lord but also the other women.  As Saint Luke relates:

And the women, also, who had come with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid. These women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of Iakovos, and the other women who were with them.

He writes that they went and bought spices and myrrh; for they did not yet clearly know that he is truly the perfume of life for those who approach him in faith, just as he is also the odor of death for those who remain unbelievers to the end.  They did not yet clearly know that the odor of his clothes, the odor of his own body, is greater than all perfumes, that his name is like myrrh that is poured out to cover the world with his divine fragrance.  For those who wanted to remain close by the body, the contrived an antidote of perfumes for the stench of decomposition and anointed it.

Thus they prepared the myrrh and the spices and rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  For they had not yet experienced the true sabbath, nor did they understand that exceedingly blessed sabbath that transports us from the confines of hell to the perfection of the bright and divine heights of heaven. Saint Luke says that “on the first day of the week, very early in the morning,” they came to the sepulchre bearing the spices that they had prepared.  And Saint Matthew says that those who came “late on the Sabbath towards the dawn of the Lord’s day” were two in number.  Saint John says that it was only Mary Magdalene who came, and that it was “morning, even though it was still dark.”  But Saint Mark says that three women came very early in the morning on the first day of the week.  By ‘’the first day of the week” all the Evangelists mean the Lord’s Day [Sunday] and they use expressions like “late on the Sabbath,” ”early dawn,” ”early dawn,” “early morning,” “morning,” and “even though it was still dark” [to refer to the Lord’s Day which is Sunday].  They mean the daybreaking hour when the darkness fights with the light and the hour when the eastern part of the horizon begins to become light as it presages the day.  Observing from afar, one sees the light changing colors in the east at about the ninth hour of the night, which colors remain until the fulfillment of the day three hours later.  It seems that the Evangelists disagree some-what concerning both the time of the visits and the number of women [that are involved].  This is attributable to the fact that, as we said, the myrrhbearers were many; that they did not come to the sepulchre one time only but two and three times, and not always in the same groups; that all the visits were at dawn but not at exactly the same hour.  Mary Magdalene also came by herself without the others and stayed longer.  Each of the Evangelists, therefore, relates one journey of some of the women and leaves the others. Consequently, by comparing all the Evangelists—and I said this before–I conclude that the Theotokos was the first who came to the grave of her son and God, together with Mary Magdalene.  We are informed of this by the Evangelist Matthew who said: In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre  (Matthew 28:1)

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary–who was, of course, the Mother of the Lord-went to look at the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightening and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards did shake and become like dead men.

   

The other women came after the earthquake and the flight of the guards, and found the grave open and the stone rolled back.  The Virgin Mother, however, was there when the quake occurred, when the stone was rolled back, when the grave opened, and while the guards were there, even though they were completely shaken with fear.  That is why the guards immediately thought of fleeing when they came to from the earthquake but the Mother of God rejoiced without fear at what she saw. I believe that the life-bearing grave opened first for her.  For her and by her grace all things were revealed for us, everything that is in heaven above and on the earth below.  For her sake the angel shone so brightly so that, even though it was still dark, she saw by means of the bright angelic light not only the empty grave but also the burial garments carefully arranged and in an orderly fashion, thereby witnessing in many ways to the resurrection of the one who was entombed.  He was, after all, that same angel of the Annunciation, Gabriel; he watched her proceed rapidly towards the grave and immediately descended.  He who in the beginning had told her “fear not, Mary, you have found grace with God,” now directs the same exhortation to the Ever Virgin.  He came to announce the resurrection from the dead to her who, with seedless conception, gave him birth; to raise the stone, to reveal the empty grave and the burial garments, so that in this manner the good news would  be verified for her.  He writes:  And the angel answered the women and said: fear not.  Do you seek the Christ whom they crucified? He is risen.  Here is the place where the Lord was placed.  If you see the soldiers overcome with fear, do not be afraid. I know that you seek the Christ whom they crucified. He is risen. He is not here.  For not only can He not be held by the keys, the bars, and the seals of hell, of death, and of the grave, but he is even the Lord of the immortal angels of heaven, and the only Lord of the whole world.  See the place where the Lord lay.  Go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And they departed, he says, with fear and great joy.  At this point I am of the opinion that Mary Magdalene and the other women who had come up to that point were still frightened.  For they did not understand the meaning of the angel’s powerful words nor could they contain to the end the power of the light so as to see and understand with exactitude.  But I think that the Mother of God made this great joy her own, since she comprehended the words of the angel.  Her whole person radiated from the light in that she was all pure and full of divine grace.  She firmly appropriated all these signs and the truth and she believed the archangel, since, of course, he formerly had shown himself to be worthy of trust for her in other matters.  And why shouldn’t the Virgin understand with divine wisdom. what had occurred in that she observed the events at first hand?  She saw the great earthquake and the angel descending from heaven like lightening, she saw the guards fall as dead men, the removal of the stone, the emptying of the tomb, and the great miracle of the burial garments which were kept in place by smyrna and aloes, even though they contained no body.  In addition to all of these things, she saw the joyous countenance of the angel and heard his joyful message.  But Mary Magda-lene, in responding to the annunciation, acted as if she had not heard the angel at all–he had not in fact spoken directly to her.  She testifies only to the emptying of the tomb and says nothing about the burial garments, but runs directly to Peter and to the other disciples, as Saint John says. The Mother of God went back to the tomb again when she met the other women and, as Saint Matthew says, behold Jesus met them and told them to rejoice. 

   

So you see that even before Mary Magdalene, the Mother of God saw Him who for our salvation suffered and was buried and rose again in the flesh.
 

And they approached, touched his feet and worshipped him. 

 
Just as the Theotokos alone under-stood the power of the angelic words–even if she heard the good news of the resurrection together with Mary Magdalene–when she met her son and God with the other women she saw and recognized the risen one before all the other women.  And falling down, she touched his feet and became his apostle to his apostles.  We learn from Saint John that Mary Magdalene was not with the Mother of God when, on her return to the sepulchre, she encountered the Lord. He writes:
She runs to Peter Simon and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and tells them: they have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him. 

 
If she had seen and touched him with her hands and heard him speak, how could she say the words “they have taken him and placed him elsewhere, and we don’t know where?”  But after Peter and John ran to the grave and saw the burial clothes and returned, Saint John says that Mary Magdalene was standing near the tomb and crying. 

 
You see that not only had she not yet seen him but neither had she been informed of the resurrection.  And when the angels that appeared asked her “why are you crying, woman,” she again answered as if she thought that he was dead.  Thus when, upon turning, she saw Jesus and still did not understand, she answered his question “why do you weep” in the same manner.  Not until he called her by her name and showed her that he was the same did she understand.  Then, when she also fell down before him wishing to kiss his feet, she heard him say: “Don’t touch me.”  From this we understand that when he appeared previously to his mother and to the women who accompanied her, he allowed only his mother to touch his feet, even if Matthew makes this a common concession to all the women.  He did not wish, for the reason we mentioned in the beginning, to suddenly present the appearance of the mother into the issue.  It was the Ever Virgin Mary who came to the grave first and she was the first to receive the good news of the resurrection.  Many women then gathered and they also saw the stone rolled back and heard the angels, but they were separated on their return. As Saint Mark says, since they were afraid, some of the women left the tomb in a frightened and ecstatic state without saying anything to anyone.  Other women followed the Mother of the Lord and because they happened to be with her they saw and heard the Lord.  Mary Magdalene left to go to Peter and John, and with them was returning to the grave.  And even though they left, she stayed and she also was made worthy to see the Lord and to be sent by him to the apostles.  Thus, as Saint John says, she again comes to them shouting to all that she had seen the Lord and that he had told her these things.

   

And Saint Mark says that this appearance happened in the morning, the indisputable beginning of the day, when the dawn had passed.  But he does not contend that the resurrection of the Lord occurred at that time, nor that it was his first appearance.  Therefore, we have information concerning the Myrrhbearers that is exact and the general agreement of the four Evangelists as a higher confirmation.  But even with all that they had heard on the same day of the resurrection from the Myrrhbearers, from Peter, and even from Luke and Cleopas that the Lord lives and that they had seen him, the disciples showed disbelief.  That is why He castigates them when he appeared to all of them gathered together.  When, however, he showed them many times through the witness of many that he was alive, not only did they all believe but they preached it everywhere.

   

Their voice poured out on all the earth and their words spread to the ends of the earth; and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by signs that accompanied it.  For until the teaching is preached to all the earth, the signs were indispensable.  Exceptional signs were needed to represent and certify the truth of the message.  But excellent signs are not needed for those who accept the word through firm belief.  Who are these [who have firm belief]? They are those whose deeds bear witness [to their faith].  ‘’Show me your faith in your deeds,” he says.  “Who is faithful?  Let him manifest it with the deeds of his good life.”  For who will believe that he who commits wicked acts and is oriented to the earth and material things has a true, exalted, great, and heavenly under-standing which is, so to speak, exactly what piety is?  Brethren, what does it profit a man to say that he has divine faith if he does not have deeds analogous to the faith?  What did the lamps profit the foolish maidens when they had no oil, in other words, the deeds of love and of compassion?  What did it profit that rich man who, when he was burning in the unquenchable flame because of his indifference to Lazarus, invoked the father of Abraham?  What did it profit that a man to accept an invitation to the divine wedding and that incorruptible bridal chamber when he did not have a suitable garment of good deeds?  Of course, in so much as he believed anyway, he received an invitation and went to sit amongst those holy ones who were at the banquet.  But he also received the examination and was ashamed because he was clothed in the wickedness of his attitude and works, through which his hands and feet were tied and he was lowered to Gehenna where wailing and gnashing of teeth reverberates.  May no one who has the name of Christ experience [such a thing]. Rather let us all manifest a life analogous with the faith and enter the bridal chamber of unstained joy and eternal life with the saints, which is the resting place of all who perceive the true joy.

Translated from MIGNE P.G. vol 151, pp 236-248  on the  Feast of the Holy Annunciation, 1976. Source
 

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Why was the Angel seated on the stone at the Resurrection of Christ?

May 19, 2013, 10:47 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Myrrhbearers beholding the Angels seated at the Tomb of Christ after His Resurrection(source)

 
Every word of the Holy Scriptures is placed appropriately with deep meaning, and we can perceive this if we struggle to obtain the humility and the illumination of the Fathers to understand how this is so. In the following short excerpt from St. Romanos the Melodist's Kontakion on the Resurrection of Christ (the beginning of which, "Though you descended into the grave, O Immortal One..." is still included in the Paschal service), he explains the significance of why the Angel was seated on the stone after Christ's Resurrection.
 

            Λαβούσαι θάρσος άμεμπτον εκ της φωνής του αγγέλου

φρονίμως αι γυναίκες απεκρίθησαν προς τούτον∙

«Αληθώς ανέστη ο κύριος, καθώς έφης∙

έδειξας ήμιν και τω ρήματι και τω σχήματι

ότιπερ ανέστη ο ελεήμων∙

ει μη γαρ ηγέρθη και επορεύθη της ταφής,

ουκ αν αυτός εκάθισας∙

πότε γαρ στρατηγός του βασιλέως

παρόντος κάθηται και διαλέγεται;

ει δε και τελείται εν γη τα τοιαύτα,

αλλ’ εν τω ύψει ουκ έστι ταύτα,

όπου θρόνος αθέατος και άφραστος ο καθήμενος,

ο τοις πεσούσι παρέχων ανάστασιν.»

Taking unassailable courage from the voice of the angel,

The prudent women replied to him:

"Truly, the Lord has risen, as you said.

You indicate this to us by word and sign

That the Merciful One has risen,

For if He had not risen and proceeded from the tomb,

You would not be seated,

For when does the soldier before the King

Ever remain seated and speaking?

Though, therefore, things such as this are accomplished on earth,

In the highest, things are not like this,

For there is a throne invisible, and unspeakable, on which sits

He Who grants resurrection to the fallen."

   

(amateur translation, see here for the full Greek text)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Excerpt from a homily on the Paralytic by St. John Chrysostom

May 25, 2013, 2:18 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Christ healing the Paralytic by the Pool of Bethesda(source)

   

Excerpt from a homily on the Paralytic by St. John Chrysostom (amateur translation)

Having had the fortune of formerly seeing the paralytic by the pool lying on his bed, we have found a vast and great treasure, not by digging withing the earth, but by excavating his mind. We have found a treasure, not of silver, or bearing gold or precious stones, but endurance and philosophy and patience, and much hope in God, which is more precious than any gold or any rich thing...

For thirty and eight years an ancient and incurable illness continually scourged him, but neither did he lift up his hand to do evil, nor did he offer up a blasphemous word, nor did he condemn those who were near him, but bravely, and with his great graciousness, he was brought to the pool. And why was this said? For does not the Scripture speak clearly of the life above, when is said that he had his infirmity for thirty-eight years? It wishes to say that he did not lift up his hand towards evil, nor was he enraged...and no one came to him. And when this is said, pay close attention, and not disdainfully nor simply. When he heard Christ coming to him, and he truly did not know Him, but thought that He was some tall person, and after this He spoke to him, and before them He wished to show his philosophy. For He said to them: “Do you wish to be well?”, he did not say to Him, “You see me lying here for so many years, and you ask me if I want to be well? Have you come to ridicule me and laugh at my misfortune, and make a comedy of these events?” He did not say words like this, but he said with graciousness: “Yes, Lord.” For after thirty-eight years he was meek, and gracious, and his vigor characterized him, and the strength of his thoughts, and he appears as one who is in the beginnings of troubles. For there is a difference between those displeased ones in the beginning of their illness, and those after the passage of time. For then the sick lift up their hands to do evil, when after time their illness becomes totally unbearable. After many years neither do they philosophize, nor are they noted to be inscrutable, but he, after all of that time, showed thanksgiving.

Therefore, let us reason to imitate the patience of our fellow servant. For his paralysis is sufficient to choke the paralysis of our souls. For do not think of him as sluggish or reclining at the greatness of events, but he bore all dangers that fell upon him with bravery, though they were unbearable. And it was not his healing alone, but his sickness that became a cause for great benefit. For his healing brought glorification to the Master, and raised up the souls of those who heard it. But his illness and sickness compels us towards patience, and calls us towards zeal. And it more so showed the philanthropy of God. And therefore this illness which he suffered, and the time that he remained in sickness, was a great trust. For as gold in the furnace is revealed as gold after being tried by fire, and it becomes more pure. Thus, God allows the souls of men to be tried by dangers, until they become pure and transparent, and many from this trial are benefitted by bearing fruit. This is a special and great benefaction...

(source)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

---

The Wisdom of God, by Metropolitan Ierotheos Vlachos, Part I

May 28, 2013, 5:50 pm

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God, the Angel of Great Counsel(source)

      

The Wisdom of God, by Metropolitan Ierotheos (Vlachos) of Navpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou (amateur translation)

The following speech by Metropolitan Ierotheos Vlachos was offered in Levkosia, on the occation of the celebration of the feast of the new Holy Church of the Wisdom of God, the largest church on the island of Cyprus. In three parts, he discusses the identification of the "Wisdom of God" with Christ, the Churches of "Holy Wisdom", and the Feast of Mid-Pentecost.

   

I. Christ, the Wisdom of God

It is a fundamental teaching of the Fathers of the Church that the difference between the Old and the New Testament is that, in the Old Testament are recorded the appearances of the bodiless Word, the Angel of Great Counsel, the Wisdom of God, while in the New Testament is recorded the revelation of the incarnate Word. Thus, one of the names of Christ is the Wisdom of God.

According to Fr. George Florovsky “The name of wisdom is a biblical name”, which is used by the Apostle Paul. In reality, the Apostle Paul, speaking to the Jews and the Greeks of his time, says that while the Jews seek a sign, and the Greek-idolaters seek wisdom-philosophy, “we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews scandal, to the Greeks foolishness, but to those chosen, Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (Corinthians I 1:22-24). And later he writes: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (Corinthians I 1:30)

Often it is said that in the Old Testament, Christ is characterized as Messiah. But this is not correct, because in the Old Testament, the Messiah was, as the word means, “the anointed one”, and this is offered to the kings and the Prophets, who were called by God and anointed for a special mission to Israel. Thus, the Messiah in the Old Testament was man. However, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, in the Old Testament is characterized as the Angel of Great Council, the Wisdom of God. Foremost, the name “Wisdom of God” is met in the Proverbs and Wisdom of Solomon, and is attributed to Christ.

Thus, Christ is not the Messiah, in other words, a man who was [solely] born from the Panagia, but was the incarnate Word, Who took on human creation with the incarnation, which was anointed by the divine creation and became the Messiah in order to save the human race, and to deliver from the devil, death and sin. Fr. George Florovsky offers that “the identification of 'Wisdom' as one of the names of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became a common theme in the homilies and theology of the Fathers. Origen perceived the name 'Wisdom' as the first and primary name of the Son (On John 10:22). And 'Wisdom' and 'Power' were commemorated in the Symbol of St. Gregory of Neo-caesarea. In the 4^th century, the Arians and the Orthodox agreed that thee Holy Wisdom that is mentioned in the book of Proverbs was the Son of God”.

The wise Solomon, praying to the God of the Fathers and the Lord of mercy, among other things, says: “Give me wisdom, that sitteth by thy throne; and reject me not from among thy children...And wisdom was with thee: which knoweth thy works, and was present when thou madest the world, and knew what was acceptable in thy sight, and right in thy commandments. O send her out of thy holy heavens, and from the throne of thy glory, that being present she may labour with me, that I may know what is pleasing unto thee. For she knoweth and understandeth all things, and she shall lead me soberly in my doings, and preserve me in her power. So shall my works be acceptable, and then shall I judge thy people righteously, and be worthy to sit in my father's seat.” (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-12).

It is sure that the wise Solomon here is speaking of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, which is the Wisdom of God the Father, and Who is beside the throne of the glory of God, and at the creation of the world, and he is asking Him to send Him to him in the direction of his service.

That the Word of God is the Wisdom of God is seen from the word “Wisdom” which is mentioned either by itself or with some other entreaty in the holy Services, such as “arise, let us be attentive” and of course before the phrase, “He Who is blessed, Christ our true God” at the end of Vespers, in addition to following the service of the Artoklasia before the phrase “the blessing of the Lord and His mercy be upon you”. The union is clear between the Wisdom, which is the Word of God, with the phrases that speak of Him. Furthermore, the “Wisdom” is said during the Small Entrance of the Divine Liturgy, when the Deacon or the Priest raises the holy Gospel, because within it are the words of Christ. Thus, the Christians are called to lift up and to show reverence to the Wisdom of God, in other words, the Word of God, Christ. This word (Wisdom) is said also before the Epistle and Gospel readings, because within them are the words of Christ and the Apostles who are the members of the Body of Christ. And the same word, “Wisdom”, is said during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Precious Gifts before “the Light of Christ illumines all”, and during the Vespers before “O gladsome light of the holy glory”, which speaks about Christ...

(sources 1 and 2)

   

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

A wondrous appearance of St. Spyridon

May 31, 2013, 4:48 pm

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Trimethous - Commemorated December 12th(source)

   

A wondrous appearance of St. Spyridon (amateur translation)
This event that I and my husband are relating was the beginning of our opening our hearts to believe in God in reality, because up till then, we only listened to God's liturgists with denial and criticism. My husband, furthermore, had the opinion that there was no God. This was a great event that confirmed to us how wrong we were, and what a mistake we made, and opened our eyes to see the true road, the road to God.

Our son Sotiris was born on September 19th, 1994. We had decided that when the child had completed forty days of age, I would go to church to get a blessing, like normal, after the exhortations of our immediate family members.

I did not go on my fortieth day, but the next day was a Sunday, October 30th, 1994. However, as careless and naive people that we are, though I awoke at 7AM to get ready, after, I lied down again and fell asleep. Thus, I awoke later with my husband, and we leisurely got ready and left for church. When we went to the first church, the Divine Liturgy had finished, and there was no priest to give the blessing to the child. We left and went to another church. We visited the churches that we knew in the towns of Peristeri, Chaidariou, and Aigaleo. Some churches were locked, others were open, but the priests had left. I, however, insisted, and said to my husband that "Today, Sunday, he should get the blessing." Around 2PM we reached the Holy Church of St. Spyridon in Aigaleo. My husband said that we should abandon our endeavor and go the next day to get the blessing, however, I insisted. I saw the door of the church half-open, and I told him: "This will be our last try". Thus, we entered the Holy Church, myself with my baby in my arms, and my husband.

The polyeleos before the Royal Doors was lit by electricity. One priest was sitting in the rear stasidia on the women's side (today the stasidia have been replaced by chairs). He was very old, and because I did not want to bother him, I went to the priests' office within the church, in a renovated place to find another priest to give the blessing. There was no one in the office. I looked throughout the whole church, and there was no one else except for the church warden.

Then, the sole, elderly priest that was sitting, turned his head towards our direction and asked: "What do you want?"

"Father," I said, "I wanted my child to get the forty-day blessing, but we were running late today."

"I will do it," he said, and stood up. Then we beheld a tall man, elderly, with totally white hair and beard, wearing a white robe. He came towards us slowly, because he was elderly, but also very peaceful. He took the child in his hands, and we lost him within his arms. He said the prayers by heart, without reading anything, and went to pass throughout the Holy Church.

He entered the Holy Altar through the central door, and exited through the left door. He came back to our place, and gave us back our child, and said three blessings (not "na sas zesei" [literally, may he out-live you], but very moving prayers having to do with the future of the child, which, because of our not showing the proper attention, we have not remembered to this day, neither me nor my husband). We received the child, and left feeling lucky that we were able to have the forty-day blessing.

After some time, we reached the store that we have in Aigaleo, where we work with a trustee of the Holy Church. We struck up a conversation and we told him: "You have a very good priest in your church." And we began to describe the priest that we thought that we had seen.

"We don't have a priest like that," he replied. After, he asked us, "Do you know Fr. (same)?"

"No, we don't know him."

When we said that he was wearing a white robe, he shed a tear, telling us that a simple priest does not wear a white robe, but only in certain circumstances. Furthermore, he told us that the church is usually closed those hours of the day, because everyone is tired from the morning Divine Liturgy, and they also usually go to the church later in the evening. He said: "Only Christ and the Saints have the right to wear white robes, and because of this, you should pray and thank God." And he left.

Then we immediately thought to visit the priests of that church one of the next days to find out who that priest was in reality. Before we were able to go, a woman came to our store, who had never been there before, and who has not returned since. She was speaking continuously, and no one could stop her (And it was noteworthy that there were other customers in the store).

She observed a small icon that we had been given of St. Ephraim, which we posted in a conspicuous place, and said: "Ah! You know St. Ephraim? Take another icon," she told us. And before I could say anything, she grabbed my hand and placed in my palm a small icon. I looked at it. It was an icon of St. Spyridon. I waited for this unknown woman and the rest of the customers to leave, and I asked my husband: "Do you remember the priest who did the forty-day blessing for our Sotiri?" He said yes, and I told him to look at the icon of the Saint. He agreed enthusiastically, "that's him."

We therefore went to the church of St. Spyridon, and again saw St. Spyridon in the large icon in the church. It was the same Saint whom we had met. We mentioned this wondrous event to the priests. And the managers of the Holy Metropolis of Nicea, to which the church belongs, also learned of this.

One Sunday, at this church, one of the priests mentioned this wondrous event of the appearance of St. Spyridon during the sermon in the Divine Liturgy, without of course mentioning the names, saying to the faithful that miracles still happen in our days, as long as we open our eyes and our souls. And in reality, he was totally right. If we open our hear and seek for God to come into our lives in reality, then He will help our every step, in every moment of our life. To this day which I write these lines, my son has completed his 14th year, and he has grown handsome, peaceful, bringing us every joy that we have him near us. May God every grant him enlightenment!

I and my husband wanted to record our personal witness, which relates one of the miracles that still happen in our days!
(source)
 

"This is the icon of St. Spyridon which the lady gave me who came to my store, and which I keep with me to this day" (source)

 

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Myrrhstreaming icon of St. Ephraim of Nea Makri in Romania

June 3, 2013, 1:52 pm

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Myrrhstreaming icon of St. Ephraim of Nea Makri in Romania (source)

   

For the benefit of any speakers of Romanian, I offer the link to several beautiful sites about St. Ephraim of Nea Makri, which discuss his life, many of his recent miracles (including the above myrrhstreaming icon of the Saint), and services to him. May more and more people from around the world come to know this great healer of the Risen Christ!

http://www.sfantulefremcelnou.ro/

http://manastireasihastriararaului.blogspot.gr/

http://sfantulefremcelnou.blogspot.ro/

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain on Self-denial and Spiritual Perfection

June 5, 2013, 5:10 am

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Jesus Christ enthroned in majesty(source)

  
St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain on Self-denial and the Spiritual Struggle
I will tell you plainly: the greatest and most perfect thing a man may desire to attain is to come near to God and dwell in union with Him.

There are many who say that the perfection of Christian life consists in fasts, vigils, genuflections, sleeping on bare earth and other similar austerities of the body. Others say that it consists in saying many prayers at home and in attending long services in Church. And there are others who think that our perfection consists entirely in mental prayer, solitude, seclusion and silence. But the majority limit perfection to a strict observance of all the rules and practices laid down by the statutes, falling into no excess or deficiency, but preserving a golden moderation. Yet all these virtues do not by themselves constitute the Christian perfection we are seeking, but are only means and methods for acquiring it.

There is no doubt whatever that they do represent means and effective means for attaining perfection in Christian life. For we see very many virtuous men, who practice these virtues as they should, to acquire strength and power against their own sinful and evil nature, -- to gain, through these practices, courage to withstand the temptations and seductions of our three main enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil; and by these means to obtain the spiritual supports, so necessary to all servants of God and especially to beginners. They fast, to subdue their unruly flesh; they practice vigils to sharpen their inner vision, they sleep on bare earth, lest they become soft through sleep; they bind their tongue by silence and go into solitude to avoid the slightest inducement to offend against the All-Holy God; they recite prayers, attend Church services and perform other acts of devotion, to keep their mind on heavenly things; they read of the life and passion of our Lord, for the sole purpose of realizing more clearly their own deficiency and the merciful loving-kindness of God, -- to learn and to desire to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, bearing their cross with self- denial, and to make more and more ardent their love of God and their dislike of themselves.

On the other hand, these same virtues may do more harm than their open omission, to those who take them as the sole basis of their life and their hope; not from their nature, since they are righteous and holy, but through the fault of those, who use them not as they should be used; that is, when they pay attention only to the external practice of those virtues, and leave their heart to be moved by their own volitions and the volitions of the devil. For the latter, seeing that they have left the right path, gleefully refrains from interfering with their physical endeavors and even allows them to increase and multiply their efforts, in obedience to their own vain thought. Experiencing with this certain spiritual stirrings and consolations, such people begin to imagine that they have already reached the state of angels and feel that God Himself is present in them. And at times, engrossed in the contemplation of some abstract and unearthly things, they imagine that they have completely transcended the sphere of this world and have been ravished to the third heaven.

However, anyone can see clearly how sinfully such people behave and how far they are from true perfection, if he looks at their life and character. As a rule they always wish to be preferred to others; they love to live according to their own will and are always stubborn in their decisions; they are blind in everything relating to themselves, but are very clear-sighted and officious in examining the words and actions of others. If another man is held by others in the same esteem, which in their opinion they enjoy, they cannot bear it and become manifestly hostile towards him; if anyone interferes with them in their pious occupations and works of asceticism, especially in the presence of others, -- God forbid! -- they immediately become indignant, boil over with wrath and become quite unlike themselves. . . .

Now, having seen clearly and definitely that spiritual life and perfection do not only consist in these visible virtues, of which we have spoken, you must also learn that it consists in nothing but coming near to God and union with Him, as was said in the beginning. With this is connected a heartfelt realization of the goodness and greatness of God, together with consciousness of our own nothingness and our proneness to every evil; love of God and dislike of ourselves; submission not only to God but also to all creatures, for the sake of our love of God; renunciation of all will of our own and perfect obedience to the will of God; and moreover desire for all this and its practice with a pure heart to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31), from sheer desire to please God and only because He Himself wishes it and because we should so love Him and work for Him.

. . . Therefore, to reach your desired aim, it is first of all necessary to stifle your own wills and finally to extinguish and kill them altogether. And in order to succeed in this, you must constantly oppose all evil in yourself and urge yourself towards good. In other words, you must ceaselessly fight against yourself and against everything that panders to your own wills, that incites and supports them. So prepare yourself for this struggle and this warfare and know that the crown -- attainment of your desired aim -- is given to none except to the valiant among warriors and wrestlers.

But this is the hardest of all wars -- since in fighting against ourselves it is in ourselves that we meet opposition -- victory in it is the most glorious of all; and, what is the main thing, it is most pleasing to God. For if, inspired by fervor, you overcome and put to death your unruly passions, your lusts and wills, you will please God more, and will work for Him more beautifully, than if you flog yourself till you draw blood or exhaust yourself by fasts more than any ancient hermit of the desert. Even if you redeem hundreds of Christian slaves from the infidels and give them freedom, it will not save you, if with this you remain yourself a slave to your own passions. And whatever work you may undertake, however glorious, and with whatever effort and sacrifice you may accomplish it, it will not lead you to your desired aim, if you leave your passions without attention, giving them freedom to live and act in you.

Finally, after learning what constitutes Christian perfection and realizing that to achieve it you must wage a constant cruel war with yourself, if you really desire to be victorious in this unseen warfare and be rewarded with a crown, you must plant in your heart the following four dispositions and spiritual activities, as it were arming yourself with invisible weapons, the most trustworthy and unconquerable of all, namely: (a) never rely on yourself in anything; (b) bear always in your heart a perfect and all-daring trust in God alone; (c) strive without ceasing; and (d) remain constantly in prayer.
(from "Unseen Warfare," by St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain, revised by St. Theophan the Recluse, (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1978), pp. 77 - 81 (Source))

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Excerpt from St. John Chrysostom on the healing of the Blind Man

June 9, 2013, 11:05 am

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Christ healing the man born blind - Commemorated the Sixth Sunday of Pascha(source)

  
Excerpt from St. John Chrysostom's homily: "On zeal and piety, and on the man born blind" (amateur translation)
The word of God is a spring of light. The light therefore fills, and the light shines, and illumines the senses of the faithful. For from Him and in Him shines, and those who partake of Him shine. And He does not only enlighten the minds of the faithful, but grants the name of light. For the divine Scripture, for those who dwell with the ignorant and who live in disbelief, rightly calls them darkness, not receiving the lamp of truth, that they might be sons of light. Therefore, the divine Apostle Paul writes: "We were not sons of the night, nor of the darkness, but sons of the light and day." And regarding the sons of light was the evangelical word spoken from the mouth of God: "I am," as Christ said, "the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

His word is light, that if any of us might believe in him, that they might be made to be born as a son of light. Therefore the Savior said: "As long as you have the light, believe in the light, that you be born sons of the light." For as this sensible light is for the body, thus noetically is the word of God for souls. And as there is the darkness at night, thus is there delusion in ignorant souls. Because of this, the blessed David writes of this, saying: "They did not know, nor did they perceive that they were walking in darkness..."

It is right therefore for good students to imitate the teacher, as Paul says: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." Do you wish to learn how the simple student can benefit from the zeal of piety? Hearken to how Christ healed the man born blind. Likely you have heard this story from the beginning. Among other things, the evangelical word says: "As Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him..." "And he spat, and made clay, and anointed his eyes and told him: 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.' And having washed, he began to see. The Judeans recognized him and said: 'Was not this the man who was sitting blind and receiving alms?' Some said yes, others said no, but he is like him. He said: 'It is me.'"

The Pharisees therfore and the rulers of the Judeans, beholding that this wonder was drawing many to Christ, overcome with the zeal of impiety, and struck by the sting of the truth, asked him how long he was blind. And behold this evil theater that has gathered to try piety, and the evil judges who judge, and the great gathering that has gathered, to look into and study God. They called him who was once blind, and when the children of the Judeans saw him in the council, they asked him: "How did you see, and who opened your eyes, and who accomplished it?" This they said not that they might learn, but that the form of the question might give way to fear. For many times, by the form of the question, the teacher who is asking [seeks] an answer, or silence. But he told them that he might bear witness to the reality. "Did you see this deed? Were you there? How did you see the reality?" The form of this teaches denial. Therfore they asked: "How did you see? Who opened your eyes?" But he, having cultivated fearlessness, or more so the truth, said: "A man named Jesus took clay and anointed my eyes and told me: 'Go, wash at Siloam.' And I went and washed, and I began to see..."

Because they could not deny [the miracle], they hastened to cover it, saying: "Give glory to God. We know that that man is a sinner." The Son is the glory of the Father, and His glory is inseparable. And he fought the good fight against the Judeans [to defend Christ]...

Though they spoke with him till now, they then commanded that he be cast out. And they cast him out, as the Evangelist said. Blessed is he who hastens from the council of evil men. And behold what happened. Because he fought the good fight, and gave glory to God, and confessed the Savior gloriously with much boldness, and completed the battle in the stadium, being cast out as a wrestler, without receiving the crown, the Referee called to him outside. Jesus, hearing therefore that they cast him out, found him and spoke to him. The Word found him who spoke of Him, whom He delivered from delusion, and found the Truth...

For when He sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash, He sent him blind. And when he began to see, he did not see the Savior among the multitude that had gathered around him, but immediately, before he saw the Master, he was called to struggle in the contest. For the Master put clay on his eyes before this, that the following might be fulfilled. For when they cast him out, Christ found him and said to him: "Do you believe in the Son of God?" For he did not see him as a prophet and struggle, but as the Son of God. He did not recognize His face, but he recognized His voice. "Do you believe," He said, "in the Son of God?"

He hearkened to the voice, and with joy he said: "And who is He, O Lord, that I might believe in Him?" Why did He ask "Do you believe" of him? "Do you believe in the Son of God?" I see that Your word is truth. However, if you give me the knowledge, I will not neglect to believe You. "And who is He, O Lord, that I might believe in Him?" And the Foreseer was before him. And he looked upon Him, Who spoke to you previously. He Who was with you within the council, and outside speaks with you. "Do you believe in the Son of God?" He who was enlightened in body and in mind said: "And who is He, O Lord, that I might believe in Him?" He replied to him: "You have seen Him, and it is He Who is speaking to you." He, therefore, said: "I believe, O Lord," And he worshipped Him.

I said these things, that all of you might learn, and that I might call all to fall before the teacher, and to imitate the Good Shepherd, and to struggle on behalf of the Truth..."
(source)
  

Christ healing the man born blind(source)

  

Christ has risen from the dead, by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life!

Truly the Lord is risen!