December
29th (New Style) • December 16th (Old Style)
Holy
Prophet Haggai
Haggai was
born in Babylon during the time of the captivity of Israel. He was of the
tribe of Levi and prophesied about 470 years before Christ. As a youth, he
visited Jerusalem. He urged Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest to restore
the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, prophesying for this Temple greater
glory than the former Temple of Solomon, The glory of this latter house
shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts (Haggai
2:9), for the Lord and Savior was to appear in this new temple. He lived
long enough to see one part of the temple built by Zerubbabel. He died in
old age and joined his ancestors.
Saint
Nicholas Chrysoverges, Patriarch of Constantinople
Nicholas
governed the Church from 980 until 995. He ordained the great Simeon the
New Theologian a presbyter when this spiritual giant was elected abbot of
the Monastery of the Holy Martyr Mamas in Constantinople. During his
times, a miraculous appearance of the Archangel Gabriel took place at
Karyes (Mount Athos). On this occasion, the archangel taught the monks to
praise the Most-holy Theotokos with the hymn "It Is Truly Meet," writing
this hymn on a stone in a chapel of one of the kellia, which from that
time has been called "It Is Truly Meet" (June 13). As an eminent and great
hierarch, he peacefully entered into rest and took up his habitation in
the Kingdom of God.
Saint
Theophano the Empress
Theophano
was born of eminent parents, Constantine and Anna, who were kin to several
emperors. Her parents were childless for a long time and prayed to the
Most-holy Theotokos to give them an offspring. And God gave them this
daughter, Theophano. Imbued with the Christian spirit from her childhood,
Theophano surpassed all her companions in all the Christian virtues. When
she grew up, she entered into marriage with Leo, the son of Emperor Basil
the Macedonian. She endured great hardships alongside her husband.
Responding to slander-that Leo carried a knife in his boot and planned to
kill his father at an opportune time-the gullible father, Basil, locked
his son and daughter-in-law in prison. Thus, two innocent souls languished
in prison for three years. Once, during the Feast of the Prophet Elias,
the emperor summoned all his noblemen to his court for a banquet. Suddenly
the emperor's parrot unexpectedly spoke these words, "Alas, alas, my Lord
Leo!" and repeated these words a number of times. This brought great
anxiety to all of the imperial noblemen, and they all begged the emperor
to release his son and daughter-in-law. The grieved emperor did so. After
his father's death, Leo became emperor and was called "the Wise."
Theophano did not consider her imperial dignity as anything, but,
completely devoted to God, she cared only about the salvation of her soul,
fasting and praying, distributing many alms, and restoring many
monasteries and churches. Neither an untrue word nor an excessive word
nor, least of all, slander proceeded from her lips. Before her death she
called all her closest friends, took leave of them and gave up her soul to
her God in the year 892. The Emperor Leo wanted to build a church over her
grave in her name, but since the patriarch objected to this, he built a
church to All Saints, saying that if Theophano became a saint, she would
be glorified together with the other saints. The Feast of All Saints was
then instituted to be celebrated on the Sunday after the Feast of the Holy
Trinity.
Reflection
The saints
exerted great effort to subdue pride and selfishness in themselves and to
accustom themselves to complete obedience and devotion, be it to their
superiors when they had them, or to God Himself. The Monastery of St. Sava
the Sanctified was distinguished by exceptional discipline, order and
unmurmuring obedience. When St. John Damascene entered this monastery, not
one of the eminent spiritual fathers would venture to take such a famous
nobleman and writer as his novice. Then the abbot handed him over to a
simple but strict elder. The elder ordered John not to do anything without
his knowledge or approval. In the meantime it happened that a monk died
who had a brother in this same monastery. The monk was in unspeakable
grief over the death of his brother. For the sake of comforting the
inconsolable brother, John wrote stichera for the departed monk-famous
hymns that the Church uses even today at the funeral service. After
composing them, John began to chant the hymns. When the elder heard the
chanting, he became enraged and drove John away. Some of the brethren,
hearing of John's banishment, dared to go to the elder to beg him to
forgive John and receive him back, but the elder remained unwavering. John
wept bitterly and lamented because he had transgressed his elder's
command. Once again the brethren, on John's behalf, begged the elder to
impose a penance on him and after that forgive him. The elder then imposed
the following penance upon his disciple: to clean and wash all the
lavatories of every cell in the monastery with his own hands if he desired
forgiveness. The sorrowful brethren reported this to John, thinking that
he would leave the monastery rather than do this. But when John heard the
elder's message, he rejoiced greatly and with much joy carried out the
elder's command. Upon seeing this, the elder wept, embraced John and said
through his tears: "Oh, what a sufferer for Christ have I given birth to!
Oh, what a true son of holy obedience this man is!"
Contemplation
Contemplate
the generosity of Abraham (Genesis 13, 14):
1. How Abraham did not want to quarrel with Lot because of the strife
between their herdsmen but rather suggested that they separate;
2. How, before parting, he left it to Lot to choose which direction, be it
to the left or the right;
3. How Abraham, defeating the King of Sodom, refused the offered goods and
would not take even a thread or sandal strap.
Homily
On Moses
Now the
man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the
earth (Numbers 12:3).
A chosen
man, a great wonderworker, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his
miracles, a victor in Egypt, a victor in the wilderness, the leader of a
people-how could he not be proud? But if he had become proud, Moses would
not have been all that he was. They become proud who think that they do
their own works and not God's in this world, and who think that they work
by their own power and not by God's power. But the great Moses knew that
he was the doer of God's works, and that the power with which He did them
was God's power and not his. That is why he did not become proud because
of the awesome miracles he performed, or the great victories he obtained,
or the wise laws that he gave to the people. The Lord is my strength
and my song (Exodus 15:2), said Moses. Of the entire assembly of the
Israelites in the wilderness, no one felt his own particular weakness as
much as he, the greatest one of that assembly. In every task, in every
place and in every moment, he expected help only from God. "What shall I
do?" he cried to God, and he ceaselessly listened for God's reply and
sought God's power. "Meek above all men on earth." For all the others
considered themselves as being something, trusted themselves as being
something, but he-nothing. He was completely absorbed in God, completely
humbled before God. If the people needed to be fed and given drink, he
turned to God; if it was necessary to do battle with his enemies, he
raised his hands to heaven; if it was necessary to calm an uprising among
the people, he cried to God. The meek, the all-meek Moses! And God
rewarded his faithful servant with great glory and made him worthy to
appear on Mount Tabor with Elias alongside the Lord Savior.
O Lord, the
God of the meek, the Good Shepherd, make us also meek like Moses and the
apostles.
December
30th (New Style) • December 17th (Old Style)
Holy
Prophet Daniel and the Three Children: Ananias, Azarias and Misael
All four
were of the royal tribe of Judah. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed and
plundered Jerusalem, Daniel, as a boy, was carried away into slavery
together with the Jewish King Jehoiachim and countless other Israelites.
An account of his life, sufferings and prophecies can be found in detail
in his book. Completely devoted to God, St. Daniel from his early youth
received from God the gift of great discernment. His fame among the Jews
in Babylon began when he denounced two lecherous and unrighteous elders,
Jewish judges, and saved the chaste Susanna from an unjust death. But his
fame among the Babylonians began from the day he deciphered and
interpreted the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. For this, the king made him
a prince at his court. When the king made a golden idol on the Plain of
Dura, the Three Children refused to worship it, and for this they were
cast into a fiery furnace. But an angel of God appeared in the furnace and
cooled the fire so that the children walked around the furnace unharmed by
the fire, singing: Blessed art Thou, Lord God of our fathers
(Daniel 3:26). The king saw this miracle and was amazed. He then brought
the children out of the furnace and bestowed upon them great honors.
In the time of King Belshazzar, when the king was eating and drinking with
his guests at a banquet from consecrated vessels taken from the Temple in
Jerusalem, an invisible hand wrote three words on the wall: Mene, Tekel,
Upharsin (Daniel 5:25-28). No one was able to interpret these words
except Daniel. That night, King Belshazzar was killed. Daniel was twice
thrown into the lions' den because of his faith in the One, Living God,
and both times the Lord saved him and he remained alive. Daniel beheld God
on a throne with the heavenly hosts; saw angels; discerned the future of
certain people, of kingdoms, and of the whole human race; and prophesied
the time of the coming of the Savior on earth. According to St. Cyril of
Alexandria, Daniel and the three children lived to old age in Babylon and
were beheaded for the true Faith. When they beheaded Ananias, Azarias
stretched out his cloak and caught his head; following this, Misael caught
Azarias's head and Daniel caught Misael's head. An angel of the God
translated their bodies to Judea, to Mount Gebal, and placed them under a
rock. According to tradition, these four God-pleasers arose at the time of
the death of the Lord Christ, appeared to many and again fell asleep.
Daniel is numbered among the four great prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and Daniel). He lived and prophesied five hundred years before
Christ.
Venerable
Daniel (Dunale)
Daniel was a
nobleman and governor of the island of Nivertum near Cadiz in Spain.
Realizing the vanity of this world, he renounced both honors and riches
and went to Rome, where he was tonsured a monk. After this, he went to
Constantinople, where he spoke with the Emperors Constantine and Romanus
Porphyrogenitus, and then he set off for Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, he
received the great schema at the hands of Patriarch Christodoulus, who
gave him the name Stephen. Mistreated by the Saracens, who forced him to
shave off his beard, he withdrew to Egypt, where he endured much suffering
and finally died for the name of Christ. He took up his habitation in the
Kingdom of Christ toward the end of the tenth century.
Venerable
New Martyrs Paisius and Habakkuk
Paisius was
abbot of the Travna Monastery near Čačak in Serbia, and Habakkuk was his
companion and deacon. As Christians, both were impaled on stakes by the
Turks on Kalemegdan in Belgrade on December 17, 1814. Carrying his stake
through the streets of Belgrade, the courageous Habakkuk sang. When his
mother begged him with tears to embrace Islam in order to save his life,
this wonderful soldier of Christ replied to her:
My mother, thank you for your milk,
But for your counsel I thank you not:
A Serb is Christ's; he rejoices in death.
Reflection
Bodily
purity is primarily attained by fasting, and, through bodily purity,
spiritual purity is also attained. Abstinence from food, according to the
words of that son of grace, St. Ephraim the Syrian, means: "Not to desire
or ask for various foods, either sweet or costly; not to eat anything
outside the designated time; not to succumb to the spirit of gluttony; not
to excite hunger in oneself by looking at good food; and not to desire at
one moment one kind of food and at another moment another kind of food."
Great is the fallacy that fasting and Lenten food harm the health of the
body. It is a known fact that the ascetics lived the longest and were the
least prone to illness. St. Daniel and the Three Children in Babylon offer
us an example of this. When the king ordered his eunuch to feed these
young men food from the royal table and to give them good wine to drink,
Daniel told the eunuch that they did not want to accept the royal food and
wine but wanted only vegetables for food (for Daniel did not want to eat
the food sprinkled with the blood of the idolatrous sacrifices). The
eunuch, fearing that the youths would be weakened by the fasting foods,
related his fear to Daniel. Then the prophet suggested that he make a test
and convince himself that the fasting food would not weaken them: to
nourish the other youths at the royal court with food from the king's
table, and to feed the four of them only on pulse for the course of ten
days, and then make a comparison. The eunuch heeded Daniel and did what he
suggested. After ten days, the faces of the four ascetic youths were more
radiant and their bodies were stronger than the bodies of the Babylonian
youths who ate and drank from the king's table.
Contemplation
Contemplate
the hospitality and confession of Abraham (Genesis 18):
1. How Abraham saw three men (angels) approaching and ran out to meet
them, invited them to his home and entertained them;
2. How he prayed to God to spare Sodom for the sake of the righteous who
were in that city.
Homily
On Joshua the son of Nun
Turn not
from it to the right hand or to the left … be not afraid, neither be
thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest
(Joshua 1:7, 9).
Joshua the
son of Nun obeyed the Lord in everything to the end, not turning either to
the right or to the left of the Lord's commandments. He was surrounded by
great horrors and fears while leading the people through an unknown land
and through thick ranks of enemies, but he was neither afraid nor
dismayed. He considered himself the weapon of God, and knew that his
battles were God's battles. As a faithful soldier obeys the commands of
his commander, so Joshua listened for and hearkened to the will of the
Living God. He did not ascribe any good thing, any power, any merit to
himself, but he ascribed all to God and only to God. He did not depend in
the least on his own army, his own weapons and his own wisdom, but he
depended on God and only on God, the Almighty and All-wise. See, brethren,
with what sort of men God walks. Oh, if only Christian rulers and
commanders could see this and learn from God's servant Joshua how to serve
God! Oh, if they would understand, once and for all, that the people are
best served when God is served; and that the people cannot be served if
God is not served! The Lord God fulfilled His promise and was with Joshua
the son of Nun to the end of his labors and life. And that the Lord was
with him is shown by the great and awesome miracles that He manifested
through His faithful servant. God divided the river Jordan so that the
people crossed over on dry land without a bridge; God made the walls of
Jericho fall at the sound of the trumpet; God delivered powerful enemies
into the hands of the Israelites; God caused the sun to stand still over
Gibeon and the moon to stand still over the valley of Ajalon. Truly, never
and nowhere did God forsake His servant Joshua, for Joshua did not leave
unfulfilled a single commandment of God. A witness of the Living God and a
type of the Savior of the world, when he was old and stricken in years, he
instructed his people as God had taught him in the beginning: Turn not
aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left … but cleave unto the
Lord your God (Joshua 23:6, 8).
O Lord
Jesus, Son of God, Who showed most glorious wonders through Joshua, the
son of Nun, Thy faithful servant, strengthen and encourage us that we not
turn away from Thee, either to the right or to the left, for the sake of
Thy glory and our salvation.
December
31st (New Style) • December 18th (Old Style)
Holy
Martyr Sebastian and those with him
This
glorious saint was born in Italy and brought up in the city of Milan.
While still young, he dedicated himself to military service. Being
educated, handsome and courageous, he received the favor of Emperor
Diocletian, who appointed him captain of his imperial guard. Secretly he
confessed the Christian Faith and prayed to the Living God. As an
honorable, just and merciful man, Sebastian was greatly beloved by his
soldiers. Whenever he could, he saved Christians from torture and death,
and, when he was unable to do so, he exhorted them to die for Christ the
Living God without turning back. Two brothers, Marcus and Marcellinus, who
had been imprisoned for Christ and were already on the verge of denouncing
Him and worshiping idols, were confirmed in the Faith by Sebastian, who
strengthened them for martyrdom. As he spoke with them, encouraging them
not to fear death for Christ, his face was illumined. Everyone saw his
shining face, like that of an angel of God. Sebastian also confirmed his
words by miracles: he healed Zoe, the jailer Nicostratus's wife, who had
been mute for six years; he brought her, Nicostratus and his entire
household to baptism; he healed the two ailing sons of Claudius the
commander and brought him and his household to baptism; he healed
Tranquillinus, the father of Marcus and Marcellinus, of gout and pains in
his legs which had troubled him for eleven years, and brought him to
baptism together with his entire household; he healed the Roman eparch
Chromatius of the same illness and brought him and his son Tiburtius to
baptism. The first of them to suffer was St. Zoe, whom they seized at the
tomb of the Apostle Peter, where she was praying to God. After torturing
her, they threw her into the Tiber River. They then seized Tiburtius, and
the judge placed live coals before him, telling him to choose between life
and death, that is, either to cast incense on the coals and to cense the
idols or to stand barefoot on the hot coals. St. Tiburtius made the sign
of the Cross, stood barefoot on the hot coals, and remained unharmed.
After this, he was beheaded. Nicostratus was killed with a stake,
Tranquillinus was drowned, and Marcus and Marcellinus were tortured and
pierced with spears. Then Sebastian was brought before Emperor Diocletian.
The emperor rebuked him for his betrayal, but Sebastian said: "I have
always prayed to my Christ for your health and for the peace of the Roman
Empire." The emperor ordered that he be stripped naked and shot through
with arrows. The soldiers shot him through with arrows until the martyr
was so completely covered with arrows that his body was not seen because
of them. When all thought that he was dead, he appeared alive and
completely healthy. Then the pagans killed him with staves. He suffered
gloriously for Christ his Lord and took up his habitation in the Kingdom
of Christ in the year 287 at the time of Diocletian the Emperor and Gaius
the Bishop of Rome.
Saint
Florus, Bishop of Amisus
Florus lived
at the time of the Emperors Justin II and Maurice (565-602). He was the
son of nobles. He renounced the commotion and vanity of the world and
withdrew to a monastery in order to live a life of asceticism for the
salvation of his soul. Later he was chosen bishop of the town of Amisus in
the province of Cappadocia. And as an ascetic and a hierarch, Florus
pleased God, and he peacefully took up his habitation in the Kingdom of
God.
Saint
Modestus, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Modestus was
only five months old when his parents died, but by God's providence he was
brought up in the spirit of Christianity. When he became an adult, he was
sold as a slave to a pagan in Egypt. However, he succeeded in converting
his master to the Christian Faith, and his master granted him freedom.
Modestus withdrew to Mount Sinai, where he lived a life of asceticism
until the age of fifty-nine. He was then chosen as Patriarch of Jerusalem
and fed the flock of Christ as a true shepherd. He entered peacefully into
rest in the year 633, at the age of ninety-seven.
Reflection
In this
life, man is given a choice: either the earthly kingdom or the Kingdom of
Heaven. God imposes no pressure on this choice, but each one freely
decides. When the brothers Marcus and Marcellinus were condemned to death,
the pagan judge allowed them a month to contemplate either renouncing
Christ and His Kingdom or being put to death. Then their kinsmen came to
the prison with one kind of advice, and St. Sebastian with another. The
kinsmen wept and implored them to do as the judge willed and to spare
their youth. Their tearful father showed them his gray hairs and his
infirmity; their mother swore by the food of her breasts by which she
nourished them; their children wept around them. In essence, all of them
proposed that they should renounce the Heavenly Kingdom for the sake of
the earthly kingdom, but St. Sebastian counseled them to the contrary,
saying: "O courageous soldiers of Christ, do you want to lose the eternal
wreath for the sake of the flattery of your kinsmen? Do you want to
relinquish the victorious banner for the sake of women's tears? This life
is transient; it is so unstable and unfaithful that it can never save even
those who love it. What is this life worth even if one lives for a hundred
years? When the last day arrives, do not all our past years and all
earthly delights seem as though they had never existed? It is indeed
unreasonable to fear to lose this quickly passing life, when one will
receive that eternal life in which delights, riches and rejoicing begin
and never end, remaining eternal to the ages of ages. Remember the Lord's
words: A man's foes shall be they of his own household." With
these and many other words, St. Sebastian prevailed. The holy martyrs
loved the Kingdom of Heaven more than the earthly kingdom, and they
joyfully went to their deaths for Christ.
Contemplation
Contemplate
Joseph's chastity (Genesis 39):
1. How Potiphar's lustful wife urged Joseph to sin;
2. How Joseph rejected her out of fear of God and respect for his master;
3. How the woman grabbed his garment, but he left the garment and fled
naked with his holy soul.
Homily
On Ruth
Thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God … naught but death shall
part thee and me (Ruth 1:16,17).
These are
wonderful words, whether they are spoken by a son to a father, a daughter
to a mother, or a wife to a husband. But they are three times more
wonderful when a daughter-in-law says them to her mother-in-law. Blessed
Ruth spoke these words to Naomi, her sorrowful mother-in-law. When both of
Naomi's sons died in the land of Moab, where they lived as immigrants, the
aged mother wanted to return to Bethlehem, her native land, and there to
lay her bones to rest. And Naomi, noble in her grief, counseled her young
daughters-in-law to remain in their own land and to remarry. Orpah
remained, but Ruth said: Naught but death shall part thee and me. Behold
a most beautiful example of how a mother-in-law can tenderly love her
daughters-in-law, and again how a daughter-in-law can be wholeheartedly
devoted to her mother-in-law. But in Bethlehem someone had to feed these
two souls. Who would feed them? God and the diligent hands of Ruth. Let
me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn (Ruth 2:2), said the
daughter-in-law to the mother-in-law. And Naomi replied: Go, my
daughter (Ruth 2:3). In a strange field, with strange reapers, she had
to glean the ears of grain. That was not only toil but also shame.
However, Ruth took upon herself both toil and shame out of love for her
aged mother-in-law. The All-seeing God saw these two sweet souls and
rejoiced. Their Creator rejoiced and rewarded and glorified them, as only
He knows how to reward and glorify those who fear Him. And God, in His
providence, provided that Ruth should enter the field of the wealthy Boaz
to gather the gleaned ears of grain, and Boaz saw Ruth and asked Naomi for
her hand in marriage. Of this marriage was born Obed, the father of Jesse
and grandfather of David the King. So it was that Ruth had humbled herself
to being a beggar but God made her the ancestress of the great king
(David), from whom came many kings and finally the King of kings, our Lord
Jesus Christ.
O All-seeing
and Gracious Lord, how wonderful art Thou in Thy providence toward the
righteous and the merciful. Do Thou guide us also and have mercy on us.
January
1st (New Style) • December 19th (Old Style)
Holy
Martyr Boniface
Martyrdom
for Christ makes a saint out of a sinner. The example of St. Boniface
shows this. At first, he was a servant in Rome to a wealthy and immoral
woman, Aglaida, and had impure and unlawful relations with her. They were
both pagans. Once, Aglaida desired to have the relics of a martyr in her
house as an amulet to protect against evil, so she sent her servant to
Asia to find and purchase what she desired. Boniface took several slaves
with him and a large amount of money. Before parting with Aglaida, he said
to her: "If I cannot find a martyr, but instead they bring you back my
body martyred for Christ, will you receive it with honor, my lady?"
Aglaida laughed and called him a drunkard and a sinner, and then they
parted. Coming to the city of Tarsus, Boniface saw many Christians
undergoing torture: some with their legs cut off, others with their hands
severed, others with their eyes plucked out, still others on the gallows,
and so forth. Boniface's heart was changed, and he repented of his sinful
life and wept. He cried out among the Christian martyrs: "I too am a
Christian!" The judge took him for interrogation and ordered that he be
harshly flogged, then that boiling lead be poured into his mouth,
and-since this did him no harm-that he be beheaded. The slaves then took
his body and carried it to Rome. An angel of God appeared to Aglaida and
said: "Receive the one who was once your slave but now is our brother and
fellow servant; he is the guardian of your soul and the protector of your
life." The awestruck Aglaida came out to meet them, received the body of
Boniface, built a church for him, and placed the relics of the martyr in
it. She then repented, gave away her goods to the poor, withdrew from the
world, and lived for fifteen more years in bitter repentance. St. Boniface
suffered in the year 290.
Saint
Gregory (Grigentius), Bishop of Omir
At first,
Gregory was a deacon in a church in Mediolanum (Milan) and had many
visions. By God's providence he was taken to Alexandria. There Patriarch
Proterius, according to a heavenly revelation, consecrated him bishop of
the land of Omir in southern Arabia, which St. Elesbaan the King (October
24) had just freed from the tyranny of Dunaan the Jew. He was a good
shepherd and great miracle-worker. He organized the Church in Omir with
the help of the Christ-loving King Abramius, built many churches, and
baptized many Jews. By his prayers he performed great and awesome
miracles, even bringing about a revelation of Christ the Lord before the
unbelieving Jews, which led to their baptism. He governed the Church for
thirty years and entered peacefully into life eternal in the year 552.
Saint
Boniface the Merciful, Bishop of Ferentino
From his
childhood, Boniface was unusually kind, so much so that his mother scolded
him for this. However, aided by prayer, Boniface received a hundredfold
from the Lord. He died peacefully in Italy in the sixth century.
Venerable
Elias of Murom
Elias was a
monk of the Monastery of the Kiev Caves. He died in the year 1188, and his
incorrupt relics are miracle-working. Even until now, three fingers on his
right hand remain placed together for prayer, showing that he died at
prayer. This is a reproach to those who do not make the sign of the Cross
with three fingers.
Reflection
Can faith
move mountains? (Matthew 17:20). Without a doubt it can, and it can do
even more than that: by faith, God Himself can be moved to mercy toward us
sinners. In the Omirian town of Safar, the majority of the inhabitants
were Jews. St. Gregory endeavored to convert them to Christianity. Then
the Jews suggested to St. Gregory and to King Abramis that they should
have a debate about faith with the assurance that if they (the Jews) were
defeated then all of them would enter the Christian Faith. This debate
lasted several days in the presence of several thousand people, both Jews
and Christians. The Jews, seeing that they would be defeated by Gregory's
irrefutable reasons and proofs, sought from Gregory that, in some way, he
show them Christ alive so that they might see Him with their own eyes and
then they would believe. Having great boldness before the Lord because of
the purity of his heart, St. Gregory knelt facing east and, before
everyone, began to pray to God. When he had finished his prayer, the earth
quaked, thunder clapped, and the heavens opened in the east. A cloud,
glowing with a flaming fire and shining rays, moved from the east and then
slowly descended to the earth toward that place where the assembly of
people had gathered. In the midst of the cloud there stood a man of
inexpressible beauty, with a face of extraordinary brightness and in a
vesture that appeared to be woven of lightning. He moved upon the cloud
until He came over Bishop Gregory himself. Everyone saw Him in
unsurpassable glory and beauty, and in fear fell to the ground on their
faces. Gregory cried out: "One is Holy, One is the Lord, Jesus Christ, to
the glory of God the Father. Amen." At this, there came a voice to the
Jews from the Lord's glory: "For the sake of the bishop's prayers, He Who
was crucified by your fathers heals you." And the shining cloud moved away
as slowly as it came. After that, the Jews were baptized.
Contemplation
Contemplate
the humility of Moses before God:
1. How Moses always emphasized God and never himself;
2. How he looked for all strength, for all good, and for all help from God
only, and not from anyone else;
3. How, in all labor, he humbly turned to God for help and leadership.
Homily
On Samuel
For
this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I
asked of Him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he
liveth he shall be lent to the Lord (I Samuel 1:27-28).
Besought of
God and dedicated to God, Samuel was a prophet and leader of the people of
Israel. The blessed Hannah, his childless mother, besought him from God
with tears and sacrifices. And she gave him, her one and only greatest
blessing, to the service of the Lord from his infancy. A wise mother does
not consider her children as her own, but rather as God's. They are God's
both when God gives them and when He takes them, but they are mostly God's
when a mother herself dedicates them to Him. God's gift is returned to Him
as a reciprocal gift, for we have nothing of our own to give to Him but
only that which we receive from Him. The young Samuel lived in the Temple
among the iniquitous sons of Eli the high priest, and he did not become
corrupt. The Lord would not reveal Himself to the sinful elders, but He
appeared to this pure child: for Samuel did the will of God, and did
let none of his words fall to the ground (I Samuel 3:19). Samuel was a
judge of the people of Israel from his youth to old age and committed
nothing wrong either before God or before the people. God gave him the
power to prophesy and work miracles. He defeated all of God's enemies and
the enemies of the people, and he anointed two kings, Saul and David. When
he grew old, he called the people together and asked them if he had ever
committed any violence against anyone or accepted a bribe from anyone. And
the people replied with one voice: Thou hast not defrauded us, nor
oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand (I
Samuel 12:4). Behold, such a man was he, who was given by God and given to
God as a reciprocal gift, and who grew up with the blessing of God and the
blessing of his mother. Let mothers benefit from the example of the
blessed Hannah; let judges and rulers of the people benefit from the
example of the righteous Samuel.
O Holy and
Most-holy Lord, gracious and most gracious, open our souls to see Thy
holiness and Thy goodness, that we may repent of our evils.
January
2nd (New Style) • December 20th (Old Style)
Hieromartyr
Ignatius the God-bearer
This holy
man is called "the God-bearer" because he constantly bore the name of the
Living God in his heart and on his lips. According to tradition, he was
thus named because he was held in the arms of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ.
On a day when the Lord was teaching His disciples humility, He took a
child and placed him among them, saying: Whosoever therefore shall
humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven (Matthew 18:4). This child was Ignatius. Later, Ignatius was
a disciple of St. John the Theologian, together with Polycarp, Bishop of
Smyrna. As Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius governed the Church of God as a
good shepherd and was the first to introduce antiphonal chanting in the
Church, in which two choirs alternate the chanting. This manner of
chanting was revealed to St. Ignatius by the angels in heaven. When
Emperor Trajan was passing through Antioch on his way to do battle with
the Persians, he heard of Ignatius, summoned him and counseled him to
offer sacrifice to the idols. If Ignatius would do so, Trajan would bestow
upon him the rank of senator. As the counsels and threats of the emperor
were in vain, St. Ignatius was shackled in irons and sent to Rome in the
company of ten merciless soldiers, to be thrown to the wild beasts.
Ignatius rejoiced in suffering for his Lord, only praying to God that the
wild beasts would become the tomb for his body and that no one would
prevent him from this death. After a long and difficult journey from Asia
through Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus, Ignatius arrived in Rome, where he
was thrown to the lions in the circus. The lions tore him to pieces and
devoured him, leaving only several of the larger bones and his heart. This
glorious lover of the Lord Christ suffered in the year 106 in Rome at the
time of the Christ-hating Emperor Trajan. Ignatius has appeared many times
from the other world and worked miracles, even to this day helping all who
call upon him for help.
Saint
Danilo, Archbishop of Serbia
Danilo was
the son of wealthy and God-loving parents. In his youth he was given a
good upbringing. King Milutin took him to his court, but out of great love
for God he fled and was tonsured a monk in the Monastery of Končulsk near
the Ibar. Later, he was the abbot of the Monastery of Hilandar (Mount
Athos) and suffered much from the plundering Latin Crusaders. He was the
Bishop of Banja, then of Hum, and finally the Archbishop of Serbia. From
beginning to end, he was a strict ascetic and had the special gift of
tears. He made peace between Kings Dragutin and Milutin, and later between
Milutin and Stefan of Dečani. He fought fervently against the Latins as
well as the Bogomils. Under his supervision, the Monasteries of Banja and
Dečani were built, and he restored and built many other churches. He
wrote the genealogy of the Serbian kings and saints. Untiring in his
service to God to the end of his life, he entered peacefully into rest on
the night between the nineteenth and twentieth of December, 1338, during
the reign of Tsar Du
an. Danilo was a great hierarch, a great ascetic, a great laborer and a
great patriot.
Reflection
The holy
martyrs, seized with the love of Christ, were like unquenchable flames.
This love eased their sufferings and made their deaths sweet. St.
Chrysostom says of St. Ignatius: "He put off his body with as much ease as
one takes off his clothes." Traveling to Rome to his death, Ignatius
feared only one thing: that Christians would somehow prevent his martyrdom
for Christ, by their prayers to God or in some outward manner. Therefore
he continually implored them, in writing and in speech, not to do this. "Forgive
me," he said. "I know what is for my benefit. I but begin to be a disciple
of Christ when I desire nothing, either visible or invisible, save to
attain Christ. May every diabolical torture come upon me: fire,
crucifixion, wild beasts, the sword, tearing asunder, the crushing of my
bones, and the dismemberment of my whole body-only that I may receive
Jesus Christ. It is better for me to die for Christ than to reign to the
ends of the earth…. My love is nailed to the Cross, and there is no fire
of love in me for any earthly thing." When he was brought to the circus,
he turned to the people with these words: "Citizens of Rome, know that I
am not being punished for any crime, neither have I been condemned to
death for any transgression, but rather for the sake of my God, by Whose
love I am overcome and Whom I insatiably desire. I am His wheat, and the
teeth of the wild beasts will grind me to be His pure bread." When he had
been devoured by the wild beasts, by God's providence his heart remained
among the bones. When the unbelievers cut open the saint's heart, they saw
inside, inscribed in golden letters, the name Jesus Christ.
Contemplation
Contemplate
the courage of Joshua the son of Nun:
1. How Joshua held unswervingly to all the Lord's commandments;
2. How, with faith in God's help, he courageously entered into every
battle against the enemies of his people;
3. How he was victorious everywhere and ascribed all his victories to God.
Homily
On David
And
David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord (II Samuel
12:13).
My
tears have been my food day and night (Psalm 42:3).
King David
sinned against God and repented, and God forgave him. The king's sin was
great, but greater still was his repentance. He was guilty before God of
two grave sins: adultery and murder. But when Nathan the prophet of God
denounced him, he cried out in anguish: I have sinned against the Lord!
Thus he confessed his sin and repented bitterly, most bitterly.
Grief-stricken, he prayed to God, weeping, fasting, lying on the ground,
and enduring meekly the terrible blows that God sent upon him, his house
and his people because of his sins. In his penitential Psalms he says: I
am a worm and not a man (Psalm 22:6); Because of the sound of my
groaning, my bones cling to my flesh (Psalm 102:5); I lie awake …
for I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping
(Psalm 102:7, 9); My knees are grown weak through fasting (Psalm
109:24). Here is true repentance; here is a true penitent! He did not
become hardened in sin nor did he fall into despair, but, hoping in the
mercy of God, he repented unceasingly. And God, Who loves the penitent,
showed mercy upon this model of penitence. God forgave him and glorified
him above all the kings of Israel; He gave him the great grace to compose
the most beautiful penitential prayers and to prophesy the coming into the
world of the Holy Savior, Who would be of his seed. Brethren, do you see
how wonderful is God's mercy toward penitents? So much mercy did God have
on this repentant David that He was not ashamed to take upon Himself flesh
from David's seed. Blessed are they who do not become hardened in sin and
who do not fall into despair because of sin. Repentance saves both the one
and the other from evil.
O Merciful
Lord, soften our hearts with tears of repentance.
January
3rd (New Style) • December 21st (Old Style)
Holy
Martyr Juliana and 630 Martyrs with her
This
glorious virgin and martyr was born in Nicomedia of pagan parents. Hearing
the Gospel preached, she turned to Christ with all her heart and began to
live in exact observance of the Lord's commandments. Eleusius, a senator,
was her betrothed. In order to turn him away, Juliana told him that she
would marry him only if he became the eparch of that city. She suggested
this to him, thinking that this young man would never attain such a high
position. Nevertheless, Eleusius tried and, by flattery and bribery,
attained the post of Eparch of Nicomedia. Juliana then revealed to him
that she was a Christian and could not enter into marriage with him until
he embraced her Faith, saying: "What does it benefit us to be united
physically but divided spiritually?" Embittered by this, Eleusius
denounced her to her father. The enraged father scorned her, beat her, and
then handed her over to the eparch for torture. The eparch ordered that
they severely beat her, then she was cast into prison, all wounded and
bloody. However, the Lord healed her in prison, and she appeared before
the eparch completely well. He then threw her into a glowing furnace but
the fire did not burn her. Seeing this miracle, many believed in Christ
God. Five hundred men and one hundred and thirty women were converted. The
eparch condemned them all to death and ordered them all to be beheaded.
Thus their souls entered Paradise. Then the wicked judge condemned holy
Juliana to be beheaded. With a joyful spirit, Juliana went out to the
place of execution, prayed to God on her knees, and placed her head on the
block. Her head was severed and her soul went to the Kingdom of Christ's
eternal light in the year 304. God's punishment quickly befell Eleusius:
as he was sailing on the sea, his ship broke up and he fell into the
water. He did not find death in the water, but swam to an island, where
dogs tore him to pieces and devoured him.
Saint
Peter the Wonderworker, Metropolitan of Russia
Peter was
born in the province of Volhynia and embraced the monastic life at the age
of twelve. He was a wonderful ascetic and iconographer. He founded a
monastery on the river Rata and became its abbot. Against his will, he was
appointed Metropolitan of Kiev and consecrated in Constantinople by
Patriarch Athanasius. As metropolitan, he endured much at the hands of the
envious and the heretics. He governed the Church for eighteen years as a
good and zealous shepherd. During his lifetime he built a crypt for
himself in the Church of the Dormition, where his holy and miracle-working
relics repose even today. He entered into rest in the year 1326 and went
to his true homeland.
Holy
Martyr Themistocles
As a
shepherd, the young Themistocles tended sheep in a field near the city of
Myra in Lycia. At that time the persecutors of Christians were pursuing
St. Dioscorides, and they came upon Themistocles in the field. They asked
him if he saw the one being pursued and if he knew where he was hiding.
Themistocles, although he knew, refused to say, but instead declared
himself a Christian. He was tortured and beheaded at the time of Decius in
the year 251.
Reflection
Whoever
climbs to the Kingdom of Christ must encounter obstacles, and these
obstacles are numerous and varied. Especially dangerous are the evils of
the demons. Therefore, every man zealous for the spiritual life must be
especially cautious and not accept every shining vision from the other
world as a divine revelation. That even the devil is able to appear as an
angel of light is shown in the life of the Holy Martyr Juliana. When this
holy virgin lay in prison, the devil appeared to her in angelic light, and
he counseled her to offer sacrifice to the idols so as to end her
tortures. The frightened Juliana asked: "Who are you?" The devil replied: "I
am an angel of God! God is greatly concerned about you. Therefore, He sent
me with the message that you should submit to the eparch, so that your
body will not be destroyed by pain; the Lord is gracious and will forgive
you because of the weakness of your wounded body." The martyr was
horrified at these words. Confused, she fell down in tears in prayer to
God, asking Him to reveal who had spoken with her. Then a voice from
heaven came to her: "Be brave, Juliana, I am with you; I give you
authority and power over him who came to you, and from him alone will you
discover who he is." And the devil was bound and forced to acknowledge
that he was the same one who had deceived Eve in Paradise, who had told
Cain to murder Abel, Herod to slaughter the children of Bethlehem, the
Jews to stone Stephen, Nero to crucify Peter upside down and to behead
Paul, and so forth. Thus, this holy virgin, girded with the power of God,
did not allow herself to be deluded by the evil spirit, but she defeated
him by her vigilant and ardent prayers to God.
Contemplation
Contemplate
David's repentance:
1. How King David did not sin while he was a shepherd and a simple
subject;
2. How, as king, he sinned against God;
3. How he immediately recognized his sin, confessed it and repented
bitterly.
Homily
On Elias the Prophet
As the
Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor
rain these years but according to my word (I Kings 17:1).
These words
are terrible sounding to every mortal ear, for a man spoke them, a man subject
to like passions as we are (James 5:17). You ask yourselves, brethren,
how can a mortal man shut up the heavens and stop the rain? But ask
yourselves: how can a mortal man open the heavens and bring down rain upon
the parched ground? We know that even now God opens the heavens and gives
rain at the prayers of men: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22), says our Savior.
As Moses, by living faith and prayer, worked awesome miracles in Egypt and
in the wilderness, as Joshua the son of Nun held back the course of the
sun, so also God's prophet Elias shut and opened the heavens, brought down
fire from heaven, and worked other mighty and awesome miracles all through
faith and prayer. God gave Elias the power to work such miracles, for
Elias was zealous for the glory of God and not for his own glory: I
have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts (I Kings 19:14). This
man of God sought nothing for himself but sought everything for God. God
was everything to him: all glory, all strength, all good. Therefore, God
crowned him with immortal glory, awesome might, and treasure which does
not decay and which moths do not corrupt. God did not permit Elias to die
but took him to heaven as he did Enoch. St. Elias had a soul as pure as
the morning dew, a body as chaste as a child's, and a heart and mind as
blameless as that of an angel of God. Therefore, he was and remains a
vessel of God's power. He worked wonders then and works them today.
O Living
Lord, the God of Thy Prophet Elias, Who hast adopted us through baptism by
Thy holy grace: enkindle also in us the faith and zeal of Thy holy
prophet.
January
4th (New Style) • December 22nd (Old Style)
Holy
Great-Martyr Anastasia the Deliverer from Bonds, and others with her
This
glorious heroine of the Christian Faith was born in Rome into a wealthy
senatorial family of a pagan father and a Christian mother. From her early
youth, she clung in love to the Lord Jesus, guided in the teaching of
Christ by a devout teacher, Chrysogonus. Anastasia was forced by her
father to enter into marriage with a pagan landowner, Publius. Excusing
herself on the basis of a female illness, she in no way wished to enter
into physical relations with him. For this, her husband tortured her
harshly by confinement and starvation. He inflicted even more tortures
upon her when he learned of her secret visits to the prisons of the
Christian martyrs: bringing them provisions, ministering to them, bathing
their wounds and loosening their bonds. But by God's providence she was
freed from her wicked husband. Publius was sent to Persia by the emperor,
and while sailing on the sea he was drowned. St. Anastasia then began to
minister freely to the tortured Christian martyrs and to comfort the poor,
giving them alms from her great inheritance. At one time the Emperor
Diocletian was in the town of Aquileia and ordered that Chrysogonus, the
confessor of Christ, be brought to him. St. Anastasia accompanied him on
the way. Holy Chrysogonus was beheaded by order of the emperor, and then
three sisters-Agape, Chionia and Irene-also suffered (April 16): the first
two were cast into fire and the third was shot through with arrows. St.
Anastasia took their bodies, wrapped them in white linen, anointed them
with many aromatic spices, and honorably buried them. Following this,
Anastasia went to Macedonia, where she helped the sufferers for Christ.
There she became well known as a Christian, for which she was seized and
brought before various judges for interrogation and torture. Desiring to
die for her beloved Christ, Anastasia constantly longed for Him in her
heart. A certain chief of the pagan priests, Ulpianus, lustfully tried to
touch St. Anastasia's body, but he was suddenly blinded and breathed his
last. Condemned to death by starvation, St. Anastasia lingered in prison
for thirty days without food, nourishing herself only on tears and prayer.
Then she was placed in a boat with several other Christians to be drowned,
but God delivered her even from this death. She was finally tied by the
feet and hands to four wheels over a fire, and she gave up her holy soul
to God. She suffered and took up her habitation in the Kingdom of Christ
in the year 304.
Holy
Martyr Theodota with her three children
Being left a
young widow with three children, Theodota gave herself completely to the
service of God and the rearing of her children in devout faith. St.
Anastasia lived with her when she was in Macedonia, and together they
visited the Christian prisoners in the jails. Brought to trial, Theodota
boldly confessed Christ the Lord. Then she was sent to Nicetas, the
proconsul of Bithynia. When a shameless pagan tried to touch her body, he
immediately saw an angel of God beside her and was struck by the angel.
Condemned to death and cast into a fiery furnace together with her three
children, St. Theodota honorably ended her earthly life and entered into
the Kingdom of Eternal Glory.
Reflection
The merciful
God often sends comfort to those pleasing to Him on earth from the other
world through his saints. St. Theodota suffered for Christ before St.
Anastasia. Anastasia was then cast into a confined and dark prison to die
of hunger, according to the judgment of the torturers. During the thirty
days of her imprisonment, St. Theodota appeared to Anastasia every night
from the other world and strengthened her in her suffering. Anastasia
spoke of many things with St. Theodota and asked numerous questions. One
night she asked her how she was able to come to her after her death.
Theodota replied that the souls of the martyrs are given special grace
from God, so that after departing this world they may return to speak to
whomever they desire for the imparting of instruction and comfort. When
thirty days had passed, the torturer brought St. Anastasia out of prison
and was amazed to see her still alive. He then condemned her, along with
several others, to be drowned in the sea. The Christians were put into a
small boat by the soldiers, who set sail in another. When the Christians
were brought out into the deep, the soldiers upset the boat, so that the
water would enter and drown the condemned. Then a miraculous vision took
place: St. Theodota appeared on the water and guided the boat to shore.
Thus, all who were condemned to death were saved with Anastasia. Seeing
this miracle of God, one hundred and twenty pagans immediately believed in
Christ and were baptized.
Contemplation
Contemplate
David's sufferings because of sin:
1. How misfortune arose in David's house: one of his sons rose up against
the other, and a brother against his sister;
2. How Absalom initiated a war against his father David;
3. How misfortune befell the entire people because of the king's sin.
Homily
On long-suffering Job
The Lord
gave and the Lord hath taken away (Job 1:21).
Brethren,
let the righteous one fear nothing; all shall be well with him. The whole
of Sacred Scripture shows us that God will never forsake the righteous.
The example of Job shows us this as clearly as the sun. Job had seven sons
and three daughters; he had riches, respect among the people, and friends.
And he lost all of this in one day. He did not grumble against God but fell
down upon the ground and worshiped and said, Naked came I out of my
mother's womb and naked shall I return thither (Job 1:20-21). Then Job
lost his health, the last of what he had, and his entire body, from the
top of his head to the heels of his feet, was covered with sores and pus.
And Job sat in ashes and lifted up praise to God. His wife tried to
persuade him to renounce his God, but righteous Job said to her: Shall
we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job
2:10). His friends reproached him, saying that he was sinful and proud in
his understanding and righteousness before them, but Job humbly prayed to
God and patiently endured all his wounds and misfortunes.
It happens
today, as it did then, that when some misfortune befalls us, our neighbors
consider themselves to be more intelligent and more righteous than we are.
But the most wise God permitted all these misfortunes to fall on Job in
order to test not only Job His servant but also his kinsmen and his
friends. When each of them had shown what kind of person he was, when each
of them had been tested before God, then God, with His almighty right
hand, restored Job to health, returned twice as much wealth as He had
taken away, and gave him again seven sons and three daughters.
He who has
strong faith, brethren, has clear spiritual sight, so that he can see the
finger of God in his prosperity as well as in his suffering. He who has
strong faith also has great patience in suffering. When God gives to him,
he gives thanks, and when God takes away, he blesses: Blessed be the
name of the Lord (Job 1:21).
O Lord, the
God of the long-suffering and patient Job, teach us to bless Thy name in
our sufferings.
January
5th (New Style) • December 23rd (Old Style)
The
Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete
They
suffered for Christ the Lord during the persecution of Decius in the year
250. Their names were Theodulus, Saturnicus, Euporus, Gelasius, Eunician,
Zoticus, Pompeius, Agathopous, Basilides and Evaristus. They were all
eminent and honored citizens, the best among the best. When they were
brought to the place of execution they were elated, and they discussed
among themselves which of them would be the first to be beheaded, for each
one of them wanted to be the first to go to his beloved Christ. Then they
prayed: "O Lord, forgive Thy servants and accept our blood, which is about
to be shed, as an offering on our behalf and for our kinsmen and friends
and for all of our fatherland, that all may be freed from the darkness of
ignorance and may know Thee, the True Light, O Eternal King!" They were
beheaded and entered into the Kingdom of Glory to rejoice eternally.
Saint
Niphon the Wonderworker
Niphon was
born in Paphlagonia and brought up in Constantinople at the court of a
commander (Sabbatius). Falling into evil company, the young Niphon became
dissolute and gave himself over to many sins and vices. Because of his
sin, he could not even pray to God. By the mercy of the Most-holy
Theotokos, he was brought back to the path of righteousness and was
tonsured a monk. He had numerous visions of the heavenly world, and for
four years he endured a difficult struggle with a demon, who constantly
whispered to him: "There is no God! There is no God!" But, when the Lord
Jesus Himself appeared to him alive on an icon, Niphon received great
power over evil spirits and was freed from these grievous temptations. He
was such a great seer that he saw angels and demons around men just as
clearly as he saw men themselves, and he knew the thoughts of men. He
often spoke with angels and disputed with demons. He built a church to the
Most-holy Theotokos in Constantinople, gathered monks together, and saved
many souls. Alexander, the Archbishop of Alexandria, according to a
revelation from heaven, consecrated him bishop of the town of Constantia
on Cyprus. At that time St. Niphon was already old. He governed well the
Church of God for a short time and took up his habitation in Christ's
Eternal Kingdom. Before his death he was visited by St. Athanasius the
Great, then the archdeacon of the Church in Alexandria, and after his
death he was seen by Athanasius, his face shining as the sun.
Venerable
Nahum, Wonderworker of Ohrid
Nahum was a
disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius and one of the Five Companions who
most zealously labored with these Apostles to the Slavs. St. Nahum
traveled to Rome, where he became well known for his miracle-working power
as well as his great learning. He was knowledgeable in many languages.
After his return from Rome, he and his companions settled on the shores of
Lake Ohrid with the help of King Boris Michael. While St. Clement labored
as bishop in Ohrid, St. Nahum founded a monastery on the southern shore of
the lake. The monastery even today adorns that shore, just as the name of
St. Nahum adorns the history of Slavic Christianity and has been a source
of miraculous power and a refuge for the sick and the unfortunate through
the ages. Many monks from throughout the Balkans gathered around St.
Nahum. St. Nahum was a wise teacher, a unique leader of monks, a resolute
ascetic, a miracle-working intercessor, and a spiritual father. A tireless
worker, St. Nahum labored especially on the translation of the Sacred
Scriptures and other ecclesiastical books from the Greek language into the
Slavonic. He worked miracles both during his life and after his death. His
miracle-working relics, to this day, amaze many with numerous miracles,
healing grave illnesses, especially insanity. Nahum entered into rest in
the first half of the tenth century and took up his habitation in the joy
of his beloved Christ.
Reflection
While still
living in the flesh, the saints had great revelations from God and visions
of both heavenly and infernal powers. All of their revelations and visions
confirm the Orthodox Faith in all of her teachings. The saints are a joy,
a great joy to the faithful. St. Niphon saw the Theotokos and the Lord
Christ alive in glory; he saw men's souls leaving the body; and he saw the
guardian angels of certain men! He spoke openly with angels and disputed
with demons. The Church teaches that the sincere repentance of a sinner,
even in the last hour, saves the soul of the penitent. St. Niphon saw the
soul of one such repentant sinner in the last moment; he saw how the
angels defended that soul from the aggressive demons and carried it to
Paradise. The Church teaches that suicide is a mortal sin. St. Niphon saw
the soul of a suicide as the devils were dragging it to hell. The guardian
angel of that soul went off and wept bitterly for that soul. This was the
soul of a servant who had committed suicide because his master was
merciless, and who did not want to endure to the end in order to be saved.
Contemplation
Contemplate
God's reward to the penitent David:
1. How God glorified the penitent David and gave him the gift of His Holy
Spirit to compile the wondrous Psalter;
2. How God made the penitent David the ancestor of many good kings and
righteous seers;
3. How God made him the ancestor, according to the flesh, of the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself.
Homily
On Daniel the Prophet
… And
the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth (Daniel 2:35).
Suffering,
brethren, can weaken a man's character; however, luxury can weaken it even
more. Daniel, the man of God, could not be weakened either by suffering or
by luxury. In both instances he remained the same, and in both instances
he was equally the messenger of the one Living God and a clairvoyant
revealer of God's mysteries. He lived in royal luxury and then in a lions'
den. In both instances, he remained unchanged: in royal luxury he fasted,
and in the lions' den he did not hunger. The Most-high God rewarded his
faithful servant with the great gift of prophecy. The main subject of his
prophecies is Christ the Lord. Christ will come and will destroy idol
worship throughout the whole earth. He will fill the earth with Himself
like no man clothed in the flesh has ever done. He is the One to Whom will
be given dominion and glory and a Kingdom, that all people, nations and
languages should serve Him (Daniel 7:14). Daniel, the great prophet of
God, prophesied the time, the exact time, of the coming of the Lord Jesus
into the world.
How we
Christians must be ashamed before this Daniel! We see all the promises
fulfilled in Christ, and yet we are lax in our faith and in our love for
Christ. All was not revealed to Daniel as it is revealed to us who are
baptized; nevertheless, he did not turn away from God, not once.
O Lord God
of Daniel, strengthen us, give us repentance, and have mercy on us.
January
6th (New Style) • December 24th (Old Style)
Venerable
Martyr Eugenia and others with her
Eugenia was
the daughter of Philip the Eparch of all Egypt and was born in Rome. At
that time the Christians had been driven out of Alexandria and lived
outside the city. The virgin Eugenia visited the Christians and accepted
their Faith with her whole heart. Fleeing from her parents with two of her
faithful eunuchs, she was baptized by Bishop Elias. Disguised in men's
clothing, she entered a men's monastery where she received the monastic
habit. So much did she cleanse her heart by voluntary asceticism that she
received from God the grace of healing the sick. Thus, she healed a
wealthy woman, Melanthia. After this, however, Melanthia wanted to lure
Eugenia into bodily sin, not suspecting that Eugenia was a woman. Since
she was adamantly rejected by Eugenia, out of revenge this evil woman went
to the eparch and slandered Eugenia in the same manner as Potiphar's wife
had once slandered the chaste Joseph. The eparch ordered that all the
monks be bound and cast into prison together with Eugenia. But when St.
Eugenia was brought before the tribunal, she revealed herself to her
father as his daughter. The overjoyed Philip was then baptized with his
entire household, and he was chosen as Bishop of Alexandria. Hearing of
this, the Roman emperor sent a wicked commander, Terentius, who came to
Alexandria and secretly had Philip killed. St. Eugenia moved to Rome with
her mother and brothers. In Rome she fearlessly and zealously converted
pagans, especially maidens, to the true Faith, and thus she converted a
beautiful maiden Basilla to the Faith. Shortly afterward, Basilla was
beheaded for Christ as Eugenia had foretold to her. Then both eunuchs,
Protus and Hyacinth, were beheaded. Finally, a martyr's end came to St.
Eugenia, whose presence had caused the collapse and destruction of the
Temple of Diana. The torturers threw her first into water and then into
fire, but God saved her. The Lord Jesus Himself appeared to her in prison
and told her that she would suffer on the day of His Nativity. And so it
was. She was beheaded by the sword on December 25, 262, in Rome. After her
death, St. Eugenia appeared in great glory to her mother and comforted
her.
Venerable
Nicholas the Commander
Some think
this great saint was a Slav of Balkan ancestry. At the time of Emperor
Nicephorus, Nicholas was a commander and had authority over a division of
the army that went to war against the Bulgarians. Along the way, Nicholas
spent the night in an inn, where he experienced a great temptation and had
a strange dream. This dream fully came to pass in the war, where the
Greeks were utterly defeated by the Bulgarians in the year 811. Nicholas
was spared, and out of gratitude for God's providence he left his military
rank and became a monk. He lived a long life of asceticism and became so
perfect that he became a great clairvoyant and God-pleaser. He died
peacefully in the ninth century and took up his habitation in the Blessed
Kingdom of Christ the Lord.
Reflection
Victory over
temptation is victory over death. This is shown by a wondrous experience
of St. Nicholas the Commander. When this commander went off with King
Nicephorus's army against the Bulgarians, it happened that he spent the
night in a wayside inn. The innkeeper had a daughter, a young girl, who,
attracted by the imperial commander's outward beauty, began to entice him
into sin. Nicholas refused her once, saying to her that this was enticing
him into a satanic act. Nevertheless, the shameless girl came a second and
a third time to the commander's room and again tempted him to an impure
act. The commander refused both the second and third propositions even
more decisively, counseling her to preserve her virginity and not to give
her body and soul over to the devil. Finally, he said to her that he was a
soldier and was going to war, and that it was unworthy and dangerous for a
soldier to soil himself with such a misdeed, which would anger God and
lead him to certain death. Thus, this God-loving man conquered temptation.
The following day, he moved farther on with the army. The next night, he
saw the following vision: He was standing in a spacious field and saw near
him a powerful man sitting with his right leg crossed over his left.
Before them stood two armies in the field, one facing the other, the
Greeks and the Bulgarians. This powerful man told him to watch carefully
what was about to happen. Nicholas looked and saw the following: As long
as the powerful man kept his right leg crossed over the left, the Greek
army overcame the Bulgarian army, and when he changed his position and
placed his left leg over the right leg, the Bulgarians charged and
ferociously cut down the Greeks. Then this powerful man brought the
commander closer to the slaughtered Greek army. The entire field was
covered with corpses, body beside body. Only in the middle of these
corpses was there an empty space, large enough for the body of a man. Then
the man said to Nicholas: "This place was appointed for your body, but
since you defeated the devil's temptations three times last night, you
saved your body and soul from death." That which Nicholas saw in his
dream, he saw precisely in reality at the time of the battle. The entire
Greek army perished on the battlefield, but Nicholas returned home alive,
not to the barracks anymore, but to a monastery.
Contemplation
Contemplate
the assembly of the forefathers, prophets and righteous ones in the
heavens:
1. How, before Christ, they fulfilled God's law;
2. How they foretold Christ the Lord both in word and in the image of
their lives;
3. How they now rejoice in the Kingdom of Christ.
Homily
On the righteous Joseph
Then
Joseph her husband, being a just man … did as the angel of the Lord had
bidden him (Matthew 1:19, 24).
One must
fear God more than men, and one must obey God more than men. This is the
lesson from the life of the Righteous Joseph, the kinsman and guardian of
the Holy Virgin Mary. He lived at the time of the juncture between the Law
and grace, and was faithful to the Law until grace appeared; then, when
the new grace of God appeared, he became faithful to grace. Obedient to
the letter of the Law, he wanted to put the Holy Virgin away when she
conceived the Savior of the world in her most pure body. But when an angel
of God announced to him that Mary had conceived of the Holy Spirit
(Matthew 1:20), he abandoned his intention and did not put her away, but did
as the angel of the Lord had bidden him. He did not reason for
himself, but obeyed the will of God. Therefore, God made him worthy of
great glory, both on earth and in heaven. Quietly and secretly he served
God, and God glorified him openly. Not only was he made worthy of the
Kingdom of God but also his sons and daughters were. What father would
want anything more than that his son would be an apostle of Christ? And
Joseph had two sons who were apostles. Thus, God glorifies those who fear
Him and obey Him.
O great
Lord, God of the righteous Joseph, help us sinners also to love Thy
righteousness and to fear only Thee.
