“Should we look to kings and princes to put right the inequalities between rich and poor? Should we require soldiers to come and seize the rich person’s gold and distribute it among his destitute neighbors? Should we beg the emperor to impose a tax on the rich so great that it reduces them to the level of the poor and then to share the proceeds of that tax among everyone? Equality imposed by force would achieve nothing, and do much harm. Those who combined both cruel hearts and sharp minds would soon find ways of making themselves rich again. Worse still, the rich whose gold was taken away would feel bitter and resentful; while the poor who received the gold from the hands of soldiers would feel no gratitude, because no generosity would have prompted the gift. Far from bringing moral benefit to society, it would actually do moral harm. Material justice cannot be accomplished by compulsion, a change of heart will not follow. The only way to achieve true justice is to change people’s hearts first–and then they will joyfully share their wealth.”

St. John Chrysostom

By Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpaktos

I suspect that the custom of decorating a tree at Christmas time is not simply a custom which came to us from the West and which we should replace with other more Orthodox customs. To be sure, I have not gone into the history of the Christmas tree and where it originated, but I think that it is connected with the Christmas feast and its true meaning.

First, it is not unrelated to the prophecy of the Prophet Isaiah:? “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Is. 11:1). St. Cosmas the Poet had this prophecy in mind when he wrote of Christ as the blossom which rose up out of the Virgin stem from the stump of Jesse. The root is Jesse, David’s father, the rod is King David, the flower which came from the root and the rod is the Theotokos. And the fruit which came forth from the flower of the Panagia is Christ. Holy Scripture presents this wonderfully. Thus the Christmas tree can remind us of the genealogical tree of Christ as Man, the love of God, but also the successive purifications of the Forefathers of Christ. At the top is the star which is the God-Man (Theanthropos) Christ.

Then, the Christmas tree reminds us of the tree of knowledge as well as the tree of life, but especially the latter. It underlines clearly the truth that Christ is the tree of life and that we cannot live or fulfill the purpose of our existence unless we taste of this tree, “the producer of life”. Christmas cannot be conceived without Holy Communion. And of course as for Holy Communion it is not possible to partake of deification in Christ without having conquered the devil when we found ourselves faced with temptation relative to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where our freedom is tried. ??We rejoice and celebrate, because “the Tree of Life blossomed from the Virgin in the cave”.

Excerpt from the book titled The Feasts of the Lord: An Introduction to the 12 Feasts and Orthodox Christology, 1993.

Source: MYSTAGOGY

Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the region of Lycia (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents Theophanes and Nonna, who had vowed to dedicate him to God.

As the fruit of the prayer of his childless parents, the infant Nicholas from the very day of his birth revealed to people the light of his future glory as a wonderworker. His mother, Nonna, after giving birth was immediately healed from illness. The newborn infant, while still in the baptismal font, stood on his feet three hours, without support from anyone, thereby honoring the Most Holy Trinity. St Nicholas from his infancy began a life of fasting, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he would not accept milk from his mother until after his parents had finished their evening prayers.

From his childhood Nicholas thrived on the study of Divine Scripture; by day he would not leave church, and by night he prayed and read books, making himself a worthy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Bishop Nicholas of Patara rejoiced at the spiritual success and deep piety of his nephew. He ordained him a reader, and then elevated Nicholas to the priesthood, making him his assistant and entrusting him to instruct the flock.

In serving the Lord the youth was fervent of spirit, and in his proficiency with questions of faith he was like an Elder, who aroused the wonder and deep respect of believers. Constantly at work and vivacious, in unceasing prayer, the priest Nicholas displayed great kind-heartedness towards the flock, and towards the afflicted who came to him for help, and he distributed all his inheritance to the poor.

There was a certain formerly rich inhabitant of Patara, whom St Nicholas saved from great sin. The man had three grown daughters, and in desparation he planned to sell their bodies so they would have money for food. The saint, learning of the man’s poverty and of his wicked intention, secretly visited him one night and threw a sack of gold through the window. With the money the man arranged an honorable marriage for his daughter. St Nicholas also provided gold for the other daughters, thereby saving the family from falling into spiritual destruction. In bestowing charity, St Nicholas always strove to do this secretly and to conceal his good deeds.

The Bishop of Patara decided to go on pilgrimage to the holy places at Jerusalem, and entrusted the guidance of his flock to St Nicholas, who fulfilled this obedience carefully and with love. When the bishop returned, Nicholas asked his blessing for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Along the way the saint predicted a storm would arise and threaten the ship. St Nicholas saw the devil get on the ship, intending to sink it and kill all the passengers. At the entreaty of the despairing pilgrims, he calmed the waves of the sea by his prayers. Through his prayer a certain sailor of the ship, who had fallen from the mast and was mortally injured was also restored to health.

When he reached the ancient city of Jerusalem and came to Golgotha, St Nicholas gave thanks to the Savior. He went to all the holy places, worshiping at each one. One night on Mount Sion, the closed doors of the church opened by themselves for the great pilgrim. Going round the holy places connected with the earthly service of the Son of God, St Nicholas decided to withdraw into the desert, but he was stopped by a divine voice urging him to return to his native country. He returned to Lycia, and yearning for a life of quietude, the saint entered into the brotherhood of a monastery named Holy Sion, which had been founded by his uncle. But the Lord again indicated another path for him, “Nicholas, this is not the vineyard where you shall bear fruit for Me. Return to the world, and glorify My Name there.” So he left Patara and went to Myra in Lycia.

Upon the death of Archbishop John, Nicholas was chosen as Bishop of Myra after one of the bishops of the Council said that a new archbishop should be revealed by God, not chosen by men. One of the elder bishops had a vision of a radiant Man, Who told him that the one who came to the church that night and was first to enter should be made archbishop. He would be named Nicholas. The bishop went to the church at night to await Nicholas. The saint, always the first to arrive at church, was stopped by the bishop. “What is your name, child?” he asked. God’s chosen one replied, “My name is Nicholas, Master, and I am your servant.”

After his consecration as archbishop, St Nicholas remained a great ascetic, appearing to his flock as an image of gentleness, kindness and love for people. This was particularly precious for the Lycian Church during the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Bishop Nicholas, locked up in prison together with other Christians for refusing to worship idols, sustained them and exhorted them to endure the fetters, punishment and torture. The Lord preserved him unharmed. Upon the accession of St Constantine (May 21) as emperor, St Nicholas was restored to his flock, which joyfully received their guide and intercessor.

Despite his great gentleness of spirit and purity of heart, St Nicholas was a zealous and ardent warrior of the Church of Christ. Fighting evil spirits, the saint made the rounds of the pagan temples and shrines in the city of Myra and its surroundings, shattering the idols and turning the temples to dust.

In the year 325 St Nicholas was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council. This Council proclaimed the Nicean Symbol of Faith, and he stood up against the heretic Arius with the likes of Sts Sylvester the Bishop of Rome (January 2), Alexander of Alexandria (May 29), Spyridon of Trimythontos (December 12) and other Fathers of the Council.

St Nicholas, fired with zeal for the Lord, assailed the heretic Arius with his words, and also struck him upon the face. For this reason, he was deprived of the emblems of his episcopal rank and placed under guard. But several of the holy Fathers had the same vision, seeing the Lord Himself and the Mother of God returning to him the Gospel and omophorion. The Fathers of the Council agreed that the audacity of the saint was pleasing to God, and restored the saint to the office of bishop.

Having returned to his own diocese, the saint brought it peace and blessings, sowing the word of Truth, uprooting heresy, nourishing his flock with sound doctrine, and also providing food for their bodies.

Even during his life the saint worked many miracles. One of the greatest was the deliverance from death of three men unjustly condemned by the Governor, who had been bribed. The saint boldly went up to the executioner and took his sword, already suspended over the heads of the condemned. The Governor, denounced by St Nicholas for his wrong doing, repented and begged for forgiveness.

Witnessing this remarkable event were three military officers, who were sent to Phrygia by the emperor Constantine to put down a rebellion. They did not suspect that soon they would also be compelled to seek the intercession of St Nicholas. Evil men slandered them before the emperor, and the officers were sentenced to death. Appearing to St Constantine in a dream, St Nicholas called on him to overturn the unjust sentence of the military officers.

He worked many other miracles, and struggled many long years at his labor. Through the prayers of the saint, the city of Myra was rescued from a terrible famine. He appeared to a certain Italian merchant and left him three gold pieces as a pledge of payment. He requested him to sail to Myra and deliver grain there. More than once, the saint saved those drowning in the sea, and provided release from captivity and imprisonment.

Having reached old age, St Nicholas peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. His venerable relics were preserved incorrupt in the local cathedral church and flowed with curative myrrh, from which many received healing. In the year 1087, his relics were transferred to the Italian city of Bari, where they rest even now (See May 9).

The name of the great saint of God, the hierarch and wonderworker Nicholas, a speedy helper and suppliant for all hastening to him, is famed in every corner of the earth, in many lands and among many peoples. In Russia there are a multitude of cathedrals, monasteries and churches consecrated in his name. There is, perhaps, not a single city without a church dedicated to him.

The first Russian Christian prince Askold (+ 882) was baptized in 866 by Patriarch Photius (February 6) with the name Nicholas. Over the grave of Askold, St Olga (July 11) built the first temple of St Nicholas in the Russian Church at Kiev. Primary cathedrals were dedicated to St Nicholas at Izborsk, Ostrov, Mozhaisk, and Zaraisk. At Novgorod the Great, one of the main churches of the city, the Nikolo-Dvorischensk church, later became a cathedral.

Famed and venerable churches and monasteries dedicated to St Nicholas are found at Kiev, Smolensk, Pskov, Toropetsa, Galich, Archangelsk, Great Ustiug, Tobolsk. Moscow had dozens of churches named for the saint, and also three monasteries in the Moscow diocese: the Nikolo-Greek (Staryi) in the Chinese-quarter, the Nikolo-Perervinsk and the Nikolo-Ugreshsk. One of the chief towers of the Kremlin was named the Nikolsk.

Many of the churches devoted to the saint were those established at market squares by Russian merchants, sea-farers and those who traveled by land, venerating the wonderworker Nicholas as a protector of all those journeying on dry land and sea. They sometimes received the name among the people of “Nicholas soaked.”

Many village churches in Russia were dedicated to the wonderworker Nicholas, venerated by peasants as a merciful intercessor before the Lord for all the people in their work. And in the Russian land St Nicholas did not cease his intercession. Ancient Kiev preserves the memory about the miraculous rescue of a drowning infant by the saint. The great wonderworker, hearing the grief-filled prayers of the parents for the loss of their only child, took the infant from the waters, revived him and placed him in the choir-loft of the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) before his wonderworking icon. In the morning the infant was found safe by his thrilled parents, praising St Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Many wonderworking icons of St Nicholas appeared in Russia and came also from other lands. There is the ancient Byzantine embordered image of the saint, brought to Moscow from Novgorod, and the large icon painted in the thirteenth century by a Novgorod master.

Two depictions of the wonderworker are especially numerous in the Russian Church: St Nicholas of Zaraisk, portrayed in full-length, with his right hand raised in blessing and with a Gospel (this image was brought to Ryazan in 1225 by the Byzantine Princess Eupraxia, the future wife of Prince Theodore. She perished in 1237 with her husband and infant son during the incursion of Batu); and St Nicholas of Mozhaisk, also in full stature, with a sword in his right hand and a city in his left. This recalls the miraculous rescue of the city of Mozhaisk from an invasion of enemies, through the prayers of the saint. It is impossible to list all the grace-filled icons of St Nicholas, or to enumerate all his miracles.

St Nicholas is the patron of travelers, and we pray to him for deliverance from floods, poverty, or any misfortunes. He has promised to help those who remember his parents, Theophanes and Nonna.

St Nicholas is also commemorated on May 9 (The transfer of his relics) and on July 29 (his nativity).

Source: OCA

    In the year 301 A.D. the impious Roman Emperor Maximian, a great persecutor of the Church of Christ, arrived in the city of Nicomedia, having tortured and slain a multitude of Christians wherever he had gone. Entering into a pagan temple, the emperor bowed down in worship before his abominable gods, falling down to the ground before the idols. While all the inhabitants of that city took part, he offered up his vile sacrifices. After this, he commanded that the Christians be sought out and handed over to be tortured. The emperor threatened with particular torments those who might have considered concealing the Christians; but he promised rewards and honors to those who, knowing where Christians were hiding, would inform on them or, finding them, would themselves bring them to judgement. Thus, neighbor began to betray neighbor, friend betrayed friend — some out of fear of the provisions of the emperor’s dread edict, others for reward.

Certain of the impious informed their military commander that there were Christians hiding in a cave, chanting there all night long, and praying to their God. Straightway, soldiers were dispatched to that place, and they arrived at the cave and laid hold of all the Christians who were therein, to the number of thirty three. Securing them with iron chains, they led them back to the city to be brought before the emperor. At that time the emperor was riding in his chariot to a pagan temple, there to offer sacrifice. Encountering him on the way, the soldiers who were leading the fettered Christians cried out to him: “0 Emperor, behold them that mock the law, the blasphemers of our great gods!” Ordering his chariot to halt, and ordering those prisoners to approach nearer to him, the emperor asked them where they we from. “We are natives of this land, but are Christians by Faith.” “Can it be that you have not heard what manner of torments await them that call themselves Christians?” continued the emperor. “We have heard,” answered the saints,” and have laughed at your foolishness and at Satan himself who works through his children who do not believe in God, whose leader you are!” Enraged, the emperor cried out: “You wretches! How dare you call me a fool and laugh at me? l vow by the great gods that I will break in pieces your bodies with the cruelest of tortures!” And he commanded his soldiers, saying: “Stretch them out and beat them without mercy with rods and clubs, and then we shall see whether their God will come to help them, and free them from my hands!” And the martyrs were savagely beaten by the soldiers, but while they were under going this torment, they said to the emperor: “You enemy of God, even if you set over us yet another three torturers; however many you will summon, whatever torments you devise, know well that by doing this you are but increasing the number of our crowns!” “0 you most wretched of men,” cried the emperor, “I shall have your heads removed, and on what then will you place your crowns? Renounce your vain faith and don’t bring destruction upon yourselves for your foolishness!” But the martyrs replied: “God will destroy you because without cause you do torment His servants, who have done no evil !”

Then the emperor ordered his soldier’s, saying: “Strike them with stones about the mouth!” And immediately taking up stones in their hands, his servants began to strike the martyrs about the mouth, but they did not so much harm to them as to themselves, for they went insane, and with those same stones broke each others jaws. And the saints said to the tyrant Maximian: “0 iniquitous hater of God, without mercy you are beating us who are in no way guilty before you, but an angel of God shall kill you and shall destroy all of your impious household. You can not satiate yourself on the torments with which you are torturing us in the course of so many hours and with such brutality; yet incomparably greater torments await you yourself. Apparently you have not given thought to the fact that we have the same body as you do, with the sole difference that yours is befouled and impure, whereas ours is cleansed and sanctified by Holy Baptism.” Angered all the more by such words, the tyrant Maximian cried out: “I swear by the great gods that I shall give the command for your tongues to be cut out, that others, seeing you, might learn not to contradict their masters!” But the martyrs of Christ replied: “Take heed, 0 impious tyrant! If you despise and torment those servants who oppose their earthly masters, then why would you compel us to oppose the Lord our God? Or would you want that those torments which are prepared for you should befall us as well?” “Tell me,” said Maximian, “what torments are prepared for me?” “That which God has prepared for the devil and his angels,” the saints replied, “He has also prepared for you, the vessels of the devil — namely: the fire which cannot be quenched, the worm which cannot be satisfied, unceasing torment, everlasting punishment, the damnation of hell, the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and many other tortures innumerable.” “I swear, I will have your tongues cut out!” cried the tyrant. “You fool,” replied the saints, “if you cut out those organs with which we glorify God, our breath shall all the more easily reach Him and our hearts shall cry out to Him with yet greater force, and our blood shed by you shall like a clarion raise its voice to the Master, proclaiming that we are suffering in innocence.” Hearing the saints reply like this, the impious emperor commanded that they be put in iron chains and cast into prison, and that their names and statements be recorded in the minutes of the court. When they led the saints to the palace of the tribunal to record their names, one of the officers who worked there, a man of exalted station by the name of Adrian, an adherent of the Hellenic impiety, having witnessed the steadfast and courageous suffering of those martyrs, approached them and asked: “I adjure you by your God, for Whose sake you have suffered so much: tell me in good conscience, what awaits you from your God for such torment? I think that you hope to receive from Him something great and wondrous.” The holy martyrs answered him, saying: “We cannot with our own lips describe to you, nor can you grasp with your hearing, nor attain with your mind unto those joys and most glorious honors which we expect to receive from our Master, the righteous Bestower of rewards.” “Is this not known to you from the books of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings?” “Even the prophets themselves,” replied the saints, “could not perfectly attain in mind to those everlasting blessings, in that they were men as we are; although they pleased God with good faith and good works and spake that which the Holy Spirit instilled in them; yet, concerning that glory and recompense which we hope to receive, it says in the Holy Scriptures: ‘From of old we have not heard, neither have our eyes seen a God beside thee, and thy works which thou wilt perform to them that wait for mercy’ (Esaias LXIV.4.[LXX])”. And hearing these words, Adrian walked out into the middle of the holy martyrs and said to the scribes who were recording the names of the martyrs: “Write down my name also together with those of these holy men, for I too am a Christian and shall die for Christ God in their company!” And immediately the scribes sent a message to the emperor informing him that Adrian had declared himself to be a Christian and was asking them to inscribe his name among those of the condemned.

On hearing this, the emperor marveled and was filled with rage; and, summoning Adrian into his presence, he asked him: “Have you taken leave of thy senses, 0 Adrian? Or do you also desire a wicked end?” “No, I have not taken leave of my senses,” he replied. “But, on the contrary, l have left great insanity behind me and I have finally attained to true and full mental health.” “Do not argue,” cried the emperor . “It would be better to ask forgiveness, to acknowledge before all that you have sinned, and to cross your name from the list of the condemned.” “From now on,” replied Adrian, “I shall entreat the true God, that He forgive me the sins I committed as a pagan.” Enraged all the more by Adrian’s words, the emperor Maximian then commanded that he be weighed down with iron chains and cast into prison with the other martyrs, appointing the day on which he would give them all over to torture.

One of Adrian’s slaves, hastening to his home with all possible speed, informed his mistress Natalie, Adrian’s wife, that they had put his master in fetters and taken him to prison. Hearing this, Natalie was struck with a great fear. Weeping bitterly and rending her garments, she asked the slave: “For what crime have they imprisoned my husband?” The servant answered: “When he witnessed how certain people were tortured for the name of someone called Christ, and that they refused to obey the emperor’s edict, or to renounce their faith and offer sacrifice to the gods, our master asked the scribes to enter his name among those of the condemned, for he desires to die with them.” “Are you certain that you know why they were torturing those men?” Natalie again asked the servant. “I have told you,” he answered, “that they were being tortured because of someone named Christ, and because they would not obey the emperor’s command to worship the gods.”

Then Natalie rejoiced greatly in spirit and ceased to weep; she cast off her torn garments and, arraying herself in her very best, made her way to the prison. The daughter of saintly parents who believed in God, Natalie had always been afraid to reveal her faith in Christ to anyone; she had kept it secret, for she saw the cruel persecutions and torture to which the Christians were subjected by the impious. But now, hearing that her husband believed in Christ and having had his name entered with those who were condemned to torment, she too resolved firmly to declare herself to be a Christian.

Entering the prison, the Blessed Natalie fell at her husband’s feet and, kissing his fetters, said. ” Blessed are you, 0 Adrian my lord, for you have found a treasure which you did not inherit from your parents, for thus is a man blessed who fears God. Truly, my lord, at such a young age you have by your faith in Christ acquired such riches as you would not have attained even in old age, had you remained in the Hellenic error . Now you shall depart to everlasting life and shall find a treasure such as they will not receive who attain great wealth for themselves and acquire estates. There, they will have no time to acquire anything, to lend or to borrow anything from anyone, when none can be delivered from eternal death in hell and from the torments of Gehenna; there, none shall help another — neither a father his son, nor a mother her daughter, nor shall great earthly wealth aid him that has gathered it, nor shall a slave help his master, but each will have to endure his own punishment. But all of your virtues, my lord, shall accompany you to Christ to obtain for you from Him that blessedness prepared for them that love Him. Go forth to Him with boldness, without fear of the punishment which is to come; for, lo! You have already vanquished the unquenchable flame and the rest of the torments! I beseech you, my lord, to remain steadfast in the calling to which you have been summoned by God’s loving kindness. Let yourself not be turned from your good path neither by pity for the beauty of your youth, nor by love for your kinfolk, or friends, or servants, or handmaidens, or anything that is of earth, for all things continue to age and decay; but keep before your eyes one thing alone — that which is eternal; and cast not your gaze towards the corruptible and transient goods of this world. Do not be swayed by the deceptive discourse of your family and friends, lest they dissuade you from the Faith by their wicked counsel. Despising their flattering speech, reject their counsels and pay no heed to their delusive words; direct your eyes only at those holy martyrs who are with you; heed their words and emulate their patience without wavering. Fear not the anger of the tyrant and his diverse torments, for they shall all quickly come to an end, but there shall be an ever lasting reward from Christ in Heaven for His servants who suffer for Him.”

And having said this, Natalie fell silent. Then Adrian said to her: “Get yourself home now, my sister, and sleep in peace; and when I learn the hour at which they shall lead us out to torture, I shall inform you, that thou may come and behold our end.” And, arising from Adrian’s feet, Natalie went to each of the thirty three prisoners. Falling down before them, she kissed their fetters, saying: “Servants of Christ, I entreat you: watch over this lamb of Christ; advise him to endure unto the end, pointing out to him the future recompense made ready for them that offer their blood to Christ God, like unto you who have offered your own blood, for which suffering you shall receive eternal salvation as a reward. Join his soul — to your souls, and be yourselves his fathers in place of his parents according to the flesh, who were impious; strengthen him with your holy counsel, that, possessed of unwavering belief, he might complete the course of his suffering.”

Thus saying, Natalie turned again to Adrian, who was imprisoned in the deepest dungeon: “Mind yourself, my lord,” she said, “take no pity on your youth and handsome good looks of face and of body: Your body of clay will be food for the worms. Take no heed of your possessions, of gold or silver or other forms of money, for none of this shall avail you at the dread Judgement. There, none shall be able to redeem his soul from ever lasting damnation by any gifts, for no one will accept the gifts; God will accept the good works of holy souls alone, instead of gifts.”

When several days had passed, Adrian, hearing that the emperor wished to bring him and the other prisoners to trial and torment, addressed the holy martyrs with the following request: “Sirs,” he said, “with your blessing I must depart to my home and summon your handmaid, my sister Natalie, that she might behold our suffering, for I have promised to call her when the hour appointed for our martyrdom arrives.” The saints gave him their blessing and vouched for him, and Adrian, bribing the prison guards, went his way.

One of the citizens of the city, seeing him on his way home, hastened to Natalie with all speed and informed her that her husband was freed of his chains and even then was approaching his home. Hearing of this, Natalie did not believe it and said: “Who could have freed him? It is not possible that my husband has separated himself from the holy martyrs!” During this conversation, however, one of her servants came and said: “Do you know, my lady, that our master is freed, and draws nigh unto our house?” Thinking that he had renounced Christ to gain his freedom, Natalie was greatly troubled and lamented bitterly. Seeing through the window that he was approaching their home, she cast aside the handiwork on which she had been working and, rising up immediately, shut the door quickly and said: “Depart from me, you apostate who has deceived thy Lord! I cannot hold converse with one who has rejected God, and I shall not listen to your false words! 0 godless and most wretched of men! Who impelled you to undertake a task which you could not carry through to the end? Who has separated you from the saints? Who has enticed you to withdraw from their fellowship? What has put you to flight even before coming out to battle? You have not even seen the enemy, yet have already cast down your sword; his warfare has not even been started to work on you, and you are already wounded! I was amazed, thinking that perhaps something good might come from a godless generation and an impious city! Could it be that a pure offering might be made to God by an offspring of the tyrant? Can incense be sweet smelling to the Most High if offered by those who are guilty of innocent blood? What shall I do, wretch that I am, who have bound myself in wedlock to this impious man? I have not been accounted worthy to be called the wife of a martyr; no, on the contrary, I have become the wife of an apostate. Short lived has been my joy; it has become everlasting mockery. For a short time I was praised among women, but now I shall have to endure unceasing scorn from them!”

The Blessed Adrian, standing at the door and hearing Natalie speak thus, rejoiced at heart and was strengthened further for his contest, aflame all the more with a desire to fulfill what he had promised to Christ God. He marveled that his young wife, who had but lately married him, would speak in this manner, for they had been wed but thirteen months. Seeing his wife’s great grief, Adrian knocked at the door, pleading with her: “Open the door unto me, 0 my lady Natalie! I have not fled from torment, as you think; no, l could not act that way. I have come to take you with me, as I promised, that you might behold our end.” But Natalie refused to believe his words, and continued to reproach him: “Behold, how this transgressor would deceive me! Behold how this second Judas lies unto me! Depart from me, lest I kill you!” And she would not unlock the door. “Unlock the door and quickly let me in,” pleaded Adrian, “for if I depart without seeing you, you will grieve over it, for I must very soon return. The holy martyrs have vouched for me, and if I do not return at the appointed hour, the guards will inquire after me, and if l am not there the holy martyrs will have to bear my torments as well as their own. Will they be able to endure tortures for me when they themselves are barely alive?” Hearing this, Natalie immediately and joyfully threw wide the door, and they flew into each other’s embrace. “Blessed are you, 0 my spouse,” said Adrian. “You alone have come to know God, that your husband might be saved. Truly, 0 my wife, you love your husband! Blessedness will be your crown because of this, for although you yourself will not endure torment, yet you will participate in the sufferings of the martyrs in your sympathy for them.”

And taking his wife by the hand, Adrian departed to the prison with her. On the way he asked her: “How will we dispose of our property?” Natalie answered: “Set aside all care for the things of this earth, 0 my lord, lest it lead your mind astray. Concern yourself and be thoughtful only of winning the contest to which you have been called. You should forget all that is of this earth. Such things are corruptible and harmful to the soul. This will enable you to think solely about beholding and receiving the everlasting blessings prepared for you and those saints with whom you shalt walk the path of the Lord.”

And, entering the prison, the handmaid of God Natalie fell down before the holy martyrs and, kissing their shackles, perceived that their wounds had festered and that maggots were falling from their wounds, and that due to the iron chains with which they were bound, their bodily members were parting one from another. Then immediately she sent out her attending and serving maids to her home to find fine linen and bandages. When all had been brought, Natalie bound up the wounds of the martyrs with her own hands and, as far as was possible, alleviated their unbearable sufferings, ministering in the prison seven days, until they left for trial.

When the day appointed for the trial dawned, the Emperor Maximian took his place at the tribunal and commanded that the prisoners be brought to him. His servants went immediately to the prison to inform them of the emperor’s command. Seeing that they were so afflicted of body, due to their grievous wounds, that they could not walk, the servants bound all the martyrs together in a line with a single chain, like a herd of cattle. But they led Adrian behind them all, binding his hands behind his back.

When they reached the judgement hall, the emperor was informed that the prisoners had been brought in. “Bring them all in together,” the emperor commanded, “that they might behold each other’s torment; bring them forth stripped naked, ready for torture.” But the warden of the prison told the emperor: “0 emperor, those who were tortured before cannot be brought before you for testing. Give the command that Adrian alone be brought forth, for he is yet strong and healthy of body, and can endure the various torments. But the bodies of the others have festered; one can see their bones through their wounds, and if we bring them to torture them again, they will die very quickly, without enduring the many tortures prepared for them. We do not wish them to die after a brief session of torment, like those whose guilt is negligible; therefore, give them a space of time to recover their health and grow strong, that they might later endure greater torments for their iniquity.”

Then the emperor commanded that Adrian be brought directly in front of him alone. Stripping Adrian of his clothes, the servants handed him the instruments of torture, that he might hold them in his own hands. And the holy martyrs said to him: “Blessed are you, 0 Adrian, that you have been freed to bear your cross and follow Christ! Beware, and fear not! Do not turn back and do not lose your reward. Take care, lest the Devil steal your treasure. Be not afraid of visible torments, but direct your gaze towards the reward which is to come. Go forth boldly and put the tyrant to shame! Know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us which we hope to receive in accordance with God’s mercy”. And the Blessed Natalie also said to him: “Direct your mind, my lord, to the one God alone, and may your heart fear nothing! The labor is short, but the rest is unending; the suffering is brief, but the glory of martyrdom is everlasting. Endure the pain but for a little time, and you shall shortly rejoice with the angels. If, serving an earthly ruler, you did take care to gather in the least tribute, and you did not spare your health and were ready to die in battle, then should you not now endure many different kinds of torments with yet greater valor, and die for the King of Heaven, with whom you shall yourself reign?”

When they brought Adrian before the impious Emperor Maximian, casting his gaze upon him he asked: “Do you still remain in your foolishness and desire to end your life?” “I have told you before,” replied the holy martyr Adrian, “that I have not lost my reason, but have regained it and am prepared to die in this life.” The emperor asked: “Will you not offer sacrifice and worship the gods, as I and all with me worship them and offer up sacrifice to them”? “You fool,” answered Adrian, “if you are in error, for what reason would you also lead others into the same error? You would not only bring destruction upon yourself, but upon the whole nation which obeys you; you shall ruin it completely, advising and forcing men to worship inanimate graven images, forsaking the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth!” “Do you then consider our great gods feeble?” asked the emperor . “I call them neither feeble nor strong,” replied Adrian, “for they are nothing.”

Enraged, the tyrant then commanded that he be beaten with rods. The Blessed Natalie, hearing that her husband’s beating was beginning, informed the holy martyrs of it, saying: “My lord has begun to suffer!” And the saints immediately began to entreat God on his behalf, that He might strengthen him during his torments. The emperor commanded the torturers to declare: ” Do not blaspheme the gods!” And while they were beating the martyr, he said to the emperor: “If I am suffering because I blaspheme gods who are not gods, what torment awaits you for blaspheming the true and living God?” “Apparently, you have learned to speak so boldly from those liars.” said the emperor. The martyr said: “Why do you call liars them that are guides to salvation, who lead us to everlasting life? You are yourselves great charlatans, for you lead the people to damnation!” Filled with wrath, Maximian commanded four mighty torturers to beat the martyr savagely with heavy clubs. And while they were beating Adrian, he said: “The greater the torments you devise for me, 0 tyrant, the greater the crowns I shall win for them!” And the Blessed Natalie conveyed to the holy martyrs all that passed between the emperor and Adrian.

“Take pity on your youth,” the tyrant continued to exhort the tortured man, “and call upon the gods! Will you perish in vain, and of your own will? My gods are great, and I sympathize greatly with you, seeing how grievously you are suffering, and how your handsome face and body are being destroyed.” “I am sparing myself,” replied the martyr, “so that I will not perish completely.” “Call upon the gods,” the tyrant pleaded; “they will have mercy on you, and I will restore you to your former rank. You should not be compared with those who were with you in bondage, for you are a noble personage, the son of renowned parents; and, though young, you are yet worthy of great honors. But those other prisoners are paupers, of poor and inferior families , and are stupid ignoramuses.” “I know that my lineage and generation are well known to you,” answered the martyr, “but if you were aware of the generation of those holy men, and the rich rewards which await them, you would be one of the first to fall at their feet and ask them to pray for you, and you would with your own hands destroy your own inanimate gods!”

Angered all the more, the tyrant commanded four strong servants to beat the martyr’s belly. And they beat the saint until his stomach burst and his entrails began to fall out. Seeing this, the tyrant commanded them to stop beating him. The blessed Adrian was a young man and lean of body, being only twenty eight years of age. “Do you see how I am sparing you?” the emperor said to him. “You have but to utter a single word invoking the gods, and immediately they will be merciful to you; and I will summon physicians to treat your wounds; and this day you shall be with me in my imperial palace!” But the martyr responded: “If you actually do promise me the care of physicians, and that I will dwell in your palace, and if you say that your gods will be merciful to me, then let them tell me with their own mouths what they wish to give me; let them say what benefactions they are promising me! And when I hear their words, I will offer them sacrifice and worship them as thou dost desire.” “But they cannot speak,” replied the emperor. “If they cannot speak,” said the martyr, “then why do you worship them, dumb and inanimate as they are?”

In rage and wrathful anger, the tyrant commanded that Adrian be again chained to the other prisoners and locked in the dungeon, appointing the day when they would all be brought to trial. Then the soldiers, laying hold of the holy martyrs, dragged some to the dungeon; others, who were debilitated by their bodily sufferings, and unable to walk, they carried. The holy Adrian they led; and all were again incarcerated in the prison.

The Blessed Natalie encouraged and comforted Adrian. Embracing him, she said: “Blessed are you, my lord, that you have been vouchsafed the lot of the holy martyrs! Blessed are you, light of my eyes, For you are suffering for Him that suffered for you! Behold, now you are going to see His glory and become a partaker of the same, for he that shares in His sufferings will be a partaker of His glory!”

During this conversation, Natalie soaked Adrian’s blood up in a cloth and anointed her body with it. And the holy martyrs rejoiced greatly at the valorous endurance of Adrian and, drawing close to him, they kissed him saying: “Peace be to you, brother!” And those who could not walk because of the severity of their wounds lay on the floor and crawled to him, so as to kiss him; and all told him: “Rejoice in the Lord, beloved brother, for your name has been entered among those of the glorious servants of God!”

“Rejoice also, you servants of Christ,” responded Adrian, “for you shall receive crowns for your care of me! Because of this, pray unto the Lord for me, that He strengthen me, who am so painfully distressed of body; that the devil, who rises up as my enemy, may accomplish nothing against me.”

“Trust in the Lord,” said the saints; “Satan will not overcome you. You have driven him far away by your sufferings. At first we feared for you, thinking that you, as a man, would weaken; but now, seeing your steadfast endurance, we no longer have doubts concerning you, and we believe that with the help of God the enemy will be able to do nothing with you. Wherefore, fear not: Christ, the Vanquisher of the devil, is with you!”

With the Holy Natalie, there were also other pious women who ministered to the saints, applying healing salves to their wounds and fashioning bandages for them, having apportioned the martyrs among themselves, that each might minister to her own, tending him with all possible care.

Learning that many women were coming to the prison and ministering to the prisoners, applying salves to their wounds, the impious emperor forbade them further entry into the prison. Seeing that the women could no longer go to the martyrs, the holy Natalie sheared the hair from her head, dressed in men’s garments and, entering the prison in the guise of a man, herself ministered not only to her own husband, but to all the other holy martyrs. Binding up the wounds of the martyrs, she sat at Adrian’s feet and said: “I pray you, my lord, please remember our union, and my presence by your side during your suffering, and my desire that you should win crowns. Pray to the Lord Christ our God, that He take me with you, that as we lived together in this sorry life which is full of sins, so may we also live together inseparably in that blessed life. l pray you, my lord: when you stand before Christ the Lord, make supplication to Him first concerning me; for I believe that whatsoever you ask, the Lord shall give you, for your prayer pleases Him, as does your entreaty. But you know the impiety of this people and the godlessness of the emperor, and I fear that they will force me to marry another, an impious man and a pagan. Then would my bed be defiled and our union broken. I beseech you, preserve your spouse, as the Apostle teaches; grant as a reward for chastity that I might die with you!”

Having said this, she rose and again ministered unto the saints, giving them food and drink, and washing and binding up their wounds. The pious women, learning that Natalie was ministering unto the saints in male apparel, likewise sheared the hair from their heads, following her example, and, dressed in men’s garb, entered the prison as before and ministered to the saints.

But when it became known to the emperor what the women had done, and also that the prisoners had weakened greatly as a result of their infected wounds and were barely alive, he commanded that there be brought to him at the prison an anvil and an iron hammer, that he might break the shins and arms of the martyrs, saying at that time: “Let them not die the violent death usual for such men!” And when the torturers and executioners came to the prison with the iron hammer and anvil, Natalie, seeing this and discovering the reason for their arrival, greeted the servants with the entreaty that they begin with Adrian, since she feared that her husband, seeing the cruel torture and death of the other martyrs, would become afraid.

The torturers assented to Natalie’s request and went first to Adrian. Then Natalie, lifting up her husband’s legs, placed them on the anvil; with a mighty stroke, the torturers shattered the martyr’s shins and smote off his legs. “I beseech you, my lord, you servant of Christ,” said Natalie, “while you are still alive, stretch forth your arm that they might break it, and you shall then be equal with the other martyrs who have suffered more than you have!” The holy Adrian stretched forth his arm to her, and she, taking it, set it upon the anvil. The torturer, striking the arm mightily, broke it off, and immediately the holy Adrian surrendered his soul into the hands of God, unable to endure further torment.

Having slain the Holy Adrian, the torturers went with the anvil and hammer to the other martyrs, but they themselves placed their arms and legs on the anvil and said: “0 Lord, receive You our souls”

After this, the impious emperor commanded that the bodies of the martyrs be burned, that the Christians might not take them up and remove them for an honorable and Christian burial. But hearing of the emperor’s command, the Blessed Natalie secretly took her husband’s arm and hid it on her person, so that it would not be burned. When the servants of the tyrant kindled a fire and carried the bodies of the holy martyrs out from the prison to be burned, the Holy Natalie and the other pious women followed behind them and gathered up the martyrs’ blood in their costly garments and in bands of cloth. In this way preserving it, they anointed their own bodies with the blood. In addition to this, the women purchased from the servants of the emperor the martyrs’ garments, which had been dyed with their blood. When the bodies of the saints were cast into the giant all consuming fire , the women cried out with tears: “Remember us, 0 our masters, in your everlasting repose!” But the Holy Natalie drew nigh even unto the fire, to cast herself upon it, desiring to offer herself up with her husband as a sacrifice unto God, but she was restrained.

Suddenly a tremendous clap of thunder was heard, lightning flashed, and a heavy rain began to descend, which flooded the whole site with water and extinguished the fire itself. Seized with fear, the impious torturers ran fast away and many of them fell dead on the road, struck down by the lightning.

When the servants of the tyrant had been scattered, those faithful men who were with the holy Natalie and the other women extracted the bodies of the holy martyrs whole from the ashes; they had not been harmed in the least by the flames, and even their hair was unburned.

A certain pious man and his wife, falling down before Natalie, began to entreat her and the rest of the brethren, saying: “We live on the outskirts of the city in a solitary place; we hate godlessness, and can no longer bear to look upon the cruel bloodbath brought about by the impious emperor; Because of this, we no longer desire to remain in this place and are moving to Byzantium. Give us the bodies of the holy martyrs, and we will take them aboard a ship, carrying them with us far from here; and there we will preserve them until the death of the impious Emperor Maximian. After his death, if we are still alive, we will return and bring the bodies of the saints back here, that they may be honored by all. All of us understand that if they remain here now, the emperor will order them burned, and you will be forced to betray the bodies which God has preserved from the giant and all consuming fire by this rain.” All agreed, and the bodies of the martyrs were taken aboard a ship, to be conveyed to Byzantium; and the winds favored the departure of the vessel.

Meanwhile, the Holy Natalie dwelt in her home, treasuring the arm of her husband, the holy Adrian, which she, having anointed it with costly myrrh and wrapped it in a purple cloth, had placed in the head of her bed, a fact which none of her household knew.

When some time had passed, a certain prominent man, the commander of a thousand soldiers, desired to wed Natalie, for she was young, beautiful, and rich. He petitioned the emperor to permit him to take as his bride the spouse of Adrian and the emperor consented to this marriage. The bridegroom immediately sent eminent ladies to Natalie with the offer of his hand, but Natalie told them: “I am happy that such a man would have me to wed; but I ask you to wait for three days, that I might prepare myself, since I have not expected that anyone would wish to enter into marriage with me so soon.” Thus saying, the Blessed Natalie made her plans to flee to that place where the bodies of the martyrs had been taken.

Having sent the women back to the commander and reassured them, she herself, entering into her sleeping chamber where the arm of St. Adrian was kept, fell to the ground and cried out to the Lord with weeping: “0 Lord our God, God of the sorrowful and contrite of heart: look down upon me Thine handmaiden, and do not permit the bed of Thy martyr Adrian to be defiled. Forget not, 0 Master, the sufferings of Thy servant, which he endured for the sake of Thy name! 0 merciful Lord, remember the breaking of the shins and the striking off of the arms of him and Thine other servants, which they endured for Thy sake, and let not their sufferings be in vain. For their sake, take pity on me, and permit me not to remain living with Thine enemies. 0 Thou Who didst deliver those saints from the fire, deliver me also from the intentions of this vile man!” And while she was praying in this manner, from exhaustion and from grief Natalie began to nod and fell into a light sleep; and lo and behold!, one of the holy martyrs appeared to her in a dream and said: “Peace be unto you, 0 Natalie, handmaiden of Christ! You should know that God has not disdained you, and we also have not forgotten the labors which you did show forth in nursing us during our imprisonment; standing in the presence of Christ, we are beseeching Him that He command you very quickly to come to us.” The Blessed Natalie asked him: “Tell me, holy martyr, whether my lord Adrian stands with you before the Lord Christ.” And the martyr replied: “He took his place before the Master even before we did! But now you must hurry to take ship without delaying, and sail to where our bodies are. There the Lord will appear to you, and He will lead you to us!”

Awakening from sleep, the holy Natalie immediately left all behind and, taking only the arm of the holy Adrian, departed from her home. Arriving at the shore of the sea, she saw a ship which almost seemed to be waiting for her, which was due to set sail for Byzantium. And, boarding it, she saw onboard people of both sexes, and all the Christians fleeing from the persecutions of the impious Emperor Maximian; and she gave thanks to God.

But the commander who had wanted to wed Natalie, learning of Natalie’s flight, asked the emperor for the aid of some soldiers. Boarding another ship, he set out in pursuit. But when his ship had sailed but only a thousand stadia from the shore, the sea was blown with a contrary wind which drove the ship back to the shore, to the place, from where it had sailed; and it sustained much damage, so that many of those on board drowned. But the ship of the Christians, which had St. Natalie on board , sailed on without any problem what so ever. At midnight the devil appeared to the Christians of Natalie’s ship. He took the form of one sailing on a ship out of the east, having with himself some others in the guise of sailors. And the devil asked the Christian sailors, calling to them as would a helmsman: “Where are you from and where are you going?” And the Christians answered: “We are from Nicomedia, and we are bound for Byzantium!” And the enemy said to them: “You have wandered off course; alter your course to port!” Thus saying, the devil wished to deceive them and bring about their destruction. And the Christians, believing this lying counsel and believing that those whom they had encountered were really sailing out of the east, began to turn sail and ship to port; but suddenly the Holy Martyr Adrian appeared to them, radiant with light, and he cried out with a loud voice: “Sail by the course you were following before, and do not listen to the words of the enemy who without any doubt is preparing destruction for you!” Thus saying, the martyr appeared to go before them across the water, and the devil vanished with his ship.

The Blessed Natalie, having risen up, beheld the Holy Adrian going before her ship, and she cried out loud: “Look! It is my lord Adrian!” And immediately the saint became invisible.

A favorable wind blew, and the voyagers arrived in Byzantium by sunset and anchored offshore, close to the site of the church in which the bodies of the holy martyrs had been interred; and the passengers disembarked with joy. Approaching the bodies of the martyrs in the church, St. Natalie fell down before them with ineffable gladness, kissing them and shedding tears of joy; and laying the arm of St. Adrian next to his body, she knelt down and prayed for a very long time. Then, when she had finished, she rose up and greeted the brethren and sisters who were there, for many faithful Christians were assembled in that place.

They received her with joy and took her into their homes, and tried to get her to to rest herself somewhat, for they saw that she was very, very tired from the long sea voyage. And while she slept soundly, the Holy Adrian appeared to her in a dream and told her: “It is very good that you have come here, 0 handmaid of Christ and daughter of the martyrs. You should come now to the rest prepared for you by the Lord. Come and receive your due reward!”

Awakening, the Holy Natalie related her dream to the Christians that were there and asked them to pray for her. After this, she fell asleep again. In an hour’s time, the faithful came to wake her, but they found that she had reposed, for her holy soul had departed to ever lasting rest with the Lord. Thus, soon after the sufferings of the holy martyrs, the Holy Natalie also completed the course of her sufferings, even though without shedding her blood.

Much had she suffered with the martyrs, ministering to them in prison and watching their torture, and for chastity ‘s sake, she also forsook home and native land; and she stands even now amid the choir of the martyrs before Christ our Saviour, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit , be honor and glory, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The memory of Saints Adrian and Natalie and the 33 companions martyred with St. Adrian is celebrated on August 26(Church calendar)/September 8(Secular calendar) each year.

Sts. Adrian and Natalie

by St. Gregory Palamas,
Archbishop of Thessalonika

      My present talk for your appreciation is occasioned both by love, and by necessity. I speak not only by reason of my love for you, and whereof I desire that the word of salvation should gain way to your God-loving hearing, and in such manner, be imbibed of by your souls; but also, wherein it be very needful for me, in conjunction with the churchly laudations, to expound on the majesty of the ever-Virgin Mother of God. And howso this wish, being twofold against the customary wont, doth impel and incline, and thus also inevitably need compel; though word canst not comprehend, that which is higher than any word, like as the sight canst not fix its gaze upon the sun. And insofar as it be not proper to speak about that which is beyond all words, therein ought primarily the love for the Mother of God to be consecrated in psalmody. If “venerable in the eyes of the Lord be the death of His holy ones” (Ps. 115 [116]: 15), and “the memory of the righteous one is with praises” (Prob. 10:7), then how much moreso – is the memory of the Holiest of the holy ones, through Whom – hath become all sanctification for the holy ones, – is the memory of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, She Whose memory it now becometh us to celebrate with most exalted praises? We now make celebration of the holy Dormition, or Repose, through which was She brought low before the Angels, and yet did She excel beyond compare the Angels and the Archangels, and being over them by the consequent Power of Her closeness to God and by the fore-ordained over the ages wondrous deeds wrought over Her. It was on Her account that the God-inspired prophets did prophesy, and the miracles that beforehand did point out this great and universal wonder – the ever-Virgin Mother of God; manifest of the Spirit; in various ways being the foretype of the future actuality; manifesting the promise to beget without seed He born of God the Father in eternity… The King of all greatly desired the mysteried beauty of the ever-Virgin, and within Her did transpire the incarnating of the Power of the MostHigh, not through darkness and fire as it was for the God-inspired Moses, and not through means of storm and clouds as was manifest His Presence to the Prophet Elias (Elijah), nor by means of some pretext did the Power from on High overshadow the all-pure and virginal womb. What inexpressibly transpired within Her and of Her was that the Word of God came forth incarnated in the flesh, “to appear upon earth and live amongst mankind” (Baruch 3: 38), deifying our nature and granting us, according to the Divine Apostle, that “which the Angels have desire to look forward to” (1 Pet. 1: 12) – and in this is the wondrous glorification and the all-pure glory of the ever-Virgin Mary.

      And what words are there, appropriate to explain what transpired after the inexplicable birth? Whereof, the Word of God issuing from on high and begotten through Her in Her co-operating and co-willing, She also is glorified together with Him in the dignity with which He is exalted, conjoined in His great and wondrous majesty. But with the going up to Heaven of He Incarnate of Her, She in turn through what came to Her of Him, – the excelling majesty of mind and word, as it were emulating Him with manifold deeds and prayers, and likewise solicitude for all the world, and the inspiring of preachers to all the ends of the earth. And all and everywhere She was the sole support and consoler, and in every way co-operating in the proclamation of the Gospel good-news, and clearly proving Herself in it with a life filled with struggle and mastery over mind and word. Whereof, certainly, Her life and death hath carried over into Heavenly and immortal life; and the remembrance of it is a joyous feast and universal solemnity. Into the hands of Her Son was taken the God-bearing spirit of the Ever-Virgin Mary; and indeed a short while afterwards, Her kindred body was translated by Him into the eternal Heavenly habitations. And all this was fully just and proper. In actual fact, many were vouchsafed over the ages the Divine condescension, glory and might, as David likewise sayeth: “For me exceedingly be esteemed Thine company, O God, and exceedingly assured be their dominion. I do look over them, and more than the sands be they numbered” (Ps. 138 [139]: 17-18). “Many a daughter, – according to Solomon, – hath acquired riches, and many have wrought power” (Prov. 31: 29-30). And here is She – the All-Pure Virgin Mary, and She is most exceedingly exalted over all and for all: She alone hath come betwixt God and the human race, She hath wrought God the Son of Man, and humankind She hath co-made the sons of God; She hath co-made Heaven of earth and wrought of God the race of man; She alone of all surpassing all nature is manifest the Mother of God by nature, and through the mysteried Birth-giving She hath become the Queen of everything both in the world and of transcendent creation. And in such manner being exalted over all subject to Her through Her Herself, and having Herself been made participant of utmost choosing through the Divine Spirit, She is become the highest of any of the most exalted and most-blest Queen of blessed lineage.
And now indeed She hath celestial proper habitation, as it were a palace most becoming Her, into which today She be translated from earth, to stand at the right side of the Almighty “adorned in golden robes, aglitter” (Ps. 44 [45]: 9-10), as expressed of Her by the psalmodist prophet. Beneathe the gilded garb Her God-worthy body is aglitter with manifold virtues – wherefore She alone with the Son in God-glorified body hath celestial habitation: for the earth, the grave and death have not power to hold on ultimately to the life-originative and God-receiving body more radiant than the heavens and of heaven the habitation of the heavens. And actually, if a soul having habitation (within it) of the grace of God, forsaking the mundane, it is borne up to heaven, as becometh clear from many an example, and we do believe this: therefore, how could there not be carried up from earth to heaven that body, not only having accepted within itself the Only-Begotten and Praeternal Son of God, the inexhaustible well-spring of grace, but moreover having begotten and manifest Him? How didst Thou, though dust subject to decay, Who being yet three years of age, and not yet having in Thyself the Prae-Celestial Indwelling, not yet having begotten the Incarnated One, – how didst Thou come to take up habitation in the Holy of Holies? [Vide 21 November account of feast of Entry of the Virgin into the Temple.] Wherefore, it is in that the body, having by nature begotten, is co-glorified with the God-becoming glory (together) with He-Begotten, and it is co-resuscitated, as expressed in prophetic song, together with the three-day first-resurrected Christ, in being His “Ark of Holiness” (Ps. 131 [132]: 8). There was, moreover, the evidence of Her resurrection from the dead for the Apostles – the plaschanitsa and burial cloths, which alone remained in the grave and which alone were found in it by those having come to look things over: just precisely the way formerly it had transpired with Her Son and Lord. But here it was unnecessary that She should tarry a certain while upon the earth, as formerly had Her Son and God; and therefore, She was straightaway taken up from the grave into celestial habitation, from whence to shine with a resplendid radiance, illumining from thence all the earthly realm. And for all the faithful this is something worthy of veneration, worthy of praise and of song. Moreover, with what was said at the start, – that She was diminished for a short time before the Angels (in the sense of tasting of death), – this also should serve to the increase in everything in the majesty of the Mother of God. Wherefore also it be entirely proper that everything be united together and considered for the presentday solemnity.
And thus it is proper, that She containing the Fulfillment of all and the Existant before all should Herself achieve all and become foremost of all by Her virtues and utmost worthiness. And thus it is, that over all the ages it helped matters that all that all the best individual figures were the best, but that they possessed only the beneficences of God (each individually) whether angelic or human, – but all this She doth combine within Herself, and She alone inexpressibly and supra-abundantly: finding immortality through mortality, and in the flesh finding heaven together with Her Son and God, and from that time thereof there is the abundant outpouring of supra-abundant grace for all those honouring Her. She moreover doth bestow the boldness to hasten unto Her, the vessel of so many a beneficence: generously doth She distribute blessings and for us doth never cease this useful bestowing and gracious help.
Seeing in Her the source and treasury of every blessing, whosoever declares, that the Virgin is made perfect by virtue and by living virtuously, is as one for whom there is the sensory light for the creatures living beneathe it – which is the sun. But if he transfer his mental gaze to the Sun, eternally shining forth to mankind from This Virgin, – if gazing towards this Sun, Which by nature and supra-abundance hath everything, which be granted Her by grace, then the Virgin therewith doth stand forth amidst the heavens. And this be so because of the deigning of God through all blessedness, that She hath attained to an inheritance, by far the most precious, moreso than any beneficence beneathe or beyond the skies, – just as the sky is more vast than the sun, but the sun doth shine brighter than the sky.
What word is there to describe Thine God-seemly beauty, O Virgin Mother? It is impossible indeed to explain all about Thee in reasonings and words: so much doth it exceed both mind and word. But I mustneed sing Thine praises, if Thou permit out of love for mankind. For in as Thou – art the fount of all gracious gifts and the fullness of all righteousness, the chosen and inspired image of every blessing and every good, as only alone worthy of the gifts of the Spirit, and particularly alone as having held in Thine womb He its treasure, and having co-wrought miraculous habitation for Him; and wherefore now, having passed through mortality into immortality, and rightly gone forth from earth to Heaven, into the Praeternal habitation, Thou art become co-residing in eternal time, and there (dwellest Thou), not forsaking care for Thine inheritance, but with incessant supplications to Him moving Him to mercy for all. How much closer to God of all those closest to God is the Mother of God, and how much the greatest hath She been vouchsafed, in comparison with all (meaning not only the earth-born, but all even of the Angelic holy ranks).
It was about the angelic chief-ranks that Isaiah earlier once wrote: “and the Seraphim do stand round about Him” (Is. 6: 2). But concerning Her [the Mother of God] on the other hand is David: “the Queen stood at Thy right side” (Ps. 44 [45]: 9-10). Do you not see the variance of standing? And from this variance it is possible to discern also the variance of rank according to worthiness: since the Seraphim – are but around God, while next right beside Him – the One-Only Queen, Which be praised of and glorified by God Himself, announcing as it were concerning Her to His (Angelic) Powers that are round about and saying, as was said in the Song of Songs: “Thou art fair, My Dear” (Song 6: 4), a light most sparkling, a Divine paradise most sweet and of all the world both visible and invisible the most beautiful. And She in all due justice doth stand not only nearby, but at the right side: since that, where Christ is enthroned in the Heavens, She also there now doth stand, having gone up from earth to Heaven, – not only that She did desire this, nor mutually most of all it was wanted thus in accord with some most essential laws, but rather, it was because She is His true Throne. This Throne saw also Isaiah amidst the choir of the Seraphim and he called it high and exalted (Is. 6: 1), thus indicating (by this) the exalting of the Mother of God over the Heavenly Powers. Wherefore the prophet also did present these angels as glorifying God of Her and proclaiming: the blessing of the Glory of the Lord from His place (Ezek. 3: 12). The Patriarch Jacob, contemplatively surmising this, cried out: “for awesome be this place: this be naught other than the house of God, and this the Heavenly gate” (Gen. 28: 17). And David again, in gathering together with the multitude of the saved, as though it were to avail himself of certain tonal strings or the consonant varied notes about Her the Ever-Virgin into one harmony from over the various generations, expresses it in psalmody concerning Her, saying: “I wilt remember Thy name from every generation unto generation: whereof people shalt confess Thee unto ages of ages forever” (Ps. 44 [45]: 17-18).
Do ye not see, that the whole of creation doth glorify This the Virgin Mother, and not only over the course of some prescribed interval, but rather unto ages of ages forever? It is possible hence to deduce, moreover, that She ceaseth not through all the ages to be of benefit to all creatures. I speak not only about us as creatures, but also about the utmost incorporeal and supernatural hierarchies, since they together with us through Her alone become conjoined and contingent to God, the Intangible Existant. Isaiah pointed this out clearly: he saw, that the Seraphim did not directly take hold the offertory coal, but took hold of it by means of a tong, by which he touched it to the mouth of the prophet, bestowing cleansing (Is. 6: 6). This vision of the tongs was identical with that great sight which Moses did contemplate – the bush amidst the flame not consumed (Ex. 3: 2). Who knows, is not this bush and these tongs the Virgin Mother, without burn receiving the Fire of Divinity, , such that there was the Archangel present at the Conception [during the Annunciation], by which through Her was adjoined to the human race the Burier of the sin of the world cleansing us through this inexplicable conjoining? And whereof She is the one only Mediatrix betwixt the created and uncreated nature; and no one can come to God save that they be lighted forth through Her as through a truly Godly-mete luminant, since that “God is amidst Her, and wilt not be stirred therefrom” (Ps. 45 [46]: 5-6).
If recompense be in measure of love towards God, and the loving Son be beloved of by His Father, and there be manifest the abode of Both, mysteriedly abiding and dwelling in such as conform to the promise of the Lord (Jn. 14: 21), – then who would love Him more than His Mother, for Whom be He the Only-Begotten, but also begotten virginally, so that for Her there be a twofold cause of love of Him co-united and conjoined (with Her)? And who more than His Mother would be beloved by the Only-Begotten, – and moreover Begotten of Her inexplicably in the fullness of time while yet having been Begotten of the One Only Father in eternity, – how could there not be increase in conformity in mete propriety and honour befitting Her under the law, from Him Who was come to fulfill the law?
And thus, since through Her alone was come unto us He that did “appear upon earth and live amongst mankind” (Baruch 3: 38), and before Her being unseen, such that in the time following He manifest Himself to all as the fount of Divine illumination, and the fulfilled revelation of the Divine mysteries, and the full embodiment of spiritual gifts, being moreover uncontained of all, save Her. She Herself, foremost amongst all the repository of the most exceedingly excellent plenitude of He That filleth all in all, Herself doth furnish to all of Him That containeth all, bestowing to each as is possible in accord and in proportion to the purity of each, since that She is both the repository and the Mediatrix of the riches of God.
If such be the eternal law in the heavens, that through the less there enter into communion those having great power amidst the great, then certainly the Virgin Mother doth possess farmost exceedingly incomparable influence. It is through Her that there be conjoined to God all, who otherwise would not be conjoined. And Her they do recognise as the repository of He That containeth all, which but know God, and would praise Her together with God all who but praise God. She Herself is the pardoner of all that went before Her, and intercessor of all that came after Her, and Mediatrix of eternal blessings. She – is the reason of the prophesies of the prophets, the principal of the Apostles, the affirmation of the martyrs, the foundation of the teachers. She – is the glory of the earth-born, the joy of the Heavens, and the praise of all creatures. She – is the source, the fount and tap-root of inexpressible blessings; She – is the supreme perfecting of all the holy.
O Virgin Divine and now Heavenly! How can I relate everything about Thee? How might I glorify Thee, Thou the Treasury of Glory? Through Thee is illumined the gaze of reason, through Thee is enlightened the spirit discerned of the Holy Spirit, in as Thou art rendered repository and vessel of Its gifts; yet not such which Thou wouldst affirm unto Thyself, but such as Thou wouldst fulfill all with the gifts of grace. For the Master of inexhaustible treasures foreordaineth them unto Thee for the bestowing; else why would He have wrought the blessings, and otherwise remain hidden and unbegotten? Wherefore, O Lady, grant abundantly to all Thy people and this Thine inheritance both Thy mercy and Thine gifts. Grant deliverance from the misfortunes afflicting us; behold, how much and how greatly we are oppressed from both without and within. By Thy might transform all for the best; bestow for our sufferings Thine help and healing, granting unto our souls and our bodies abundant grace for every need. And if we be not, make us worthy receptacles and as such vouchsafe that we, saved and strengthened by Thy grace, might glorify Him Incarnated of Thee for our sakes – the Praeternal Word, together with His Father Without-Beginning and Life-Creating Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Source: Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church.

Discourse of Sainted Gregory Palamas,
Archbishop of Thessalonika

For an explanation of the present feastday and discernment of its truth, it is necessary for us to turn to the very start of the present-day reading from the Gospel: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother, and leadeth them up onto an high mountain apart” (Mt. 17: 1). First of all we mustneeds ask, from whence doth the Evangelist Matthew begin to reckon with six days? From what sort of day be it? What does the preceding turn of speech indicate, wherein the Saviour, in teaching His disciples, didst say to them: “for the Son of Man shalt come to be in the glory of His Father”, and added further: “amen I tell ye, there indeed be some standing here, which shalt not taste of death, until they see the Son of Man come into His Kingdom” (Mt. 16: 27-28); – that is to say, it is the Light of His forthcoming Transfiguration which He terms as the Glory of His Father and as His Kingdom.  [trans. note: the Synoptic Gospel Mt. 16: 27-28 parallel in the Gospel of Mark is Mk. 9: 1, familiar as the concluding verse in Gospel readings for feastdays of the Holy Cross; the Synoptic parallel in Luke is Lk. 9: 26-27].  The Evangelist Luke points this out and more clearly reveals this, saying: “And it came to pass however after these words, about eight days thereafter, He taketh Peter and John and James, and ascendeth onto a mountain to pray. And it came to pass, that as He did pray, His Countenance was altered, and His garb gleamed whitely resplendid” (Lk. 9: 28-29). But how can the two be reconciled, when one of them speaks definitively about the interval of time as being eight days between the sayings and the manifestation, whereas the other (says): “after six days”? Listen and think it out.
On the Mount there were eight, but only six were visible: the three – Peter, James and John, had come up together with Jesus, and they beheld Moses and Elias (Elijah) standing there and conversing with Him, such that in number altogether they comprised six; but together with the Lord, certainly, were both the Father and the Holy Spirit: the Father – with His Voice testifying that This be His Beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit – shining forth with Him in the radiant cloud. In such manner, these six consist actually of eight and as regards the eight it presents no sort of contradiction; in similar manner there is no contradiction with the Evangelists, when one says: “after six days”, and the other: “and it came to pass after these words eight days thereafter”. But these twofold sayings as it were present us a certain format set in mystery, and together with it that of those actually present upon the Mount. It stands to reason, and everyone rationally studying in concordance with Scripture knows, that the Evangelists are in agreement one with another: Luke spoke about the eight days without contradicting Matthew, who declared “after six days”. There is not another day added on representing the day on which these sayings were uttered, nor likewise was there added on the day upon which the Lord was transfigured (which the rational person might reasonably imagine to tack on to the days of Matthew). The Evangelist Luke does not say “after eight days” (like the Evangelist Matthew in saying “after six days”), but rather “it came to pass eight days thereafter”. But in what the Evangelists seem to contradict, they actually one and the other point out to us something great and mysteried. In actual fact, why did the one say “after six days”, but the other in ignoring the seventh day have in mind the eighth day? It is because the great vision of the Light of the Transfiguration of the Lord is a mystery of the Eighth Day, i.e. of a future age, coming about to be revealed after the passing-away of the world created over the course of the six days. About the power of the Divine Spirit, through the dignity of Which is to be revealed the Kingdom of God, the Lord forespake: “”There indeed be some standing here, which shalt not taste of death, until they see the Kingdom of God come in power” (Mk. 9: 1). Everywhere and in every way the King wilt be present, and everywhere wilt be His Kingdom, since the advent of His Kingdom does not signify the passing over from one place to another, but rather the revelation of its power of the Divine Spirit, wherein is said: “come in power”. And this power is not manifest to simply ordinary people, but to those standing with the Lord, that is to say, those affirmed in their faith in Him and like to Peter, James and John, and those foremost of all free of our natural abasement. Therefore, and precisely because of this, God manifests Himself upon the Mount, on the one hand coming down from His heights, and on the other – raising us up from the depths of abasement, since that the Transcendent One takes on mortal nature. And certainly, such a manifest appearance by far transcends the utmost limits of the mind’s grasp, as effectualised by the power of the Divine Spirit.
And thus, the Light of the Transfiguration of the Lord is not something that is born and vanishes nor is it subject to the faculties of sensation, although it was contemplated by corporeal eyes over the course of a short while and upon an inconsequential mountaintop. But the mystery-initiates (the disciples) of the Lord at this time passed beyond mere flesh into spirit by means of a transformation of their sense-faculties, effectualised within them by Spirit, and in such manner they beheld what, and to which extent the Divine spirit had wrought blessedness in them to behold – the Ineffable Light. Those not grasping this point have conjectured, that the chosen from among the Apostles beheld the Light of the Transfiguration of the Lord by a sensual and creaturely power (faculty), – and through this they attempt to reduce to a creaturely-level  [i.e. as something "created"]  not only this Light, the Kingdom and the Glory of God, but also the Power of the Divine Spirit, through which it be mete for Divine mysteries to be revealed. In all likelihood, suchlike persons have not attended to the words of the Apostle Paul: “of which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor ascended in the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for those that love Him. To us however God hath revealed through His Spirit: for all things be scrutinised of Spirit, even at the very depths of God” (1 Cor. 2: 9-10).
And thus, with the onset of the Eighth Day, the Lord, taking Peter, James and John, went up on the Mount to pray: He always either prayed alone, withdrawing from everyone, even from the Apostles themselves, as for example when with five loaves and two fish He fed the five thousand men, besides women and children (Mt. 14: 19-23). Or, taking with Him the several that excelled others, as at the approach of His Saving Passion, when He said to the other disciples: “Sit ye here whilst I go and pray thither” (Mt. 26: 36), – He then took with Him Peter, James and John. But in our instance right here and now, having taken only these same three, the Lord led them up onto an high mountain apart and wast transfigured before them, that is to say, before their very eyes.
“What does it mean to say: He was transfigured?” – asks the Gold-Worded Theologian (Chrysostomos), and he answers this by saying: “it revealed, that is, something of His Divinity to them – as much and insofar as they were able to apprehend it, and it showed the indwelling of God within Him”. The Evangelist Luke says: “And it came to pass, that as He prayed, the appearance of His Face was altered” (Lk. 9: 29); and from the Evangelist Matthew we read: “And His Face did shine, like the sun” (Mt. 17: 2). But the Evangelist said this, not in the context that this Light be thought of as subsistent for the senses (let us put aside the blindness of mind of those, who can conceive of nothing higher than that, known through the senses). Rather, it is to show that Christ God – for those living and contemplating by spirit – is the same as how the sun is for those living in the flesh and contemplating by the senses: therefore some other Light for the knowing of Divinity be not necessary for those who be enriched by Divine gifts. That selfsame Inscrutable Light did shine and mysteriously become manifest to the Apostles and foremost of the Prophets at that moment, when (the Lord) was praying. This shows, that what begat this blessed sight was prayer, and that the radiance happened and was manifest by an uniting of the mind with God, and that it be granted to all who, amidst constant exercise in efforts of virtue and prayer, strive with their mind towards God. True beauty essentially can be contemplated only with a purified mind; diligently to gaze upon its luminance assumes a sort of participation with it, as though some bright ray doth etch itself upon the face. Whereof even the face of Moses was illumined by his association with God. Do you not know, that Moses was transfigured, when he went up the mountain, and there beheld the Glory of God? But he (Moses) did not effect this, but rather he underwent a transfiguration; however, our Lord Jesus Christ of Himself possessed that Light. In this regard, actually, He did not have need for prayer for His flesh to radiate with the Divine Light; it is but to show, from whence that Light doth descend upon the Saints of God, and how to contemplate it – since it be written, that even the Saints “will shine forth, like the sun” (Mt. 13: 43), which is to say, entirely permeated by Divine Light as they gaze upon Christ, Divinely and inexpressibly shining forth of His Radiance, issuing forth of His Divine Nature, and on Mount Tabor manifest also in His Flesh, by reason of the Hypostatic Union  [i.e. the union of the two perfect natures, Divine and Human, within the Divine Person (Hypostasis) of Christ, the Second Person of the MostHoly Trinity. The Fourth OEcumenical Council at Chalcedon defined this Hypostatic union of Christ's two natures, Divine and Human, as "without mingling, without change, without division, without separation" ("asugkhutos, atreptos, adiairetos, akhoristos")].
We believe, that He manifest within the Transfiguration not some other manner of light, but only that which was concealed beneathe his exterior of flesh. This Light was the Light of the Divine Nature, and as such it was Uncreated and Divine. So also, in the teachings of the theologian-fathers, Jesus Christ was transfigured on the Mount, not taking upon Himself something new nor being changed into something new, nor something which formerly He did not possess. Rather, it was to show His disciples that which He already was, opening their eyes and rendering them from blindness into sight. For do ye not see, that eyes with sight in accord with natural things, would be blind as regards this Light?
And thus, this Light is not a light of the senses, and those contemplating it do not simply see with sensual eyes, but rather they are changed by the power of the Divine Spirit. They were transformed and only in such manner did they see the transformation, transpiring amidst the very assumption of our perishability, with in place of this the deification through union with the Word of God. And thus also She that miraculously conceived and gave birth did recognise, that He born of Her is the Incarnated God. Thus too it was for Simeon, who but only received hold of this Infant into his arms, and the Aged Anna, coming out [from the Jerusalem Temple] for the Meeting – since it was that the Divine Power did illumine, as through a glass windowpane, giving light for all those having pure eyes of heart.
And why indeed did the Lord, before the beginning of the Transfiguration, choose the foremost of the Apostles and lead them up onto the Mount with Him? Certainly, it was to show them something great and mysteried. What in particular great or mysteried would there be in showing a sensory light, which not merely the chosen-foremost but all the other Apostles already abundantly possessed? Why would they need a transforming of their eyes by the power of the Holy Spirit for a contemplation of this Light, if it [the Light] were merely sensory and created? How could the Glory and the Kingdom of the Father and the Holy Spirit project forth in some sort of sensory light? Indeed, in what sort of like Glory and Kingdom would Christ the Lord come at the end of the ages, when there wouldst not be necessary anything in the air, nor in expanse, nor anything similar, but when, in the words of the Apostle, “so that God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15: 28), that is to say, will He alter everything for all? If indeed so, then it follows therefore to include – light. And hence it is clear, that the Light of Tabor was a Divine Light. And the Evangelist John, inspired by Divine Revelation, says clearly, that the future eternal and enduring city will not “require sun or moon to provide it light: for the Glory of God wilt light it, and its luminary will be – the Lamb” (Apoc. [Rev.] 21: 23). Is it not clear, that he points out here that This [Lamb] is Jesus, – Who now upon Tabor is Divinely transfigured, and the flesh of Whom doth shine, – is the luminary manifesting the Glory of Godhood for those ascending the mountain with Him? The Theologian John says likewise about the inhabitants of this city: “they will require light neither from lamps, nor from the light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and there wilt not be night henceforth” (Apoc. [Rev.] 22: 5). But how, we might ask, is there this other light, of which “it be without change and without threat of darkness” (James 1: 17)? What light is there that is constant and unsetting, unless it be the Light of God? Moreover, could Moses and Elias (and particularly the former, who clearly was present only in spirit, and not in flesh [Elias having ascended bodily to Heaven on the fiery chariot]) be shining amidst any sort of sensory light, and be seen and known? Especially since it was written about them: “they appeared in Glory, and they spoke about His demise, which would come about at Jerusalem” Lk. 9: 30-31). And how otherwise could the Apostles recognise those whom they had never seen before, unless through the mysteried power of the Divine Light, opening their mental eyes?
But let us not fatigue out our attention with the furthermost interpretations of the words of the Gospel. We shall believe thus, as those same ones have taught us, who themselves were enlightened by the Lord Himself, insofar as they alone know this well: the mysteries of God, in the words of a prophet, are known to God alone and His perpetual proximity. Let us, considering the mystery of the Transfiguration of the Lord in accord with their teaching, ourselves strive to be illumined by this Light and encourage in ourselves love and striving towards the Unfading Glory and Beauty, purifying the spiritual eyes of worldly thoughts and refraining from perishable and quickly-passing delights and beauty, which darken the garb of the soul and lead to the fire of Gehenna and everlasting darkness, of which let us be freed by the illumination and knowledge of the Incorporeal and Perpetually-Extant Light of our Saviour transfigured on Tabor, in His Glory, and of His Father from all-eternity, and Life-Creating Spirit, of Whom be One Radiance, One Godhead, and Glory, and Kingdom, and Power now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
[Trans. Note Concerning the word "Transfiguration": In the opinion of this translator, the Slavonic word for Transfiguration, "Preobrazhenie", is theologically more accurate and profound a term than the original Greek word "Metamorphosis" (or Latin "Transfiguratio"), which in English useage has assumed a religiously neutral and scientific connotation; culturally even the lurid short story "Metamorphosis" of F. Kafka stifflingly depicts God-bereft worldly efforts at metamorphosis, i.e. a negative metamorphosis. Our English word derives obviously from the Latin. A further theological irony is a point strongly made above in the tract by Saint Gregory Palamas: it is not the Lord that was metamorphosised into something other or new, but rather the Apostles. Words in Latin and Greek tend to shift in their appropriated meaning over the course of millennia, and probably here too. The Slavonic term "Pre-Obrazhenie" would linguistically seem to suggest rendering as the "Primordial-Eternal-Image" of Christ as expressed in His Prayer to the Father: "And now, Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine Own Self with the Glory which I had with Thee before the world ever existed" (Jn. 17: 5). Thus at the Transfiguration the Lord was manifest in the fulness of His Divine Glory, which He had together with the Father in eternity, before the very creation of the world, (sic) His Eternal Image and Glory.
Saint Gregory Palamas in his tract repetitively, again and again, returns to the point of stressing the uncreatedness of the Transfiguration's Divine Light, to the exclusion of much else. Why? It seems likely to be from his well-honed defense of the Hesychiast Fathers against the theology of the Calabrian Scholastic monk Barlaam, for whom the Light of Tabor would seem to have been a "created energy" rather than of the Divine Essence of God].

Source: Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church

By their righteous lives Joachim and Anna please God so much that He considered them worthy enough to be the parents of the Most Holy Virgin, the fore-ordained Mother of the Lord. From only this it is clear that their life was holy, God-pleasing, and pure, for from them was born the Daughter, Holiest of all the saints, pleasing to God more than all the others, and more honorable than the Cherubim. There were on the earth at that time no people more pleasing to God by their pure lives, than Joachim and Anna. Although at the time it was possible to find many living righteously and pleasing to God, these two surpassed all others by their virtues and appeared before God as the most worthy to bear the Mother of God. Such mercy would not have been granted to them by God, if they did not indeed surpass all others in righteousness and holiness. But since the Lord Himself had to be incarnated of a Most Holy and Most Pure Mother, it was likewise fitting that the Mother of God descend from holy and pure parents. Just as earthly kings have their purples made, not from plain material, but gold-brocaded, so also did the Heavenly King wish to have His Most Pure Mother, in the body of which, as in a royal purple, He was to clothe Himself, born not of ordinary incontinent parents, as of plain material, but of chaste and holy ones, as of gold-brocaded material, the type of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to construct of crimson and scarlet material and of fine linen. (Exodus 27:16) “And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.” This tabernacle prefigured the Virgin Mary, taking up His abode in Whom, God came to “live with men”, as it is written: “behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them (Rev. 21:3).” The crimson and scarlet material and the linen from which the tabernacle was made, prefigured the parents of the Mother of God, Who was descended from and born of chastity and continence, as of crimson and scarlet raiment, and of their perfection in the fulfillment of every commandment of God, as of fine linen.

But these holy spouses were, by the will of God, childless for a long time – in order that in the conception and birth of such a daughter would be manifested the power of the grace of God, as well as the honor of the One Born, and the worthiness of the parents: for it is impossible for a barren and aged woman to bear in any other way but by the power of the grace of God; here nature is no longer active, but God Who overcomes the laws of nature and destroys the bonds of barrenness. To be born of barren and aged parents is a great honor to the One Born as well, because She is born not of incontinent parents but of continent and aged ones, such as were Joachim and Anna, who lived fifty years in marriage and had no children. Finally, through such a birth the worthiness of the parents themselves is also revealed, since they, after a long barrenness, gave birth to the joy of all the world, in such a way likened to the patriarch Abraham and his devout wife Sarah, who by the promise of God bore Isaac in old age (Genesis 21:2) “For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” However, it can be said without doubt that the nativity of the Mother of God was superior to the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah. As much as the Virgin Mary is Herself born above and more worthy of honor than Isaac, so likewise are Joachim and Anna greater and higher in worthiness than Abraham and Sarah. They did not achieve that virtue all at once but only after they had prayed to God for this with diligent fasting and prayer, in mental sorrow and with grieving hearts: and their grief was turned into joy, while their disgrace appeared as the herald of a great honor, their assiduous petition appeared as a guidance for the receiving of blessings, and their prayer as the best intercession.

Joachim and Anna were sorrowful and wept long over their childlessness. Once, on a great feastday, Joachim was bringing gifts to the Lord God in the temple of Jerusalem; together with Joachim all of the Israelites were also bringing their gifts in offering to God. Issachar, who was the high priest at that time, did not want to accept the offerings of Joachim because he was without children.

“Your gifts,” he said, “must not be accepted because you do not have children, and hence, do not have the blessing of God: most likely you have some secret sins.”

Likewise, a Hebrew from the tribe of Reuben, bringing his gifts together with the others, reproached Joachim, saying:

Why do you want to bring sacrifices to God before Me? Do you not know that you are not worthy to bring gifts together with us, since you know no descent in Israel?”

Yet to the patriarchs of the Israelite nation had repeatedly been given by God the promise of the multiplying of their descendants; therefore, the Israelites regarded a multitudinous posterity as the highest fortune and blessing of God. On the other hand, by the ancient promise of God, the Israelites hoped to find among their descendants the “seed of the woman” promised by God, the Messiah. This is why among the Hebrews childlessness was considered as a terrible misfortune and punishment for sins, and the people who did not have children the Hebrews regarded as great sinners.

These reproaches grieved Joachim very much, and he with great sorrow left the temple of God disgraced and humiliated, and the feastday turned into grief for him, while the festal joy changed into sorrow. Deeply sorrowing, he did not return home, but departed into the desert to the shepherds, tending their flocks, and wept there over his infertility and over the abuses and reproaches made against him. Having remembered Abraham, his forefather, to whom in extreme old age God granted a son, Joachim began diligently praying to the Lord that he also be honored with such benevolence, that He hear his prayer, have mercy on him, and take away from him the abuses of the people, that He grant him in old age the fruit of his marriage, as was done at one time to Abraham.

“May I have,” he prayed, “the possibility of being called the father of a child, and not childless and rejected by God to suffer the reproaches of the people.”

Joachim added a fast to this prayer and for forty days did not partake of bread.

“I will not eat,” he said, “and will not return to my home; let my tears be my nourishment, and the desert my home, until the Lord God of Israel hearkens and takes this defamation away from me”

In the very same way his wife also, being at home and hearing that the high priest, reproaching them for barrenness, did not want to accept their gifts, and that her husband from great sorrow had withdrawn into the desert, wept with inconsolable tears.

“Now,” she said, “I am the most unfortunate of all: rejected by God, reviled among the people, and forsaken by my husband! Over what shall I weep now: over my widowhood, or my childlessness, or my orphanhood, of over the fact that I was not found worthy to be called a mother!”

In this way she wept bitterly all those days.

A servant of Anna, by the name of Judith, tried to comfort her but could not: for who can console one whose grief is as deep as the sea?

Once the sorrowful Anna went into the garden, sat under a laurel tree, sighed from the depth of her heart, and lifting her tear-filled eyes toward heaven, noticed a bird’s nest on the tree with tiny birds in it. This sight imbued her heart with even greater sorrow, and she with weeping began to call out:

“Woe to me who am childless! It is probably because I am the most sinful among all the daughters of Israel, that I am the only one among all the women to be so humbled. All of them carry the fruit of their wombs in their arms; all of them are comforted by their children; I am the only one alien to this joy. Woe is me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and for their child-bearing respect is shown to them; I am the only one rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! With whom can I compare myself? Not with the birds of the sky, not with the animals of the earth; for they too bring their fruit to Thee, Lord God; only I am barren. I cannot compare myself even with the earth; for it vegetates and raises the seeds, and bringing forth fruits, blesses Thee, the Heavenly Father; only I am without fruit on the earth. Alas, for me, Lord, Lord! Only I, a sinner, am deprived of posterity. Thou who once granted a son Isaac to Sarah in deep old age (Genesis 21:1-8):

And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

Thou Who opened the womb of Hannah, the mother of Thy prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11, 20; 1 Kings 1:11, 20 in Septuagint),

And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head… Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

Look upon me today and hear my prayers. Lord Sabaoth! Thou knowest the disgrace of childlessness; put an end to the sorrow of my heart and open my womb and make me who am barren fruit-bearing, so that we may bring the one born of me as a gift to Thee, blessing, lauding, and in accordance glorifying Thy mercy.”

While Anna was exclaiming in this way with weeping and wailing, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:

“Anna, Anna! Your prayer has been heard; your sighings have penetrated through to the clouds; your tears have appeared before God; and you shall conceive and bear a most blessed Daughter; through Her all the tribes of the earth shall receive a blessing and to all the world shall be granted salvation; her name shall be Mary.”

Hearing the words of the angel, Anna bowed down to God and said:

“As the Lord God lives, if a child is born to me, I shall offer it for service to God. Let it serve Him and glorify the holy name of God day and night all the time if its life.”

Following this, having been filled with unspeakable joy, the holy Anna quickly went to Jerusalem in order there to give prayerful thanksgiving to God for His merciful visitation.

At the same time the Angel also appeared to Joachim in the desert and said:

“Joachim, Joachim! God has herd your prayer and it well-pleases Him to grant you His grace; your wife Anna shall conceive and bear you a Daughter, the birth of Whom shall be the joy of the entire world. And here is a sign for you that I am announcing the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gates, you shall find your wife Anna to whom I have announced the same.”

Joachim, surprised by such good news of the angel, doxologizing God and thanking Him with heart and lips for the great mercy, hastily departed with joy and gladness for the temple of Jerusalem. There, just as the Angel had announced to him, he found Anna at the golden gates, praying to God, and he told her of the glad tidings of the angel. She likewise revealed how she had seen and heard an angel, announcing the birth of a daughter to her. Then Joachim and Anna Glorified God Who had done such a great kindness for them, and having worshipped Him in the holy temple, they returned to their home.

And holy Anna conceived on the ninth day of the month of December, while on the eighth of September she gave birth to a Daughter, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Beginning and Intercessor of our salvation, over Whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim, on the occasion of Her birth, brought valuable gifts, sacrifices, and burnt offerings to God, and received the blessing of the high priest, the priests, the levites, and all the people, for having been vouchsafed the blessing of God. He later gave a banquet in his home, and all glorified God with gladness.

The parents took care of the growing Virgin Mary as the apple of their eye, knowing, by the special revelation of God, that She would be a light to all the world and the renewal of human nature. For this reason they brought Her up with such careful circumspection, as was proper for the One Who was to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved Her not only as their daughter as long awaited, but revered Her as their lady, remembering the angelic words concerning Her and foreseeing through the spirit what was to be accomplished through Her. Being filled with divine grace, She mystically enriched Her parents with that grace as well. As the sun illuminates with its rays the heavenly bodies so also the divinely-chosen Mary, like the sun, illuminated Joachim and Anna with the rays of the grace given to Her, so that they too were filled with the Spirit of God, and firmly believed in the fulfillment of the angel’s words.

When the child Mary reached the age of three, Her parents led Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying Her with lighted lamps, and consecrated Her to the service of God, as they had promised. After the passing of several years following the presentation of May into the temple, holy Joachim died, eighty years from his birth. Holy Anna, having become a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she stayed with her Most Holy Daughter, praying unceasingly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she reposed in the Lord, 79 years following her birth. The Church commemorates the passing of the righteous Anna on the 25th of July.

O, How blessed are you, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Most Blessed Daughter! Greatly blessed are you for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom all the nations and tribes of the earth have received a blessing! The Holy Church has justly named you Ancestors of God, for we know that from your Most Holy Daughter God was born. Standing near to Him in heaven today, pray that at least a certain portion of your never-ending joy will be imparted to us. Amen.

Source: St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

The Sunday between July 13/26 and July 19/August 1

First Ecumenical Council

In the Ninth Article of the Nicea-Constantinople Symbol of Faith proclaimed by the holy Fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils, we confess our faith in “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” By virtue of the catholic nature of the Church, an Ecumenical Council is the Church’s supreme authority, and possesses the competence to resolve major questions of church life. An Ecumenical Council is comprised of archpastors and pastors of the Church, and representatives of all the local Churches, from every land of the “oikumene” (i.e. from all the whole inhabited world).

The Orthodox Church acknowledges Seven Holy Ecumenical Councils: The First Ecumenical Council (Nicea I) (May 29, and also on seventh Sunday after Pascha) was convened in the year 325 against the heresy of Arius, in the city of Nicea in Bithynia under StConstantine the Great, Equal of the Apostles.

The Second Ecumenical Council (Constantinople I) (May 22) was convened in the year 381 against the heresy of Macedonias, by the emperor Theodosius the Great.

The Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus) (September 9) was convened in the year 431 against the heresy of Nestorius, in the city of Ephesus by the emperor Theodosius the Younger.

The Fourth Ecumenical Council (Chalcedon) (July 16) was convened in the year 451, against the Monophysite heresy, in the city of Chalcedon under the emperor Marcian.

The Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constnatinople II) (July 25) “Concerning the Three Chapters,” was convened in the year 553, under the emperor Justinian the Great.

The Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople III) (January 23) met during the years 680-681, to fight the Monothelite heresy, under the emperor Constantine Pogonatos.

The fact that the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicea II) is not commemorated today testifies to the antiquity of today’s celebration. The Seventh Council, commemorated on the Sunday nearest to October 11, was convened at Nicea in the year 787 against the Iconoclast heresy, under the emperor Constantine and his mother Irene.

The Church venerates the Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils because Christ has established them as “lights upon the earth,” guiding us to the true Faith. “Adorned with the robe of truth,” the doctrine of the Fathers, based upon the preaching of the Apostles, has established one faith for the Church. The Ecumenical Councils, are the highest authority in the Church. Such Councils, guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and accepted by the Church, are infallible.

The Orthodox Church’s conciliar definitions of dogma have the highest authority, and such definitions always begin with the Apostolic formula: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (Acts 15: 28).

The Ecumenical Councils were always convened for a specific reason: to combat false opinions and heresies, and to clarify the Orthodox Church’s teaching. But the Holy Spirit has thus seen fit, that the dogmas, the truths of faith, immutable in their content and scope, constantly and consequently are revealed by the conciliar mind of the Church, and are given precision by the holy Fathers within theological concepts and terms in exactly such measure as is needed by the Church itself for its economy of salvation. The Church, in expounding its dogmas, is dealing with the concerns of a given historical moment, “not revealing everything in haste and thoughtlessly, nor indeed, ultimately hiding something” (St Gregory the Theologian).

A brief summary of the dogmatic theology of the First Six Ecumenical Councils is formulated and contained in the First Canon of the Council of Trullo (also known as Quinisext), held in the year 692. The 318 Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council are spoken of in this Canon I of Trullo as having: “with unanimity of faith revealed and declared to us the consubstantiality of the three Persons of the Divine nature and, … instructing the faithful to adore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with one worship, they cast down and dispelled the false teaching about different degrees of Divinity.”

The 150 Holy Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council left their mark on the theology of the Church concerning the Holy Spirit, “repudiating the teaching of Macedonius, as one who wished to divide the inseparable Unity, so that there might be no perfect mystery of our hope.”

The 200 God-bearing Fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council expounded the teaching that “Christ, the Incarnate Son of God is One.” They also confessed that “she who bore Him without seed was the spotless Ever-Virgin, glorifying her as truly the Mother of God.

The 630 Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council decreed that “the One Christ, the Son of God… must be glorified in two natures.”

The 165 God-bearing Holy Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council “in synod anathematized and repudiated Theodore of Mopsuestia (the teacher of Nestorius), and Origen, and Didymus, and Evagrius, renovators of the Hellenic teaching about the transmigration of souls and the transmutation of bodies and the impieties they raised against the resurrection of the dead.”

The 170 Holy Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council “taught that we ought to confess two natural volitions, or two wills [trans. note: one divine, and the other human], and two natural operations (energies) in Him Who was incarnate for our salvation, Jesus Christ, our true God.”

In decisive moments of Church history, the holy Ecumenical Councils promulgated their dogmatic definitions, as trustworthy delimitations in the spiritual battle for the purity of Orthodoxy, which will last until such time, as “all shall come into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4: 13). In the struggle with new heresies, the Church does not abandon its former dogmatic concepts nor replace them with some sort of new formulations. The dogmatic formulae of the Holy Ecumenical Councils need never be superseded, they remain always contemporary to the living Tradition of the Church. Therefore the Church proclaims:

“The faith of all in the Church of God hath been glorified by men, which were luminaries in the world, cleaving to the Word of Life, so that it be observed firmly, and that it dwell unshakably until the end of the ages, conjointly with their God-bestown writings and dogmas. We reject and we anathematize all whom they have rejected and anathematized, as being enemies of Truth. And if anyone does not cleave to nor admit the aforementioned pious dogmas, and does not teach or preach accordingly, let him be anathema” (Canon I of the Council of Trullo).

In addition to their dogmatic definitions, the Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils exerted great efforts towards the strengthening of church discipline. Local Councils promulgated their disciplinary canons according to the circumstances of the time and place, frequently differing among themselves in various particulars.

The universal unity of the Orthodox Church required unity also in canonical practice, i.e. a conciliar deliberation and affirmation of the most important canonical norms by the Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils. Thus, according to conciliar judgment, the Church has accepted: 20 Canons from the First, 7 Canons from the Second, 8 Canons from the Third, and 30 Canons from the Fourth Ecumenical Synods. The Fifth and the Sixth Councils concerned themselves only with resolving dogmatic questions, and did not leave behind any disciplinary canons.

The need to establish in codified form the customary practices during the years 451-680, and ultimately to compile a canonical codex for the Orthodox Church, occasioned the convening of a special Council, which was wholly devoted to the general application of churchly rules. This was convened in the year 692. The Council “in the Imperial Palace” or “Under the Arches” (in Greek “en trullo”), came to be called the Council in Trullo. It is also called the “Quinisext” [meaning the "fifth and sixth"], because it is considered to have completed the activities of the Fifth and Sixth Councils, or rather that it was simply a direct continuation of the Sixth Ecumenical Council itself, separated by just a few years.

The Council in Trullo, with its 102 Canons (more than of all the Ecumenical Synods combined), had a tremendous significance in the history of the canonical theology of the Orthodox Church. It might be said that the Fathers of this Council produced a complete compilation of the basic codex from the relevant sources for the Orthodox Church’s canons. Listing through in chronological order, and having been accepted by the Church the Canons of the Holy Apostles, and the Canons of the Holy Ecumenical and the Local Councils and of the holy Fathers, the Trullo Council declared: “Let no one be permitted to alter or to annul the aforementioned canons, nor in place of these put forth, or to accept others, made of spurious inscription” (2nd Canon of the Council in Trullo).

Church canons, sanctified by the authority of the first Six Ecumenical Councils (including the rules of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787, and the Constantinople Councils of 861 and 879, which were added later under the holy Patriarch Photius), form the basis of THE RUDDER, or KORMCHAYA KNIGA (a canon law codex known as “Syntagma” or “Nomokanon” in 14 titles). In its repository of grace is expressed a canonical norm, a connection to every era, and a guide for all the local Orthodox Churches in churchly practice.

New historical conditions can lead to the change of some particular external aspect of the life of the Church. This makes creative canonical activity necessary in the conciliar reasoning of the Church, in order to reconcile the external norms of churchly life with historical circumstances. The details of canonical regulation are not fully developed for the various eras of churchly organization at all once. With every push to either forsake the literal meaning of a canon, or to fulfill and develop it, the Church again and again turns for reasoning and guidance to the eternal legacy of the Holy Ecumenical Councils, to the inexhaustable treasury of dogmatic and canonical truths.

Source: Orthodox Church in America

Criticism is allowed, but passing judgement upon priests isn’t. As the saying goes, to criticize someone or someone’s work is to put a wreath upon it [and that is a good thing]. But to judge a person belonging to the clergy, to judge in a context where everyone tends to criticize precisely because the clergy are the ones who emanate the power and Grace of God and everyone points at them all the time… well, let us not forget they are human, too. Moreover, they have the possibility to save themselves more easily than you, because they have the Grace and the Church mysteries and works/duties than have been given to them — and last but not least, they must have some conscience, too!, don’t you think?

And let me tell you this – no clergyman becomes so without the will of God. God directs such a person’s life.

But we are going back to our earlier point: we tend to criticize everyone else but ourselves!

Think about it – when you go up there and meet Christ and it is shown that you judged the priest – that he did that instead of the other, or whatever. Things of that sort… so what you did was to judge the priest’s deeds and movements through life and that is a big mistake.

I’m telling you this once again: no matter what sort of cup you drink your wine from – whether it’s crystal or pottery, it’s still wine that you’re drinking. One drinks wine from the Holy Chalice, which contains the Holy Blood and Body of our Saviour. Because it is not the priest’s worthiness that is responsible for the wonderful transformations that take place then, when the wine changes into the Holy Blood and the bread into the Holy Body of Christ — but God’s Grace!

So, whether he is worthy or unworthy, the priest’s work depends on Grace, not on anything else. So don’t rush to judge him, because you’re making an enormous mistake. And here I must get back to a previous question – you should not judge anyone, not even some terrible murderer – let alone a priest! Why should you intrude in his life so! You will be condemned much more seriously because of that. You have come to Christ? Pray to Christ, to help him.

My dear ones, I repeat: we are responsible for all the mistakes that are done in this world –we are personally responsible for them, every one of us. There. So we must have this attitude of sacrifice. Because the Mystery of man’s salvation, for everyone of us, is carried out on the Cross. What we should understand from that is that the Cross is the earth’s greatest gift, of the greatest utility.

So what should your “sacrifice” be? Sacrifice your judging the other one because of some mistake s/he has made. And if you go as far as judging people within the Church wherein dwells the Grace of God and you judge the priest, you are making a terrible, terrible mistake! Make it a habit, all of you, to see Christ when you look at the Church, because there’s a prayer that the priest reads before the Heruvikon, which goes like this: “because You are the One Who brings, the One Who brings Yourself, the One Who is received, and the One Who is shared.” So what is the priest if he is in charge with such things? …It’s like… “Yes, but without you, my priest, I cannot do these things”, Christ replies – not without the Grace of priesthood. And, ok, maybe that guy isn’t a terribly sophisticated person, as a priest, but he does have the Grace, and that is a divine thing. So you condemn yourself terribly if you judge him. He is responsible for his deeds; but you, on the other hand, you will be held terribly responsible for your deeds and his deeds, too, because you have judged him.

There was this great hermit who one day, received the visit of a believer from his village, who had come to see him in the wilderness. In the hermit’s village was this very sinful man. The hermit asked the visitor: “Has that X fellow changed his ways or he’s just as I used to know him?” The man answered: “He hasn’t changed, Father.” And the hermit uttered only an: “Oh!” The next day, an angel came to the hermit and asked him: “God has sent me to ask you: where should He put the soul of that man, who just died last night – in Heaven or in Hell? Because you have judged him.” The hermit lamented and repented for the rest of his life to receive a sign of God’s forgiveness and still had none. And the man that he had judged had been a big sinner indeed! But he had judged him.

“God, please, have mercy for him. God, please protect him.”, he should have said instead. I repeat and I stress this, and please forgive me for being repetitive: WE are guilty for the other people’s mistakes. The whole tragedy of humanity depends on the mess in our own lives.

Because if one talks about love, it’s love! There is no going around it. Look at things as they truly are. It’s like: I am a human being, with hands, fingers etc, there is no question about it whatsoever. With a heart, too! One cannot go around these things. The Christian teaching is about the integrity of the human being. So we are not to negotiate a whole series of things that can pull us behind – or stall our lives. I’m telling you – this judging of others that we do is so serious that (I think I have written it somewhere, too) I believe that most of the souls who are in hell are people who have badmouthed others. They all excuse themselves by saying: “But I’m not the only one who badmouths.” or: “Doesn’t s/he deserve to be judged?” No. If someone is guilty, you, too, are guilty for his guilt, because you haven’t prayed for him – and, of course, if you have judged him, you have made an even bigger mistake.

Source: Valahia

Father Arsenie has reposed in the Lord today, Tuesday 19 July 2011, at 11:00 in the morning. He was one of the greatest Romanian spiritual fathers in the second half of the 20th century.

He was born on August 15, 1913 in Misleanu, a village in southern Romania. His baptism name was Anghel. His grandfather was a Vlach shepherd.

After WWII he was received at Cozia Monastery. He became a monk at Sihastria Monastery. He later became abbot of Slatina Monastery.

Hearing that the communists wanted to arrest him, he lived as a hermit for several years, along with Father Cleopa Ilie. He was arrested in 1958 and released in 1964.

In 1976 he became the spiritual father of a female monastery, called Techirghiol. It is here where he reposed in the Lord. He will be buried here on Thursday 21 July.

May his memory be eternal!

Source: Mystagogy