Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Charity and their mother Sophia

On September 17/30, Orthodox Christians celebrate an important religious holiday in memory of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Charity and their mother Sophia, who died defending the Christian Faith.

According to tradition Sophia had three daughters: Faith (Vera), Hope (Nadezhda) and Charity (Lubov). Relocating from Milan to Rome, Sophia raised the girls according to Christian teachings. This angered the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who demanded that they only worship the goddess Artemis.

When all four of them disobeyed the Emperor, continuing to honor Jesus Christ, Hadrian ordered that Sophia’s daughters be subjected to excruciating torture; however, Faith, Hope and Charity remained unharmed and prayed constantly.

Then the Emperor Hadrian ordered that the young girls (who were only 12, 10 and 9 years of age) be killed. After they were beheaded and then hacked to pieces, Hadrian gave the girls’ remains to the unfortunate mother, who died after 3 days due to the trauma of such great sorrow.

In commemoration of these great and holy martyrs, all Orthodox who have been named in their honor annually celebrate their Namesday on this day.

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The Universal Exaltation of the Holy and Life-giving Cross

The Elevation of the Cross, celebrated on September 14/27, commemorates the finding of Christ’s Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century; and, after it was taken by the Persians, of its recovery by the Emperor Heraclius in the seventh century at which time it was “elevated” in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. From this latter event the “Universal Elevation of the Cross” was celebrated annually in all of the churches of the Christian Empire.

The holy day of the Elevation of the Cross has a place of great significance in the Church today. It remains with us as a day of fasting and prayer, a day when we recall that the Cross is the only sign worthy of our total allegiance, and that our salvation comes not by “victories” of any earthly sort but by the only true and lasting victory of the crucifixion of Christ and our co-crucifixion with him.

“Through the Cross joy has come into all the world” so we Orthodox sing celebrating Christ’s victory over death. We honor the Cross, the instrument which brought salvation to the world and to each and everyone of us.

В этот день Православная Церковь приглашает верующих воздать благоговейное поклонение Честному и Животворящему Кресту, на котором Господь наш и Спаситель перенес величайшие страдания ради нашего спасения.

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Canonization (1978) of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg (18th c.)

She was born about 1730, and as a young woman married an army colonel named Andrei, a handsome and dashing man fond of worldly living. When she was twenty-six years old, her husband died suddenly after drinking with his friends, leaving Xenia a childless widow. Soon afterward, she gave away all her possessions and disappeared from St Petersburg for eight years; it is believed that she spent the time in a hermitage, or even a monastery, learning the ways of the spiritual life. When she returned to St Petersburg, she appeared to have lost her reason: she dressed in her husband’s army overcoat, and would only answer to his name. She lived without a home, wandering the streets of the city, mocked and abused by many. She accepted alms from charitable people, but immediately gave them away to the poor: her only food came from meals that she sometimes accepted from those she knew. At night she withdrew to a field outside the city where she knelt in prayer until morning.

Slowly, the people of the city noticed signs of a holiness that underlay her seemingly deranged life: she showed a gift of prophecy, and her very presence almost always proved to be a blessing. The Synaxarion says:

“The blessing of God seemed to accompany her wherever she went: when she entered a shop the day’s takings would be noticeably greater; when a cabman gave her a lift he would get plenty of custom; when she embraced a sick child it would soon get better. So compassion, before long, gave way to veneration, and people generally came to regard her as the true guardian angel of the city.”

Forty-five years after her husband’s death, St Xenia reposed in peace at the age of seventy-one, sometime around 1800. Her tomb immediately became a place of pilgrimage: so many people took soil from the gravesite as a blessing that new soil had to be supplied regularly; finally a stone slab was placed over the grave, but this too was gradually chipped away by the faithful. Miracles, healings and appearances of St Xenia occur to this day, to those who visit her tomb or who simply ask her intercessions. Her prayers are invoked especially for help in finding employment, a home, or a spouse (all of which she renounced in her own life). A pious custom is to offer a Panachida for the repose of her husband Andrei, for whom she prayed fervently throughout her life.

Saint Xenia was first officially glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in 1978; then by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1988.

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The Holy Prophet Zachariah and Holy Righteous Elizabeth

Commemorated on September 5/18

The Holy Righteous Elizabeth and Holy Prophet Zachariah were the parents of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptizer of the Lord, John. They were descended from the lineage of Aaron: Saint Zachariah, son of Barach, was a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, and Saint Elizabeth was the sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Mother of God. The righteous spouses, “comporting themselves through all the commandments of the Lord blamelessly” (Luke 1:5-25), suffered barrenness, which in the Old Testament times was considered a punishment from God.

One time during the occasion of service in the temple, Saint Zachariah received the news from an angel, that his aged wife would bear him a son, who “will be great before the Lord” (Lk. 1: 15) and “will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias” (Luke 1:17). Zachariah was doubtful of the possibility of the fulfilling of this prediction, and for his weakness of faith he was punished by becoming unable to speak. When Righteous Elizabeth gave birth to a son, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit she announced that his name was John, although earlier in their family line no one had been given such a name as this. They asked Righteous Zachariah and he likewise wrote down on the writing-board the name John. Immediately the gift of speech returned to him, and inspired of the Holy Spirit, he began to prophesy about his son as being the Forerunner of the Lord.

When impious king Herod heard from the Magi about the birth of the Messiah, he decided to kill at Bethlehem and its surroundings all the infants up to 2 years old, hoping that in this number would be also the new-born Messiah. Herod well know about the unusual birth of John and he wanted to kill him, fearing that he was the foretold King of the Jews. But Righteous Elizabeth hid herself away with the infant in the hills. The murderers searched everywhere for John. Righteous Elizabeth, catching sight of her pursuers, began tearfully to implore God concerning their safety, and immediately the hill opening up concealed her together with the infant from their pursuers. In these tragic days Saint Zachariah was taking his turn serving at the Jerusalem Temple. Soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to learn from him the whereabouts of his son. Then, by command of Herod, they murdered this holy prophet, stabbing him between the offertory and the altar (Matthew 23:35). Righteous Elizabeth died forty days after her spouse, and Saint John, preserved by the Lord, dwelt in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to the nation of Israel.

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Blessed John the Merciful of Rostov

Blessed John the Merciful of Rostov (also known as “власатый” – “the Hairy”) struggled in asceticism at Rostov in the exploit of blessedness (юродство), in it enduring deprivation and sorrow. He did not have a permanent shelter and at times took his rest at the house of his spiritual father – a priest at the church of the All-Holy (“Veskhsvyatsk”), or with one of the aged widows.

Living in humility, patience and unceasing prayer, he spiritually nourished many a person, in which number was also the Monk Irinarkh, Hermit of Rostov. After his lengthy life of pursuing asceticism he died on 3/16 September 1580 and was buried, according to his final wishes, alongside the church of Saint Blaise beyond the altar.

He had “hair upon his head abundantly”, wherefore he was called “Vlasatyi” or “Hairy”. The title “Merciful” was bestown upon Blessed John for the many healings that occurred at his grave, and also in connection with the memory of the holy Patriarch John the Merciful, whose name he had in common.

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St Augustine of Hippo: “Confessions”

“But my sin was this, that I looked for pleasure, beauty, and truth not in God but in myself and God’s other creatures, and the search led me instead to pain, confusion, and error.” – Saint Augustine of Hippo

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When All Becomes Too Easy

By Fr. Vasile Tudora

There are many places in the world where the fear of not being able to make ends meet, leaving your family without food, shelter, and other means of subsistence, or the fear of a ravaging war, is intensely present. With the golden era of prosperity, in the Western world at least, these great survival fears have almost disappeared, morphing into new and shallow anxieties: not being able to land the most fulfilling job fresh out of college, missing the right kind of organic almond milk at the closest health food store, or, heaven forbid, not sporting a car aligned with one’s social status.

When placed in the euphoric mist of comfort, one has the tendency to lose focus and concentrate on things that don’t really matter. Without a motivating purpose, even a great athlete becomes a couch potato, gaining weight and losing strength.

In the Book of Judges, we read the story of Samson who, lured in the pleasuring arms of Delilah, reveals the secret of his strength and loses his life to his enemies. David the King, blinded by power, wealth, and desire, falls into murder, coveting his friend’s wife. King Herod beheads St. John the Baptist in exchange for a lascivious dance, putting a drunkard’s promise higher then the life of a prophet.

An experiment has been done with two young trees. One is planted outside and one inside a glass house. The tree outside was subject to wind, rain, and all the elements. The one inside was sheltered and not a leaf was damaged from its branches by wind or rain. After a while, the experimenters took the protected tree outside, and they were proud of it: it looked strong and healthy. Then a storm came and started blowing powerfully. The humble outside tree bent to the ground, as it did many times before, but then came back up unharmed. The inside tree, however, with a trunk unused to the hardships of the real world, snapped in two, bringing its pampered life to a tragic end.

Everyone wants a life without suffering and pain, with everything aligning to our every wish, but is this really helpful to us? If God would give us everything we’re asking, and protect us from all harm, would we be inclined to do more for God through our fellow men? Would we be more motivated to better ourselves every day? Would this keep us on the path of salvation?

If we look at the direction that our prosperity culture is leading, we see an increased focus on materialism and a lack of inner spirituality. The more external stuff we have, the less we are prone to concentrate on the needs of the internal. This leads to an atrophy and numbness of the soul that stops being moved even by other people’s sufferings. We see terrible news on TV, and, unable to bear the weight of what we see, we switch to the happy channel. It is not our problem; we are fine, thank God for our good life!

This is why the spiritual path proposed by the Christian faith, as we the Orthodox understand it, is not an appealing proposition for many, certainly not for the indulged. Our narrow path leads the believer to incredible heights, but it also takes him or her through many tribulations. It goes through many seasons of fasting, painstakingly long services, vigils, resisting temptation, accepting our faults in Confession, taking responsibility for our families, sharing our treasure with the poor, humbling ourselves, and, most importantly, trying to love everyone, including those who hate us.

All these things are overwhelming and many times can bring one to the brink of despair. But it is exactly there that we meet God and experience His power. God said to the Holy Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). We struggle to stay on the straight and narrow, but it is God Who actually fulfills our efforts with His grace through the Holy Spirit.

The comfort of this world is not the purpose; yet, the suffering is not the purpose either. Even the exercises of the spiritual life are not the end, but only means to an end. The purpose is only in God. The only mode of existence of humankind is in the presence of God. Only in God’s loving presence do we truly exist. The comfort of this life can make us forget this; lost in the indulgences of creation, we forget the Creator. The tribulations of the spiritual life, on the other hand, have the purpose of awakening the soul and building an acute mindfulness of God’s presence in our lives. When we renounce food during Lent, God rises as the Feeder of the hungry; in the pious prayer, God emerges as the Bestower of mercy; in fighting temptations, God is revealed as the Conqueror of evil. As we advance on the ladder of virtues, God is more and more present in our lives and becomes the focus of our existence. This is what the saints did; this is what we should all do; perfection is a universal call.

There is, however, no victory without a fight; there is no reward without a struggle. We contest, and God rewards us plentifully; we suffer and labor now, but in the end, we will find peace. “Come to me,” God says, “all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Not the rest and comfort of a transitory prosperity, but the eternal peace and delight of the Kingdom, in the presence of God.

Christ did all of these first. He gave up His glory and in His great humility became One of us so we can become like Him. He suffered through His passions, and, although we rejected Him, He called us to be His family. We have to accept His call, take up our crosses, and follow Him into His suffering and even into death, so that also through Him, we will enter into life. Amin.*

*Minimally edited using inclusive language.

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Guardian Angel

“Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs.” — St. Francis de Sales

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A Day of Sorrowful Remembrance

With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Thy departed servants, where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting!

Today marks the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City; Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and Arlington, Virginia. This day remains one of reflection and prayer. And indeed, there is much upon which one might reflect on this day—the endless conflicts and sorrows in Ukraine, Syria, Palestine and elsewhere across the globe, and the appropriate response thereto; the suffering of countless Christians who have had to abandon their homes, in so many instances literally fleeing for their lives; the challenge to maintain focus on “our true home,” the Realm of God, wondrously in our midst yet all-too-often overshadowed by this fallen world and its “values” or lack thereof; and ultimately, the need to embrace that great gift of repentance, the very heart of the Gospel, to which all humanity has been called to embrace in faith and love.

Prayer stands at the heart of this day. We pray for all those who lost their lives in 9/11, as well as for their families and friends who continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones. It is also a day we fervently pray for those who, in ways known and unknown, selflessly reached out to victims and survivors alike; for those brave first responders—fire fighters and physicians, police and military personnel and officials, clergy and counselors and coworkers—who brought comfort and hope to friend and stranger alike; and for everyone still struggling to “make sense” of that which, by nature, is senseless.

Among those who lost their lives on 9/11 and for whom we pray on this day is one of my former parishioners, Lisa Terry, and her beloved family members. As we pray on this day, let us especially remember our brothers and sisters in Christ, asking the One Who is our very Life and Resurrection to grant them eternal rest with the saints, that “they may shine like the stars of heaven” in the Kingdom of the God to which we all aspire.

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Beheading of Saint John the ForeRunner and Baptizer of Christ

The circumstances surrounding the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist are pretty seedy – we have a drunken king who makes an oath and doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of others; we have a hateful queen who wants revenge; we have a young girl who is pushed into the situation by her mother, and made to do a seductive dance and then make a deal to have John murdered.

Following the Baptism of the Lord, St. John was locked in prison by Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee. The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod for having left his lawful wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas, and co-habiting with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Lk. 3: 19-20).

On his birthday, Herod made a feast for dignitaries, the elders and a thousand chief citizens. The daughter of Herod, Salome, danced before the guests and charmed Herod. In gratitude to the girl he swore to give her anything, whatsoever she would ask, anything up to half his kingdom. The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked, that she be given at once the head of St. John the Baptist on a plate. Herod became apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He feared also the people, who loved the holy ForeRunner. But because of the guests and his careless oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of St. John and to give it to Salome.

By tradition, the mouth of the dead head of the preacher of repentance once more opened and proclaimed: “Herod, thou ought not to have the wife of Philip thy brother”. Salome took the plate with the head of St. John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod was possessor of a parcel of land. The holy body of St. John was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebasteia, there where the wicked deed had been done. After the murder of St. John, Herod continued to govern for awhile. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent to him the bound Jesus Christ, over Whom he made mockery (Lk. 23: 7-12).

The judgement of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way for her such that her body was in the water, but her head trapped beneath the ice. It was similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now flailing helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck. The corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of Saint John. The Arab king Aretas in revenge for the disrespect shown his daughter made war against Herod. Having suffered defeat, Herod suffered the wrath of the Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first to Gaul, and then to Spain. And there they were from view.

In memory of the Beheading of St. John, the feastday established by the Orthodox Church is a strict fast day, as an expression of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. Among the Rusyn people, it is customary on this day to avoid food that comes from a “head” (e.g. cabbage or lettuce), and to refrain from using a plate or a knife. On this day Orthodox Christians also make remembrance of soldiers, killed on the field of battle, as established in 1769 at the time of a war of Russia with the Turks and the Poles.

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Psalm of Repentance (Psalm 50/51)

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Icons of the Holy Trinity

Great Council of Moscow 1666-1667

“We decree that from now on the image of the Lord Sabaoth will no longer be painted according to senseless and unsuitable imaginings, for no one has ever seen the Lord Sabaoth (that is, God the Creator) in the flesh. Only Christ was seen in the flesh, and in this way He is portrayed, that is, in the flesh and not according to His divinity. Likewise, the most Holy Mother of God and other Saints of God.”

To paint on icons the Lord Sabaoth (that is, the Creator) as an old man with a white beard holding the Only-Begotten Son in His lap with a dove between them is altogether absurd and improper, for no one has ever seen the Creator in full Divinity. Indeed, the Creator has no flesh, and it is not in flesh that the Son was born of the Creator before all ages. And if the Prophet David says, ‘from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten You’ (Ps. 109 [110]:3), such a generation is certainly not corporeal, but unutterable and unimaginable. For Christ Himself says in the Holy Gospel, ‘No one knows the Creator except the Son’. In chapter 40, Isaiah asks: ‘What likeness will you find for God or what form to resemble God?’ Likewise, the holy Apostle Paul says in chapter 17 of Acts: ‘Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to believe that the Godhead is the same as gold, silver, or stone shaped by human art and thought.’ St. John of Damascus likewise says: ‘Who can make an imitation of God the invisible, the incorporeal, the indescribable, and unimaginable? To make an image of the Divinity is the height of folly and impiety’ (On the Heavens, Bk. IV, On the Image).

St. Gregory Dialogos forbade in a similar way. This is why the Lord Sabaoth, Who is the Godhead, and the engendering before all ages of the Only-Begotten Son of the Creator must only be perceived through our mind. By no means is it proper to paint such images: it is impossible. And the Holy Spirit is not, by nature a dove: the Spirit is by nature God. And no one has ever seen God, as the holy Evangelist points out. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of dove at the Holy Baptism of Christ in the Jordan; and this is why it is proper to represent the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, in this context only. Anywhere else, those who have good sense do not represent the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, for on Mount Tabor the Spirit appeared in the form of a cloud, and in another way elsewhere. Besides, Sabaoth is not the name of the Creator only, but of the Holy Trinity.

According to Dionysius the Aeropagite, ‘Sabaoth’ is translated from the Hebrew as ‘Lord of Host’. And the Lord of Hosts is the Trinity. And if the Prophet Daniel says that he has seen the Ancient of Days sitting on the throne of judgment, that is not taken to mean the Creator, but the Son at His Second Coming, who will judge all nations with his fearsome judgment.

Likewise, on icons of the Holy Annunciation, they paint the Lord Sabaoth breathing from His mouth, and that breath reaches the womb of the Most Holy Mother of God. But who has seen this, or which passage from Holy Scripture bears witness to it? Where is this taken from? Such a practice and others like it are clearly adopted and borrowed from people whose understanding is vain, or rather whose mind is deranged or absent. This is why we decree that henceforth such mistaken painting cease, for it comes from unsound knowledge. It is only in the Apocalyspe of St. John that the Creator can be painted with white hair, for lack of any other possibility, because of the visions contained in it.

It is good and proper to place a Cross, that is, the Crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, above the Deisis in the holy churches in the place of Lord Sabaoth, according to the norm preserved since ancient times in all the holy churches of the eastern countries, in Kiev, and everywhere else except in the Muscovite State. This is a great mystery kept by the holy Church. We say this to shame the iconographers so that they stop making false and vain paintings, and from now on paint nothing according to their own ideas, without an authentic reference. (The Image of God the Father in Orthodox Theology and Iconography and Other Studies by Fr. Steven Bingham pp. 137-139)

Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church 1722

On the antimensia, it is strictly forbidden to represent the Lord Sabaoth in the form of an old man, and the holy Evangelists in the form of animals. (ibid., p. 144).

Holy Orthodox Synod of Constantinople 1776

It has been decreed by the Synod that the icon allegedly of the Trinity is an innovation. It is alien to the apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church and is not accepted by it. It infiltrated the Church through the Latins. (ibid., p. 146)

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Mercy and Justice

By Saint Isaac the Syrian

Mercy and justice in one soul is like a person who worships God and idols in one house. Mercy is opposed to justice. Justice is the equality of the even scale, for it gives to each as one deserves; and when it makes recompense, it does not incline to one side or show respect of persons. Mercy, on the other hand, is a sorrow and pity stirred up by goodness, and it compassionately inclines a person in the direction of all; it does not requite a person who is deserving of evil, and to one who is deserving of good it gives a double portion. If, therefore, it is evident that mercy belongs to the portion of righteousness, then justice belongs to the portion of wickedness. As grass and fire cannot co-exist in one place, so justice and mercy cannot abide in one soul. As a grain of sand cannot counterbalance a great quantity of gold, so in comparison God’s use of justice cannot counterbalance mercy.

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