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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