MYSTAGOGY RESOURCE CENTER

Homily for the Second Sunday of Luke (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

2026-10-04T13:12:40.489-04:00

Homily for the Second Sunday of Luke,
or Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost

On Love for Enemies

“And I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

Beloved faithful,

Our Savior Jesus Christ has shown that the greatest commandment in the Law is love for God, while the second, like it, is love of one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39). He said that these two commandments contain the whole Law and all the Prophets (Matthew 22:40). If this is the truth, then no one can say that he loves God unless he first loves his neighbor. Saint John the Evangelist also says this, declaring: “If anyone says that he loves God, but hates his brother, he is a liar! For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20).

Therefore, the Holy Gospel that was read today commands us to love our enemies, for this commandment is founded upon love for God and for our neighbor. Our neighbor is every person in the world (Luke 10:36–37), and we have no right to hate anyone, for all are created by God and possess the same nature as we do. But perhaps someone will say that Holy Scripture nevertheless shows that we may hate certain people, as the Psalmist says: “Those who hate You, O Lord, I have hated, and I have been grieved over Your enemies. With perfect hatred I have hated them, and they have become my enemies” (Psalm 138:21–22).

Here this refers to heretics, who hate and alter the truth of the dogmas of the true faith and transgress the righteous Law of God. We cannot love such people in the same way, according to the testimony that says: “I have hated those who transgress the Law” (Psalm 118:113). But someone may say: “Are these not human beings? How can we hate them?” To this question the divine Father Ephraim the Syrian answers, saying: “Scripture has not called heretics, as blasphemers and enemies of God, human beings, but dogs, wolves, and antichrists. And the Lord says: 'Do not give what is holy to dogs.' And Saint John the Evangelist says: 'For many antichrists have appeared.' Therefore, it is not right to love such people to the same degree, nor to dwell together with them, nor to receive them into one’s home, nor to pray together with them, nor to eat together with them, nor to greet them, lest we be infected by their teaching” (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, vol. III, Neamț Monastery, 1823, p. 156).

But perhaps someone may ask: What kind of sin do heretics commit that we cannot love them in the same way? We will answer that they commit the greatest sin, which has no forgiveness either in this age or in the age to come. That is, they blaspheme God and rise up against the Holy Spirit, the Mother of God, the Holy Cross and the icons, against the Church, the priesthood, and the Holy Mysteries, and they distort Holy Scripture. Through this grave sin, heretics and sectarians are truly enemies of God; yet not only should we not hate them, but we should receive them with great love, counsel them, and exhort them toward every good work. Precisely for this reason, today’s Holy Gospel urges us to love our enemies and do good to them when they are not enemies of God and desire to come to the truth. For just as love is greater than all good works, so among all sins the most grievous is hatred of one’s brother.

No commandment has exalted and glorified the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ so greatly as the commandment to love one’s enemies. Truly, this commandment perfects all the commandments of the Old Law, for no lawgiver before our Savior Jesus Christ was able to rise in understanding to such perfection as to teach and legislate with determination the love of enemies. If only people would strive to keep this one commandment, it would make Paradise upon earth and bring great tranquility, peace, and happiness among people. Conversely, when this is absent from among people, all envy, all wars, all acts of revenge, and all disturbances arise upon the earth.

But perhaps someone will say that this commandment is very difficult and hard to fulfill. If we judge rightly, we will understand that it is not difficult or impossible at all, but easy and saving for souls. Let us remember the words of the Lord, Who says: “Take My yoke upon you... for My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29–30). And Saint Ephraim the Syrian says concerning love of enemies: “What difficulty or what labor is there in forgiving our brother his small offenses and in deeming ourselves worthy that our own sins also should be forgiven?” (Ibid., p. 31).

Beloved faithful,

No one knows the weakness of human nature better than God. Therefore, we must understand that He never gives us commandments that are beyond our strength. For God knows most clearly the depths of the weakness of human nature and the things that are most necessary for our salvation. Therefore, in order to teach us the mystery of love for enemies, He descends in love and mercy to the level of our weak understanding and says: “As you would that people should treat you, so also do you treat them” (Luke 6:31).

O, the boundless compassion, mercy, goodness, and wisdom of God! For He says: “I am not telling you to do great and difficult things; rather, I urge you and teach you according to what you can understand. Do for another what you desire another to do for you. If you desire to be spoken evil of, then speak evil of another. If you desire to be insulted by another, then insult him as well. If you desire to be dishonored and deprived of your possessions by another, do the same to your neighbor; but if you desire to be honored by another, to be spoken well of, and to be helped in your time of need, then strive to do the same for your neighbor.”

The Holy Apostle Paul says: “Cast off all the works of darkness” (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:11). Indeed, every sin is a work of darkness, for it darkens the mind and heart of man; but more than all sins, hatred darkens the mind and heart.

The God-speaking Evangelist John shows this, saying: “He who hates his brother walks in darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11). And if “God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him” (1 John 4:16), then we will know that we are in God and that His love dwells in us only when we see that our heart continually rejoices in the good of our neighbor and in his progress in all things. But if we feel that sadness and bitterness are arising in our heart because of our neighbor’s good and prosperity, from this we should know with certainty that we are not in God and that God does not dwell in us!

Let us understand that, while in this state, we place the temporary things that our neighbor has received from God above the love of God and of our neighbor. The divine Apostle Paul says: “Let no one seek his own, but each the things of his neighbor” (1 Corinthians 10:24; Philippians 2:4). If we do not forget this teaching, we will find it easier to fulfill the teaching of today’s Holy Gospel, in which our Savior commands us to love our enemies. For if we seek the benefit and good of our neighbor, we will continually rejoice in his progress and happiness, considering them as our own. And thus the love of God and of our neighbor will always remain among us.

Therefore, the commandment to love our enemies is most just, most holy, and most exalted. And if it seems difficult and hard for us to fulfill, this is a sign that we have not even the slightest love of God and our neighbor in our hearts. Living in this way, we find ourselves in the darkness of hatred, envy, malice, vainglory, and other grave passions, while the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are love, peace, joy, longsuffering, and all the others enumerated by the Holy Apostle Paul, have no place in our souls.

The Lord says again in today’s Gospel: “If you love those who love you, what thanks will you have? For sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you have? For sinners do the same thing. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what reward do you have? For sinners also lend to sinners, in order to receive back. But you love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is good to the ungrateful and evil” (Luke 6:32–35).

How great is the truth and how great the justice contained in the Lord’s words here! For if I do good to someone and expect him to do the same to me, what reward can I then expect from God? Thus, my doing good does not concern my reward in the age to come, for the glory of God, but is a temporary exchange intended to gain, in this present age, what I have spent in doing good to my neighbor. I have lent so that something might be lent to me; I have given so that something might be given back to me. But if I give alms or do some other good to my neighbor, expecting nothing from him, then I can hope for a reward from God in the age to come, for my mind does not look toward the temporary reward from the one to whom I have done good, but toward the eternal blessings of the age to come.

Then, according to the word of the Lord, “your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). And there is something even greater and more glorious. By doing good to our neighbor without expecting anything from them in this present age, we become sons of the Most High, as Holy Scripture says: “I have said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High” (Psalm 81:6).

This dignity, of becoming sons of God by grace, is altogether beyond our capacity to comprehend and understand, because of the richness of the glory of God, through which we will become sons of God by Grace in this present age and in the age to come. That is, we are to be people like God (1 John 3:2), according to the measure of His Grace, Who is good to the ungrateful and evil, Who makes His sun rise upon both the good and the evil, and sends rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous.

Beloved faithful,

Up to this point we have spoken of how much glory and honor those will be deemed worthy to receive who have the love of God and of their neighbor in their souls and strive to fulfill the commandment of today’s Holy Gospel to love their enemies. Now let us ask ourselves: Have there indeed been people in the Old and New Laws who, through their deeds, attained to this perfect love of enemies?

To this question we will answer with the words of divine Scripture and show that many have succeeded in fulfilling this holy commandment of love for enemies, both in the Old Law and in the New.

First, let us remember the Prophet and King David, who, a thousand years before the coming of the Lord, strove to fulfill this holy and divine commandment in deed.

Anyone who has read Holy Scripture knows how much hatred King Saul had toward David, how long he persecuted him, and how he sought by every means to destroy him, as David himself says to Jonathan, his friend: “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, surely, as I have said, there is but one step between me and death” (1 Samuel 20:3), thereby showing how fiercely Saul persecuted him in order to kill him. Yet the Prophet David did not take revenge on Saul when he fell into his hands and could very easily have killed him. For Saul was fast asleep in a cave, and David merely cut off the edge of his garment as a testimony, but did not touch his life (1 Samuel 24:12–13).

And a second time, when King Saul was sleeping in the midst of his camp at night, David came and took the spear from beside his head and the vessel of water, and again did not touch his life, although he was often urged to kill Saul at that time (1 Samuel 26:6–22). Even more than this, when King Saul was struck by an evil spirit from God, David would come and play the harp for him, driving the evil spirit away from him (1 Samuel 19:9).

And under the Law of Grace, the first to fulfill this Gospel in deed and in word was our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He not only taught the commandment to love enemies, but was the first to fulfill it in deed. When He was upon the Cross, He prayed to His Father to forgive those who crucified Him, saying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!” (Luke 23:34). Likewise, Saint Stephen the Apostle and Archdeacon, the door of the martyrs, fulfilled the commandment to love enemies, for, kneeling down, he prayed to God for the forgiveness of the sins of those who were stoning him to death, saying: “Lord, receive my spirit… and do not hold this sin against them! And having said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:59–60). The other Apostles did likewise; when reviled, they comforted their enemies (1 Corinthians 4:11–13). Through this great virtue of love for enemies, millions of martyrs, hierarchs, confessors, and Venerable Fathers have shone in the world, along with all those who in this present age have carried the love of God and of their neighbor in their minds and hearts.

Beloved faithful,

As I conclude this sermon, I will tell you a holy and true story through which you can understand that the one who has the love of God in his heart not only loves his enemies, but, when necessary, gives his life for his neighbor, becoming like the Savior, Who gave His soul as a ransom for the human race (Galatians 4:4; John 1:29).

During the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, there lived in the region of Oasis a monk named Leon, a native of Cappadocia, who led an exemplary life according to God. Many people spoke of the good and wonderful deeds of this monk and benefited from his humility, love, meekness, and poverty for Christ.

This remarkable monk had a mysterious saying, which he would tell many people: “Believe me, brothers, I am going to become an emperor!” The people would answer him: “Father, no emperor has ever come forth from Cappadocia.” Yet he continually said these words to them, and no one understood what they meant.

When a barbarous and savage people called the Mazichi invaded that region, they laid waste to the entire country. When they reached Oasis, the pagans killed many Christian priests and monks and took captive the monk John, who was a reader in the great church of Constantinople, the monk Mutatie the Roman, and another monk named Theodore. All three were elderly and ill. After taking them captive, the monk John said to the barbarians who had bound him: “Allow me to go to our bishop, so that he may give you twenty-four silver coins for us.” Hearing this, one of the barbarians released the monk John from his chains and allowed him to go to the bishop and bring the silver coins for their ransom. The bishop, however, could find only eight silver coins.

The monk took the eight coins and went to the barbarian, and the barbarian said: “Either give me twenty-four coins, as we agreed, or we will continue on with the captives.” Seeing this, the people began to weep and lament, because they knew that the captives were being led to their death.

Then the monk Leon, whom we mentioned at the beginning and who used to say that he would become an emperor, came to the barbarians and said to them: “Take these silver coins, and I beg you to take me into captivity as well, for as you can see, I am strong and healthy, and I will serve wherever you take me. But I beg you, release these monks, who are elderly and ill and can be of no use to you.”

Hearing this, the barbarians took the eight silver coins and the young monk Leon and released the two elderly and sick monks. Monk Leon traveled with them a long way, and they tormented him greatly with hunger, and thus he became weak, no longer able to walk after them. Seeing that he had become very weak, they cut off his head. And thus the blessed and holy monk gave his life out of love and mercy for his neighbor.

In him the greatest love for the good of his neighbor was revealed. In him was fulfilled the Scripture which says: “Greater love than this no one has, than that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Only then did the other monks and Christians understand the words of the monk Leon, who had mysteriously told them, “I will become an emperor…” And indeed, he became an emperor by laying down his life for his friends! This is the highest measure of Christian love: to forgive our enemies and give our life for our neighbor.

How many among us have such love as to forgive from the heart those who hate us and do us harm? How many among our faithful today still sacrifice themselves for the salvation of others, for preserving the lives of people in hospitals, and for helping those close to them? On the contrary, today quarrels are found everywhere in families, misunderstandings between parents and children, hatred and judgment among relatives and neighbors, hostility, envy, and unwillingness to reconcile among Christians. Why do we not reconcile, brother with brother, neighbor with neighbor? How can those who do not forgive their brothers and enemies say “Our Father”? How can we fulfill the commandment of Christ, Who says, “Love your enemies,” if we do not even ask forgiveness from our parents and benefactors and do not forgive those who do us harm? When we say the words in the Lord’s Prayer, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” we ourselves pronounce condemnation upon ourselves if we do not forgive those who have offended us. Let us therefore reconcile with one another and forgive our enemies from the heart if we wish to be saved. Let us pray for those who slander and hate us, and let us not take revenge on those who do us harm. Let us rejoice when we are slandered and unjustly condemned, for only in this way can we humble ourselves more and succeed in becoming followers of Christ. Otherwise, the Savior does not accept either our prayer or the gifts brought to the Holy Altar, nor our fasting and almsgiving; He does not receive into Paradise those who die in hatred and hostility.

Blessed are those who live in peace with all people and who have no enemy except the devil! Blessed are the Christians who live in perfect love for one another!

Let us beseech the God of love and mercy to reconcile us all in Christ and make us worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the kingdom of eternal love. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homily One on the Second Sunday of Luke (St. Justin Popovich)

2026-10-04T12:47:23.604-04:00

Homily One on the Second Sunday of Luke

19th Sunday after Pentecost

By St. Justin Popovich

(Delivered in 1964 at the Ćelije Monastery)

[The homily, which was transcribed from a recording, has no beginning. — Copyist’s note.]

This is achieved by living according to the gospel of the Lord Christ, by living according to His commandments, by fulfilling His commandments in this world, every day and every night of our lives. Therefore, He commands us in the Gospel: “Live as is fitting for God; live worthily of God.”1 Which God? The Lord Christ. He lived in this world as a man in order to help us human beings understand how we ought to live in this world. Behold, imitate Him. In the Gospel it is commanded: “Live as is fitting for the gospel of Christ.” And the entire gospel of the Lord Christ consists of commandments continually concerning how a person ought to live in this world.

Today’s Holy Gospel shows us in its own way how we ought to live. How? If we change our lives; if we live according to Christ, if we live in Christ; if our life is according to God and not according to sin; if we are truly Christians and not pagans in our way of life, while being Christians only in name. Through His commandments the Lord commands: “As you want people to do to you, you also do to them; if you love those who love you, what thanks have you, since sinners do the same, since pagans do the same?”2 Your love must be a new love, evangelical love, love from the other world, divine love, wholly divine. If you do good to everyone who does only good to you, what thanks do you have, since sinners do this too, pagans do this too; but your good must be divine good, it must be gospel good, it must be Christ’s good. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive something back, what reward do you expect, since other people, sinners and pagans, do this too. But you—you are new people in Christ; you are to have a new life.

It is said in the Holy Gospel: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.”3 All things have become new: love, too, becomes new; and the good that you do, the good also becomes new, made new through Christ, through God, through eternity; and prayer, too, is new; mercy, too, is new; everything in Christ is new. He renews man, his whole soul, his entire being, giving him new divine commandments and new divine powers through these holy commandments. For in giving commandments, what does the Lord ask of us? He asks for faith and prayer, and for this and through this He gives us divine powers so that we may fulfill His commandments in this world. Thus we stand in Him and live through Him, for it is said in the Holy Gospel: “Whoever keeps His commandments, he abides in Him.”4 He abides in the Lord Christ, and the Lord Christ lives in him. Thus our life in this world is nothing other than perfection through the fulfillment of the commandments of God, a perfection that moves toward the perfection of God—nothing less, nothing lower.

Behold, every gospel virtue leads us to blessedness, to divine powers. What are your prayer and mine? What are they? They bind us to Heaven, to God, and from Heaven God sends us His divine powers, fills us with them, and draws us to Himself, draws us toward Heaven. What is evangelical almsgiving, what is evangelical fasting, what is evangelical humility, what is evangelical meekness? All of these are virtue upon virtue through which we receive divine powers, bringing down divine powers into our soul. The Lord gave Himself, the Lord brought Himself, and brought His divine powers, and gives them to us through the Holy Mysteries and through the holy virtues in His Holy Church, and commands: “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”5 No one among men, brethren, has ever asked this of man; no one dared to ask it, because no one could give man what was necessary to attain it. But the Lord gives us His divine powers and asks us to be “perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect.”

The holy virtue that makes us so close to God, that fills us with God, is almsgiving, mercy. “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”6 Behold the virtue that leads you to [unclear] divine perfection.7 Let almsgiving be holy and evangelical when [unclear].8 Do not say: “I am weak; I cannot attain this.” You can. Behold, there are countless Saints, countless true Christians who have attained this. All the Saints, in fact, attained this divine perfection by fulfilling the gospel of the Lord Christ, by carrying out His holy commandments.

What is a Christian? A Christian is one who bears Christ within himself. Who can be saved? The one who has the Savior within himself, the Lord Christ, is saved. And all this we see in countless examples in the persons of the Saints of God, beginning with the Holy Apostles, and before them with the Holy Prophets and Patriarchs, continuing to this very day and from this day until the Last Judgment. All Christians have one and the same goal, one and the same aim: salvation from sin, death, and the devil. By means of what? By means of the divine powers with which we are filled through the Holy Mysteries and the holy virtues. Through the Holy Mystery of Baptism, through the Holy Mystery of Holy Communion, and through all the holy New Testament virtues.

May the Lord, through the prayers of all the Saints, grant us also evangelical faith, evangelical love, holy faith and holy love, and all the other holy virtues, so that, by fulfilling them in this world, we too may fill ourselves with divine powers, free ourselves from sin, death, and the devil, and inherit Eternal Life in that world, beginning to live Eternal Life already in this world, giving thanks for the mercy of the Lord Christ. Let us glorify Him because He brought Himself to earth to save us, to show us the path of perfection, and to give us every means for divine perfection, for divine advancement. Let us never cease glorifying Him in this world, so that we may be deemed worthy to glorify Him also in the heavenly world, in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, to Him be glory, thanksgiving, and honor, now and ever and unto all ages. Amen.

Notes:

1. Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12.

2. Matthew 5:46.

3. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

4. John 14:15.

5. Matthew 5:48.

6. Luke 6:36.

7. The source contains an unclear word; the manuscript/copyist note likewise states that the word is unclear.

8. The source contains an omitted/unclear word; the copyist note indicates that it is likewise unclear.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homily One on the Second Sunday of Luke (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

2026-10-04T12:26:29.680-04:00

Homily One on the Second Sunday of Luke

19th Sunday after Pentecost

On Love for Enemies

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered on October 3, 1960)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ, concerned for our salvation, that feelings of love for one another may be constantly preserved among us and that proper and right relations may be maintained, gives us today in the Holy Gospel that has been read His wondrous divine teaching, which should serve as a guiding rule in our daily Christian life. The Lord says: “And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).

It is natural for a person to have a feeling of self-preservation, a constant striving to support and preserve his life and to place it in the best possible condition. This feeling prompts us, as human beings, to avoid dangers and everything harmful to our life, health, honor, and well-being, and, on the contrary, to desire and seek everything beneficial both for our life and for our moral well-being. Under the influence of this feeling, we not only strive ourselves to do what is beneficial for our lives, but we also desire that others do good to us, assist in carrying out our aims and plans, and contribute to the increase of our happiness and well-being. This desire of ours, the desire that people do good to us, extends to everyone, without excluding even our most hardened enemies. We desire that they also do good to us. Indeed, if we penetrate into the depths of our soul, into our innermost thoughts and desires, we must admit that even from our enemies we desire good, and only good, and that our mind always strives to find grounds for justifying this desire, for lessening our guilt before our enemies and for justifying ourselves before them. And so, guided by this feeling of self-preservation in a reasonable manner and remembering that our personal good is closely connected with the good of our neighbor, amid our concern for our own well-being we strive to support the well-being of our neighbor, who in turn helps us in what is necessary and useful for us. Through such interaction, through such mutual and friendly assistance among people, the happiness of people is naturally established and elevated, and the feeling of self-preservation becomes a beneficial force, an architect of human happiness.

But often, under the influence of this feeling of self-preservation when it is wrongly directed, we go beyond the bounds of justice and, by caring excessively for ourselves, give place to self-love; therefore, we trample upon the rights of our neighbor and, for the sake of our own interests, harm his well-being and honor. Naturally offended by such treatment, our neighbor is resentful and often repays evil with evil, striving to defend his rights; hatred and vengeance arise, and all this eventually leads to very destructive consequences — to murder and disgrace for those who are at enmity with one another. And so, in order to destroy this evil and restore good relations, the Lord points us to that same feeling of self-preservation, the abuse of which has such a destructive influence upon the fate of people. “Therefore, whatever you want people to do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12), says the Lord, thereby inspiring us to love our neighbors, even our enemies. Who among us does not wish that even our enemies would treat us kindly, that they would not only refrain from harming us, but would also do us good? We must act toward our enemies in exactly the same way, knowing that they too desire and expect only good from us; and our peaceful and benevolent conduct toward them will serve as the first and surest step toward reconciliation with them. Friendly and peace-making conduct toward enemies is the best means of restraining, dulling, and disarming even the most bitter hostility and extinguishing every hatred.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil,” says the Holy Apostle Paul, “but take thought for what is good before all people. If it is possible on your part, live at peace with all people… Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:17–18, 20). Our love and beneficence toward our enemies will be for them as painful as the torment of burning coals, and it will extinguish the hostility and hatred toward us in their hearts. The first manifestations of our love and goodwill toward our enemies will soften their hatred and irritation and place them in peaceful relations with us; and if we persistently and continually show them love and goodwill, they too, for their part, will not be slow to respond to us with the same feelings. Only morally deformed people can persist in hostility and hatred toward those who seek reconciliation, responding to love with hostility. But such a state of soul is morally sick, abnormal, and contrary to nature; it is not characteristic of people who are morally healthy, although it does still occur. For the most part, people are inclined toward peace, and therefore, when they notice a peaceful and friendly disposition, they gradually begin to calm down, drive hostile feelings from their souls, and repay their former enemies for good with good and friendship with friendship.

The strongest encouragement to love our enemies is found in the Lord’s teaching concerning the superiority of Christians over other people. If, for the pagans, the highest limit of moral excellence was to love their friends, then Christians have been shown a higher path of moral perfection: to love their enemies, because God Himself “is kind to the ungrateful and evil” (Luke 6:35). “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Christians, too, must be perfect, as their heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). They must be merciful, just as their Father is merciful (Luke 6:36). And if we turn our attention to the work of our redemption, here we encounter even stronger examples of love toward enemies. Here the love shown to us, sinners, is revealed in all its astounding greatness. “God,” says the Holy Apostle Paul, “demonstrates His love for us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners… while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Romans 5:8, 10). And the Son of God, upon the Cross, prays to His heavenly Father for those who crucified and blasphemed Him: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Such is the love of God for His enemies, for sinners. “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Thus did the Son of God love sinners. Should not a Christian, following the example of the Savior, imitate Him in love toward enemies? In urging us to love our enemies, the Lord points to the great reward that Christians will receive for loving their enemies. “And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High” (Luke 6:35), says the Lord. In this world we must live for eternity. Here we sow in order to reap in eternity; here we labor in order to receive in eternity the reward for our labor. And our labor will be fruitless if it bears no fruit worthy of praise in eternity. Yet precisely that labor of life which consists in loving and doing good only to friends and those close to us, in maintaining friendly relations with them, is regarded as fruitless labor. The Lord Jesus Christ promises neither praise nor reward to Christians for such love and beneficence. “If you love those who love you,” says the Lord, “what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much” (Luke 6:32–34). The Lord promises no reward in heaven to Christians whose love does not rise above the love of sinful people, tax collectors and pagans. “He who sows to his flesh,” that is, he who sows only under the influence of his self-love, calculating how to arrange his temporary well-being as advantageously as possible, “from the flesh will reap corruption.” He will appear in eternity without good works. Only “he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8). This reward, eternal life, will belong only to those people who, rising to the love of enemies, sow “to the Spirit,” who in their relations with one another are guided not by fleshly, earthly interests or calculations, but by the demands of the law and teaching of Christ, by the demands of godlike perfection. Eternal life will be their reward. They will be sons of the Most High because they imitated God in loving their enemies, rooted out the spirit of hostility and hatred from their hearts, and did good to all without seeking their own advantage. Therefore the Lord will also glorify them in His Kingdom: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

What a great honor it is to be called a son of God! And therefore, for the sake of such a great honor, it is worth laboring and entering into a decisive struggle with our self-love in order to uproot hostility and enmity, so that we may acquire a spirit of love and goodwill toward our enemies and be deemed worthy of the name of son of God. This right to be called a son of God makes the Christian an heir of God and brings him near to the heavenly Father. And what the blessedness of the heirs of God is like, the Holy Apostle Paul helps us understand in the apostolic reading heard today. The Apostle Paul says: “It is not profitable for me to boast, for I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, whether in the body, I do not know; whether outside the body, I do not know: God knows, was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know: God knows, how he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for man to utter. Of such a man I will boast; but of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:1–5). And again the Apostle Paul says that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

These, then, are the motives that dispose us to love our enemies. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, remembering these commandments of the Lord, let us strive to understand them and imprint them upon our hearts. Love all people from a sincere heart; love your enemies as well. Restrain your self-love, which draws us toward hostility and vengeance; do not allow yourselves to be carried away by anger, hatred, and revenge. Whoever takes revenge on an enemy pours oil on the fire; he intensifies discord and hatred and thus becomes himself the cause of great disorder, both for himself and for others. Whoever takes revenge on an enemy proves that he is a Christian only in name and not in essence, that he is not a son of the Most High, and that in the life to come he should expect not rewards, but punishment. Let us pray to the Lord that by His grace He may grant us this gift of all - forgiving love. And let us remember the words of the Lord: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:44). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homily Two on the Second Sunday of Luke (St. John of Kronstadt)

2026-10-04T12:00:54.690-04:00

Homily Two on the Second Sunday of Luke

19th Sunday after Pentecost

By St. John of Kronstadt

“And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).

The God-speaking Evangelist Luke, in the Gospel read today, conveys to us the teaching and commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning how we should conduct ourselves toward people in our common life, so that we may please both God and people, acquire for ourselves a good name and a blameless conscience, and be deemed worthy of the promised, incorruptible heavenly homeland because of our prudent conduct in our earthly homeland (Luke 6:31–36).

What wise, exalted, saving, truly divine teachings and commandments these are! Yet how contrary to them our daily, ordinary life proves to be! The Lord teaches us to deal with people as we would wish people to deal with us, that is, simply, benevolently, sympathetically, and patiently. He has made ourselves the measure of our relations with others, and this measure, this standard, is love: “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it” (Ephesians 5:29). Yet in our common life it is often the opposite. The relations of people toward one another are very often improper and distorted, lacking the spirit of simplicity and sincerity, love and goodwill, peaceableness, gentleness and forbearance, purity and holiness, sympathy and mercy, and Christian patience. They are often characterized by a spirit of insincerity and duplicity, coldness and arrogance, cunning and ill will, or impurity and sensuality, base selfishness and self-interest. The root, or cause, the source of one kind of conduct or another among people is found in the human heart, for “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth what is evil” (Matthew 12:35). This arises either from his natural qualities, or from a fortunate or distorted upbringing, from various passions, inclinations, and habits—for example, habits connected with certain pleasures—from good or bad examples, from the circumstances of life, from a greater or lesser degree of material depersonalization, or from the environment in which a person lives, from his position in society, from various lessons or temptations of life, and finally from the degree to which a person has, or has not, become imbued with the spirit of Christ, of the gospel, and of the Church.

Thus, for some people, the measure of their relations with others is simplicity and sincerity, goodwill, and love for everyone; this is the best aspect of human relations. But often the character of these relations is marked by cunning, suspicion, hostility, harshness, envy, extreme self-love, self-interest, partiality, frivolity, vainglory, ambition, sensuality, or extreme pride, that is, a high opinion of oneself that seeks to humiliate others. This is another kind of human relations, the opposite of the first. Generally speaking, among people one can observe more insincere relations with one another than sincere ones, because all hearts are more or less infected with the impurity of sin and covered by the corruption of the passions. For who, says Scripture, “can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?” (Proverbs 20:9). Thus, some people's words are soft as oil, and yet they are wounding arrows.

Therefore, according to the teaching of our Savior, the measure of our relations with others should be our proper love for ourselves: as we desire people to treat us, so let us treat them, that is, simply, sincerely, gently, lovingly, without suspicion, with forbearance, sympathy, and patience. The Lord Himself offers Himself to us as the example upon which we must continually gaze and, gazing upon Him, always learn: “Learn from Me,” He says, “for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The Apostle Paul says: “Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Again he teaches: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; in honor give preference to one another; share in the needs of the Saints, that is, of the Christian brethren; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of one mind with one another; do not be high-minded, but associate with the humble; do not think highly of yourselves. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is good in the sight of all people. If it is possible on your part, live at peace with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God. For it is written: ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 12:9–21; 13:1). These, then, are the rules for how Christians should relate to one another that the Apostle Paul set down in his Epistle to the Romans. They are binding upon all of us.

Where is the highest motivation for us to conduct ourselves toward one another in this way? It is found in the image and likeness of God, according to which man was created, and in the fact that we are children of one heavenly Father, members of Christ, branches of Christ, the one Vine, sheep of His one rational flock; we partake of the one life-giving Bread of Christ, we drink from one Cup His divine Blood, we have all been given to drink of the one Holy Spirit, and we await one incorruptible, eternal inheritance. Here is the motivation for mutual, sincere, loving conduct! “If you love those who love you,” the Lord says in today’s Gospel, “what credit is that to you? For even sinners,” that is, idolaters, “love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same,” that is, so long as they receive benefits; and this means loving only oneself, because in benefactors they love only the benefits or the advantage they receive for themselves. “And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back as much,” and in this case you love only yourself and your own interests, not the good of your neighbor—you do not fully meet his need.

If Christians do not practice even these natural virtues, then they are much worse than the pagans, who “by nature do the things contained in the law” (Romans 2:14), without possessing the powers of grace. Christians, however, as we know, have received from God “all things that pertain to life and godliness,” the supernatural powers necessary for the fulfillment of all Christ’s commandments (2 Peter 1:3).

Look into this mirror of the divine commandments, Christian, and learn what you are like. Do you love even those who love you, or do you sometimes not even love them? Do you do good to those who do good to you? Do you lend to those who repay their debts? Do you not withdraw from doing so because of self-interest and distrust? Many want to be content merely with loving those who love them and do not want to compel themselves to love those who hate them or are hostile toward them. With such pagan love, Christian, you will remain in shame at the fearful Judgment.

“But love your enemies,” the Lord continues, “do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and evil” (Luke 6:35). Our Savior, it seems, commands us to do something difficult by commanding us to love our enemies and do good to them. The corrupted human heart will say: This is impossible; it is contrary to nature and common sense! Difficult indeed—but only for the corrupted heart, which has not been renewed and strengthened by grace. For a heart that has been regenerated by grace, it is an easy thing, because the Lord helps the believer in all things; and in the lives of the Saints we see many examples of this.

But to whom are we to lend, expecting nothing in return? To poor and insolvent people, for whom repaying a debt is extremely difficult and often impossible. Well-to-do people, however, should certainly repay their debts, and creditors do not sin in the least if they seek to recover what is owed to them through honest means or through the courts. Otherwise, it would be a harmful indulgence toward unscrupulous people who imagine that they can easily enrich themselves at the expense of others.

“Therefore, be merciful,” said the Lord, “just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). From Christians, His children by grace, the Lord requires mercy like the mercy of the heavenly Father. And indeed, if Christians are children of the heavenly Father, redeemed by the blood of His Son, and if incorruptible, boundless blessings have been promised them in their heavenly homeland, then in this life they must show their brethren a love and mercy corresponding to the greatness of God’s love and mercy toward them and to the boundless greatness of the incorruptible blessings promised to them, the greatest heavenly honors and crowns.

“Beloved! If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11), says the Holy Apostle John the Theologian. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Holy Hierarch Hierotheos of Athens in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

2026-10-04T10:50:55.923-04:00

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Hierotheos was one of the nine members of the Council of the Areopagus. He was instructed in the Christian faith by the Apostle Paul and was ordained Bishop of Athens, while he in turn instructed the Great Dionysios in the same faith. He also presided at the funeral of the Most Holy Theotokos, when the Holy Apostles had gathered, and from all that was heard and seen, he appeared as though he were in rapture and ecstasy. He seemed to have been seized by God, hymning Him. He lived in a good and God-pleasing manner, and after gladdening God by his life in Christ and his accomplishments, he departed to the Lord.

2. Yesterday and today present to us two of the great Saints of our faith, disciples of the Apostle Paul, Saint Dionysios the Areopagite and Saint Hierotheos. For although, according to the Synaxarion, Saint Hierotheos instructed Saint Dionysios in the faith of Christ, the first person who sowed the seed of this faith in Dionysios was the Apostle Paul. We remember from the Acts of the Apostles that, after the “unsuccessful” preaching of the Apostle to the Nations at the Areopagus, when most of them mockingly told him, “We will hear you again,” and got up and left, some approached the Apostle and were initiated by him into the things of the faith, “among whom were Dionysios the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” With these Saints, then, Dionysios and Hierotheos, we find ourselves before the sources of our faith; we breathe the air of the presence of the sanctified Paul, and we feel his heart throbbing with the love of Christ.

Saint Hierotheos represents a distinctive case among the Saints which, based on the Synaxarion, at least causes us to reflect, because of his extraordinary love for God and his ardent and apparently open character. For how are we to explain the fact that, among all the Apostles and those present at the Dormition of the Theotokos, he occupies a foremost place, “appearing God-possessed and a divine hymnographer”? Indeed, the ecclesiastical Hymnographer cannot fail to note that the Saint spoke about God with most sacred theologies, which he explains as the result of a twofold circumstance: both the profound longing he had for God and his diligent study, with understanding and discernment, of the divine words. “Pierced with spiritual longing and conversing with the divine words with understanding, you have set forth most sacred theologies concerning the Master of all.” And the Hymnographer’s observation is important, because it explains to us that one truly speaks rightly about God, that one truly theologizes, when, on the one hand, one has great love and longing for Him, and, on the other, one applies oneself with great diligence to the words of Holy Scripture and to the earlier tradition of the Church. In other words, if theology is not the result of a connection with what the Church professes and lives, but also of faith and love for God on the part of the one who theologizes, it is not considered sound theology and instead tends to become what the Cappadocian Fathers, especially, characterized as “technologia.”*

The Hymnographer insists on the manner of Saint Hierotheos’ theology. His approach to the divine words, he notes, was not uncritical or irrational. The Saint studied the Scriptures, the Old Testament, and everything that had been written up to that time, especially in the Epistles of the Apostles, with an investigative disposition, that is, with an effort to understand the mystery of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. For Christ, and consequently the Church afterward, did not come to abolish the human mind and human reason. What has always been rejected is the absolutization of reason, the judging of God’s revelation by right reason alone. This, indeed, He rejected and continues to reject, because such an approach takes no account of human sin, through which man became divided, with the result that reason operates autonomously, now serving the distorted passions of man. When, however, a person has found God, when, consequently, the grace of God illumines his heart, then both the intellect and reason, unified with the other powers of the soul, move within acceptable bounds, which means that they understand God, insofar as this is possible for man, and that what a person expresses is indeed the truth. Saint Hierotheos, then, was a student of the divine words, investigating the economy of God, but doing so with a pious seeking. And for this reason, guided by the grace of God, he also revealed to us the mysteries of God, and indeed with eloquence of language, as the poet notes elsewhere: “Having investigated the ineffable mysteries of the economy of Christ with pious seeking, you clearly revealed them, employing elevated speech.” “The sound of your words and the beauty of your writings greatly gladden those who approach them with longing.” By his holy intercessions, Christ our God, have mercy and save us.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

* Technologia (τεχνολογία) is used here in its patristic sense of technical or overly argumentative theological reasoning, rather than in the modern sense of “technology.” Saint Gregory of Nyssa uses the term critically in his Against Eunomius (I.155, I.162, and I.282) for the technical methods of argument by which Eunomius attempted to establish his theological conclusions. Gregory does not reject reason or logical argument as such; indeed, he makes extensive use of them in refuting Eunomius. Rather, he insists that the truth of Christian doctrine rests upon the faith handed down by the Church and the testimony of Holy Scripture, while logical reasoning serves to clarify and defend that received truth and to expose error. In this sense, theology becomes technologia when technical argument is made the foundation or measure of divine revelation. The term is also used by Saint Gregory the Theologian (Gregory Nazianzen), who writes that the person who relies on “argumentative proof” (ἀποδείξει λόγου) turns theology into “technologia” and risks reducing the “great mystery” of the Christian faith to a technydrion (τεχνύδριον), a mere technical construction. See Gregory the Theologian, Oration 31 (The Fifth Theological Oration), 18; Oration 27, 2. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew cites these passages in his address at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on January 29, 2026, specifically in his discussion of the patristic method of theology.

Prologue in Sermons: October 4

2026-10-04T10:07:47.245-04:00

Where to Find Patience in Sorrows

October 4

(From the Discourse on Andrew, in which Christ spoke to him in a vision, concerning foolishness for Christ’s sake and eternal life.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In order that we may more often remember that our homeland is in Heaven and become less attached to earthly things, that we may become accustomed to humility, and that we may prepare ourselves worthily for the Kingdom of Heaven, we have been appointed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven by a sorrowful path. “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33), Jesus Christ teaches us. “And all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12), says the Apostle Paul.

But in order for this sorrowful path to have value in the eyes of God, it is necessary that we walk it with patience. And where shall we find it? First, from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born in a poor cave and was laid not in a cradle, but in a manger. Immediately after His Birth, they sought to kill Him, and He had to flee to a foreign and distant land. Throughout His life, He had nowhere to lay His head. For countless acts of kindness, He was repaid with evil alone. They mocked Him, reviled Him, spoke evil against Him, beat Him, spat in His face, and finally crucified Him between criminals. Let us more often picture Him who for our sake became poor, took the form of a servant, was weighed down by slanders, was filled to the depths of His soul with sorrow for our sins, was covered with wounds, crushed by insults, crucified, abandoned by all, and all this because of our sins—and then, seeing how insignificant our sorrows are compared with the Sorrows of the Savior, we will become less despondent and less weakened by them, and the struggle that lies before us will seem light to us.

We can take a second lesson in patience from the holy servants of God. “Others,” says the Apostle Paul, “were beaten, not accepting deliverance... Others received trials through mockings and scourging, and even through bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were cut in pieces, they were tempted, they died by the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in caves and in the holes of the earth” (Hebrews 11:35–38). And they endured all this with joy! “I rejoice in my sufferings,” the same Apostle wrote (Colossians 1:24). After the Apostles had been beaten in the Sanhedrin, it is said of them that they “departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:41). Again, comparing our sorrows with the sorrows of the Saints, we will see that our thorns are roses and that our sufferings in no way can be compared with theirs. Through this, our faintheartedness will disappear, our complaining will fall silent, and a spirit of courage and patience will be born within us.

Finally, we can find a third encouragement to patience in the thought that all the sorrows of this age are temporary, that they will be replaced by joys without end, and that the time will come when the Lord will forever wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 7:17). Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ’s sake, saw himself in royal chambers before a king. The king first gave him something very bitter to taste and said: “Such is the sorrowful path of those who serve Me in the present life!” Then he offered him another food, sweeter than manna, saying: “Such is the food of My servants who have endured everything to the end.” Let us therefore remember that if we patiently endure everything here for the sake of God, then, “having been chastened for a little while, we shall be greatly blessed,” and that if we suffer with Christ in the present life, then we shall also be glorified with Him in the life to come. “Amen, amen, I say to you,” He says, “that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will become joy” (John 16:20). “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 4

2026-10-04T09:50:24.281-04:00

The Month of October

Day 4

35. What Is the Main Cause of Our Troubles, and By What Means Can We Most Likely Be Rid of Them?

(From the Life of Venerable Ammoun)

When Adam and Eve lived in Paradise before their fall, they knew no illnesses, experienced no troubles or afflictions, and were happy. But as soon as they sinned, illnesses, troubles, and afflictions came upon them. From this, it seems, we ought to become convinced of the truth that the main cause of our misfortunes lies in our sinfulness and that, therefore, when afflicted by calamity, we ought first of all to think about our sins and about correcting our lives. But unfortunately, in practice, the opposite happens with us. When trouble befalls us, we do not even think about our sins; instead, we rush about in every direction, despair, or finally seek help from people. And because of this, our affliction does not leave us, our grief grows greater, and we are tormented more and more. If only we would come to our senses during our misfortunes, attribute them first of all to our sinfulness, regard them as punishment for our sins, and concern ourselves with correcting our lives, then things would be different. Then we would also be reconciled with God, and our misfortunes would leave us.

Once, the parents of a boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog brought him to Venerable Ammoun. The boy had already begun to show signs of rabies, and he was biting himself and enduring terrible suffering. The father and mother fell at the feet of the Saint and asked him to heal their son. Ammoun said: “Why do you trouble me needlessly by asking me to do what is beyond my power? The sickness and healing of your son are in your hands. Why did you steal an ox from a poor widow, secretly slaughter it, and eat it? Now return another live ox to her, and your son will recover.” Hearing this, the parents of the suffering boy were terrified, confessed their evil deed before the Saint, and solemnly promised to compensate the widow for what they had stolen from her. Then the Saint prayed, healed the boy, and dismissed them in peace. After this, they returned home joyfully and at once gave the widow their own live ox in place of the one they had stolen.

Thus, from this account it becomes clear that misfortunes mainly befall us as punishment for our sins, and then another truth is revealed as well: in order to be delivered from misfortunes, we must first of all think about our sins and about correcting our lives. What did Ammoun say to the parents of the unfortunate boy? “The sickness and healing of your son are in your hands. Make amends through good for the evil deed you have committed, and your son will be healed.” And how did it end? As soon as the parents sincerely acknowledged their sin, their son immediately recovered. Therefore, just as they acted, so let us act in times of misfortune. Let us first attribute the grief that has befallen us to punishment for our sins, repent of them, ask God to forgive us for them, and, as far as possible, make amends for them through good works. Then, without a doubt, the Lord will also show us His mercy and either completely deliver us from the evils that have come upon us, or at least give us the strength and fortitude to endure them calmly and patiently, which will likewise be a great mercy from Him. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 35:

1. What did the parents of the son who had been bitten by a rabid dog do before asking Venerable Ammoun to heal the boy?

2. What, besides the sickness, did Ammoun say was in the hands of the parents?

3. Under what condition, according to Ammoun, would the son of the parents who came to him recover?

4. What did the parents of the suffering boy do when they were terrified by the condition for their son’s healing?

5. With what did the parents return to their home after the Saint’s prayer and before they gave their live ox to the widow?

Source: The Cheti-Minei: Homilies for Every Day of the Year (Book 1: September, October, November) by Archpriest Viktor Guryev. Publication of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, 1896. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The Sacred Relics of Venerable Onouphrios of Koronisia Have Been Found and Translated

2026-10-03T17:51:07.580-04:00

A significant event took place at Koronisia in Arta on Thursday, October 1, 2026, with the finding and translation of the sacred relics of Venerable Onouphrios, who practiced asceticism at Koronisia. The event was announced by the Holy Metropolis of Nikopolis and Preveza as a moment of spiritual joy for the local Church and faithful. The relics, recovered from the tomb of the Venerable Onouphrios in his namesake chapel, were prepared by the Metropolitans of Nikopolis and Preveza, Chrysostomos, and of Arta, Kallinikos, placed in a special reliquary, and transferred in procession to the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, where they are now kept and offered for veneration.

The tomb of Venerable Onouphrios is located in the small chapel dedicated to him, immediately beside the katholikon of the former Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos at Koronisia, which today serves as the parish church of the island. Before the opening of the tomb, a Divine Liturgy was celebrated there. Following the Liturgy, the tomb was opened and the sacred relics were collected. After their preparation by the two Metropolitans, they were placed in a special larnax and carried in procession to the main church.

The life of Venerable Onouphrios is only sparsely documented. The Metropolis of Nikopolis and Preveza states that the time of his birth, his place of origin, and the precise date of his repose are unknown. He was a monk of the once-renowned Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos at Koronisia, and his ascetic life eventually established him in the local consciousness as the protector of Koronisia. The Metropolis further notes that popular piety has preserved numerous signs and miracles associated with him, which it intends to publish in due course.

Older local tradition provides a more vivid picture of the Venerable. He is remembered as a “God-fearing and humble” monk who lived in the monastery at Koronisia. His humility was so great that his fellow monks failed to recognize his holiness and even mocked him. According to the tradition preserved at Koronisia, two events eventually revealed his sanctity. On one occasion, the monks abandoned him on the small nearby island of Vouvála. When he needed to return, he placed his monastic garment upon the water, and it served him as a boat. On another occasion, after he prayed, a beard suddenly appeared on him and grew down to the ground. These accounts belong to the local hagiographical tradition surrounding the Venerable and have been preserved for generations among the inhabitants of Koronisia.

There is also an interesting historical tradition concerning the Venerable's period of activity. Metropolitan Seraphim Xenopoulos the Byzantine of Arta and Preveza, who died in 1894, wrote that toward the end of the eighteenth century, around 1790–1795, a monk named Onouphrios, of unknown origin, arrived in Arta from abroad. He was described as simple in manner and exemplary in conduct, and became highly respected among the inhabitants. His preaching encouraged piety and virtue and, according to Xenopoulos's account, influenced certain practices in the ecclesiastical life of the region. The subsequent details of his life and death, however, were unknown; Xenopoulos inferred that he was buried in the chapel adjoining the Monastery of Koronisia that bore his name.

The precise chronology therefore deserves some caution. The official ecclesiastical and archaeological descriptions have traditionally associated the Venerable with approximately 1780, and the chapel's official description states that he practiced asceticism there until his repose in 1780. Other historical material, however, places his arrival in the region around 1790–1795. For this reason, the safest conclusion is that Onouphrios belongs to the late eighteenth-century history of Koronisia, while the exact chronology of his life cannot presently be established with certainty.

The setting in which his relics were found is itself of considerable antiquity. The Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos at Koronisia was the katholikon of a large monastery and is one of the important Byzantine monuments of Epirus. The church is generally dated to the late tenth or early eleventh century, while written evidence connects the monastery with the twelfth century. A Gospel manuscript associated with the monastery contains notes mentioning the abbot Meletios and the year 1193, providing evidence for the monastery's existence by that time.

The small chapel of Venerable Onouphrios is situated only a short distance from the main church. It is a small, vaulted, single-nave structure constructed of rough stone and brick, with various architectural members reused in its construction. Its exact date is uncertain. The archaeological authorities note that it is not known whether Onouphrios himself established the chapel or whether it was an older building that became associated with his life and subsequently received his name. The latter explanation is considered more probable, and a Byzantine origin has not been excluded.

The chapel also preserves wall paintings characteristic of the post-Byzantine period. Together with the chapel itself, these remains testify to the continuing sacred character of the site long after the monastery's earlier period of flourishing. Nearby is an old well which, according to local tradition, was dug by Onouphrios himself. The well has remained associated with his memory and is another physical feature through which the inhabitants of Koronisia have preserved his presence in the history of the island.

The Venerable Onouphrios has also had an established liturgical and iconographic presence at Koronisia. His memory is celebrated on June 12, the same day on which the Church commemorates the much better-known Venerable Onouphrios the Great of Egypt. The local saint, however, is a distinct figure, identified specifically with Koronisia. An older study of the religious history of Arta also records an image of Onouphrios preserved at the monastery, while the local tradition presents him as the characteristic ascetic figure of Koronisia.

For the people of Koronisia, therefore, the recovery of the relics represents the culmination of a very old local memory. The Venerable Onouphrios was not a saint whose name had only recently become associated with the site. His tomb, chapel, iconographic tradition, feast, well, and stories of his ascetic life have all remained connected with Koronisia for generations. The opening of his tomb and the translation of his relics have now given tangible form to a tradition that had long been preserved through the memory and devotion of the local Christian community.

The Holy Metropolis has announced that a hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Koronisia on Saturday, October 31, 2026, specifically to commemorate and celebrate the translation of the Venerable's sacred relics. The Metropolis has also indicated that the many signs and miracles associated with Onouphrios that have been preserved through popular piety will be published in due course.

Thus, the October 1 event marks a new chapter in the history of the local veneration of Venerable Onouphrios. For centuries, his memory remained attached to a small chapel beside one of the oldest monastic foundations of the region. Now his sacred relics have been recovered from the tomb in which the people of Koronisia had continued to remember him, and they have been placed in the principal church of the island for the veneration of the faithful. The Church's formal celebration of the translation later this month will provide a further occasion for the people of Koronisia and pilgrims from throughout the region to honor the Venerable ascetic who has long been regarded as their protector.

El País: From Challenging the Ban on Women to Funding Mount Athos

2026-10-03T17:17:57.590-04:00

By Aimilios Polygenis

A report by the Spanish newspaper El País features a proposal by Lina Gálvez to open a discussion about European subsidies to the Monastic State of Mount Athos.

The issue of European funding for Mount Athos, in connection with the preservation of the prohibition on the entry of women (what is known as the "avaton"), is highlighted in a report by the Spanish newspaper El País, which presents positions questioning the compatibility of the Athonite tradition with the principles of the European Union.

In an article entitled “Mount Athos, the fiefdom of Europe’s monks that prohibits the entry of women,” the Spanish newspaper makes its approach clear from the outset.

The main interest of the report, however, lies in the proposal by Spanish MEP Lina Gálvez that the funding of Mount Athos be brought up for discussion, on the grounds that the European Union should not subsidize places where fundamental values are violated.

Gálvez, whom the article presents as chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, argues that the prohibition on women’s entry is incompatible with equality and the prohibition of discrimination.

“Obviously, it is not compatible,” she states, going so far as to argue that the prohibition on entry amounts to an admission that all women are “impure.”

Nevertheless, Gálvez acknowledges that European intervention to change the status of Mount Athos would be difficult because of the exception that, according to her, was recognized when Greece joined the European Union.

Within this framework, she proposes opening a discussion about subsidies, although the newspaper does not report any relevant decision or official European initiative concerning the matter.

MEP Ana Miranda of the Galician Nationalist Bloc takes a similar position, referring to the situation as “gender apartheid.”

According to her, representatives of the European institutions have a responsibility to denounce the prohibition and to open a dialogue on lifting restrictions that affect half of the EU’s population.

The connection between the ban on women’s entry and European funding runs throughout the report from its opening lines.

The description of the morning prayer at the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou is accompanied by references to the noise of generators and to infrastructure projects financed by Greece and the European Union.

El País thus contrasts technological modernization with the continued prohibition on the entry of women, writing at the same time that electric cars or food-delivery drones may eventually circulate on Mount Athos, but women will probably not appear there.

The article also cites the position of Greek journalist Stavros Tzimas, whom the Spanish newspaper presents as one of the foremost experts on Mount Athos and as one of the few Greeks to speak publicly against the ban on women’s entry.

At the same time, he points out that the faithful regard this tradition as one of the reasons why Mount Athos retains its attraction in the outside world.

A different dimension is offered by PASOK MEP Sakis Arnaoutoglou, who emphasizes that the issue cannot be reduced to gender equality.

“It is also a matter of history, faith, culture, and the way in which Europe deals with unique historical realities that have existed here for centuries,” Mr. Arnaoutoglou states characteristically.

He further reminds readers that the historical reality of Mount Athos long predates the European Union itself and that Europe is also built upon respect for diversity.

The contrasting views are also reflected in the testimonies of women who have visited the surrounding area. One Spanish mother expresses her strong disapproval of the prohibition on women’s entry, using the word “aberración”—“ridiculous.”

Her daughter, however, supports its preservation, although she regrets that she does not have access to the treasures of the monasteries, while other women state that they respect the rules and the religious character of the place.

“If you go to someone’s home, you have to respect their rules,” says filmmaker Alice Peterson.

Of particular interest is the testimony of Litsa Amanatidou, who in 2008 violated the ban on women’s entry together with five other women as part of a protest over a territorial dispute.

As she explains, the purpose of that action was to draw attention to the protest and not to challenge the thousand-year-old tradition.

She believes that if the prohibition were abolished, Mount Athos could be transformed into yet another coastal destination overrun by tourists.

Despite presenting different voices, the report lacks a detailed position from the Holy Community that would explain the prohibition from the perspective of the Athonite experience itself.

The discussion develops primarily around exclusion from access, European values, and funding.

As it appears, El País chooses to conclude with the image of a prohibition that continues to enjoy political, social, and economic protection “as strong as the walls of the monasteries.”

Between the “fiefdom” of the title and the “walls” of the conclusion, the monastic tradition is presented primarily as a system that withstands challenge.

And the proposal to reconsider subsidies now transfers that challenge into the sphere of the economic support of the Monastic State of Mount Athos.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Archimandrite Justin Mamalos, Guardian of Jacob’s Well, Has Fallen Asleep in the Lord

2026-10-03T16:56:58.573-04:00

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced with deep sorrow the repose in the Lord of Archimandrite Justin Mamalos, the longtime Abbot and guardian of the Monastery of Jacob’s Well in Nablus, Samaria. He fell asleep in the Lord after a prolonged illness while receiving treatment at the General Hospital of Patras. He was eighty-five years old.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem remembered him as the renovator of the Holy Shrine of Jacob’s Well and the founder and renovator of the Church of Saint Photini the Samaritan, whose life and many years of service had become inseparably connected with the complete restoration and preservation of the monastery. In its official announcement, the Patriarchate emphasized that Fr. Justin devoted his strength, his labors, and a great part of his life to the restoration, dignity, and protection of the sacred monastery, leaving behind an honorable legacy through which the memory of his offering would remain alive.

Fr. Justin was born Anastasios G. Mamalos in Agios Prokopios of central Kerkyra. His native island remained a deep part of his identity throughout his long life, although almost his entire adult existence would be spent far from it, in the Holy Land. Accounts published over the years differ somewhat concerning the exact year of his arrival there. Some give 1960, while others give 1961; reports following his repose describe him as having arrived at the Holy Places at approximately eighteen years of age and as having served for sixty-eight years as a member of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre. Since these figures are not entirely consistent with one another, it is safer to say that he came to the Holy Land as a young man in the early 1960s and thereafter devoted his life to the service of the Church there.

His own recollections, preserved in interviews published during his lifetime, give a more personal picture of those early years. He served in different parts of the Holy Land before his life became permanently associated with Jacob’s Well. He learned Arabic and English and acquired some knowledge of Hebrew, becoming deeply familiar not only with the Orthodox communities but also with the people and languages of the region in which he lived and ministered.

Jacob’s Well would eventually become the defining place of his life. The ancient well is traditionally associated with the patriarch Jacob and, above all, with the encounter of Christ with the Samaritan Woman, whom the Orthodox Church venerates as Saint Photini. The Church of Saint Photini stands over the well, and for Fr. Justin the shrine was a place of exceptional significance for Christians, while also possessing importance for people of other religious traditions. In one of his own accounts, he described it as a special place for people of Islamic, Jewish, and Orthodox Christian faith.

His connection with Jacob’s Well was also inseparably connected with the memory of the Hieromartyr Philoumenos. Fr. Justin had known Saint Philoumenos personally and regarded him as a friend. When Saint Philoumenos was brutally murdered at Jacob’s Well on November 29, 1979, the future of the monastery became uncertain. The church was closed and the keys were taken to Jerusalem. Fr. Justin later recalled that he did not initially want to become the guardian of the shrine because he feared that he might suffer the same fate as his predecessor. According to his own testimony, however, he eventually accepted the responsibility. In 1980 he took up the guardianship of the Church of Saint Photini at Jacob’s Well.

He described a dream in which he saw himself repairing the church and serving there for many years. He subsequently went to Jerusalem, received the keys, and began the enormous task of putting the damaged shrine back together. From that point onward, the history of Jacob’s Well and the history of Fr. Justin's life became virtually inseparable.

What he inherited was not simply a monastery in need of ordinary maintenance. The shrine had suffered destruction and neglect, and the church itself remained incomplete. Fr. Justin devoted decades to restoring it and bringing the Church of Saint Photini to completion. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem now specifically identifies him as its founder and as the renovator of the Holy Shrine of Jacob’s Well. His achievement was therefore not merely that of a caretaker who preserved what already existed. He rebuilt and transformed the physical presence of the Orthodox shrine and left behind the great church that stands there today.

Accounts describe the magnitude of the undertaking. Fr. Justin sought resources for the restoration with extraordinary persistence, at times describing himself as having gone out to ask for assistance in order to complete the church. A longstanding account concerning the restoration says that he refused a substantial financial offer from Yasser Arafat and instead sought donations for the project himself because of his concern that accepting such money could create a claim upon the shrine. This particular detail is repeated in Greek Orthodox sources, although it should be regarded as a reported recollection rather than independently documented financial history.

The completed Church of Saint Photini became the visible monument to those decades of labor. But the physical restoration of the monastery tells only part of the story. Fr. Justin's guardianship was carried out under conditions of considerable danger, and he repeatedly became the target of violence.

In interviews, Fr. Justin himself stated that there had been thirty-two attempts on his life. A 2018 interview records him giving this figure while describing his nearly four decades of service at the monastery. Later reports likewise repeated the number. Because the figure comes principally from his own testimony and from accounts based upon it, it is best understood as his own account of the attacks he endured rather than as a formally documented tally.

The physical evidence of those attacks remained visible at the monastery. Reports noted that the entrance door of the shrine bore dozens of marks from gunfire and grenade fragments; one account counted fifty-six such holes. Other reports describe attacks involving stones, axes, grenades, and other weapons.

Fr. Justin also recalled one particularly serious incident in 1982. A man whom he identified in his interview as having been involved in the violence surrounding the monastery returned and attacked one of the nuns with an axe, seriously injuring her. He subsequently returned to the monastery, climbing over the wall with a ladder and carrying grenades and the axe with which he had attacked her. Fr. Justin's recollections convey the extraordinary circumstances under which the monastery was maintained during those years.

The danger did not disappear with the passing of time. In August 2021, Fr. Justin again found himself in immediate danger during an attack on the monastery. In a contemporary report published at the time, journalist Maria Giachnakis recounted that Fr. Justin contacted her while under attack and pleaded for assistance, saying that oil was being thrown on him and that the monastery was being set on fire and that his attackers wanted to burn him as well. The report also stated that he had been stoned only days earlier and had previously been hospitalized and abducted, and that he still bore marks from earlier attacks on his head.

That account is especially important because it was recorded during Fr. Justin's lifetime, when these events were actually occurring. It shows that his perseverance at Jacob’s Well was not simply a matter of remaining at a historic monastery for many years. Even in his advanced age he continued to live at a shrine where he had personally experienced violence and where the safety of the monks and nuns could not be taken for granted.

His response to this danger was remarkably consistent. In another interview, he spoke of his determination to remain at the Well as long as God permitted him to do so. His words were simple: he would care for the Well and the church for as long as God allowed him. In a later interview, he declared that he would remain there “until my last breath” and that the Greek presence would remain.

His life at Jacob’s Well was therefore marked by a kind of stubborn fidelity. He had inherited a place wounded by violence and associated with the recent martyrdom of a friend. He feared that he might meet the same fate, yet accepted the keys and returned. He spent decades rebuilding the church and protecting the shrine, even though attacks continued around him. The decision to remain became one of the defining characteristics of his life.

Fr. Justin was also remembered for his concern for the poor. Greek Orthodox sources came to call him “the Father of the Poor.” The title appears repeatedly in accounts of his life and became closely associated with his reputation among the people of the region. Some reports attribute the designation to Yasser Arafat, although that attribution is not independently established by a primary source. What is clear from the repeated accounts is that his ministry was not limited to the walls of the monastery. His concern extended to people living in poverty and difficulty around him.

This aspect of his ministry is significant. Fr. Justin lived for decades in a region marked by political, religious, and social tensions, yet he became known not simply as the guardian of a Greek Orthodox shrine but as a priest who had relationships with the surrounding population. His fluency in Arabic and his long familiarity with local society allowed him to function within the life of the region rather than as someone isolated from it. The title “Father of the Poor” reflects the memory that many people retained of this side of his ministry.

Despite spending nearly all of his adult life in the Holy Land, Fr. Justin never forgot Kerkyra. Greek reports repeatedly emphasize his attachment to Agios Prokopios, his birthplace. In 2019, pilgrims from the Sacred Metropolis of Kerkyra visited Jacob’s Well and met the Archimandrite who had served there since 1980. The meeting brought together two parts of his life that had remained connected despite the enormous distance between them: the island where he was born and the Holy Land to which he had given his life.

His relationship with Saint Philoumenos also remained strong throughout his later years. Fr. Justin repeatedly spoke about the Hieromartyr and about the circumstances of his martyrdom. He knew him personally, succeeded him as guardian of the shrine, and spent the remainder of his life serving at the very place where Saint Philoumenos had been killed. When pilgrims and journalists visited Jacob’s Well, Fr. Justin would speak about his predecessor and show the place where he had suffered and died. Accounts published after Fr. Justin's repose have again highlighted this extraordinary continuity between the two men.

His later years were not free from physical suffering. He underwent major heart surgery in Greece and subsequently returned to the Holy Land to continue his service. Even after such serious health problems, he remained identified with Jacob’s Well and continued to regard the protection of the shrine as his responsibility.

The final illness eventually brought him back to Greece. He was hospitalized at the General Hospital of Patras, where he died on October 1, 2026, after a prolonged illness, at the age of eighty-five. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem immediately announced that arrangements were being made for his body to be returned to the Holy Land so that his funeral service and burial could take place there. At the time of the Patriarchate's initial announcement, the date and place of the funeral had not yet been announced.

There is something deeply fitting in the fact that Fr. Justin's earthly life ended in Greece while his final resting place was to be sought in the Holy Land. He had come from Kerkyra as a young man and spent the greater part of his life at the Holy Places. He became identified with one particular shrine so completely that the history of Jacob’s Well during the final decades of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first cannot easily be told without his name.

For more than four decades, he was the guardian of the place where Christ met the Samaritan Woman. He was also the successor of the Hieromartyr Philoumenos, the man who returned to a shrine from which others had fled, and the priest who undertook the enormous work of restoring the monastery and completing the Church of Saint Photini. He endured threats, attacks, hospitalization, and illness, yet continued to regard the Well as a sacred trust placed in his hands.

His own words perhaps best express the spirit with which he approached that trust: “Many tried to kill me, but I am still here. I will take care of this well and the church, as long as God allows me.”

Now he is no longer there to open the doors of the monastery, receive pilgrims, speak about Saint Philoumenos, or watch over the ancient Well. But the church that he spent decades restoring remains, and the Orthodox presence that he struggled to preserve remains as well. The monastery bears the visible mark of his labor, while the memory of his life remains bound to the place he refused to abandon.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, in announcing his repose, spoke of the “precious legacy” he left behind through his labor for the Holy Shrine of Jacob’s Well. That legacy is not simply a building. It is the memory of a monk who gave the greater part of his life to one of the most revered shrines of the Holy Land, who remained there through extraordinarily difficult circumstances, who carried forward the memory of the Hieromartyr Philoumenos, and who sought to preserve the place entrusted to him for those who would come after him.

From Agios Prokopios of Corfu to Nablus, from a young man arriving in the Holy Land to an elderly monk still standing guard over Jacob’s Well, the life of Archimandrite Justin Mamalos was shaped by a single, enduring vocation: to remain faithful to the place and the monastery entrusted to him. He spent his life at the Well, and now he has departed from it only in death.

May his memory be eternal.

Patriarchate of Jerusalem — Official announcement of his repose

Contemporary 2021 account of Fr. Justin's appeal during an attack on Jacob's Well

Saint Dionysios the Areopagite in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

2026-10-03T16:06:27.205-04:00

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Dionysios, who surpassed all others in wealth, glory, prudence, and wisdom, was one of the members of the Council of the Areopagus in Athens. He heard the Apostle Paul preaching when he came to Athens and through him believed in Christ, was baptized, and afterward was ordained bishop of the city, having first been initiated into the mysteries of the faith by the wise Hierotheos. He left us writings that are extraordinary, wondrous, and of the highest order.

After the Saint had interpreted the form of the ecclesiastical order, he then went to the West, when Domitian was emperor. In the city of Paris, in particular, he performed many miracles, and there he was beheaded. One miracle that many witnessed was that, after his martyrdom, he walked for a distance of two miles while holding his severed head in his hands. He did not stop until he encountered, certainly by divine providence, a woman named Catula, into whose palms he placed his head as though it were a treasure. Two of his disciples, Rusticus and Eleutherius, were beheaded together with him, whereupon the bodies of these Saints, together with the martyred body of the sacred preacher, were thrown as prey to the beasts and birds. Some of the faithful then took the relics of the Saints and deposited them in a hidden place, because of the fear that existed on account of the persecutors. When the fear of the persecutions had ceased, the blessed Catula deposited the relics of the martyrs in a building, on the third day of the month of October.

Saint Dionysios was of medium height in bodily appearance, slender, white in complexion but also somewhat yellowish, with a slightly short nose and thick eyebrows. His eyes were deep-set and his ears large, while he had white and long hair, and his beard was moderately long but sparse. He had a slight belly and long fingers.

2. While Saint Dionysios is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the first and few who believed in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Apostle Paul in Athens, nevertheless a major historical and philological problem arose concerning the authenticity of the theological texts attributed to him. These texts were indeed given his name and exerted a very great influence in both the East and the West, but in more recent times their authenticity has been strongly questioned, because of “the complete absence of any reference to the works of Dionysios before the sixth century, but also because of the very nature of the text, which is very far removed from the artless simplicity of the early Christian era, both in its linguistic terminology and in its manner of thought” (Fr. Georges Florovsky). We will certainly not concern ourselves here with this problem, both because it lies beyond the limits of a simple commentary on the life of Saint Dionysios and because the hymnographer on whose work we are proceeding regards the identity of these texts as a given: they are by Saint Dionysios.

The ecclesiastical poet, primarily Saint Theophanes, repeatedly emphasizes, first of all, the particular relationship of the Saint with the Apostle Paul. The Apostle was the fisherman who “fished” him into the nets of Christ with the hook of the grace of God. He became his disciple, he who was a beholder of heavenly things, having reached as far as the third heavens; therefore he himself also became a heavenly initiate. He became a true divine image of Paul, and precisely because of his communion with him and with the other Apostles, he was deemed worthy also to behold the life-bearing body of the most revered Theotokos upon her deathbed. And according to the Hymnographer, the reason for this obedience of his to the Holy Apostle was the prudence that distinguished him throughout his life. The Hymnographer emphasizes this latter point because many heard the great Apostle, but very few obeyed him. As is well known, the presence of the Apostle Paul in Athens was crowned, according to human judgment, by almost complete failure. This is the human assessment, since the overwhelming majority of the Athenians mocked him for his preaching and, laughing, got up and left. There were only a few, however. And these few, among whom were “Dionysios the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and certain others with them,” ultimately constituted the “leaven” through which the Christian faith would take root in the years that followed.

The words of the poet himself concerning the truths mentioned above ring out with flowing clarity:

“With the hook of grace, the divinely inspired Paul, wisely preaching, caught you alive, made you a hierophant, and made you a beholder of ineffable things, seeing you as a chosen vessel.” (Vespers sticheron)

“Having become a disciple of the divine Paul, Dionysios, the beholder of heavenly things, you immediately became a heavenly initiate and a herald of God.” (Ode 1)

“As one who was truly an image of the chosen vessel, you teach the divine mysteries by the Spirit.” (Matins kathisma)

“Deemed worthy to become a beholder of the Holy Apostles and a fellow-laborer, you became a partaker of their glory and with them hastened to behold the body that is truly life-bearing, of the only and most revered Theotokos.” (Ode 9)

“Adorned with God-befitting prudence, O God-minded one, you inclined your ear to the divine mystagogue.” (Ode 6)

The poet Theophanes, who, as we said, considers the texts attributed to Saint Dionysios to be genuine, refers to them in order to emphasize the theological profundity of the Saint, who, initiated into heavenly things, illumined through his word both the Holy Trinity and the orders of the holy angels and the Church itself.

“Most philosophically, O blessed Dionysios, as much as was possible, becoming like God, you piously and mystically unfolded the divine names in a divinely inspired exposition, O God-minded one.” (Vespers sticheron)

“By virtue, O Father Dionysios, having made your mind equal to that of the angels, you, most wise one, recorded in sacred books the transcendent order of the hierarchy of the angels, according to which you ordered the structures of the Church, imitating the orders of heaven.” (Vespers sticheron)

The Hymnographer therefore does not hesitate, for the reason stated above, to characterize Saint Dionysios as a “Trinitarian theologian” (Ode 3) and as a “telescope of heaven” (Synaxarion oikos). Astonished, moreover, by the philosophical and theological intellect of the Saint, he notes:

“Philosophizing lawfully, you attained the gifts of wisdom. Theologizing divinely, you left behind Orthodox doctrines, O all-blessed one.” (Ode 6)

And he concludes in a marvelous way:

“Your life is wondrous, your word more wondrous, your tongue radiant with light, your mouth breathing fire, O blessed Dionysios. And your mind, O Father, is truly most Godlike.” (Ode 6)

At some point, however, it is as though the holy poet comes back down to earth and leaves behind the lofty writings of Dionysios. He sees what is before him, namely the Saint himself, with his double crown, which is not his writings but his priesthood and his martyrdom. And he notes: You gained Paradise because you were a hierarch as God desires, and you mingled your priesthood with the blood of your martyrdom.

“You became an heir of the divine Kingdom in the heavens as a lawful hierarch, O Father, and as an invincible athlete, mingling the anointing of the priesthood with the blood of martyrdom. Therefore you worthily received a double crown, O hieromystagogue Dionysios." (Ode 9)

We do not think that this reference by the holy poet at the conclusion of his Canon is accidental. It is perhaps as though he is telling us: the Saint may have written magnificent texts; he may have described the heavenly world, initiated by the Apostle Paul and illumined by the Spirit of God; but ultimately, his entrance into the Kingdom of God depended rather on how lawfully he conducted himself according to his calling from God and on how steadfast he remained in the faith until the end of his life, even to the offering of his blood. Saint Dionysios indeed “kept the faith”; therefore “through him the renowned Metropolis of Athens became even more renowned” (Ode 8).

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Prologue in Sermons: October 3

2026-10-03T15:39:50.806-04:00

The Benefit of Reflecting on Death

October 3

(From a discourse of Saint John Climacus on Blessed Hesychios the Chorebite and Hesychast)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Because we live as though we would never have to die, and almost never think about death, for the most part it catches us completely unprepared, and then our terror is boundless. “How can I part with my possessions, title, and honors? How can I appear in the next world with my sins? How shall I give an account of them before God?” This is how we think, but we think so only when it is already too late. This would not be the case if we were constantly thinking about death. Constant reflection upon it would draw us away from sins and kindle in us zeal for virtue, and through this it would teach us to meet death not with terror, but with joy.

Blessed Hesychios the Chorebite, who at first lived in negligence and laziness, resolved to reform himself after a severe illness and, in order to establish himself in his new life, made it a rule to think constantly about death. Such reflection not only drew him away from sins, but also raised him to a high degree of virtue. For twelve years he remained continuously in his cell in silence, partaking only of bread and water and weeping day and night over his sins. When the hour of his death came, the brethren entered and began to entreat him to say something to them for their edification, at least before his death. Convinced by experience of the benefit that remembrance of death brings to a person, Hesychios, instead of giving them any instruction, exclaimed: “Forgive me, brethren! Whoever has remembrance of death can never sin.” And with these words he gave up his spirit to the Lord. And truly, brethren, he cannot sin! “Remember your end, and you will never sin,” teaches the wise son of Sirach (Sirach 7:39).

And once we have freed ourselves, insofar as possible, from sins, it is self-evident that we will meet death with joy; for it is terrible only for sinners, while for the righteous it is a passage from darkness into light, from prison into freedom, from toil into rest, from a foreign land into our native land.

A certain pious elder, having reached an advanced old age, finally took to his deathbed. The brethren surrounded him and wept bitterly at having to part from him. The elder, on the contrary, was filled with joy and, opening his eyes, quietly smiled; after remaining silent for a little while, he smiled again, and after several minutes of silence, he smiled a third time. “We are weeping, while you are laughing,” the brethren said to him. “Yes,” the elder replied, “I am laughing. The first time I laughed because all of you are afraid of death; the second because you are not prepared for it; and the third because I am going from toil to rest” (Prologue, April 30).

Therefore, brethren, if you do not wish to fear death, constantly reflect upon it. Just as a soldier who is always prepared to do battle with the enemy does not fear him, so we, if we are prepared, will not fear death, but will meet it with joy. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 3

2026-10-03T10:57:55.350-04:00

The Month of October

Day 3

34. The Lord Is Infinitely Merciful Even toward Sinners

(The Story of Saint Dionysius about Saint Carpos and the Two Sinners)

The Lord says: “I do not desire the death of a sinner” (Ezekiel 33:11). How are we to understand this? In our opinion, it should be understood in this way: the mercy of God is infinitely great; it is great both toward all people in general and, in particular, toward sinners. How, then, can this latter truth be proven, and how can we become convinced of it? It can easily be proven and understood through the following example.

Saint Carpos, a disciple of the Apostle Paul, was once greatly angered by a pagan who had led a Christian astray into his ungodliness. He rose at midnight to pray, but at first he could not even turn his mind to prayer. Carpos thought: “Can it really be in accordance with the justice of God that ungodly people live peacefully on the earth and corrupt the ways of the Lord?” Then he began to ask God to send fire from heaven that would consume both the pagan and the Christian whom he had led astray.

As he was praying in this way, suddenly the house in which he was staying was shaken, its roof opened up, and Carpos saw the heavens opened and the Lord Jesus Christ there, surrounded by Angels. When Carpos lowered his eyes, he saw the earth split open and within it a deep and dark abyss, at the edge of which stood the pagan and the Christian whom he had led into pagan ungodliness. Seeing them, Carpos again began to ask for their destruction. They stood there in terror and fear, while certain men beat them and dragged them toward the abyss, at the bottom of which was a great and dreadful serpent. Carpos rejoiced at this; but when he noticed that the pagan and the Christian whom he had led astray still remained at the edge of the abyss, he again began to grieve and once more asked God for their speedy destruction. When, at this point, he again raised his eyes toward heaven, he saw that the Lord had risen from His throne, approached the mouth of the abyss, and extended a helping hand to those who were perishing. Then the Angels took those men, began to encourage and comfort them, and led them away from the abyss. And Jesus said to Carpos: “What then? If you wish, strike Me again. For the salvation of mankind I am ready to be crucified again, and this is pleasing to Me, so long as people hate their sins. Do you really think that it is more pleasing to Me for people to live with the serpent in the abyss than with God and His good and loving Angels?” With this, the vision ended.

From this example, you have surely been able to become convinced, brethren, of the truth that the mercy of God is boundlessly great even toward sinners. Yes, truly, the height of heaven is astonishing, the depth of the sea is awe-inspiring, and the expanse of the universe is infinitely immeasurable; but even more astonishing, more awe-inspiring, and more immeasurable is the mercy of the Lord! Do you hear what He says to Carpos, who thirsted for the condemnation of sinners? “Strike Me! I am ready to be crucified again, so long as people hate their sins!” O the depth of the goodness of God! We offend the Lord, and He extends His hand to us and brings us out of hell. We anger Him, and He sends His Angels to lead us away from the abyss. We wound Him again through our sins, and He is again ready to endure the Cross and death, so long as we hate our sins! Surely, even after this, will we not be moved by Divine love? Surely, will we not abandon what is displeasing to the Lord? Surely, even after hearing this, will we not crucify our flesh with its passions and desires? O Lord, grant strength to our spirit and freedom to our heart, that we may bravely battle against the host of unclean demons and passions and then walk without stumbling in the ordinances of Your law. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 34:

1. Whom did Saint Carpos ask for the speedy destruction of the pagan and the Christian whom he had led astray, when he saw them at the edge of the abyss?

2. What did the Lord extend to those who were perishing in Carpos's vision?

3. For what does Jesus Christ say He is ready to be crucified again?

4. For what purpose is it pleasing to Jesus Christ to be crucified again?

5. With whom, according to the words of Jesus Christ, is it more pleasing to Him that people should live?

Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian and Martyr Justina in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

2026-10-02T15:19:16.339-04:00

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Cyprian was from Antioch of Syria, during the reign of the emperor Decius. He was noble and wealthy, a philosopher and a great magician. But he was led to the faith of Christ by Justina, a virgin and Christian, who was also from Antioch and who dissolved like a spider’s web all his demonic efforts against her. For a certain pagan named Aglaias, having fallen in love with her because of her beauty and being unable to achieve his purpose, went to Cyprian. But when he sent demons against the girl three times without accomplishing anything, he realized that his art was powerless. Therefore, he converted to the faith of Christ, was baptized, and burned all his magical books. Finally, he also became a bishop of the Church. And after leading many to Christianity, he was arrested together with Justina by the Count of Damascus, and they endured cruel tortures: their sides were flayed, they were placed in an iron pan, and finally, after being sent to Nicomedia, they were beheaded.

2. From the nadir to the zenith, from the lowest depth to the highest height, would be the title of Saint Cyprian’s life, if we wanted to characterize it in a single phrase, as the Church’s service also guides us to do: “You descended to the deepest depths of wickedness; yet again, O Father, you ascended wondrously to the height of the highest virtue.” The reason for this is that the Saint, from the madness and frenzy of magic — that is, from his complete submission to the wicked devil — came to dwell with the highest spiritual angelic powers. “Having come to your senses, O God-proclaiming one, from your former madness, you utterly triumphed over demonic deception and soul-destroying delusion.” There is something analogous in his life to what we also see in the life of the Holy Apostle Paul: he too, having been a persecutor of Christianity, and indeed the worst of all, came to serve the Lord Jesus, to such an extent that he is characterized as the greatest of the Apostles. Therefore, it is not by chance that our Church calls Saint Cyprian “a companion of Paul and a sharer in his works.”

We characterize the magic that Saint Cyprian practiced before converting to the faith of Christ as madness and frenzy. For how else can the alteration of man’s natural state be characterized, when instead of living in harmony with God the Creator, he not only rejects this relationship but also wages war against it, standing as a soldier in the camp of God’s adversary, Satan the devil? And we say this because it is one thing for someone not to know God and consequently to do, in ignorance, things contrary to His holy will — even though a well-intentioned person, even a pagan, following the law of his conscience, however darkened, will also perform good deeds, as, for example, the centurion Cornelius, whose prayers and almsgiving ascended like incense before God — and quite another thing to have consciously joined the Evil One and to serve his commands to the detriment of others.

And yet! Such a person, so bound by the devil, needed nothing more than a young girl, Saint Justina, in order to break free. The young girl did not use arguments, nor did she perform miracles, but simply kept the holy will of God. That is, obedience to the will of God alone is capable of driving out the devil and transforming his servant into an apostle of Christ. Most astonishing of all: this happened without Justina herself knowing it. The Saint, simply struggling to preserve her purity, without knowing anything, was dissolving every spider’s web that the devil was weaving for her through his instrument. And what happened then happens always, today as well. Although the devil appears all-powerful, in reality he has been vanquished and rendered powerless by the Lord. We have said it before: only the person who gives him rights over himself sees him as the conqueror of his life. And we give him such rights when we sin and become lax in our spiritual life. Then, yes, the devil makes us his instruments and his playthings. And so we receive the corresponding price: sorrow, melancholy, hatred, and hell beginning already in this life. This case recalls an incident from the Gerontikon: a holy ascetic, who went to a man’s house in order to collect payment for some baskets he had sold him, encountered the man’s demon-possessed daughter. Without saying anything, and without offering any prayer for the demon to depart, the ascetic saw it disappear as though it were being burned, because the ascetic did not react when the girl slapped him. His lack of reaction, because of his obedience to the Lord’s command, “Do not resist the evil person,” brought about precisely this miracle: the demon departed.

Unfortunately, the devil exists and acts wherever he finds an opening. And even more unfortunately, there are suffering fellow human beings who turn to magic, that is, to the snares of their enemy, in order to find “healing.” Our greatest contribution toward overcoming this tragedy is our obedience to the will of God. The more those of us who have some awareness of our faith remain faithful to that faith, the more we will sanctify ourselves; consequently, the devil will encounter a “void” before us, while at the same time we will help, perhaps without even realizing it, our negligent fellow human beings as well.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Prologue in Sermons: October 2

2026-10-02T15:00:14.143-04:00

The Christian Who Fights the Devil Awaits Crowns

October 2

(A Discourse on Saint Andrew, How He Became a Fool for Christ’s Sake.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Concerning the disposition in which we should find ourselves toward the enemies of our salvation—the evil spirits—the word of God teaches us as follows: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11–12). And in another place: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). From these passages it is evident that the word of God commands us to maintain a hostile disposition toward the enemies of our salvation; it commands us to vigilantly guard ourselves against the wiles of the devil, to fight against the evil spirits, and to strive to conquer them. To fight, to strive to conquer them... But will there be any benefit for us from this? Can we expect any reward for this difficult struggle? Can the victor in this struggle expect crowns? Yes, brethren, do not doubt: there will truly be benefit for us from fighting the evil spirits, there is a reward for fighting them, and there is no doubt that crowns await the victor in this struggle. All this is evident from the following.

Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ, while still a young man, once rose at night to pray. The devil was displeased by this, and, in order to distract the young man from prayer, began to beat furiously on the door of the room in which Andrew was praying. Andrew was terrified by the knocking, stopped praying, and, covering himself with a goatskin, lay down on his bed. Seeing this, Satan said to another demon: “Look how far things have come! Until now, this man alone was committing filth, but now he too is arming himself against us.” Having said this, he disappeared. Meanwhile, Andrew fell asleep while lying on his bed, and during his sleep he had the following vision: he saw himself in a certain place where demons stood on one side and Angels on the other, and it seemed that both sides were preparing for battle against one another. The demons brought forth from among themselves a great and terrible giant and, pointing to him, challenged one of the Angels to fight him. The Angels remained silent, while the demons boasted of themselves. At that moment, a beautiful young man descended from heaven, holding three crowns in his hands. One crown was adorned with gold and precious stones, another with pearls, and the third was woven from unfading flowers. All three crowns were so beautiful that their beauty cannot be described. Looking at the crowns, Andrew began to think about how he might obtain at least one of them, and, approaching the young man, said: “Will you sell me these crowns? Although I myself cannot buy them, I can tell my master about them, and he will give you as much gold as you want for them.” The young man smiled at Andrew’s words and replied: “Believe me, beloved, that even if you offered me all the gold in the world for these crowns, I would not give you even one of their flowers, because they are not from this vain world, but from the treasures of heaven, and they are the crowns of Christ Himself. Only those who conquer these black ones, that is, the demons, are crowned with them. And if you wish to obtain them, go and fight that giant—the devil—and when you overcome him, then I will give you not one, but all three.” After this, Andrew saw himself fighting the devil and overcoming him. And Andrew saw that, for his victory, he was received into the fellowship of the Angels, while from the young man he received those crowns and the counsel to undertake the ascetic struggle of foolishness, by which he could more easily conquer the demons. After this vision, Andrew truly declared irreconcilable warfare against the devil, conquered all his wiles through the ascetic struggle of foolishness, and, in very deed, was found worthy of those crowns.

From this account it is evident that for victory over the devil a person receives crowns. And if he receives crowns, then it becomes clear of itself that there is also benefit in fighting against the enemy of our salvation, and that a reward awaits us for the struggle. Therefore, let us heed the word of God, be sober, and daily put on the whole armor of God, so that we may stand firm against all the wiles of the devil. Let us constantly be vigilant against our enemy, lest he suddenly attack us and strike us with the arrows of sinful temptations. And when we bravely overcome these temptations and thereby drive away and strike down the enemy himself, then surely we too will be found worthy of receiving radiant crowns from Christ the Commander, as the word of God also says: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been tested, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 2

2026-10-02T12:44:54.930-04:00

The Month of October

Day 2

33. Will We Be Rewarded for Fighting the Demons?

(From the Life of Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ*)

The word of God says: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And in another place: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). By these words, as you see, the word of God teaches us to fight against the demons. But here is the question: will there be any benefit for us from this? Will we receive some reward for it? Will we receive crowns for our struggle? Do not doubt, brethren: we will receive a reward for fighting the demons, and crowns will be given to us for this struggle.

Once, Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ saw in a dream that he was standing in a public square. On one side of the square stood a multitude of demons, and on the other side also stood a multitude of holy men clothed in white robes. And it seemed that some kind of struggle was taking place between the demons and the holy men. Among the demons there was one who was especially great and terrifying, and they proudly said to those in white robes: “Which of you can fight against him?” The holy men remained silent. But at that moment, a young man of extraordinary beauty descended from heaven, holding three crowns in his hands: one of gold set with precious stones, another of pearls, and the third woven from the branches of the trees of God’s Paradise. Wishing to obtain at least one of them, Andrew said to the young man: “Are you selling the crowns? Although I am a poor man and have no means to buy them, my master is a wealthy man. I will tell him, and he will buy them.” Smiling, the young man replied: “Believe me, beloved, even if you gave me all the gold in the world, I would not give you, or your master, or anyone else even one flower from these crowns. They are not from this vain world, but from the treasures of heaven, and they are crowns of Christ. Know, then, that only those who fight against the demons and conquer them are crowned with them. Therefore, if you want me to give you not one crown, but all three, go and fight the demon to whom the demons are pointing, and if you overcome him, you will receive the crowns.” Andrew said: “Very well, I will go; only teach me how to defeat him.” The young man replied: “Do not be afraid! Although the demons are cunning and appear great and powerful, in reality they are weak and rotten, like dung. When you fight, do not be terrified, and you will see the help of God.” After these words of the young man, Andrew entered into combat with the demon and, after a long struggle, finally overcame him. The demon cried out: “Woe, woe!” And the holy men, filled with great joy, took Andrew, carried him up to a height, kissed him, and together with him celebrated his victory. The young man then gave him the crowns of Paradise and, having kissed him, said: “Go in peace; from now on you will be our friend and brother.” With this, the vision ended.

Thus, there is no doubt that we will receive a reward for fighting the demons, and we will receive crowns for this struggle. And knowing this, what must we do? Certainly, following the teaching of the word of God, we must be sober and vigilant and put on all the armor that it has shown us; we must regard the word of God as the essential nourishment of our soul and, like a sword, use it to repel all the temptations and deceptions of the devil; we must be attentive to ourselves, to our thoughts, intentions, and deeds, and watch to see whether the inwardly destructive serpent has crept into our hearts; we must fast and pray more earnestly, remembering, according to the word of the Lord, that the demonic kind is cast out only by prayer and fasting; and, finally, we must advance in piety and virtue, so that our Guardian Angels may always lovingly watch over us and the evil spirits may not dare to approach us. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 33:

1. With what crowns, according to the young man in Saint Andrew’s vision, are those who fight against the demons and conquer them crowned?

2. Under what condition, according to the young man, will Andrew receive all three crowns?

3. What did Andrew ask the young man before fighting the demon?

4. Under what condition, according to the young man, would Andrew see the help of God?

5. By what, according to the word of the Lord, is the demonic kind cast out?

* St. Andrew the Fool for Christ is commemorated on May 28th in the Greek calendar, while the Slavic calendar commemorates him on October 2nd, associating him with his vision of the Protection of the Theotokos, commemorated on October 1.

180 Years Since the Birth of Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis

2026-10-01T17:28:02.437-04:00

By His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden

On the occasion of today’s 180th anniversary of the birth of Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis, on October 1, 1846, in Selymbria of Eastern Thrace, I have composed and am publishing this article, which is dedicated to the Saint’s relationship with his particular homeland.

Selymbria of Eastern Thrace was the birthplace of Saint Nektarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis in Libya, known in the world as Anastasios Kephalas. It was the city in which he first saw the light of life on October 1, 1846, received his initial education, and spent the first fourteen years of his earthly life.

Selymbria, which occupies a prominent place in ecclesiastical history, is situated on the Thracian coast of the Propontis, near Constantinople. As early as the eighteenth century, it had a marketplace, inns, workshops, coffeehouses, numerous shops, and old churches. The greater part of its population consisted of Greek Christians, with a few Jews and only a very small number of Turks scattered among them.

As early as the seventeenth century, there were two schools: one clerical school, founded at the expense of Metropolitan Kallinikos, and a general school, funded by the ruler of Wallachia, Alexander Mourouzis. In 1849, a girls’ school and a library were built, establishing Selymbria as a center of intellectual influence.

The discovery of unpublished letters of Saint Nektarios, the majority of which are addressed to the administrative council of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School, reveals unknown aspects of the hierarch’s multifaceted pastoral activity as a patriot, fighting for the rights of the then-suffering Eastern Thrace and for the preservation of the Greek element there and its traditions.

In these same letters, the Saint appears as inseparably connected to his family home and his relatives, taking part in every aspect of their lives, assisting them in every possible way in their needs, and sharing in their joys and sorrows.

In his letter of September 15, 1894, the Saint recommended to the administrative council of the Rizarios School the appointment of a theological student from Tyroloi in Thrace as sacristan, replacing another student who had been ordained a deacon. At the end of his letter, the Saint supported his request that the young Thracian be appointed instead of another candidate with five clear arguments in his favor: a) his devotion to the Church; b) his inward desire to enter the priesthood; c) the certainty that his character, together with the knowledge he would acquire at the school, would enable him to become useful to the Church; d) the enrichment of the ranks of the clergy with priests of such standing as this young man in enslaved Greece; and e) his conviction that he would become a brave champion of the national interests in Thrace.

The aforementioned theological student was ultimately accepted at Rizarios, where he studied from 1895 to 1899.

The historical archive of Rizarios contains another letter from Saint Nektarios to the administrative council of the school, dated May 15, 1902, in which he submitted and supported the May 5, 1902, request of the “Thracian Brotherhood” that other young men from Thrace be accepted at the school, on the condition that the director himself would also contribute toward the payment of tuition and the other expenses of their studies. Unfortunately, for financial reasons, the request was rejected, as testified by the administrative council’s letter to the principal dated May 22, 1902.

In his letter of October 29, 1894, Saint Nektarios asked the members of the Rizarios council to accept his nephew, Themistokles Kephalas, as a boarder, on the condition that he enroll in a public school until he could be admitted as a resident student at Rizarios, after first taking the required examinations and being accepted.

The Saint promised the council that he would personally assume responsibility for the young man and would pay his monthly living expenses. Themistokles was the son of his brother Haralambis and was the first nephew whom the Saint took under his supervision.

At the meeting of the full council on January 18, 1895, the council accepted the principal’s nephew as a regular self-supporting student and communicated its decision in writing to the school treasurer and the director.

Themistokles entered as a regular student in the second preparatory class in the 1897–1898 school year. The letters of November 2 and December 10, 1897, express the director’s thanks to the administrative council for accepting his nephew Themistokles into the school.

Before the beginning of the 1898–1899 school year, Themistokles discontinued his studies at Rizarios for unknown reasons. His departure did not discourage Saint Nektarios; on the contrary, it created in him an intense desire to continue his spiritual contribution to his particular homeland, as an expression of gratitude for all that it had offered him during his childhood.

The Saint focused on the spiritual needs of Selymbria by seeking to raise young people who would be educated and develop a character “befitting the priesthood and befitting a Greek,” becoming preachers of “Greek Orthodoxy,” as he characteristically stated in one of his letters.

The bishop who was principal of the school enthusiastically consented to the request expressed by “Mr. Photios Kanakidis of Selymbria,” who asked “that his son Chrysostomos be accepted as a self-supporting student,” but, “because of his acknowledged poverty,” that “the requirement of the annual advance payment be set aside.”

Although his financial means were limited, in his letter of October 11, 1898, the Saint asked the school council to accept his request that a young man from Selymbria be admitted to Rizarios as a self-supporting student, one who would fulfill the above conditions, desire to put on the garment of the priesthood, and, after completing his studies, return to “suffering” Selymbria to offer his national and religious services there.

The Saint proposed to the council that a portion of his salary be withheld for the support of the aforementioned theological student. At the meeting of the full council on October 31, 1898, the above request of the principal bishop was accepted.

After Themistokles H. Kephalas left Rizarios, his father, Haralambis, sent his other son, Michael, in 1902 to be placed under the Saint’s protection. Because he was a weak student and could not meet the academic requirements of Rizarios, the Saint sent him to a public school in Athens, assuming not only his expenses but also his preparation for the entrance examinations of Rizarios, as testified by his letter to the administrative council of the school dated September 28, 1902.

Ultimately, Michael was accepted in the 1903–1904 academic year and remained at the school until 1906, as a scholarship student of the Monastery of Asomatoi in Petraki, at which point he discontinued his studies.

Another nephew was added to the number of the other two whom the Saint had taken under his protection. This was Eleutherios Stavridis, the grandson of his sister, who, although he had been warmly recommended by the Metropolitan of Selymbria and by K. X. Spiridis, president of the Thracian patriotic association, for admission as a scholarship student of the Rizarios endowment, was ultimately rejected by the school council at first.

This unexpected decision prompted the Saint to write a letter and a petition, dated October 12, 1907, in which he invoked a relevant article of the school’s regulations concerning the enrollment of children of professors and council members as external students. He asked the council to be so kind as to accept Eleutherios as an external student in the first class, after he had taken the required entrance examinations, and to permit him to reside in the administrative quarters.

In his petition, the Saint undertook to cover his nephew’s expenses for food and clothing, but he was unable to cover the entire cost. This was evidently due not to any unwillingness on his part, but rather to the additional expenses he had already undertaken since 1904: the establishment of the monastic brotherhood of Aegina, the restoration of the abandoned Monastery of Zoodochos Pege, the construction of cells, the maintenance of the ten-member brotherhood, the expenses of his journeys to and from Aegina, and the continuation of the publication of his writings. Nevertheless, the Saint once again hastened to offer his services and his practical love to his relatives.

In response to the written inquiry of Professor Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, dated June 1, 1908, to the school council concerning the status of Eleftherios Stavridis, Papagiannopoulos being Saint Nektarios’s successor as director of Rizarios, the full council decided to accept the aforementioned student as a scholarship student funded by the Rizarios endowment for the following academic year, 1908–1909, thereby fulfilling an earlier desire of the former principal, Metropolitan Nektarios, as testified by his letters to Director Papagiannopoulos dated June 9 and October 16, 1907. Eleutherios attended the school from 1907 to 1910.

The letter sent by Saint Nektarios to the consul general of the Ottoman Empire at the end of September 1906 constitutes a kind of power of attorney, by which the Saint transferred his two privately owned houses in Selymbria to his brother Haralambis, on the condition that he would marry off two of his daughters with the proceeds from the sale of the houses. Until the repose of the Saint, these houses had not been sold, as they are also mentioned in his will.

The repose of Mariora Kephalas, the Saint’s unmarried sister, prompted the Saint to personally undertake the expense of the funeral service, the purchase of a grave in the First Cemetery of Athens, and the dedication of his work Christology to her memory.

His letter of May 26, 1900, constitutes a written request to the Rizarios council that the sum of five hundred drachmas be advanced to him to cover the expenses of Mariora’s funeral service.

Together with his letter of November 28, 1902, the Saint, in his capacity as director of Rizarios, sent the president of the “Christian Archaeological Society” two photographs of the Church of Saint Spyridon in Selymbria and a copy of a paper icon that had been found in the courtyard of the Church of the Theotokos in Selymbria, which had apparently been requested of him.

This letter serves as the seal of this article, which has recorded the moving contribution of Saint Nektarios to the advancement of the national and religious interests of his particular homeland, as well as the varied ways in which he assisted his relatives in their lives.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

October: Day 1: Teaching 4: Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos

2026-10-01T16:37:05.080-04:00

October: Day 1: Teaching 4:
Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos

(On the necessity of protecting those in need of our help.)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Several centuries ago, on this very day, Blessed Andrew, brethren, was granted a wondrous and at the same time consoling vision. When he was in the Blachernae Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Constantinople, together with the other inhabitants of Constantinople imploring the Lord to avert the calamity from the Greek capital, which at that time was threatened with an invasion by the terrible Saracens, it appeared to him that the vault of the church was opened, and he saw in the air the Mother of God with a host of Angels, Prophets, Apostles, and other heavenly beings. The Most Holy Virgin knelt in prayer before God and covered the Christian world with Her honorable omophorion. Seeing this, Blessed Andrew said to his disciple Epiphanios: “Do you see, brother, the Queen and Lady of all, praying for the whole world?” “I see Her,” Epiphanios replied, “and I am filled with awe.” This vision was accompanied by the deliverance of Constantinople and all of Greece from the invasion of the barbarians; therefore, the Holy Church established that it be celebrated annually on this day, for the remembrance and edification of the faithful.

II. And we, following the example of the Mother of God, must do all we can to protect those in need of our help; we must help the poor, the orphans, and other unfortunate people.

a) All of us—rich and poor, strong and weak, famous and unknown, wise and foolish—constitute one great family. Who are we by nature? Descendants of one Adam. Who are we by grace? Children of one heavenly Father. Who are we according to our ultimate destiny? Co-heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. I will say more: we not only constitute one family, but we are members of one body, both the civic body, the state, and the spiritual body, the Church of Christ, which has one “head,” Christ, “and we all” are “members,” as the Apostle says (Ephesians 5:23, 30). See what a close bond, what kinship exists among us! Therefore, judge for yourselves: ought we not earnestly to help one another, and especially those poor and unfortunate brothers of ours who have a great need of our help? Obviously, we ought! Just as in an ordinary body all the members sympathize with and help one another, so we must have compassion for one another and mutually assist one another in our needs. Just as in an ordinary family the older, healthy brothers and sisters watch over the younger and weaker ones, so we must care for our lesser brothers in Christ—the poor and unfortunate. If we do not do this, then by this we will clearly show that we are bad brothers and poor Christians.

b) We should be all the more willing to help those in need of our assistance because, by providing them with the necessary aid, we, through the close bond that exists between them and us, do good not only to them, but also to ourselves. And truly, is it not beneficial to us if these unfortunate people, who now live as a burden and some even to the detriment of our society, and who perhaps will perish without our help—is it not beneficial to us if, through our assistance, they become good citizens and contribute as much as they can to the common good and at the same time to our own good? Is it not beneficial to us if, in return for the good done to them, they thank us, serve us in return, and begin to call down God's blessing upon us?

But it is not only the civic and spiritual union that exists among us, nor only our common and personal temporal good, that urges us to help those in need of our assistance. There are also other—and more important—motives for this.

c) Why has God, our common heavenly Father, not bestowed His gifts upon all of us in equal measure? Why has He given more to some and less to others? So that the former might share with the latter the abundance of the blessings bestowed upon them, and that all might mutually help one another according to their means and abilities. This is evident from various passages of the word of God. Thus, for example, the Apostle says that rulers of peoples are invested by God with authority “for our good,” so that they may restrain us from evil deeds, encourage us to good activity, and protect us from evil people (Romans 13:3–4; 1 Peter 2:13–14). The same Apostle teaches elsewhere that the rich should not keep their wealth for themselves alone, but should use it to assist the poor and for other good works (1 Timothy 6:17–18). Elsewhere he exhorts the strong and wise to help the weak and those of little understanding, to admonish the disorderly, comfort the fainthearted, and support the weak (Romans 15:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14). Indeed, he commands all of us: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

From this you see, brethren, that providing the necessary help to those who need it is our sacred duty; this is the will of God, the law of Christ.

d) And so that we may fulfill this sacred duty more zealously, the Lord promises a great reward for fulfilling it and severe punishment for neglecting it. Who are those blessed ones whom the Lord will call blessed at His universal judgment and admit into the Kingdom of Heaven? They are the good and compassionate people who assist the poor and unfortunate; they are those who feed the hungry and thirsty, receive strangers into their homes, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and comfort those imprisoned in dungeons. And who are those unfortunate people whom the Lord will drive away from His presence and cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil? They are hard-hearted people who have no compassion for those suffering and refuse them the help they need. “These shall go away into everlasting punishment,” says the Savior (Matthew 25:34–46). Behold what a terrible consequence our lack of compassion toward poor brothers who need our help will have.

e) However, even if there were neither a reward for doing good to the poor nor punishment for indifference toward them, nor any other motives for providing them with the necessary help, even in that case we should have compassion on them and do good to them because our heavenly Father Himself has mercy on us and cares for us. He “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” And, more importantly still, for our salvation He did not spare His Only-Begotten Son, but “delivered Him up for us,” “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16; Romans 8:32). What, then? Should we not imitate such love and beneficence of His? Should we not, in gratitude for them, ourselves do good to poor people, the lesser brothers of Christ? We certainly should! The Savior Himself also impresses this upon us, saying: “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

If, then, someone does not have compassion on the unfortunate and refuses them the help they need, he is not only unworthy of the love of God and grievously sins before the Lord, but also is falsely called a Christian and a human being. “He who sows sparingly,” says the Apostle, “will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” “Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (2 Corinthians 9:6; Hebrews 13:16). If someone “has this world’s goods,” says another Apostle, “and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart” against him, “how does the love of God abide in him?”—“Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not shown mercy” (1 John 3:17; James 2:13).

III. And You, O Mother of God, “unashamed intercessor of Christians, unfailing advocate before the Creator,” pray to the Lord, the all-good and merciful One, that He may strengthen in us mutual love and compassion for our poor brothers, so that we may be true followers of His not in name only, but also in our deeds, and that we may one day be deemed worthy to enter “the eternal dwellings” prepared in heaven for those who do good (Luke 16:1–9). Amen.

(Compiled from the “Words and Conversations” of Platon, Metropolitan of Kiev.)

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Prologue in Sermons: October 1

2026-10-01T15:21:50.101-04:00

One Should Not Have Scandalous Books and Pictures in One’s Home

October 1

(From the Lemonarion, concerning why the Most Holy Theotokos did not enter the church of Kyriakos the priest.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

In your homes one sometimes encounters very unpleasant things. On the walls, beside the holy icons, one sometimes sees pictures of the most scandalous kind, while in the homes of literate people, on the shelves among the sacred books, there are often songbooks or immoral books. How sinful and destructive to the soul this is, you can see from the following account.

The Presbyter Kyriakos, who served in the Kalamon Monastery near the Jordan, relates:

“I saw in a dream a woman, reverent in appearance, dressed in purple, and with her two men. They were all standing near my cell. In the woman I recognized the Most Holy Theotokos, and in those accompanying Her, John the Baptist and the Evangelist John. Rejoicing at such a visitation, I rushed to the feet of the Intercessor for the world and began asking Her to enter my cell and offer prayer there to God on my behalf. But She would not agree. When I continued without ceasing to entreat Her with tears, She said to me: ‘You keep My enemy in your cell; how then do you want Me to enter your cell?’ With these words She departed, and the vision ended.

Awakening from sleep, I began to grieve and ponder: who could this enemy of the Most Holy Theotokos be in my cell? I found nothing in myself for which I was guilty before Her, and there was no one else there. After grieving for a long time, I finally thought to distract myself by reading some of the books I had, and at the end of one of them I found a teaching of the heretic Nestorius, who was condemned at the Third Ecumenical Synod because he called the Most Holy Virgin not Theotokos, but Christotokos, claiming that a mere man, and not God in the flesh, was born from Her.

Only then did I understand who the enemy of the Most Holy Theotokos in my cell was. Taking the books, I immediately brought them to the brother to whom they belonged, told him my vision, and, filled with zeal, cut out and burned in his presence the pages containing the false teaching of Nestorius, saying: ‘Let the enemy of the Most Holy Theotokos no longer be in my cell from this moment onward!’”

Therefore, brethren, throw out the rubbish from your homes! To read sacred books and, alongside them, immoral ones; to gaze with reverence upon the holy icons and at the same time delight in scandalous pictures is the same as building a house with one hand and destroying it with the other, building up your salvation while at the same time destroying it.

And consider how much evil comes from this! You begin to pray, and suddenly your eyes unintentionally fall upon such a picture. What thoughts might arise in your mind? Will you be able to raise a pure mind and heart to heaven, to collect yourself, to enter deeply into yourself, and to detach yourself from everything worldly?

Or consider this: your young son or daughter, through ignorance, may pray before a morally corrupt picture instead of an icon. Upon whom will their sin fall? And, worse than all, what terrible contagion from these pictures or immoral books might strike their young, innocent heart and corrupt it forever! Who, then, will answer for their stumbling? Judge for yourselves. “Woe,” says the Lord, “to the man through whom the stumbling block comes” (Matthew 18:7). “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 1

2026-10-01T09:24:11.170-04:00

The Month of October

Day 1

32. To Young Students

(From the Life of Venerable Romanos the Melodist)

Why is it, young men, that it so often happens that the most capable among you, who have been exalted above everyone else, suddenly become weak in their studies and either do not complete their course, or, if they do complete it, do so only somehow and end up far below even those with whom they never once thought of comparing themselves and whom they always considered nothing more than pitiable mediocrities? And why, on the contrary, does it happen again and again among you that your classmates, although hardworking, yet at first making little progress, but gentle and humble, suddenly begin to study better than everyone else and pass their examinations brilliantly? It is not difficult to answer these questions. In the first case, the reason the first became last was that they were proud, and God resists the proud; in the second, the reason the last became first was that they were humble, and the Lord always gives His grace to the humble and always grants them wisdom.

Saint Romanos, called the Melodist, was a sacristan in the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. He did not know book learning, it is said, but was filled with virtues, by which he surpassed the wise scribes. And just as they continually sought the wisdom of this age, so he sought the one God with all his soul. He was one of those of whom the Apostle says: “...God chose the foolish things of the world to put the wise to shame” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Patriarch Euthymios loved Romanos greatly because of his piety and, seeing his diligent labors in the church, decided that he should receive an income equal to that of the singers. These men began to grumble against the Patriarch because, in their opinion, he had placed an ignorant man on an equal footing with them, and they hated Romanos and tried to do him every possible harm.

Once, before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, wishing to mock him, the singers forcibly dragged him onto the ambo and shouted: “You receive an equal share with us, so sing!” Romanos began to weep. At the end of the service, when everyone had left the church, he fell down before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and, with sobs, prayed long and fervently. Then, sorrowful, he returned home and, weary from the service, soon fell asleep.

In his sleep, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him with a scroll in Her hands and said in a quiet voice: “Open your mouth!” Romanos obeyed the command of the Mother of God. Then She placed the scroll in his mouth and said further: “Eat it!” Romanos obeyed this command as well, and immediately awoke.

His heart was filled with extraordinary joy, and together with it he felt within himself the strength and wisdom for understanding books, and in a very short time he learned as much of what he needed as another person could not have learned even in several years.

And so, the next day, during the all-night vigil, he came to the church, and when the time came to sing the hymn in honor of the Mother of God, Romanos ascended the ambo and, in an extraordinarily pleasant voice, loudly sang a new hymn he had composed in honor of his great Benefactress: “Today the Virgin gives birth to Him who is above all being, and the earth offers a cave to Him who cannot be approached!” and so forth.

Everyone present in the church was astonished, hearing from Romanos, who until then had been unlearned in books, this wondrous hymn, and they were struck by the depth and power of its meaning. When the Patriarch, after the service, asked Romanos where such wisdom had come to him, Romanos confessed before everyone the mercy shown to him by the Queen of Heaven and began to glorify Her.

After this, the singers became ashamed of their malice toward Romanos and, falling at his feet, asked his forgiveness. The Patriarch immediately ordained him a deacon, and, it is said, wisdom flowed from his mouth like a river, and those who had previously reproached him for his ignorance became his disciples.

Romanos composed a multitude of kontakia for the Feasts of the Lord, the Mother of God, and the Saints, so that they are said to number more than a thousand. And he was exceedingly loved and honored by everyone. Having lived his life in a God-pleasing and righteous manner, he departed this life, and now, it is said, “with the choirs of the Angels he sings the Thrice-Holy Hymn to God forever.”

From this brief account of the life of Saint Romanos, you can clearly see, young men, the truth that wisdom for learning and success in it depend not solely upon natural abilities, but chiefly upon the grace of God. And the grace of God, as you have just now been able to become convinced once again, is given only to those who are diligent and at the same time gentle and humble.

And now, knowing this, in order to acquire the ability to learn and success in your studies, strive first of all to draw the grace of God upon yourselves through diligence, fervent prayer, gentleness, and humility. If you act in this way, everything will be well.

Saint Sergius of Radonezh and Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, initially studied poorly; but because they were gentle, hardworking, and prayed fervently to God, they also became great men. So you too should conduct yourselves in your studies just as they did, and then, without doubt, the Lord will likewise not leave you without His mercy. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 32

1. In what way did Saint Romanos, called the Melodist, surpass the wise scribes?

2. What new hymn did Romanos compose in honor of the Mother of God?

3. For which Feasts did Romanos compose a multitude of kontakia?

4. To whom is the grace of God given?

5. Besides diligence, gentleness, and humility, by what should one draw the grace of God upon oneself?

Holy Hieromartyr Gregory of Greater Armenia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

2026-09-30T09:30:44.184-04:00

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Gregory lived during the reign of Diocletian. He was a Parthian by descent, the son of Anak, a relative of Kusaros, king of Armenia. He was arrested by King Tiridates as a Christian and endured many punishments for this reason. When Tiridates learned, moreover, that he was the son of Anak the Parthian, who had murdered his father, he had his hands and feet bound and sent him to the city of Artaxata, where they cast him into a deep pit filled with wild beasts and reptiles. He lived in this pit for fifteen years, secretly fed by a widowed woman. Meanwhile, King Tiridates went mad; he ate his own flesh and lived among the pigs in the mountains. His sister, Kusarodukta, then had a dream and heard a voice saying: ‘Unless Gregory comes out of the pit, Tiridates will not recover.’ Indeed, Kusarodukta freed Gregory, and at the same time the king was healed. Gregory became Bishop of Armenia, baptized its inhabitants, built many churches, and finally departed peacefully to the Lord.

2. When one reads the life of Saint Gregory, the Enlightener of the Armenians, two things come to mind: either to close one's eyes in shame before the immensely great personality and the immense work of Gregory, vast in both depth and breadth, attempting to “repress” it into one's subconscious, or to begin weeping over one's own wretched condition. For this Saint—one man alone, and not thousands of “Christians” like us—who, according to the Hymnographer, “made himself a dwelling place of the Trinity,” that is, made himself a dwelling place of the Holy Trinity, succeeded, by the grace of God, in converting an entire pagan people to the Christian faith, a people tyrannized by the evil devil and his schemes. “By divine power you cast down the enemy who impiously ravaged the entire land of the Armenians; and having shone forth like a torch, you illumined with great light those who lay in the darkness of vanity, O wise one.” For this reason, the Saint is compared with the Holy Apostles, the disciples of the Lord; he is likened to Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea the Wonderworker, who, like today's Gregory, found very few Christians when he went to Neocaesarea and, when he departed this life, left very few pagans behind; and he calls to mind the more recent Saints Cyril and Methodios, the Enlighteners of the Slavs.

The grace of God worked in all the well-disposed hearts of the Armenians through His chosen instrument, Gregory, in three ways: through the power of his word, through the power of the miracles he performed, and through the wondrous sufferings he endured for his faith. His word, indeed, confirmed also by the miracles that God permitted him to perform, was filled with the power of God; it was not composed of human arguments, which usually strike the ears of men like “a clanging cymbal.” Through this word, the pagan temples fell and the demons hidden within them were driven away, while the hearts of the people were established in divine love, as the Hymnographer records in amazement: “By the might of your words, the temples were shattered, and the unestablished idols of the demons were cast down, while the hearts of the faithful were firmly established in divine eros.”

Yet it was above all in the sufferings he endured that he functioned as a beacon illuminating the people. These sufferings were his glory, corresponding to the Passion and martyrdom of the Lord his God. The profoundly theological poet of his service points this out in order to show what characterizes Christian martyrdom: “The Lord Most High, exalted in glory, raised you to a conspicuous height of martyrdom, O glorious one; you joyfully portrayed His sufferings, O Hieromartyr, crying out, Glory to Your power.”

This kind of Christian martyrdom, as participation in the martyrdom of Christ, produces results which, although unmistakable, are not immediately visible. The martyrdom of the Saints, that is, like the Passion of Christ, contains within it the mystery of the power of God. This means that, just as in the event of the Cross sin, death, and the devil were defeated without this being outwardly apparent, so also in the martyrdom of the Saints the devil and his instruments are crushed. What we wish to say, following the hymns of the feast, is that every blow of a Saint is also a blow against wickedness; every pain and suffering he endures brings the groaning and torment of the evil one. Let us see how beautifully the ecclesiastical poet once again presents this to us: “With the blows upon your cheeks, you crush the teeth of lions, and with streams of your blood you wipe away the filth of the demons; you utterly destroy the pillars of idols from their foundations, O greatly wondrous one.”

Perhaps at some point we must learn to see our own sufferings and our own pains in this life with this “eye” of faith: if we endure our sufferings with faith, then the power of God will also work through us, crushing evil and the devil. And then we too will begin, perhaps to some degree, to become enlighteners of our fellow human beings, so that they may find the true light, Jesus Christ.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

September: Day 30: Teaching 2: Saint Michael, First Metropolitan of Kiev

2026-09-30T09:08:37.191-04:00

September: Day 30: Teaching 2:
Saint Michael, First Metropolitan of Kiev

(Our Idolatry)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. More than 900 years have passed since our forefathers accepted the Christian faith under Saint Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, and his great fellow laborer in the work of spreading the faith, the first Metropolitan of Kiev, Saint Michael, whose memory is celebrated today.

II. Glory and thanksgiving to God: the times of paganism have ended, but has idolatry ended? Are we who have accepted the law of Christ free from the service of idols? No. Worship of statues and material idols has ended, but worship of spiritual idols, the service of the devil, has not ended. Spiritual idols are sinful passions: whoever serves them and seeks to please them serves the devil. There are three such principal idols to which, unfortunately, we Christians also often bow down and render service: these are our “love of honor, worldliness, and gratification of the flesh.” “Everything that is in the world,” says the Holy Apostle John, is “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).

a) The first spiritual idol is love of honor and pride. “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination before God” (Luke 16:15), says the Lord. And the devil himself became the first worshiper and servant of this idol, devised by the devil, when he rejected obedience to the Creator and imagined that he would be a god. Our forefathers, too, were deceived by the devil and bowed down before this idol when they imagined that they would be “like gods.” All who dream of their own merits, who love honor and glory, who seek distinctions and advantages over others, worship and serve this idol. And what do they not sacrifice to this idol!

Here is one who strives to attain a high rank and position so that he may exalt himself before others and delight in the thought, “I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11). Such a proud disposition is service to the spirit of pride. Here is another who serves specifically for honors and rewards, undertaking labors and exertions and sparing neither his time, nor his strength, nor his health—for what? In order to receive one distinction or another. Such ambitious service is a sacrifice to the demon of vainglory. Here is a third who gives alms, makes donations to institutions established for the service of God and neighbor, builds or even adorns the churches of God—but for what purpose? For his own glory, to receive praise from society and from those in authority. What is this, then, if not a sacrifice to the demon of love of glory? Here is yet another who lives luxuriously, associates with important and distinguished people, and all for what? For his own vanity... Such vain extravagance in the spending of his possessions is a sacrifice to the demon of self-indulgence.

All these and similar sacrifices on the part of man are precisely sacrifices to idols. Consider it yourselves: whom does a person serve in such cases, for whom does he labor, whom does he seek to please and honor? God? No, but his own sinful desires and passions. Therefore, he serves them, and in them and through them, he serves the master of vices and passions—the devil and his accomplices.

b) The second spiritual idol is worldliness. This idol is worshiped and served chiefly by the covetous and the lovers of money. The Apostle Paul expressly calls covetousness “idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). As is well known, the covetous direct all their attention, all their concerns, and all their labors toward acquiring earthly treasures, and then increasing what they have acquired by every possible means; while the lovers of money guard their treasures, considering them more precious than their own souls, and if they ever lend to others, they do so only for their own profit, so that they may later take back their own with interest.

Tell me, then: to whom do they devote their labors and their lives, if they have no thought either for God or for their souls, but only to satisfy their passion for earthly treasures and blessings? To whom?... To Mammon.

The lovers of finery and fashionable dress also worship and serve this same idol, bringing to this foolish passion continual, countless, and most costly sacrifices... Indeed, they serve it as slaves serve their master, as creatures serve their god! “For by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he brought into bondage,” says the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 2:19).

c) The third spiritual idol is gratification of the flesh. The Holy Apostle Paul expressly considers service to the flesh and the belly to be idolatry, and says that for the gluttonous, the belly is their god. “Such,” he says, “do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly” (Romans 16:18); “whose god is their belly” (Philippians 3:19).

Oh, what a great god we have indeed—the belly! We serve it our whole lives, give all our possessions as a sacrifice to it, undertake all our labors, devote all our concerns, endure all our hardships for its sake, as though our only purpose were to please it. Not only do we continually concern ourselves with “what we shall eat or what we shall drink” (Matthew 6:31), but we also strive to enjoy our food and desire to “eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19). How, then, can our belly not be our god, if we serve it so zealously, take such careful pains to please it, and sacrifice so much to it?

III. There are also many other lusts of the flesh, and even “dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:26), which some who bear the name of Christians do not refuse to serve and to which they sacrifice everything, leaving nothing for the benefit of their souls, as though their life consisted only in what is on earth...

So, you see, brethren: even Christians are not all free from idolatry. Therefore, we too must more often remind ourselves of the commandment of God: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” And there are many, so very many, such spiritual idols that their number scarcely equals the number of demons, evil and unclean spirits.

Saint Ephraim the Syrian, in his prayer, certainly named only a portion of our passions when he mentioned “the spirits of idleness, despondency, lust for power, and idle talk.” And if every passion, whether great or small, is an idol for a person, one before whom he bows down and whom he serves, then how great must be the multitude of these idols among Christians whenever they live in vices and passions?

Ah, brothers! It is frightening even to think about such idolatry! And yet it truly exists. Indeed, many, very many Christians deify their passions and thereby commit spiritual idolatry. And what an idolatry that is opposed to God and destructive to the soul! Christians have entered into a covenant with God; they have renounced Satan and all his works and have united themselves to Christ. They are to serve and worship the one God, and not their enemies; they are to fulfill the will of their Creator, and not the will of the evil demons; the Christian soul is to be the temple of God, and not a dwelling place for passions...

O beloved! Let us take care to bring the light of Christianity into our minds and hearts, into our deeds and actions, into our entire lives. Just as we have rejected all material idols, the idols of paganism, so let us reject all carnal and spiritual passions. In their place, let us establish within our souls Christian and divine qualities: humility, faith, obedience to God, love, beneficence toward our neighbor, abstinence from sinful passions, and the preservation of purity of soul and body.

Thus let us serve “the living and true God” (Hebrews 9:14) and worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). Then, and only then, shall we be true Christians, people truly “called out of darkness into His marvelous” divine “light” (1 Peter 2:9), and “heirs according to the hope of eternal life” ([Titus 3:7]).

Our God, glory to You!

(Compiled from “The Sower of Piety” by Archpriest Nordov.)

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Prologue in Sermons: September 30

2026-09-30T08:55:13.545-04:00

For Those Who Conceal Their Sins in Confession

September 30

(A Homily of Saint John Chrysostom on the Confession of Sins.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Regarding the Mystery of Repentance, the Church, among other things, makes the following determination: whoever conceals his sins in confession not only does not receive forgiveness for them, but also doubles them. “But if you conceal anything from me,” the spiritual father says to the penitent before confession, “you have a twofold sin.” It would seem that such a stern determination of the Church ought to compel all Christians to be open in confession and to approach it not with a feeling of Pharisaic self-righteousness, but with the disposition of the publican and the prudent thief. Nevertheless, even to this day we often see that some, because of false shame, others because of weak faith, others because of pride, and still others at the instigation of the devil, in a word, many do not cease concealing their sins and thereby leave confession without true peace in their conscience, without the divine word of forgiveness within their souls. How, then, can such people be moved to openness? How can their false shame, weak faith, and pride be taken away? How can they be made truly repentant? Let us endeavor to do this through the following words of Saint Chrysostom. God grant that those who conceal their sins in confession may be convinced of their error and come to their senses.

This is what the universal teacher says:

“Confess your sins, for through confession the wounds of the soul are healed. And just as a bodily wound is healed only when it is shown to a physician, while one concealed from him brings a person greater and greater infection and, in the end, death, so also sins concealed in confession kill both body and soul and bring joy to the devil. Sincere confession of sins is a great good, while concealing them is a joy to Satan... He makes not only the simple and unlearned, but even the learned man, conceal his sins in confession, telling him that he can confess his sins to God privately. But you, Christian, do not accept this devilish thought, and do not delay confessing your sins, so that you may receive forgiveness both in this age and in the age to come.”

Therefore, do you hear, you who conceal your sins in confession, what the universal teacher says? He says that sins concealed in confession kill both soul and body, that concealing sins in confession gives joy to Satan, and that, finally, it is Satan himself who teaches us to conceal our sins in confession. What, then? Surely, even after this, you will not, brethren, lie in confession before the Lord? Consider whose will you will then be fulfilling. To whom will you be giving joy? Where, finally, will you be preparing your souls? You will be fulfilling the will of your most evil enemy, Satan; you will be giving joy to him; and you will be preparing your souls for the abyss of hell. Is this not shameful? Is it not terrible? Is it not destructive to your souls? Oh, indeed it is so, my brethren!

Therefore, in view of this, fear the concealment of your sins as a deadly plague. Open the wounds of your souls in confession without any concealment, just as you are aware of them in your conscience. In confession, imagine yourself standing before the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who invisibly receives your confession. And finally, in general, do not be ashamed, nor be afraid, and hide nothing from your spiritual father. Then, “if you confess your sins in this way, the Lord is faithful and just,” who “will forgive you your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.” Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 30

2026-09-30T08:40:29.299-04:00

The Month of September

Day 30

31. Do Not Destroy the Defenseless

(From the Life of the Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Greater Armenia, and with him the thirty-seven maidens)

Although, fortunately, such people are rare, there are nevertheless those who, whether for the sake of gain, out of malice, or for some other vile purpose, consider it nothing not only to deceive or rob the defenseless, but even to destroy them completely. One man has a child in his care for instruction; he beats him and beats him, and by his beatings finally brings him to the grave. Another seduces a maiden and then spares no means by which he might be rid of her, and the maiden perishes forever, both in soul and in body. Another, in order to make use of the money and property of an orphan, sends her to the other world before her time. What do you think, brethren? Will such people's cruelty and inhumanity go unpunished, or not? Know that they will never go unpunished, and the Lord will strictly call such evildoers to account. “You shall not afflict the orphan,” He says; “if you afflict them at all... My wrath will be kindled” (Exodus 22:22–24), and the Lord confirms His words by deeds themselves.

Once, the Armenian King Tiridates, for no reason whatsoever, subjected thirty-seven completely innocent maidens to the most terrible tortures and then to death; moreover, he even left their bodies unburied. What came of this? The wrath of God immediately struck Tiridates for his terrible crime. For several days he went about restless and pensive; but on the sixth day after the maidens had been killed, he arranged a great hunt for diversion and set out to hunt wild animals with his soldiers and courtiers. Suddenly, a punishment befell him like that which had once struck Nebuchadnezzar, the proud king of Babylon. He lost his reason; in his madness he lost the appearance of a human being and became like a beast. All those who had participated in his crime suffered the same punishment: like beasts, they all wandered through the mountains and forests, tore their clothes from themselves, and in their frenzy attacked one another. Such a terrible punishment struck them all with indescribable horror.

Another case. A pious Israelite named Naboth had a vineyard. Ahab, the king of Israel, envied the owner of the vineyard and, wishing to acquire it, allowed his wicked wife Jezebel to have Naboth killed and, after his death, took possession of the vineyard. The Prophet Elijah denounced them for their outrageous injustice and threatened them with punishment from God, and his threat was fulfilled. Ahab, mortally wounded in battle with the Syrians, was brought dead to his capital, Samaria; Jezebel was thrown from a window, and her entire body was devoured by dogs.

From these examples, you hard-hearted people, convince yourselves of this truth: the Lord will also strictly call you to account if you do not cease oppressing and killing the defenseless. Do you see how terrible His wrath is toward people like you? Know, then, that you too will not escape this wrath if you do not change your cruelty into compassion for the defenseless, your anger into mercy, your malice into meekness, and your schemes against the defenseless into goodwill and protection toward them. And how can you escape the wrath of God when the Lord sees and knows everything? How can you escape it when the Lord cannot be mocked? How can you escape it, finally, when He is just and repays each person according to his deeds? Therefore, we ask and entreat you once again: do not wrong the defenseless and do not destroy them. Otherwise, take care lest at the judgment of God you too be made to stand together with the murderers. And then what? Oh, what terrible woe will await you then; for the murderers have “their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Questions for Discussion 31

1. What did Tiridates and those who participated in his crime lose when they wandered through the mountains and forests, tore their clothes from themselves, and in their frenzy attacked one another?

2. Into what should cruelty toward the defenseless be changed?

3. Into what should anger toward the defenseless be changed?

4. Into what should malice toward the defenseless be changed?

5. Into what should schemes against the defenseless be changed?

Venerable Kyriakos the Anchorite Resource Page

2026-09-29T16:15:14.262-04:00

St. Kyriakos the Anchorite (Feast Day - September 9)

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