Nov 6: Commemoration of Our Father among the Saints; Paul, Archbishop of Constantinople, The Confessor

Nov. 6, - Commemoration of our Father among the Saints Paul, Archbishop of Constantinople, The Confessor

Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, was chosen to the patriarchal throne after the death of Patriarch Alexander (+ 340), when the Arian heresy had again flared up. Many of the Arians were present at the Council which selected the new Archbishop of Constantinople. They revolted in opposition to the choice of St Paul, but the Orthodox at the Council were in the majority. The emperor Constantius, ruling over the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, was an Arian. He was not in Constantinople for the election of the Archbishop, and so it took place without his consent. Upon his return, he convened a council which illegally deposed St Paul, and the emperor banished him from the capital. In place of the saint they elevated Eusebius of Nicomedia, an impious heretic. Archbishop Paul withdrew to Rome, where other Orthodox bishops were also banished by Eusebius. Eusebius did not rule the Church of Constantinople for long. When he died, St Paul returned to Constantinople, and was greeted by his flock with love. But Constantius exiled the saint a second time, and so he returned to Rome. The Western emperor Constans wrote a harsh letter to his Eastern co-ruler, which he sent to Constantinople along with the holy exiled archpastor. The threats worked, and St Paul was reinstated upon the archepiscopal throne. But soon the pious emperor Constans, a defender of the Orthodox, was treacherously murdered during a palace coup. They again banished St Paul from Constantinople and this time sent him off in exile to Armenia, to the city of Cucusus, where he endured a martyr's death. When the Archbishop was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, Arians rushed upon him by force and strangled him with his own omophorion. This occurred in the year 350. In 381, the holy Emperor Theodosius the Great solemnly transferred the relics of St Paul the Confessor from Cucusus to Constantinople. In 1326, the relics of St Paul were transferred to Venice. St Athanasius the Great, a contemporary of St Paul, writes briefly about his exiles, "St Paul the first time was sent by Constantine to Pontus, the second time he was fettered with chains by Constantius, and then he was locked up in Mesopotamian Syngara and from there moved to Emesus, and the fourth time to Cappadocian Cucusus in the Taurian wilderness."
Troparion - Tone 3 For confessing the divine faith, among her priests the Church has shown you to be another Paul. Abel cries out to the Lord together with you, as does the righteous blood of Zachariah. Venerable father, entreat Christ God to grant us His great mercy. Kondakion - Tone 4 Paul, you shone on the earth like a star of heavenly splendor; now you enlighten the universal Church for which you suffered, for you laid down your life, and your blood cries out to the Lord like that of Zachariah and Abel.

Palm Sunday 2008; Gospel Reading and Patristic Commentary

Palm Sunday 2008: Epistle and Gospel Readings

Epistle: Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Gospel: John 12:1-18 (NIV)
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
3 Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,
5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.[b]"
6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.
8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna![c]" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[d] "Blessed is the King of Israel!"
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, 15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."[e]
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.

PATRISTIC COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL

l. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2. Saying unto them, “Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
3. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.”
4. And this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5. “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”
6. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7. And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
8. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way.
9. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

Remig: The Evangelist related above that the Lord departed from Galilee, and began to go up to Jerusalem. Being now occupied with telling what He did by the way, he proceeds in his purpose, saying, “And when they drew nigh to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage.” Bethphage was a small village of the priests, situated on the declivity of Mount Olivet, one mile distant from Jerusalem. For the priests who ministered in the temple their apportioned time, when their office of ministration was discharged, withdrew to this village to abide; as also did they who were to take their place. Because it was commanded by their Law that none should travel on the Sabbath more than a mile.

Origen: Whence Bethphage is interpreted, The house of the Shoulder; for the shoulder was the priest’s portion in the Law. It follows, “Then Jesus sent two of his disciples.”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He said not to His disciples, Say, Thy Lord, or Your Lord, hath need of them; that they may understand, that He is Lord alone, not of the beasts only, but of all men; for even sinners are by the law of nature His, though by their own will they are the Devil’s.

St. John Chrysostom: And think not this a little thing which was now done, for who was it that wrought with the owners of the beasts that they refused not, but yielded them? By this also He instructs His disciples that He could have restrained the Jews, but would not; and further teaches them that they should grant whatever is asked of them; for if they who knew not Christ, now granted this, much more it becomes His disciples to give unto all. For that which is said, “But will straightway let them go,”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: it is to be understood, that after He had entered into Jerusalem, the beast was returned by Christ to its owner.

Gloss., ap. Anselm: Or, The owner of the beasts will straightway send them to be engaged for Christ’s service. Hereto is added the testimony of the Prophet, that it may be shewn that the Lord fulfilled all things which were written of Him, but that the Scribes and Pharisees, blinded by envy, would not understand the things that they read; “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet;” to wit, Zacharias. [Zech. 9:9]

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For the Prophet knowing the malice of the Jews, that they would speak against Christ when He went up to the Temple, gave705 them this sign beforehand, whereby they might know their King, “Say ye to the daughter of Sion.”

Raban: In history, Daughter of Sion is the name given to the city of Jerusalem, which stands on mount Sion. But mystically, it is the Church of the faithful pertaining to the Jerusalem which is above.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Behold,” is a word used in pointing out any thing; look, that is, not with the bodily eye, but with the spiritual understanding, at the works of His power. Also aforetimes He oft said, “Behold,” that He might shew that He of whom He spake before He was born was even then thy King. When then ye shall see Him, say not, “We have no King but Caesar. He cometh to thee,” [John 19:15] if thou wilt apprehend Him, that He may save thee; if thou wilt not apprehend Him, He cometh against thee; “Meek,” so that He is not to be feared for His power, but loved for His meekness; wherefore He sitteth not on a golden car, refulgent in costly purple, nor is mounted on a mettled steed, rejoicing in strife and battle, but upon a she-ass, that loves peace and quiet. Aug., de Cons. Ev., ii, 66: In this quotation from the Prophet, there is some variety in the different Gospels. Matthew quotes it as if the Prophet had expressly mentioned the she-ass; but it is not so quoted by John [marg. note: John 12:15], nor in the Church-copies of the translation in common use. This seems to me to be accounted for by the account, that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew language. And it is clear that the translation called the LXX, has some things different from what are found in the Hebrew, by those who know that tongue, and who have rendered the same books out of the Hebrew. If the reason of this discrepancy be asked, I consider nothing more likely than that the LXX interpreted with the selfsame spirit with which the original was written, which is confirmed by that wonderful agreement among them of which we are told. By thus varying the expression, while they did not depart from the meaning of that God whose words they were, they convey to us the very same thing as we gather from this agreement, with slight variety, among the Evangelists. This shews us that it is no lie, when one relates any thing with such diversities in detail, as that he does not depart from his intention with whom he ought to agree. To know this is useful in morals in avoiding lies; and for faith itself, that706 we should not suppose that the truth is secured in sacred sounds, as though God imparted to us not the matter only, but the words in which the matter is conveyed. Rather the matter is in such sort conveyed in words, that we ought not to want words at all, if it were possible that the matter could be known by us without words, as God and His Angels know it. It follows, “But the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt.” The other Evangelists say nothing of the ass. And if Matthew had not mentioned the colt, as they do not mention the ass, the reader ought not to have been surprised. How much less then should it move him, when one has so mentioned the ass which the others have omitted, as not to forget the colt which they have mentioned. For there is no discrepancy where both circumstances may have occurred, though one only related one, and another; how much less then where one mentions both, though another mentions only one? It follows, “And they put on them their clothes, and set him thereon.”

St. Jerome: But it seems that the Lord could not in so short a distance have sate upon both animals; seeing then that the history has either an impossibility or a meanness, we are sent to higher things, that is, to the figurative sense.

Remig: Notwithstanding, it was possible that the Lord might have sate upon both animals.

St. John Chrysostom: To me it seems that He was mounted upon the ass, not only because of the mystery, but to give us a lesson of wisdom, teaching us therein that it needs not to be mounted on horses, but that it is sufficient to employ an ass, and be content with that which is necessary. But enquire of the Jews, what King has entered Jerusalem mounted upon an ass? They can name none other, but this one only.

St. Jerome: The multitudes that came out of Jericho, and followed the Saviour, cast down their garments, and strewed the way with branches of trees; and therefore it follows, “But the multitudes spread their garments in the way;” that is, beneath the feet of the ass, that it should not stumble against a stone, nor tread upon a thorn, nor fall into a ditch. “Others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way;” from the fruit-trees, that is, with which mount Olivet was clothed. And when all that could be done was done, they added also the tribute of the tongue, as it follows, “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosannna to the Son of David.” I shall shortly examine what is the meaning of this word, Hosanna. In the hundred and seventeenth Psalm, which is clearly written of the Saviour’s coming, we read this among other things; “Save me now, O Lord, send now prosperity. Blessed art thou that art to come in the name of the Lord.” [Ps 118:25] For that which the LXX give Ω Κύριε σῶσον δὴ, “Save now, O Lord;” we read in the Hebrew, ‘Anna, adonai osianna,’ which Symmachus renders more plainly, “I pray thee, O Lord, save, I pray thee.” Let none think that it is a word made up of two words, one Greek and one Hebrew, for it is pure Hebrew.

Remig: And it is confounded of one perfect and one imperfect word. For ‘Hosi’ signifies ‘save,” ‘anna’ is an interjection used in entreating.

St. Jerome: For it signifies that the coming of Christ is the salvation of the world, whence it follows, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Which same thing the Saviour in the Gospel confirms, “I am come in my John Father’s name.” [John 5:43]

Remig: Because, namely, in all His good actions, He sought not His own but His Father’s glory.

Gloss., ap. Anselm: And the meaning is, “Blessed,” that is, Glorious, “is He that cometh,” that is, is incarnate; “in the name of the Lord;” that is, of the Father, by glorifying Him. Again they repeat, “Hosanna,” that is, “Save, I pray thee,” and define whither they would be saved, in the highest, that is in the heavenly, not in the earthly places.

St. Jerome: Or by that which is added, “Hosanna,” that is, Salvation, “in the highest,” it is clearly shewn that the coming of Christ is not the salvation of man only, but of the whole world, joining earthly things to things heavenly.

Origen: Or when they say, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord,” it is the dispensation of Christ’s humanity that they set forth; but His restoration to the holy places when they say, “Hosanna in the highest.”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Hosanna,” some interpret ‘glory,’ some ‘redemption,” and glory is His due, and redemption belongs to Him who has redeemed all men.

St. Hilary: The words of their song of praise, express His power of redemption; in calling Him the Son of David, they acknowledge His hereditary title to the kingdom,

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Never before had the Lord employed the services of beasts, nor surrounded Himself with the ornaments of green boughs, till now when He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer. He moved them that beheld to do that which they had before desired to do; so it was opportunity that was now given them, not their purpose that was changed.

St. Jerome: Mystically; The Lord draws near to Jerusalem departing from Jericho, and taking great multitudes with Him, because great and laden with great wares, that is, the salvation of believers that has been entrusted to Him, He seeks to enter the city of peace, the place of the beholding of God. And He comes to Bethphage, that is, to The house of the jawbones; He bare also the type of confession; and halted on Mount Olivet, where is the light of knowledge, and the repose from toils and pains. By the village over against the Apostles is denoted this world; for that was against the Apostles, and was not willing to receive the light of their teaching.

Remig: The Lord therefore sent His disciples from mount Olivet to the village, when He guided the preachers forth from the primitive Church into the world. He sent two, because there were two orders of preachers, as the Apostle shews, saying, “He that wrought in Peter to the Apostleship of circumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles;” [Gal 2:8] or, because the precepts of charity are two; or, because there are two testaments; or, because there is letter and spirit.

St. Jerome: Or, because there is theory and practice, that is, knowledge and works. By the ass which had been under the yoke, and was broken, the synagogue is understood. By the ass’s colt wild and unbroken, the Gentile people; for the Jewish nation is towards God the mother of the Gentiles.

Raban: Whence Matthew, who wrote his Gospel to the Jews, is the only one who mentions that the ass was brought to the Lord, to shew that this same Hebrew nation, if it repent, need not despair of salvation.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Men are likened to animals, from some resemblance they bear in their not recognising the Son of God. And this animal is unclean, and beyond all other brutes incapable of reasoning, a stupid, helpless, ignoble drudge. Such were men before the coming of Christ, unclean with divers passions; unreasoning, that is,lacking the reason of the Word; stupid, in their disregard of God; weak in soul; ignoble, because forgetting their heavenly birth they became slaves of their passions, and of the demons; drudges, because they toiled under the load of error laid upon them by the daemons, or the Pharisees. The ass was tied, that is, bound in the chain of diabolic error, so that it had not liberty to go whither it would; for before we do any sin we have free will to follow, or not, the will of the Devil; but if once by sinning we have bound ourselves to do his works, we are no longer able to escape by our own strength, but, like a vessel that has lost its rudder is tossed at the mercy of the storm, so man, when by sin he has forfeited the aid of Divine grace, no longer acts as he wills, but as the Devil wills. And if God, by the mighty arm of His mercy, do not loose him, he will abide till death in the chain of his sins. Therefore He saith to His disciples, “Loose them,” that is, by your teaching and miracles, for all the Jews and Gentiles were loosed by the Apostles; “and bring them to me,” that is, convert them to My glory.

Origen: Whence also, when He ascended into heaven, He gave command to His disciples that they should loose sinners, for which also He gave them the Holy Spirit. But being loosed, and making progress, and being nourished by the Divinity of the Word, they are held worthy to be sent back to the place whence they were taken, but no more to their former labours, but to preach to them the Son of God, and this is what He signifies when He says, “And straightway He will send them.”

St. Hilary: Or by the ass and the colt is shewn the twofold calling from among the Gentiles. For the Samaritans did serve after a certain fashion of obedience, and they are signified by the ass; but the other Gentiles wild and unbroken are signified by the colt. Therefore two are sent to loose them that are bound by the chains of error; Samaria believed through Philip, and Cornelius as the first-fruits of the Gentiles was brought by Peter to Christ.

Remig: But as it was then said to the Apostles, “If any man say ought to you, say ye, The Lord hath need of them;” so now it is commanded to the preachers, that though any opposition he made to them, they should not slack to preach.

St. Jerome: The Apostles’ clothes which are laid upon the beasts may be understood either as the teaching of virtues, or discernment of Scriptures, or710 verities of ecclesiastical dogmas, with which, unless the soul be furnished and instructed, it deserves not to have the Lord take His seat there.

Remig.: The Lord sitting upon the ass goes towards Jerusalem, because presiding over the Holy Church, or the faithful soul, He both guides it in this life, and after this life leads it to the view of the heavenly country. But the Apostles and other teachers set their garments upon the ass, when they gave to the Gentiles the glory which they had received from Christ. The multitudes spread their garments in the way, when they of the circumcision who believed, despised the glory which they had by the Law. They cut down branches from the trees, because out of the Prophets they had heard of the green “Branch” as an emblem of Christ. [marg. note: Isa 11:1, Jer 23:5] Or, the multitudes who spread their garments in the way, are the martyrs who gave to martyrdom for Christ their bodies, which are the clothing of their minds. Or, they are signified, who subdue their bodies by abstinence. They who cut down the branches of the trees, are they who seek out the sayings and examples of the holy fathers for their own or their children’s salvation.

St. Jerome: When He says, “The multitudes that went before and that followed,” He shews that both people, those who before the Gospel, and those who after the Gospel, believed on the Lord, praise Jesus with the harmonious voice of confession.
Pseudo-Chrysostom.: Those prophesying spoke of Christ who was to come; these speak in praise of the coming of Christ already fulfilled.

Fifth Sunday of Great Lent; Gospel Reading and Patristic Commentary

Mark 10:32-45 - "And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise." And James and John, the sons of Zeb'edee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (RSV) (byzcath.org)


-------------------------------------Lk. 7:36-50 (Venerable Woman – For St. Mary of Egypt)The Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt: (Coptic Source)On this day also of the year 137 A.M. (421 A.D.) the hermit St. Mary of Egypt departed. She was born in the city of Alexandria about the year 61 A.M. (345 A.D.) from Christian parents.When she became twelve years old, Satan the enemy of the human race, seduced her, led her astray, and made her his net through which he caught innumerable souls.She continued in this sinful conduct for seventeen years until the mercy of God touched her life, she met people going to Jerusalem and she went with them. Since she did not have what to pay for the trip, she gave her self to the owners of the ship in return, until she came to Jerusalem. She also went on doing the same there. She wished to enter through the door of the church of the Resurrection, but she felt a hidden power pulling her from the back preventing her from entering the church. Whenever she tried to enter she felt as someone preventing her from doing so, and right away she realized that was because of her uncleanliness. She lifted up her eyes with a broken heart, and she wept interceding with St. Mary and asked her to intercede on her behalf before her Beloved Son. She felt encouraged and wished to enter with those entering, nothing prevented her from entering, and she prayed therein to God asking Him to guide her for what was pleasing to Him.She stood before the icon of the blessed and pure Virgin, and asked her fervently to guide her that she might save her soul. A voice came out of the icon saying: "If you cross the Jordan river you will find rest and salvation." She rose in haste and when she left the court yard of the resurrection and on her way she met a man who gave her three small coins with which she bought bread. Then she crossed the Jordan river to the wilderness where she lived for forty seven years. She strove strenuously for seventeen years, Satan fought against her by the fornication that she repented from. She overcame with the grace of God and she ate all this period the herbs of the desert.In the forty fifth year of her living in the desert, St. Zosima went to the wilderness, according to the custom of the monks there, during the holy Forty Days of fast for devotion and asceticism. While he was walking in the desert he saw this Saint from far and he thought that she was a shadow or mirage. He prayed to God to reveal to him the fact about this mirage, and he was inspired that it was a human being. He went toward the shadow, but it fled from him. When she saw that he is insisting on following her, she called him from behind a hill saying: "O Zosima if you wish to talk to me, throw me a rag that I may cover myself for I am naked." He marvelled for she called him by his name, he threw to her what she covered herself with, and she came to him. After the greetings and the metanias, she asked him to pray for her because he was a priest. He asked her to tell him the story of her life from the beginning to the present time. After she told him, she asked him to bring with him in the next year the Holy Eucharist to partake of it.In the next year he came to her and she partook of the Holy Mysteries, then he gave her what he had from dates and lentils, she only took a handful of lentils, and she asked him to come to her in the next year. When he came to her in the next year he found that she had departed, a lion standing beside her and writing beside her saying " Bury Mary, the poor woman, in the dust of which she was created." He marvelled from the writing and from the lion that was protecting her body and while he was thinking how he was going to dig to bury her, the lion came and dug a grave for her. He prayed over her and buried her. When he returned to his monastery, he told the monks the story of the strife of this holy woman, and they all increased in steadfastness in the Divine Mercy and progressed in the spiritual life. All the years of her life were seventy six years. May her prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.

--------------------------------------------Feast Day: 40 Martyrs of SebasteThe martyrdom of the Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebasteia is a powerful lesson in Christian faith, perseverance, sacrifice, and friendship. The story of this martyrdom begins in the early part of the 4th century when the persecution of Christians was still active. There were 40 soldiers of the Roman army who possessed sincere faith in Jesus Christ. When it was realized that they would not deny their belief in the Lord, they were brought to trial before their commander who threatened to have them discharged from the military dishonorably. One of the soldiers responded: "Do not take only our military status, but also our bodies; nothing is dearer or of greater honor to us than Christ our God." Following a number of failed attempts to torture them, they were finally stripped, tied, and thrown into a lake. It happened to be wintertime and the temperature was extremely cold. To tempt the soldiers to deny Christ, the torturers lit fires near the lake to entice them to deny Christ. One soldier actually did come out of the water and headed for the fire, but before he could get there, he died. During the night, a light from heaven came down and heated the lake and warmed these Christian witnesses. At the same time, thirty-nine crowns were sent from heaven and rested upon each of them. One of the soldiers torturing them saw this and, moved by this event, confessed the Christ as Lord and Savior and joined the others in the lake. A fortieth crown appeared and descended upon him at that very moment. In the morning, the commander was furious when he learned of the events and ordered that their legs be broken and they be thrown back into the lake. On the third day following their drowning, the martyrs appeared to the local bishop and told him to search beneath the water and recover their relics. In the middle of the night, the bishop, along with his priests, went to the lake where they found the relics glowing in the water and, gathering them together, they gave them a proper burial.

9 March 08: 40 Martyrs of Sebaste (Wikepedia)

These holy martyrs suffered at Sebaste, in the Lesser Armenia, under the Emperor Licinius, in 320. They were of different countries, but enrolled in the same troop; all in the flower of their age, comely, brave, and robust, and were become considerable for their services. St. Gregory of Nyssa and Procopius say they were of the Thundering Legion, so famous under Marcus Aurelius for the miraculous rain and victory obtained by their prayers. This was the twelfth legion, and then quartered in Armenia. Lysias was duke or general of the forces, and Agricola the governor of the province. The latter having signified to the army the orders of the emperor Licinius for all to sacrifice, these forty went boldly up to him, and said they were Christians, and that no torments should make them ever abandon their holy religion. The judge first endeavoured to gain them by mild usage; as by representing to them the dishonour that would attend their refusal to do what was required, and by making them large promises of preferment and high favour with the emperor in case of compliance. Finding these methods of gentleness ineffectual, he had recourse to threats, and these the most terrifying, if they continued disobedient to the emperor's order, but all in vain. To his promises they answered that he could give them nothing equal to what he would deprive them of; and to his threats, that his power only extended over their bodies which they had learned to despise when their souls were at stake. The governor, finding them all resolute, caused them to be torn with whips, and their sides to be rent with iron hooks; after which they were loaded with chains, and committed to jail.

After some days, Lysias, their general, coming from Caesarea to Sebaste, they were re-examined, and no less generously rejected the large promises made them than they despised the torments they were threatened with. The governor, highly offended at their courage, and that liberty of speech with which they accosted him, devised an extraordinary kind of death, which, being slow and severe, he hoped would shake their constancy. The cold in Armenia is very sharp, especially in March, and towards the end of winter, when the wind is north, as it then was, it being also at that time a severe frost. Under the walls of the town stood a pond, which was frozen so hard that it would bear walking upon with safety. The judge ordered the saints to be exposed quite naked on the ice;[1] and in order to tempt them the more powerfully to renounce their faith, a warm bath was prepared at a small distance from the frozen pond, for any of this company to go to who were disposed to purchase their temporal ease and safety on that condition. The martyrs, on hearing their sentence, ran joyfully to the place, and without waiting to be stripped, undressed themselves, encouraging one another in the same manner as is usual among soldiers in military expeditions attended with hardships and dangers, saying that one bad night would purchase them a happy eternity.[2] They also made this their joint prayer: "Lord, we are forty who arc engaged in this combat; grant that we may be forty crowned, and that not one be wanting to this sacred number." The guards in the mean time ceased not to persuade them to sacrifice, that by so doing they might be allowed to pass to the warm bath. But though it is not easy to form a just idea of the bitter pain they must have undergone, of the whole number only one had the misfortune to be overcome; who, losing courage, went off from the pond to seek the relief in readiness for such as were disposed to renounce their faith; but as the devil usually deceives his adorers, the apostate no sooner entered the warm water but he expired. This misfortune afflicted the martyrs; but they were quickly comforted by seeing his place and their number miraculously filled up. A sentinel was warming himself near the bath, having been posted there to observe if any of the martyrs were inclined to submit. While he was attending, he had a vision of blessed spirits descending from heaven on the martyrs, and distributing, as from their king, rich presents and precious garments; St. Ephrem adds crowns to all these generous soldiers, one only excepted, who was their faint-hearted companion already mentioned. The guard, being struck with the celestial vision and the apostate's desertion, was converted upon it; and by a particular motion of the Holy Ghost, threw off his clothes, and placed himself in his stead amongst the thirty-nine martyrs. Thus God heard their request, though in another manner than they imagined: "Which ought to make us adore the impenetrable secrets of his mercy and justice," says St. Ephrem, "in this instance, no less than in the reprobation of Judas and the election of St. Matthias."

In the morning the judge ordered both those that were dead with the cold, and those that were still alive, to be laid on carriages, and cast into a fire. When the rest were thrown into a waggon to be carried to the pile, the youngest of them (whom the acts call Melito) was found alive; and the executioners, hoping he would change his resolution when he came to himself, left him behind. His mother, a woman of mean condition, and a widow, but rich in faith and worthy to have a son a martyr, observing this false compassion, reproached the executioners; and when she came up to her son, whom she found quite frozen, not able to stir, and scarce breathing, he looked on her with languishing eyes, and made a little sign with his weak hand to comfort her. She exhorted him to persevere to the end, and, fortified by the Holy Ghost, took him up, and put him with her own hands into the waggon with the rest of the martyrs, not only without shedding a tear, but with a countenance full of joy, saying courageously: "Go, go, son, proceed to the end of this happy journey with thy companions, that thou mayest not be the last of them that shall present themselves before God." Nothing can be more inflamed or more pathetic than the discourse which St. Ephrem puts into her mouth, by which he expresses her contempt of life and all earthly things, and her ardent love and desire of eternal life. This holy father earnestly entreats her to conjure this whole troop of martyrs to join in imploring the divine mercy in favour of his sinful soul.[3] Their bodies were burned, and their ashes thrown into the river; but the Christians secretly carried off or purchased part of them with money. Some of these precious relics were kept in Caesarea, and St. Basil says of them: "Like bulwarks, they are our protection against the inroads of enemies."[4] He adds that every one implored their succour, and that they raised up those that had fallen, strengthened the weak, and invigorated the fervour of the saints. SS Basil and Emmelia, the holy parents of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Peter of Sebaste, and St. Macrina, procured a great share of these relics.[5] St. Emmelia put some of them in the church she built near Anneses, the village where they resided. The solemnity with which they were received was extraordinary, and they were honoured by miracles, as St. Gregory relates. One of these was a miraculous cure wrought on a lame soldier, the truth of which he attests from his own knowledge, both of the fact and the person who published it everywhere. He adds: "I buried the bodies of my parents by the relics of these holy martyrs, that in the resurrection they may rise with the encouragers of their faith; for I know they have great power with God, of which I have seen clear proofs and undoubted testimonies." St. Gaudentius, bishop of Brescia, writes in his sermon on these martyrs: "God gave me a share of these venerable relics, and granted me to found this church in their honor."[6] He says, that the two nieces of St. Basil, both abbesses, gave them to him as he passed by Caesarea, in a journey to Jerusalem; which venerable treasure they had received from their uncle. Portions of their relics were also carried to Constantinople, and there honored with great veneration, as Sozomen[7] and Procopius[8] have recorded at large, with an account of several visions and miracles, which attended the veneration paid to them in that city.

Though we are not all called to the trial of martyrdom, we are all bound daily to fight, and to conquer too. By multiplied victories which we gain over our passions and spiritual enemies, by the exercise of meekness, patience, humility, purity, and all other virtues, we shall render our triumph complete, and attain to the crown of bliss. But are we not confounded at our sloth in our spiritual warfare when we look on the conflicts of the martyrs? "The eloquence of the greatest orators, and the wisdom of the philosophers were struck dumb: the very tyrants and judges stood amazed and were not able to find words to express their admiration, when they beheld the faith, the cheerfulness and constancy of the holy martyrs in their sufferings. But what excuse shall we allege in the tremendous judgment, who, without meeting with such cruel persecution and torments, are so remiss and slothful in maintaining the spiritual life of our souls, and the charity of God! What shall we do in that terrible day when the holy martyrs, placed near the throne of God, with great confidence shall display their glorious scars, the proofs of their fidelity? What shall we then show? shall we produce our love for God? true faith? a disengagement of our affections from earthly things? souls freed from the tyranny of the passions? retirement and peace of mind? meekness? alms-deeds and compassion? holy and pure prayer? sincere compunction? watching and tears? Happy shall he be whom these works shall attend. He shall then be the companion of the martyrs, and shall appear with the same confidence before Christ and his angels. We beseech you, O most holy martyrs, who cheerfully suffered torments and death for his love, and are now more familiarly united to him, that you intercede with God for us slothful and wretched sinners, that he bestow on us the grace of Christ, by which we may be enlightened and enabled to love him."[9]

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Endnotes

1 The acts, and the greater part of the writers of their lives, suppose they were to stand in the very water. But this is a circumstance which Tillemont, Baillie, Ruinart, Ceillier, and others correct from St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa.

2 St. Gregory of Nyssa says that they endured three days and three nights this lingering death, which carried off their limbs one after another.

3 St. Ephrem, Or. in 40 Mart. t. 2, Op. Gr. and Lat. 54, ed. Nov. Vatic. an. 1743.

4 2 St. Basil,, Or. 20, p. 459.

5 St. Greg. Nyss. Or. 3, de 40 Mart. t. 2, pp. 212, 213.

6 S. Gaud. Brix. Serm. 17, de 40 Mart.

7 L. 9, c. 1, 2.

8 L. 1, de aedific, Justinian, c. 7.

9 S. Ephrem Homil. in SS. Martyres, Op. Gr. and Lat. ed. Vat. an. 1743, t. 2, p. 341.

St. John Climacus - 5 Steps from The Ladder

Step 1: On Renunciation of Life (Excerpts from Page 77 & 78.)

“I have seen men go out to where plunder, having no fear of God but being brought up short somewhere at the sound of dogs, an effect that fear of God could not achieve in them.

We should love the Lord as we do our friends. Many a time I have seen people bring grief to God, without being bothered by it, and I have seen these very same people resort to every device, plan, pressure, plea from themselves and their friends, and every gift, simply to restore an old relationship upset by some minor grievance.
At the beginning of the religious life, we cultivate the virtues, and we do so with toul and difficulty. Progressing a little, we then lose our sense of grief or retain very little of it. But when our mortal intelligence turns to zeal and we are mastered by it, then we work with joy, determination, desire, and a holy flame.” (Page 77)

“Some people living carelessly in the world put a question to me: “How can we who are married and living amid public cares aspire to the monastic life?””
I answered: “Do whatever good you may. Speak evil of no one. Rob no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one and carry no hate. Do not separate yourself from Church assemblies (Office or Eucharist). Show compassion for the needy. Do not be a cause of scandal to anyone. Stay away from the bed of another, and be satisfied with what your own wives (or husbands) can provide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the Kingdom of God.” (Page 78)


Step 2: On Detatchment (Excerpts from Page 83.)

I have observed many men in the world assailed by anxiety, by worry, by the need to talk, by all-night watching, and I have seen them run away from the madness of their bodies. They turned to the monastic life with totally free hearts, and still were pitiably corrupted by the stirrings of the body.

We should be careful in case it should happen to use that while talking of journeying along the narrow and hard road we may actually wander onto the broad and wide highway.

Mortification of the appetite, nightlong toil, a ration of water, a short measure of bread, the bitter cup of dishonor—these will show you the narrow way. Derided, mocked, jeered, you must accept the denial of your will. You must patiently endure opposition, suffer neglect without complaint, put up with violent arrogance. You must be ready for injustice, and not grieve when you are slandered; you must not be angered by contempt and you must show humility when you have been condemned. Happy the man who follow this road and avoid other highways. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Page 83)

Step 3: On Exile (Excerpts from Page 88/89.)

“To establish a good and firm character within ourselves is something very difficult and troublesome, and one crisis can destroy what we have worked so hard to set right. Bad, worldly, and disorderly company destroys good character (1Cor 15:33). When a man (or woman) has renounced the world and still returns to its affairs or draws near to it, he will either fall into its snares or will defile his heart with thoughts of it. He may perhaps be uncorrupted himself. But if he comes to feel contempt for those who are corrupted, then assuredly he will join them in their corruption. (Page 88/89)

Step 4: On Obedience (Excerpts from Page 95/96, 104/105.)

“I must tell you about the astonishing achievement of the baker they had there (a monastery on Sinai where St. John was staying). Noticing that during his work he preserved a totally recollected state and a capacity for tears, I asked him how he had managed to be granted such a grace. He answered me when I became insistent: “It always seems to me that I serve God and not men,” he said. “And so I judge myself to be undeserving of any rest. And this fire here reminds me of the everlasting fire to come.” (Page 95/96)

“I noticed one brother during the singing of the psalms. Her showed more feeling than many of the others, and his movements and expressions were such as to make it look as though he were carrying on a conversation with someone. This was particularly so at the beginning of the hymns. I asked the holy man to explain this to me and because he knew it was to my advantage that he should not be reticent about it, he said this to me: “Father John, it is my custom at the very start to gather my thoughts, my mind and my soul. I call them and cry out, “Come! Let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and God (Ps 94:6).”” (Page 104/105)

“At confession, you should look and behave like a condemned man. Keep your head bowed and, if you can, shed tears on the feet of your judge and healer, as though he were Christ. Very often demons manage to persuade us either to omit confession, or else to confess as though the sins were committed by someone else or else to blame others as responsible for our own sins.” (Page 108/109)

“I once saw an inexperienced disciple who used to boast in certain quarters about the achievement of his teacher. He imagined that in this way he would win glory for himself from another’s harvest. But he only got a bad name for himself, for everyone put this question to him: “How then could a good tree grow such a dead branch.” (Page 111)

“I once saw two people sitting out of sight and watching the toils and hearing the groans of the ascetics. One did this so as to be able to imitate them. But the other did it so that when the time came he could laugh at God’s laborer and get in the way of his good work.” (Page 112)

“I have seen innocent lovely children come to school for wisdom, education and profit, and learn only cunning and vice through the contact they made with other students. The wise man (or woman) will understand what I am saying.” (Page 118)

“We should analyze the nature of our passions and of our obedience, so as to choose our director accordingly. If lust is your problem, do not pick for your trainer a worker of miracles who has a welcome and a meal for everyone. Choose instead an ascetic who will reject any consolation of food. If you are arrogant, let him be tough and unyielding, not gentle and accommodating. We should not be on the lookout for those gifted with foreknowledge and foresight, but rather for those who are truly humble and whose character dwelling place match our own weaknesses.” (Page 119)

Step 5: On Penitence

“Do not be surprised if you fall every day and do not surrender. Stand your ground bravely. And you may be sure that your guardian angel will respect your endurance. A fresh, warm wound is easier to heal than those that are old, neglected, and festering, and that need extensive treatement, surgery, bandaging, and cauterization. Long neglect can render many of them uncurable. However, all things are possible with God (Mt 19:26).”

“If you have no courage, if you are lazy, then lapses that occur after entering the religious life are hard to bear. They wipe out the hope of dispassion and they make us imagine that true blessedness is simply to rise from the pit of sin. But note well that we never return by the road on which we strayed, but by a different and a shorter route.” (131)

17 FEB 08: GREAT FAST WEEK 2, Patristic Perspective

St. Ambrose: Jesus charged the paralytic to perform an action of which health was the necessary condition.

St. Augustine: One need not be paralyzed bodily, however, to be paralyzed inwardly.

St. Clement of Alexandria: The healing of body and soul occurs interconnectedly.

St. Ambrose: The ministry of forgiveness is not the exercise of an independent power or right but points to God's own saving work.

St. John Chrysostom: The administration of forgiveness, which according to the scribes is the office of God alone, acutely raised the question of Jesus' identity. Being God incarnate, of the same nature as God, he had authority on earth to act as God.

St. Irenaeus & Novation: If Christ forgives sins he must be truly God, for no one can forgive sins but God.

Mark 2:7a It Is Blasphemy!

St. John Chrysostom: THE SCRIBES' ENTANGLEMENT. They persecuted Jesus not only because he broke the Sabbath but also because he said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God, which is a far more drastic declaration. He confirmed this through his own actions.... The scribes themselves had devised this definition. They themselves had introduced the precept. They themselves had interpreted the law. But he proceeded to entangle them in their own words. In effect he said: It is you yourselves who have confessed that forgiveness of sins is given to God alone. THE PARALYTIC LET DOWN THROUGH THE ROOF 6.

Mark 2;7b Who Can Forgive Sins but God Alone?

St. IRAENEUS: ONLY GOD FORGIVES SIN. How can sins be rightly remitted unless the very One against whom one has sinned grants the pardon? AGAINST HERESIES 5.17.

NOVATION: THE IMPLICATION OF HIS ACT OF FORGIVING. If Christ forgives sins, Christ must be truly God because no one can forgive sins but God alone. THE TRINITY 13.

ST. AMBROSE: THE MINISTRY OF FORGIVENESS. In their ministry of the forgiveness of sin, pastors do not exercise the right of some independent power. For not in their own name but in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit do they forgive sins. They ask, the Godhead forgives. The service is enabled by humans, but the gift comes from the Power on high, THE HOLY SPIRIT 3.18.137.

Mark 2:8 Why Do YOU Question Thus in Your Hearts?

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: DISCERNING SECRETS OF THE HEART. The scribes asserted that only God could forgive sins, yet Jesus not only forgave sins, but showed that he had also another power that belongs to God alone: the power to disclose the secrets of the heart. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 29.1.

Mark 2:9 Which Is Easier to Say?

ST. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: HEALING THE WHOLE PERSON. The physician's art, according to Democritus, heals the diseases of the body; wisdom frees the soul from its obsessions. But the good Instructor, Wisdom, who is the Word of the Father who assumed human flesh, cares for the whole nature of his creature. The all-sufficient Physician of humanity, the Savior, heals both body and soul conjointly. "Stand up," he commanded the paralytic; "take the bed on which you lie, and go home"; and immediately the paralytic received strength. THE INSTRUCTOR 1.4.

Mark 2:10 Authority on Earth

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: ACTING UPON His OWN AUTHORITY. Whenever there was need to punish or to honor, to forgive sins or to make laws, Christ was fully authorized to do it. Whenever Christ had to do any of these much greater things, you will not characteristically find him praying or calling on his Father for assistance. All these things, as you discover in the text, he did on his own authority. ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD, HOMILY 10.19.

Mark 2:11 Take Up Your Pallet

ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: REVERSE YOUR RELATION WITH SICKNESS. Take up your bed. Carry the very mat that once carried you. Change places, so that what was the proof of your sickness may now give testimony to your soundness. Your bed of pain becomes the sign of healing, its very weight the measure of the strength that has been restored to you. ON THE HEALING OF THE PARALYTIC.

ST. AMBROSE: THE CHARGE TO PERFORM AN ACT OF WHICH HEALTH Is A NECESSARY CONDITION. He charged the man to perform an action of which health was the necessary condition, even while the patient was still praying for a remedy for his disease.... It was our Lord's custom to require of those whom he healed some response or duty to be done. OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 4.8.54-55.

ST. AUGUSTINE: INWARD PARALYSIS. You have been a paralytic inwardly. You did nor take charge of your bed. Your bed took charge of you. ON THE PSALMS 41.4.

PATRISTIC COMMENTARY ON MARK 2:1-12

St. Bede, the Venerable: Because the compassion of God deserts not even carnal persons, He accords to them the grace of His presence, by which even they may be made spiritual. After the desert, the Lord returns into the city; wherefore it is said, And again he entered into Capernaum, &c.

St. Augustine: But in Matthew writes this miracle as if it were done in the city of the Lord, whilst Mark places it in Capernaum, which would he more difficult of solution, if Matthew had also named Nazareth. But seeing that Galilee itself might be called the city of the Lord, who can doubt but that the Lord did these things in His own city, since He did them in Capernaum, a city of Galilee; particularly as Capernaum was of such importance in Galilee as to be called its metropolis? Or else, Matthew passed by the things which were done after He came into His own city, until He came to Capernaum, and so adds on the story of the paralytic healed, subjoining, And, behold, they presented to him a man sick of the palsy, after he had said that He came into His own city.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or else, Matthew called Capernaum His city because He went there frequently, and there did many miracles. It goes on: And it was noised that he was in the house, &c. For the desire of hearing Him was stronger than the toil of approaching Him.

After this, they introduce the paralytic, of whom Matthew and Luke speak; wherefore there follows: And they came unto him bearing one sick of the palsy, who was carried by four.

Finding the door blocked up by the crowd, they could not by any means enter that way. Those who carried him, however, hoping that he could merit the grace of being healed, raising the bed with their burden, and uncovering the roof, lay him with his bed before the face of the Savior. And thus is that which is added: And when they could not lay him before him, &c.

There follows: But when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins be forgiven you. He did not mean the faith of the sick man, but of his bearers; for it sometimes happens, that a man is healed by the faith of another.

St. Bede, the Venerable: It may indeed be seen, how much each person's own faith weighs with God, when that of another had such influence that the whole man at once rose up, healed body and soul, and by one man's merit, another should have his sins forgiven him.

St. Theophylos: He saw the faith of the sick man himself, since he would not have allowed himself to be carried, unless he lad had faith to be healed.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Moreover, the Lord being about to cure the man of the palsy, first loosed the chains of his sins, in order to show that he was condemned to the loosening of his joints, because of the bonds of his sins, and could not be healed to the recovery of his limbs, unless these were first loosened. But Christ's wonderful humility calls this man, despised, weak, with all the joints of his limbs unstrung, a son, when the priests did not deign to touch him. Or at least, He therefore calls him a son, because his sins are forgiven him. It goes on: But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak blasphemies?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now they accuse Him of blasphemy, anticipating the sentence of His death: for there was a command in the Law, that whosoever blasphemed should be put to death. And this charge they laid upon Him, because He claimed for Himself the divine power of remitting sins: wherefore it is added, Who can forgive sin, save God only? For the Judge of all alone has power to forgive sin.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Who remits sin by those also to whom he has assigned the power of remitting, and therefore Christ is proved to be very God, for He is able to remit sins as God. The Jews then are in error, who although they hold the Christ both to be God, and to be able to remit sins, do not however believe that Jesus is the Christ. But the Arians err much more madly, who although overwhelmed with the words of the Evangelist, so that they cannot deny that Jesus is the Christ, and can remit sin, nevertheless fear not to deny that He is God.

But He Himself, desiring to shame the traitors both by His knowledge of things hidden and by the virtue of His works, manifests Himself to be God. For there follows: And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned, he said to them, Why reason you these things in your hearts? In which He shows Himself to be God, since He can know the hidden things of the heart; and in a manner though silent He speaks thus, With the same power and majesty, by which I look upon your thoughts, I can forgive the sins of men.

St. Theophylos: But though their thoughts were laid bare, still they remain insensible, refusing to believe that He who knew their hearts could forgive sins, wherefore the Lord proves to them the cure of the soul by that of the hotly, showing time invisible by the visible, that which is more difficult by that which is easier, although they did not look upon it as such. For the Pharisees thought it more difficult to heal the body, as being more open to view; but the soul more easy to cure, because the cure is invisible; so that they reasoned thus, Lo, He does not now cure the body, but heals the unseen soul; if He had had more power, lie would at once have cured the body, and not have fled for refuge to the unseen world. The Savior, therefore, showing that He can do both, says, which is the easier? as if He said, I indeed by the healing of time body, which is in reality more easy, but appears to you more difficult, will prove to you the health of the soul, which is really more difficult.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: And because it is easier to say than to do, there was still manifestly something to say in opposition, for the work was not yet manifested; wherefore He subjoins, But that you may know, &c. as if He said, Since you doubt my word, I will bring on a work which will confirm what was unseen. But He says in a marked manner, On earth to forgive sins, that He might show that He has joined the power of the divinity to the human nature by an inseparable union, because although He was made man, yet He remained the Worth of God; and although by an economy He conversed on the earth with men, nevertheless He was not prevented from working miracles and from giving remission of sins. For his human nature did not in any thing take away from these things which essentially belonged to His Divinity, nor the Divinity hinder the Word of God from becoming on earth, according to the flesh, time Son of Man without change and in truth.

St. Theophylos: Again, He Says, Take up your bed, to prove the greater certainty of the miracle, showing that it is not a mere illusion; and at time same time to show that He not only healed, but gave strength; thus He not only turns away souls from sin, but gives them the power of working out the commandments.

St. Bede, the Venerable: A carnal sign therefore is given, that the spiritual sign may be proved, although it belongs to the same power to do away with the distempers of both soul and body, whence it follows: And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all.

St. John Chrysostom: Further, He first healed by the remission of sins that which He had come to seek, that is, a soul, so that when they faithlessly doubted, then He might bring forward a work before them, and in this way His word might be confirmed by the work, and a hidden sign be proved by an open one, that is, the health of the soul by the healing of the body.

St. Bede, the Venerable: We are also informed, that many sicknesses of body arise from sins, and therefore perhaps sins are first remitted, that the causes of sickness being taken away, health may be restored. For men are afflicted by fleshly troubles for five causes, in order to increase their merits, as Job and the Martyrs; or to preserve their lowliness, as Paul by the messenger of Satan; or that they may perceive amid correct their sins, as Miriam, the sister of Moses, and this paralytic; or for the glory of God, as the man born blind and Lazarus; or as the beginnings of the pains of damnation, as Herod and Antiochus. But wonderful is the virtue of the divine power, where without the least interval of time, by time command of the Savior, a speedy health accompanies His words. Wherefore there follows: Insomuch that they were all amazed. Leaving the greater thing, that is, the remission of sins, they only wonder at that which is apparent, that is, the health of the body.

St. Theophylos: This is not however the paralytic, whose cure is related by John, for he had no man with him , this one had four; he is cured in the pool of the sheep market, but this one in a house. It is the same man, however, whose cure is related by Matthew and Mark. But mystically, Christ is still in Capernaum, in the house of consolation.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Moreover, whilst the Lord is preaching in the house, there is not room for them , not even at the door, because whilst Christ is preaching in Judea, the Gentiles are not yet able to enter to hear Hum, to whom, however, though placed without, he directed the words of His doctrine by His preachers.

Pseudo-Jerome: Again, the palsy is a type of the torpor, in which man lies slothful in the softness of the flesh, though desiring health.

St. Theophylos: If therefore I, having the powers of my mind unstrung, remain, whenever I attempt any thing good without strength, as a palsied man, and if I be raised on high by the four Evangelists, and be brought to Christ, and there hear myself called son, then also are my sins quitted by me; for a man is called the son of God because he works the commandments.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Or else, because there are four virtues, by which a man is through an assured heart exalted so that he merits safety; which virtues some call prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. Again, they desire to bring the palsied man to Christ, but they are impeded on every side by the crowd which is between them, because often the soul desires to be renewed by the medicine of Divine grace, but through the sluggishness of the groveling body is held back by the hindrance of old custom. Oftentimes amidst the very sweetnesses of secret prayer, and, as it may be called, the pleasant converse with God, a crowd of thoughts, cutting off the clear vision of the mind, shuts out Christ from its sight. Let us not then remain in the lowest ground, where the crowds are bustling, but aim at the roof of the house, that is, the sublimity of the Holy Scripture, and meditate on the law of the Lord.

St. Theophylos: But how should I be borne to Christ, if the roof be not opened. For the roof is the intellect, which is set above all those things which are within us; here it has much earth about it in the tiles which are made of clay, I mean, earthly things: but if these be taken away, the virtue of the intellect within us is freed from its load. After this let it be let down, that is, humbled. For it does not teach us to be puffed up, because our intellect has its load cleared away, but to be humbled still more.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Or else, the sick man is let down after the roof is opened, because, when the Scriptures are laid open to us, we arrive at the knowledge of Christ, that is, we descend to His lowliness, by the dutifulness of faith. But by the sick man being let down with his bed, it is meant that Christ should be known by man, whilst yet in the flesh. But by rising from the bed is meant the soul's rousing itself from carnal desires, in which it was lying in sickness. To take up the bed is to bridle the flesh itself by the bands of continence, and to separate it from earthly pleasures, through the hope of heavenly rewards. But to take up the bed and to go home is to return to paradise. Or else the man, now healed, who had been sick carries back home his bed, when the soul, after receiving remission of sins, returns, even though encompassed with the body, to its internal watch over itself.

St. Theophylos: It is necessary to take up also one's bed, that is the body, to the working of good. For then shall we be able to arrive at contemplation, so that our thoughts should say within us, never have we seen in this way before, that is never understood as we have done since we have been cured of the palsy; for he who is cleansed from sin, sees more purely.

10 FEB 08: SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY: Restoration of the Veneration of Icons

Lenten Themes: The Veneration of Icons in the Eastern Tradition (From Byzantines.net)

"We venerate Your sacred image, O Lord, and we beg forgiveness of our sins."

There is a renewed interest and appreciation of iconography among Byzantine Catholics in the United States. It is an encouraging indication of a return to our centuries-old traditions. Out ancestors, accepted Christianity in the Byzantine Rite, also accepted the practice of venerating holy icons. Without them our liturgical worship becomes sorely mutilated and loses a great deal of its solemnity and splendor. Let us them become acquainted with the history, the meaning and the true spirit of the veneration of icons.

Strictly speaking, an icon (Gr. eikon-image, picture) is a portable sacred image, painted on a piece of wood according to the style and techniques of Byzantine art. But in its broader sense, as it will be considered here, an icon is any sacred image painted, or otherwise reproduced, for the purpose of veneration. The holy icon should not be considered as an object of art or decoration, but rather as a sacred object, fostering devotion and piety. Through the veneration of icons we should feel closer to God and to things divine.

Icons were used in the first centuries of Christianity, first as an object of decoration or private devotion, and later exposed in Christian churches for public veneration. Apocryphal writings of the second century relate that the icon of the Blessed Mother painted by St. Luke was the first icon. According to another legend, Jesus himself gave and "image of His sacred face," called the Icon Made Without Hands ("Nerukotvorennyj Obraz"), to the Apostle Thaddeus, who used it for miraculous healing and the conversion of the Chaldean King Abgar of Edessa (cf. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. I, 13). Although these are only legends, nevertheless they confirm an historical fact that in the East the veneration of icons originated in the Syro-Palestinian region, the cradle of Christianity.

It seems that the first icons were of the Holy Martyrs and their deeds which were painted in their oratories, as indicated by the homilies of St. Basil the Great (d. 379) and St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394). Only later, some time during the fifth century, were the icons of Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Mother introduced. By the sixth century Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, became a great center of sacred art. It was in Constantinople that a special style of icon painting was developed which became known as the Byzantine style, and eventually becoming the pride of Byzantine art.

The golden age of Byzantine art and iconography began in the middle of the ninth century and ended with the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. Unfortunately, due to the iconoclasm (violent opposition against the veneration of icons and sacred objects) of the eighth and ninth centuries, almost all primitive icons were destroyed. Today, the best collection of holy icons (the 6th-15th centuries) is preserved at the Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai, which was built by Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century.

The ancestors of the Ruthenians received Christianity at the end of the ninth century when Byzantine art was in its golden age and iconography became a generally understood language in the Byzantine Church. Byzantine art, reaching various peoples and cultures, necessarily became subject to some changes according to the needs and genius of the particular countries. Thus, throughout the centuries, we can recognize various schools of icon painting which constitute the national heritage of the given places.

In the Carpathian region we have holy icons dating from the sixteenth century when the Ruthenian local iconographers (educated mostly in Kiev and L'viv) started to "nationalize" their style in order to make them more "popular". The oldest icon, painted by an unknown local artist, is the icon of the Blessed Mother in the village of Izki, Volove County (end of the 16th c.). In the opinion of contemporary art-critics this icons is the "highest achievement of Carpathian painting."

An icon does not represent the Divinity. But, by its symbolic pictorial language, it testifies to the participation of Christians in the divine life. Thus, the icon becomes a "manifestation of divine life" among men, a "transfigured vision" of divine mysteries, a "vision of the invisible" (Hebr. 11: 1), - indeed, a true "theology in color." The icons representing the saints, also, to some extent share in their sanctity and glory. Consequently, they become "vessels of grace," present and working as in their relics. St. John Damascene offers the following explanation: "The Saints, during their earthly life, are filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. After their departure the same grace remains in their souls as in their bodies (relics-I Cor. 6:19). The very same grace is present and active in their sacred image and icons." (P.G. 94, 1249D).

Thus the holy icon becomes a means of communion with the Saints and a source of special graces and even of miracles. This explains the existence of many miraculous icons, through which Jesus Christ, the Blessed Mother and the Saints continue to bestow favors and to work miracles.
In the Subcarpathian region there are several miraculous icons of the Blessed Mother, the most important of which are in Klokochovo (from the middle of the 17th c.), in Mariapovch (by artist S. Papp, 1676), and in Krasnyj Brod (by the Basilian artist, M. Spalinskyj, 1769). The miraculous icon at the Basilian Monastery in Mukachevo is not of local origin. It was painted in Constantinople, 1453 and was donated by Pope Pius XI to the Eparchy of Mukachevo on 1926.

In the Old Testament, due to the danger of idolatry, God forbade the Jews to worship the "carved image or likeness" of any creature (Ex. 20:4-5; expl. Duet. 4:15-20). In the first centuries the Christians, too, in the face of paganism and idolatry, adhered to these Mosaic ordinances. The frescoes from the second and third centuries found in the catacombs served only as decoration. But after the victory of Christianity over paganism (313 A.D.), when Christianity theology was sufficiently developed, the Fathers of the Church gradually admitted the public veneration of icons. The iconoclastic fury of Emperor Leo the Isaurian (717-741), during which the leading defenders of the icons were St. Germanus of Constantinople (d. 733) and St. John Damascene (d. 749) made the Church define her teachings. In reply, at the seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicea (787), the Church's teaching concerning the veneration of icons was solemnly proclaimed.

The Fathers explained that the veneration of icons, theologically, was based on the mystery of incarnation, since in the person of Jesus Christ we received revelation not only of the "Word of God" (Jn. 1:1-14), but also of the "Image of God," as attested by St. Paul saying that Jesus is the "image (eikon) of the unseen God." (Col.1:15) Jesus Himself testified : " To have seen Me is to have seen the Father!" (Jn. 14:9)

The following is the teaching of the Church on holy icons:

1. The Mosaic Law (Gen 20:4-5) was a temporary provision against idolatry which, in time, lost its relevance.
2. Jesus, by taking human flesh (by His incarnation) revoked the prohibition of the Old Testament, since He became the "visible image (eikon) of God," manifesting "God's glory" on His face. (II Cor. 4:4-6)
3. Jesus Christ, by His glorious resurrection, also glorified His human nature, which reflected His divinity. (comp. Transfiguration, Mt. 17:2)
4. God created man to His own "image (eikon) and likeness" (Gen. 1:26) and, after the fall of Adam, our Savior Jesus Christ restored our human nature to its pristine glory. (II Cor. 3:18)
5. The honor given to an icon is only veneration (proskynesis) and not adoration (douleia), which is given to God only.
6. The honor extended to an icon by a bow, a prayer, a kiss, incense or the burning of a candle is relative, i.e. it "passes on to him who is represented on it (to its prototype)" (cf. St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit, 18).

Our ancestors venerated holy icons not in their churches, but also in their homes. These were called-devotional icons, believed to protect their homes and to secure for them the continuous flow of God's blessings. These icons usually occupied a prominent place in every home and were decorated with an embroidered cloth and flowers. A hanging vigil lamp or votive candle added to the spiritual atmosphere of the room. Any visitor entering the home was expected to take off his hat and to pay homage to the icon before he would greet the host.

The ancient rules of Christian house-keeping from the sixteenth century, entitled "Domostroj" (House-keeping), reminded our ancestors: "The Christian should have, in every room of his house, a holy and venerable icon or image, decorated with a veil (embroidery), and provided with a votive lamp (candle). The lamp should be burning as prayers are said as a sign of veneration and proper respect.."

This traditional and praiseworthy devotion to the home icon is being recommended in our religious education classes throughout the Metropolitan Province of Pittsburgh in the form of an "Icon Corner." Hopefully, it will win the support of parents and become a prayer shrine for the entire family.

FATHERS AND SPIRITUAL WRITERS ON HOLY ICONS

St. Gregory Palamos: On the Holy Icons
'You shall not make an image of anything in the heavens above, or in the earth below, or in the sea' (cf. Ex 20.4), in such a way that you worship these things and glorify them as gods. For all are the creations of the one God, created by Him in the Holy Spirit through His Son and Logos, who as Logos of God in these latter times took flesh from a virgin's womb, appeared on earth and associated with men, and who for the salvation of men suffered, died and rose again, ascended with His body into the heavens, and 'sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High' (Heb 1.3), and who will come again with His body to judge the living and the dead. Out of love for Him you should make, therefore, an icon of Him who became man for our sakes, and through His icon you should bring Him to mind and worship Him, elevating your intellect through it to the venerable body of the Saviour, that is set on the right hand of the Father in heaven.

In like manner you should also make icons of the saints and venerate them, not as gods --for this is forbidden-- but because of the attachment, inner affection and sense of surpassing honour that you feel for the saints when by means of their icons the intellect is raised up to them. It was in this spirit that Moses made icons of the Cherubim within the Holy of Holies (cf. Ex 25.18). The Holy of Holies itself was an image of things supercelestial (cf. Ex 25.40; Heb 8.5), while the Holy place was an image of the entire world. Moses called these things holy, not glorifying what is created, but through it glorifying God the Creator of the world. You must not, then, deify the icons of Christ and of the saints, but through them you should venerate Him who originally created us in His own image, and who subsequently consented in His ineffable compassion to assume the human image and to be circumscribed by it.

You should venerate not only the icon of Christ, but also the similitude of His cross. For the cross is Christ's great sign and trophy of victory over the devil and all his hostile hosts; for this reason they tremble and flee when they see the figuration of the cross. This figure, even prior to the crucifixion, was greatly glorified by the prophets and wrought great wonders; and when He who was hung upon it, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes again to judge the living and the dead, this His great and terrible sign will precede Him, full of power and glory (cf. Mt 24.30). So glorify the cross now, so that you may boldly look upon it then and be glorified with it. And you should venerate icons of the saints, for the saints have been crucified with the Lord; and you should make the sign of the cross upon your person before doing so, bringing to mind their communion in the sufferings of Christ. In the same way you should venerate their holy shrines and any relic of their bones; for God's grace is not sundered from these things, even as the divinity was not sundered from Christ's venerable body at the time of His life-quickening death. By doing this and by glorifying those who glorified God --for through their actions they showed themselves to be perfect in their love for God-- you too will be glorified together with them by God, and with David you will chant: 'I have held Thy friends in high honour, O Lord' (Ps 139.17 LXX).

Constantine Cavarnos: Introduction to Guide to Byzantine Iconography
...Just as words edify the ear, so also the image stimulates the eye. What the book is to the literate, the image is to the illiterate. Just as words speak to the ear, so the image speaks to the sight; it brings us understanding. For this reason God ordered the ark to be constructed of wood which would not decay, and to be gilded outside and in, and for the tablets to be placed inside, with Aaron's staff and the golden urn containing the manna, in order to provide a remembrance of the past, and an image of the future.

Who can say that these were not images, heralds sounding from far off? ...Obviously they were not adored for their own sake, but through them the people were led to remember the wonders of old and to worship God, the worker of wonders. They were images serving as memorials; they were not divine, but led to the remembrance of divine power. St. John of Damascus: On the Holy Images

A wise physician does not prescribe the same kind of medicine for all, or for the same patient at all times, but according to his condition. He distinguishes the place, the kind of sickness, the time and the age of the patient..." God, being "an excellent physician of souls," acts in the same manner. He forbade the making and veneration of images "to those who were spiritually in an infantile state and were suffering from the disease of idolatry, even considering the idols to be gods and worshipping them as gods, abandoning the worship of God and offering to creation the glory due to God." St. John of Damascus, quoted in Cavarnos, Guide to Byzantine Iconography

Byzantine iconography is a sacred art. It is an art that is spiritual in essence and aims. It has seven functions:

(1) To enhance the beauty of a church with a beauty that has the impress of holiness.
(2) To instruct us in matters pertaining to the Orthodox Christian faith.
(3) To remind us of this teaching.
(4) To lift us up to the prototypes, to the holy personages whom the icons depict.
(5) To arouse us to imitate the virtues of these personages.
(6) To help transform us, to sanctify us.
(7) To serve as a means of worshipping God and venerating His saints.

Bishop Theodosius, Extracts from the Acts of the 7th Ecumenical Council
For if the people go forth with lights and incense to meet the images of the Emperors when they are sent to cites or rural districts, they honor surely not the tablet covered over with wax, but the Emperor himself. How much more it is necessary that in the churches of Christ our God, the image of God our Saviour and of His spotless Mother and of all the holy and blessed fathers and ascetics should be painted. Even as also St. Basil says: 'Writers and painters set forth the great deeds of war; the one by word, the other by their pencils; and each stirs many to courage. How much pains have you ever taken that you might find one of the Saints who was willing to be your importunate intercessor to the Lord?'

St. John of Damascus: On the Holy Images
If you speak of pagan abuses, these abuses do not make our veneration of images loathsome. Blame the pagans, who made images into gods! Just because the pagans used them in a foul way, that is no reason to object to our pious practice. Sorcerers and magicians use incantations and the Church prays over catechumens; the former conjure up demons while the Church calls upon God to exorcise the demons. Pagans make images of demons which they address as gods, but we make images of God incarnate, and of His servants and friends, and with them we drive away the demonic hosts....If the Scripture says, The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands (Ps. 135:15), it is not forbidden to bow before inanimate things, or the handiwork of men, but only before those images which are the devil's work.

Lorenzo Scupoli (Unseen Warfare: Chapter 23)
In former times God, who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter; who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation! I honor it, but not as God. How could God be born out of things which have no existence in themselves? God's body is God because it is joined to His person by a union which shall never pass away. The divine nature remains the same; the flesh created in time is quickened by a reason endowed soul. Because of this I salute all remaining matter with reverence, because God has filled it with His grace and power. Through it my salvation has come to me. Was not the thrice-happy and thrice blessed wood of the Cross matter? What of the life bearing rock, the holy and life-giving tomb, the fountain of our resurrection, was it not matter? Is not the ink in the most holy Gospel-book matter? Is not the life-giving altar made of matter? From it we receive the bread of life! Are not gold and silver matter? From them we make crosses, patens, chalices! And over and above all these things, is not the Body and Blood of our Lord matter? Either do away with the honor and veneration these things deserve, or accept the tradition of the Church and the veneration of images... Let the icons of the saints bring to your mind how many intercessors you have always praying for you before God, and how many allies fighting for you in your unceasing battles. Having themselves courageously fought the enemies throughout their lives and overcome them, they have revealed and shown you the art of waging war. If, with their help, you are alert in fighting your battles, you will, like them, be crowned with victory in the eternal glory of heaven.

St. John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
Often, doubtless, when we have not the Lord's passion in mind and see the image of Christ's crucifixion, His saving passion is brought back to remembrance, and we fall down and worship not the material but that which is imaged: just as we do not worship the material of which the Gospels are made, nor the material of the Cross, but that which these typify. For wherein does the cross, that typifies the Lord, differ from a cross that does not do so? It is just the same also in the case of the Mother of the Lord. For the honor which we give to her is referred to Him Who was made of her incarnate. And similarly also the brave acts of holy men stir us up to be brave and to emulate and imitate their valor and to glorify God. For as we said, the honor that is given to the best of fellow-servants is a proof of good-will towards our common Lady, and the honor rendered to the image passes over to the prototype. But this is an unwritten tradition, just as is also the worshipping towards the East and the worship of the Cross, and very many other similar things.

St. John of Damascus, On the Divine Images
Since the invisible One became visible by taking on flesh, you can fashion the image of Him whom you saw. Since He who has neither body, nor form, nor quantity, nor quality, who goes beyond all grandeur by the excellence of His nature, He, being of divine nature, took on the condition of a slave and reduced Himself to quantity and to quality by clothing Himself in human features. Therefore, paint on wood and present for contemplation Him who desired to become visible.

Some would say: Make an image of Christ and of His Mother, the Theotokos, and let that be enough. What foolishness! Your own impious words prove that you utterly despise the saints. If you make an image of Christ, and not of the saints, it is evident that you do not forbid images, but refuse to honor the saints. You make images of Christ as one who is glorified, yet you deprive the saints of their rightful glory, and call truth falsehood. The Lord says, I will glorify those who glorify Me (1 Sam. 2:30)....The Scripture calls the saints gods, when it says, God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment (Ps. 82:1). St. Gregory interprets these words to mean that God takes His place in the assembly of the saints, determining the glory due to each. The saints during their earthly lives were filled with the Holy Spirit, and when they fulfill their course, His grace continues to abide with their spirits and with their bodies in the tombs, and also with their likenesses and holy images, not by the nature of these things, but by grace and power.

The holy Basil says: "Both painters of words and painters of pictures illustrate valor in battle; the former by the art of rhetoric; the latter by clever use of the brush, and both encourage everyone to be brave. A spoken account edifies the ear, while a silent picture induces imitation.

Things which have already taken place are remembered by means of images, whether for the purpose of inspiring wonder, or honor, or shame, or to encourage those who look upon them to practice good and avoid evil. These images are of two kinds: either they are words written in books, as when God had the law engraved on tablets and desired the lives of holy men to be recorded, or else they are material images, such as the jar of manna, or Aaron's staff, which were to be kept in the ark as a memorial. So when we record events and good deeds of the past, we use images ....

What more conspicuous proof do we need that images are the books of the illiterate, the never silent heralds of the honor due the saints, teaching without use of words those who gaze upon them, and sanctifying the sense of sight? Suppose I have few books, or little leisure for reading, but walk into the spiritual hospital--that is to say, a church -- with my soul choking from the prickles of thorny thoughts, and thus afflicted I see before me the brilliance of the icon. I am refreshed as if in a verdant meadow, and thus my soul is led to glorify God...

Constantine Cavarnos, Guide to Byzantine Iconography
Typically, only Christ, Moses, and Elias are shown with halos in icons that depict the Transfiguration. In some, the disciples, too, have halos. This, however, is not proper, for they are not yet at this stage Saints, persons filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, as is evinced plainly by the fact that they could not endure seeing the Divine light steadily, but were dazed and fell down to the ground. Moses and Elias, on the other hand, show themselves to have attained sainthood, because they could behold the Divine glory without being blinded by it and falling to the ground: they stand up on their feet in a peaceful, graceful and reverential attitude. What distinguishes stylistically the works of Byzantine iconography from those of classical art which also have these features [simplicity, clarity, measure, grace, symmetry] is above all the quality of `hieraticalness' - the spiritual solemnity, the sanctity which emanates from its figures. This is expressed not only by their halos, but also by their facial expression, their postures, their gestures, their garments. The hieratic manner in which they are depicted gives expression to the Christian virtues of purity, long-suffering, forgiveness, compassion, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual love.

9 FEB 08 - ALL SOULS SATURDAY

ALL SOULS SATURDAY

"The Holy Fathers were convinced that the commemoration of the departed by alms and sacrifices (Divine Liturgies) brings great comfort and benefit to them."
SYNAXARION FOR MEAT-FARE SATURDAY


One of the most venerable traditions in the Church, equally observed in the West as in the East, is the commemoration of the departed in our liturgical prayers. It is the constant teaching of the Church since Apostolic times (cf. Synaxarion) that our prayers, offerings and good deeds can help the departed. St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) in speaking of the faithful departed reminded his people;

…Let us assist them according to our power. Let us think of some advantage for them, small though it be, but let us assist them. How and in what way? By praying for them, by asking others to pray for them, and by constantly giving (alms) to the poor in their behalf! (HOMILY ON PHILL. 3, 4)

It is of great consolation for us, the surviving friends and relatives of our faithful departed, to be able to help them and thus remain united to them by a bond of everlasting love. St. Ambrose (d. 397), preaching at the commemoration of Emperor Theodosius on the fortieth day after his death in 395, consoled his survivors with the words:

... I love the man (Emperor) and I will not abandon him until, by my tears and prayers, I shall lead him into the Holy Mountain of God (Ps. 2:6), where there is life eternal!

(FUNERAL ORATION ON THEODOSIUS, 37)

The custom of offering prayers and sacrifices for the departed comes to us from the Old Testament. Holy Scripture praises the custom as holy and wholesome or pious, as is written in the II Maccabees 12:45: "It is therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins." In the Catholic Church, the commemoration of the dead is considered as one of the main works of mercy. St. Paul prayed for his devoted friend Onesiphorus that the Lord "grant him mercy" as he stands before God’s judgment seat. (II Tim. 1:18)

All the early Liturgies of the Church, including the most ancient one, the Liturgy of St. James, contain a prayer for the departed. In the Liturgies of St. Basil the Great (d. 379) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) prayers for the deceased are also included. St. John Chrysostom interprets this in these words:

…Not in vain did the Apostles order that remembrance should be made of the dead in the awesome Mysteries (i.e. the Liturgy). They knew that great gain resulted to them (the deceased), and great benefit. For when the whole assembly (of the people) stands with uplifted hands and that awesome Sacrifice lies displayed, how shall we not prevail with God by our entreaty for them? And this we do for those who have departed in faith!

(HOMILY ON PHILL. 3, 4)

The Apostolic Constitutions (IV c.) prescribed that during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the deacon should remind the faithful to pray for the deceased, saying:

Let us pray for our brethren that are fallen asleep in Christ, that God, the Lover of mankind, Who has received their souls, may forgive them every voluntary and involuntary sin, and may be merciful and gracious to them, placing them in the land of righteousness . . . where there is no pain, sorrow or lamentation. (APOST. CONST., VIII, 41)

Therefore, the Fathers of Vatican II rightly decreed that the Church "from the very first centuries of Christianity has cultivated the memory of the dead with great piety" and "offered prayers for them." (cf. Constitution on the Church, n. 50.)

In the Byzantine Rite, we commemorate the deceased every day at the Divine Liturgy immediately after the Consecration with the petition: "Remember, 0 Lord, all those who have departed in the hope of resurrection unto eternal life N.N…and grant them rest where the light of Your face shines." (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

In our liturgical calendar, Saturdays are dedicated, in a special way, to prayer for the deceased. Following St. John Damascene, the Synaxarion supplies us with this reason: "The Sabbath (Saturday) in Hebrew means rest, since on that day God rested from His work. (Gen. 2:2-3) We make a remembrance of the deceased on that ‘day of rest’ for they are ‘resting’ from all their earthly cares." When commemorating our departed, we constantly implore God to give them eternal rest (O. Sl. Vichnyj pokoj) since, according to the Scriptures, to enter into God’s rest means to join Him in an eternal life of happiness. (Heb. 4:3-11; Apoc. 14:13) St. Ambrose explains this by saying: "It is a great rest which fulfills the prayer of the living, a most glorious promise." (Or. on Theodosius, 37)

In accord with this, the Byzantine Church has, since the ninth century, established a special day of prayer for the departed popularly known as "Zadushna Subota" (Gr. Psycho-sabbaton; psyche-soul) which literally translated means Souls Saturday. Since the Synaxarion calls for the "universal commemoration" and prayer for "all the souls departed in the faith," fitingly then, in English, we call these Saturdays—All Souls Saturdays.

In the Byzantine Liturgical Year there are five All Souls Saturdays namely, Meat Fare Saturday, the Second, Third and Fourth Saturdays of the Great Lent, and Pentecost Saturday.

Meat-Fare Saturday as a special day of prayer for the deceased can be traced down to the sixth and seventh century, the time when the Typikon of St. Saba, known as the Jerusalem Typikon, had developed. The Synaxarion, which is the liturgical description of the feast or commemoration, of this day is based on the oratory treatise, On Those Who Died in Faith, which is ascribed to St. John Damascene. (cf. Migne, PG. 95, 247-278) On Meat-Fare Sunday we liturgically commemorate the Last Judgment (Mt. 25:31-46). Therefore, on the previous day, we, in our charity, intercede with the merciful Judge for the deceased that they be placed at His right hand when He will come to judge the living and the dead.

When the Triodion, the liturgical book for the Easter cycle, was basically compiled during the ninth century, the Second, Third and Fourth Saturdays of Lent were also dedicated to the commemoration of the dead. The reasons for designating these days were: 1. to make up for the a-liturgical days of the Great Lent since in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which is prescribed for Lent, there is no commemoration of the dead; 2. to remind us of our own death and make our penitential exercises during Lent more meaningful; and 3. to give us an opportunity to practice good deeds in behalf of our faithful departed and renew our love for them.

On Pentecost Saturday we commemorate "all the departed souls since Adam" (cf. Pentecostanon). By the Descent of the Holy Spirit, commemorated on Pentecost Sunday, the economy of our salvation was completed. Since the will of God is that "all men be saved" (I Tim. 2:4), therefore the day preceding this Feast is set aside as a day of prayer for all the deceased so that they be included in the salutary work of Christ.

From the beginning of Christianity, local churches kept registers of their living members as well as those who departed. These registers were folding tablets made of wood, ivory, or precious metals artistically decorated with carvings and bound together by rings. They are known as diptychs, taken from the Greek word diptychon, which means anything folded in two. These were used in Church to commemorate the living and the dead at the Divine Liturgy since the fourth century.

In the Byzantine Church, these diptychs played an important role since the names of the heretics and the excommunicated were removed from them and, by the same token, these were excluded from the liturgical prayers. They came into disuse sometime during the fourteenth century and, eventually, they were replaced by official lists of the deceased members of individual families issued by the pastor. These were called Hramoty, from the Greek: grammata, meaning a written letter or document. The list of the deceased members of a family made in booklet form was called a Pom janik, taken from the Old Slavonic: pomjanuti, meaning to remember, and was used at the services for the deceased.

The custom of announcing the names of the deceased during the liturgical services, as stated above, can be traced back to the first centuries of Christianity. Already in the fourth century, the practice was strongly defended by St. Epiphanius (d. 403) as a "firmly established tradition" in the Church. In his Panarios, he writes:

…Concerning the ritual of reading the names of the deceased, what can be more useful or suitable; what can be more worthy of admiration? (PANARIOS 75, 8)

Our ancestors as a part of our beautiful spiritual heritage transmitted this venerable custom to us. Every year, just before Meat-Fare Saturday, the families give the lists of their departed loved ones (Hramoty) to the pastor with the request that they be mentioned at the services held for the deceased on the All Souls Saturday. And St. John Chrysostom assures us that: "It is a great honor to be worthy of mention, while the celebration of the Holy Mysteries is going on." (Homily on the Acts 21, 4) Members of the family are encouraged to attend these services on the All Souls Saturdays for by their presence and by their personal prayers and receiving Holy Communion they strengthen the bond of love with their departed loved ones and indeed keep their memory everlasting!

St. Gregory of Nazianz (d. 390), after celebrating the funeral services for his brother Caesarius, concluded his eulogy with the following words: "Part of my funeral gift is now completed. The remainder we will pay by offering every year, as long as we live, our honors and memorials for him!" (Oration VII, 17) We also should emulate St. Gregory by remembering our departed loved ones, especially during the All Souls Saturdays, as long as we live, and point out to those coming after us the wholesomeness of this beautiful and praiseworthy custom of praying for and remembering our departed loved ones.

In the burial service according to the Byzantine Rite, the Church places the following words on the lips of the deceased, as we sing the hymns prescribed in bidding our departed loved one our final farewell:

…Come all you that love me and bid me farewell, for I shall no longer walk with you nor talk with you, since I am going to my Judge, Who shows no favors and rewards or punishes everyone according to his deeds. Therefore, I beg and implore all of you, pray for me continually to Christ our God that, on account of my sins, I may not be doomed into the place of affliction, but rather be granted a place where the light of life is shining!

PRAYER FOR THE DECEASED

(Ascribed to St. John Chrysostom)

O God of all spiritual and corporeal beings, You trampled death, broke the power of Satan and granted life to the whole world; now, O Lord, grant also rest to the soul of Your departed servant N. in a place of light, freshness, and peace, where there is no pain, sorrow, or mourning. As a gracious God and loving mankind, forgive him (her) every transgression committed by him (her) in word, deed, or thought, since there is no man alive who has not sinned. You alone are without sin and Your justice is everlasting justice, and Your word is always the truth.

For You are the resurrection, the life and the rest of Your departed servant N., O Christ our God, and we render glory to You, together with Your Eternal Father, and Your most Holy, gracious, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

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"He (the Priest) acts as an ambassador on behalf of the whole city—even on behalf of the whole world—and prays that God would be merciful and forgive the sins of all, not only of the living, but also of the departed."

(St. John Chrysostom, ON THE PRIESTHOOD VI, 4)
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ALL SOULS SATURDAY
Praying for the dead
We believe that the souls of men who have fallen into mortal sins and at death have not despaired, but have still repented before parting with the present life, who only have not managed to offer any fruits of repentance (such fruits could be their prayers, tears, kneelings during prayer vigils, contrition, consoling the poor and actions expressing love for God and neighbor) - the souls of such men go down to Hades and endure punishments for the sins committed by them, not being deprived, however, of hope for relief. They receive relief according to God's endless goodness through the prayers of the priests and the benefactions performed for the dead, and especially by virtue of the Bloodless Sacrifice, which, in particular, a sacred minister offers for each Christian and for his close ones, and in general the Catholic and Apostolic Church offers it daily for all.
Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs

Nothing unreasonable, nothing useless has been handed down from Christ's preachers and disciples and accepted successively by God's Church; to perform the commemoration of those fallen asleep in the right faith at the divine and most glorious Mystery is a deed very pleasing to God and beneficial.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa

The priest humbly entreats God's goodness, that He remit the transgressions of the dead man which have happened through human weakness, that He accept him into the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, "from whence pain, sorrow and sighing have fled," disregarding, in His love for man, every sin committed by him who has departed from life. For no one is pure of sin, as say the prophets.
Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite

When the names of those who have fallen asleep are remembered in prayers, what can be more beneficial for them this? The living believe that the dead also are not deprived of existence, but live with God. Just as the Holy church teaches us to pray for brethren who with faith and hope are traveling, that the prayers performed for them are beneficial, in such a way ought one to understand also the prayers performed for those who have departed from this world.

Hierarch Epiphanius of Cyprus