the orthodoxkansas.org blog

My Big Fat Greek Dinner (All Saints, Salina’s Spring Fundraiser) April 28 5 p.m.

DNY — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:28:00 +0000

Russian Orthodox Books at Overland Park Antique Show

DNY — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:14:01 +0000

K-State grad and antiquarian bookseller, Sonny Ideker, of Woodstock, GA will have several early 19th century Russian Orthodox books, including a Russian Psalter (c. 1830), on display at the Overland Park Antique Show 3/16/2012 – 3/18/2012.

The show takes place at

The Overland Park International Trade Center
6800 W. 115th Street
Overland Park KS, 66211

Lenten Retreat, 23-24 March, St. Basil the Great, Kansas City

DNY — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:50:44 +0000

Retreat participants are requested to register using the form at http://www.stbasilkc.org/2012/03/rt-rev-bishop-basils-retreat/.

Lenten Retreat 9-10 March, St. Mary, Wichita

DNY — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:43:30 +0000

The Church’s Prayer for the Dead

FrDanielG — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:53:25 +0000

The Holy Orthodox Church, like a concerned mother, daily, at every divine service, offers up prayers for all her children who have departed for the land of eternity. Thus, at the midnight service troparia & prayers for the departed are read, & they are commemorated at its concluding ektenia. This is so also at compline. At orthros & vespers the departed are remembered by name at the Augmented Ektenia, “Have mercy on us, O God …” They are commemorated 3 times during the Liturgy: at the Proskomedia, at the Great Entrance & after the consecration of the Precious Gifts when “Meet it is in truth …” is sung. Furthermore, 1 day of the week is set aside for prayers for the dead -Saturday, on which it is customary to have a service for the dead, unless it coincides with a feast, if such is to be served on that day.

The 3rd Day

We commemorate the dead on the 3rd day firstly, because those who have departed had been baptized in the Name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, the One God in 3 Persons, & had kept the Orthodox faith they received at holy baptism; secondly, because they preserved the 3 virtues which form the foundation of our salvation, namely: faith, hope & love; thirdly, because man’s being possesses 3 internal powers—reason, emotion & desire—by which we all have transgressed. And since man’s actions manifest themselves in 3 ways—by deed, word & thought—by our commemoration on the 3rd day we entreat the Holy Trinity to forgive the departed all transgressions committed by the 3 above-mentioned powers & actions. When St. Macarius of Alexandria (+393) besought the angel who accompanied him in the desert to explain to him the meaning of the Church’s commemoration on the 3rd day, the angel replied to him: “When an offering is made in church on the 3rd day, the soul of the departed receives from its guardian angel relief from the sorrow it feels as a result of the separation from the body. This it receives because glorification & offering is made in the Church of God which gives rise in it to blessed hope, for in the course of the 2 days the soul is permitted to roam the earth, wherever it wills, in the company of the angels that are with it. Therefore, the soul, loving the body, sometimes wanders about the house in which his body had been laid out & thus spends 2 days like a bird seeking its nest. But the virtuous soul goes about those places in which it was wont to do good deeds. On the 3rd day, He Who Himself rose from the dead on the 3rd day commands the Christian soul, in imitation of His resurrection, to ascend to the Heavens to worship the God of all.”

The 9th Day

On the 9th day, the Holy Church offers prayers & the Bloodless Sacrifice for the departed, that his soul be accounted worthy to be numbered among the choirs of the saints through the prayers & intercession of the 9 ranks of angels. St. Macarius of Alexandria, in accordance with the angel’s revelation, says that after worshipping God on the 3rd day, it is commanded to show the soul the various pleasant habitations of the saints & the beauty of Paradise. The soul considers all of this for 6 days, lost in wonder & glorifying the Creator of all. Contemplating all of this, it is transformed & forgets the sorrow it felt in the body. But if it is guilty of sins & had not repented while yet in life, at the sight of the delights of the saints it begins to grieve & reproach itself, saying: “Woe is me! How much I busied myself in vanity in that world! Enamored of the gratification of lust, I spent the greater portion of my life in carelessness & did not serve God as I should, that I too might be accounted worthy of this grace & glory. Woe is me! Poor me!” After considering all the joys of the righteous in the course of 6 days, it again is borne aloft by the angels to worship God.

The 40th Day[1]

From earliest antiquity the Holy Church has correctly & devoutly made it a rule to commemorate the departed in the course of 40 days, & on the 40th day in particular. As Christ was victorious over the devil, having spent 40 days in fasting & prayer, so the Holy Church likewise, offering for the departed prayers, acts of charity & the Bloodless Sacrifice throughout the 40 days, asks the Lord’s grace for him to conquer the enemy, the dark prince of the air, & that he receive the Heavenly Kingdom as his inheritance. St. Macarius of Alexandria, discussing the state of man’s soul after the death of the body, says: “After the 2nd adoration, the Master of all commands that the soul be led to Hades & that it be shown the places of torment there, the various parts of Hades, & the diverse tortures of the wicked, in which the souls of sinners ceaselessly wail & gnash their teeth. The soul is borne about these various places of torment for 30 days, trembling lest it itself be imprisoned therein. On the 40th day it is once again borne aloft to adore the Lord God, & it is at this time that the Judge determines the place of confinement proper to it in accordance with its deeds. This is a great day for the deceased, for it determines his portion until the Dread Judgment of God, & therefore, the Holy Church correctly commands that fervent prayer be made for the dead on this day.”

The commemoration of the departed at the 1st opportunity after death is important & essential because it alleviates the passage of the soul of the departed through the so-called toll-booths[2]. St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) says: “At Our soul’s separation from the body, there will stand before us on one side warriors & powers of Heaven, & on the other side the powers of darkness, the princes of this world, the aerial publicans, the torturers, the prosecutors of our deeds … Seeing them, the soul is dismayed, it shudders, & in consternation & horror will seek protection from the angels of God; but being received by the holy angels & passing through the aerial space, lifted on high under their protection, it encounters the toll-booths, as it were, certain gates or toll houses in which taxes are exacted which will bar its way into the Kingdom, will halt & hold back its progress towards it. At each of these toll-booths an account is demanded for particular, unrepented sins.”

The Venerable Theodora, as she passed through the toll-booths, was greatly aided by the intercession of her elder St. Basil the New (+944), which served to outweigh the torments for those sins not covered by repentance.[3] Thus does commemoration benefit departed sinners.

A commemoration has been established by the Orthodox Church on the 20th & 40th days after death, & also on the 6-month & yearly anniversaries of the death. Grain (i.e., koliva or kutiya)[4] is brought by the relatives for the commemoration, presenting an image of the Resurrection itself. In general, the custom of observing days for the commemoration of the dead has been continuously observed in the Orthodox Church from the beginning of its establishment until our own times, being handed down from generation to generation, from century to century. The Divine Liturgy has always been celebrated in memory of the dead, the great propitiatory sacrifice is offered up for them, psalms are read, & on these days many have increased & continue to increase their offerings in the church, assisting the poor & needy brethren out of love for their departed brethren.[5]

Aside from personal days set aside for commemorating our departed friends & relatives, the Orthodox Church, like a mother that loves her children, has set aside certain days on which all Orthodox Christians that have departed in hope of resurrection & eternal life must be commemorated in general. Such days are termed “universal,” or simply “ancestral” days. They are as follows:

Meatfare Saturday

The first universal, ancestral Saturday is on Meatfare Saturday. It falls during Meatfare Week & before the last day on which one may eat meat before the Great Fast begins. The following day, Sunday, commemorates the Dread Judgment of Christ, & the Church prays for all that have departed in faith & hope of resurrection, beseeching the righteous Judge to show forth His mercy upon them on the very day of impartial retribution at the universal judgment. The establishment of this Saturday dates from the first years of Christianity. Among the prayers during the divine services on this Saturday, we hear one for all “that from Adam until today have reposed in piety & correct faith,” of every calling & every age; “for all that have drowned, that battle hath mown down, that earthquake hath swallowed up, that have been slain by murderers, that fire hath consumed, that have been food for the wild beasts, birds & serpents, that have been struck by lightning & have perished in freezing cold, that have fallen by the sword, that the horse hath trampled, the rock struck or the earth covered up, that have been slain by deadly potion or poison, or have choked on bones …” , i.e. all that have met untimely deaths & have been left without a proper funeral. Thus does the Church care for all our fathers, brethren & relatives.

Trinity Saturday

This falls on the eve of Pentecost, hence the appellation “Trinity Saturday.” On the day of Pentecost (or Trinity Day), the Holy Spirit descended upon the earth to teach, sanctify & lead all people to eternal salvation. Therefore, the holy Church calls upon us to make a commemoration on this Saturday, that the saving grace of the Holy Spirit wash away the sins from the souls of all our forefathers, fathers & brethren, that have reposed throughout the ages &, asking that they all be united in the Kingdom of Christ & praying for the redemption of the living & for the return of their souls from captivity, she begs the Lord to “give rest to the souls … that have fallen asleep, in … a place of refreshment; … . for the dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord, neither shall they that are in Hades make bold to offer unto Thee confession. But we that are living will bless Thee & will pray & offer unto Thee propitiatory prayers & sacrifices for their souls.”

2nd, 3rd & 4th Saturdays of the Great Fast

Since throughout the Great Fast such commemorations as are performed at every other time during the year do not occur during the celebration of the Presanctified Liturgy, it is the accepted practice in our Orthodox Church to commemorate the departed on these 3 Saturdays, that the dead be not deprived of the Church’s saving intercession. (The remaining Saturdays of the Great Fast are consecrated to special celebrations: Sat. of the 1st week to St. Theodore the Recruit; Sat. of the 5th week to the praise of the Theotokos; the 6th Sat. commemorates the resurrection of the Righteous Lazarus.)[6]

Tuesday of St. Thomas Week

On this day, in accordance with accepted custom, a commemoration of the dead is made by the faithful, with the pious intent that, having celebrated a radiant festival to the glory of Christ’s Resurrection they share the great joy of this paschal feast with those that have departed in the hope of their own blessed resurrection, the joy of Which our Lord Himself announced to the dead when He descended into Hades to proclaim His victory over death & to lead forth the souls of the righteous of the Old Testament. Because of this great spiritual joy, the day of this commemoration bears the name “day of rejoicing.” There is indication of the commemoration of the dead on St. Thomas Mon. or Tues. in the writings of the Fathers of the Church.[7]

Examples of the Efficacy of Prayers Offered for the Dead
at the Liturgy & of the Church’s Prayers for the Dead

St. Gregory the Dialogist (347-407), Pope of Rome, sets before us a remarkable example of the effectiveness of prayer & the bringing of offerings for the departed, which took place in his monastery.

“One brother,” he says, “for breaking the vow of poverty, was deprived of a church funeral & prayers after his death for a period of 30 days, in order to strike fear in the hearts of the others. But later, out of compassion for his soul, the Bloodless Sacrifice & prayers were offered up for him for the space of 30 days. On the last of these days, the deceased appeared in a vision to his brother, whom he had left among the living, & said: ‘Until now it has gone badly for me, but now I am at peace, for today I received communion.’”

This same holy Father, in his dialogues with the Deacon Peter, tells of the apparition of a dead man who begged a priest to help him by praying for him to God. “From this it is obvious,” he concludes, “how profitable the Sacred Sacrifice is for souls; for the souls themselves ask it of the living & indicate the means by which they are cleansed of sins.”

St. John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria (Patriarch 606-616), often celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the dead & stated that it is a great aid to their souls. To corroborate this, he cites the following:

“There was a certain prisoner whose parents, considering him dead, had the Liturgy served 3 times a year for him—on Theophany, Pascha & Pentecost. After he had been released from captivity, returning unexpectedly to his parents, he recalled that on those very days a certain man of glorious appearance came to him in prison carrying a torch. The fetters fell from his hands, & he was freed; the rest of the days he was again in chains as a prisoner.”
St. Gregory the Dialogist also relates that during the lifetime of St. Benedict of Nursia (480-543) there lived two women who had the unfortunate habit of judging their neighbors, speaking evil & reproaching others. Learning of this, the Venerable Benedict said to them: “Curb your tongues, or I will have to excommunicate you from the Holy Mysteries.” But, all the same, they did not cease their evil habits & even said nothing in reply to the saint’s paternal admonition. Several days later both women died in their virginity & were buried together in the church. When the Divine Liturgy was served & the deacon exclaimed: “Catechumens, depart!”, many Christians beheld the two virgins leaving their tombs & the church, for they were unable to remain there during the Divine Liturgy. This occurred at each Divine Liturgy. When St. Benedict discovered this, he took pity on them &, taking a prosphora, he commanded them to take it to the church & to remove a particle from it for the repose of their souls. He also ordered them commemorated during the performance of the Mysteries of Christ. After that, none of the Christians saw them leaving the church. From this, all understood that, owing to the Holy Church’s prayer for the departed & the offerings, the departed virgins had received forgiveness from God.[8]

The Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (Reigned 829-842) lived carelessly & did not concern himself with the salvation of his soul but, rather was the last & one of the harshest & cruelest of the iconoclast emperors. Death found this sovereign in the midst of his sinful life. The Empress St. Theodora (815-867)), Theophilus’ consort, was horrified at the heavy lot that would befall her husband in eternity. At her behest, prayers were increased in the churches, alms were distributed, good works were performed. And what was the result? The prayers of the Church reached the Lord. Theophilus was forgiven, to the spiritual joy of his grieving spouse & to the consolation of the Church, which has so merciful & mighty a Lord, Who gives life to the dead & leads them forth from the abyss of Hades, not only bodily, but spiritually.[9]

“But who can number,” asks St. John of Damascus (676-585), “all of the testimonies found in the biographies of holy men, in the accounts of the lives of the holy martyrs & the divine revelations, which clearly indicate that even after death tremendous benefit is rendered to the departed by prayers, Liturgies & the distribution of alms for them. For nothing given to God perishes in return, but is rewarded by Him with the greatest interest.”

Examples of the Efficacy of Prayers for the Dead

St. John of Damascus relates: “A certain holy man had a disciple who was living heedlessly. And what happened? Death found him in the midst of his carelessness. The merciful Heavenly Father, roused by the tears & cries of the elder, revealed to him the youth burning in flames up to his neck, like the merciless rich man mentioned in the parable of Lazarus. And when the saint subjected his flesh to strict mortification, fervently beseeching God for the forgiveness of his disciple, he beheld him enveloped in flame up to his waist. Finally, when the holy man had increased his ascetic labors yet more, God revealed him in a vision to the elder, removed from the flame & completely free.”

The holy martyr Perpetua (Carthage, North Africa, 181-201) relates: “One day, at the time of general prayer in prison, I unexpectedly uttered the name of my dead brother Dinocrates. Struck by this unusual occurrence, I began to pray & sigh for him before God. On the following night I received a vision: I saw Dinocrates come forth, as though from a dark place. He was in intense heat, tormented by thirst, filthy in appearance & pallid. On his face was the wound from which he had died. Between us yawned a deep crevasse, & we were unable to approach each other. Beside the place where Dinocrates stood there was a full cistern, the lip of which stood much higher than my brother’s stature, & Dinocrates stretched, trying to reach the water. I was filled with pity, for the height of the rim prevented my brother from drinking. Immediately after this I awoke & realized that my brother was in torment. But believing that my prayer could help him in his suffering, I prayed all day & night in the prison, with cries & lamentations, that Dinocrates be treated mercifully. And on the day on which we were kept in chains, I received a new vision: the place which before I had seen had been made bright, & Dinocrates, with a clean face & beautiful apparel, was enjoying its coolness. Where he had had a wound, I saw only a trace of it. The rim of the cistern was no higher than the waist of the young man, & he was able to draw water from it without effort. On the rim of the cistern stood a golden cup full of water. Dinocrates approached it & began to drink from it, but the water in it did not decrease. Satisfied, he stepped away from it & began to rejoice. With this the vision ended. I then understood that he had been released from punishment.

One day the Venerable Macarius of Egypt (300-391) was walking about the desert &found a dried-out human skull lying on the ground. Turning it over with his staff, the saint heard a sound, as though from a distance. Then Macarius asked the skull: “What manner of man wast thou?”

“I was the chief of the pagan priests that dwelt in this place,” it replied. “When thou, O Abba Macarius, who art full of the Spirit of God, pray for us, taking pity on them that are in the torments of Hades, we then receive a certain relief.”

“And what manner of relief do ye receive?” asked Macarius. “And tell me, what torments are ye subjected to?”

“As far as heaven is above the earth,” replied the skull with a groan, “so great is the fire in the midst of which we find ourselves, wrapped in flame from head to toe. At this time we cannot see each others’ faces, but when thou prayest for us, we can see each other a little, & this affords us some consolation.”

On hearing this reply, the venerable one wept & said: “Cursed is that day when man broke the divine ordinance!” And once again he asked the skull: “Are there any other tortures worse than yours?”

“Beneath us, much farther down, there are many others,” it replied.

“And who are found in such unbearable torments?” asked Macarius.

“We who did not know God, yet experience the mercy of God a little,” answered the skull. “But they that knew the Name of God, yet rejected Him & did not keep His commandments, undergo much heavier & worse torments below.”

After this St. Macarius took the skull, buried it in the ground & departed thence.[10]

Examples of the Efficacy of Alms Distributed in Memory of the Dead

The Blessed Luke relates that he had a brother who, having, become a monk, concerned himself little with his soul & died, not having prepared himself for death. The holy elder wished to discover what his brother had been accounted worthy of, & he began to entreat God to reveal his lot. One day, during his prayers, the elder beheld the soul of his brother in the hands of demons. Meanwhile, money & costly things had been found in the cell of the deceased, from which the elder understood that the soul of his brother was suffering, among other reasons, for breaking the vow of poverty. All the money that had been found the elder gave to the poor. After that, he again began to pray & beheld the Judgment Seat of God & the radiant angels contending with the demons for the soul of his brother. The demons cried out to God: “Thou art just! Judge Thou! This soul belongs to us, for it hath done our deeds!” But the angels said that the soul of the dead man had been freed by the alms which had been distributed for it. To this the evil spirits objected, saving: “Did the deceased distribute the alms, or did this elder distribute them?”, indicating the Blessed Luke. The elder was terrified by this vision, but nonetheless summoned up the courage to say: “It is true that I distributed the alms, but not for myself, but for this soul.” The outraged spirits, hearing the elder’s reply, straightway vanished, & the elder, consoled by this vision, ceased to doubt & grieve over the fate of his brother.

The holy Abbess Athanasia of Aegina (790-860) stipulated in her will that the sisters of her convent prepare meals for the poor in her memory throughout the 40 days following her demise. But the nuns carried out this command only until the 9th day, & afterwards ceased. Then the saint appeared to them with 2 angels & said: “Why have ye forgotten my bequest? Know ye not that alms given for the soul until the 40th day & the feeding of the poor move God to mercy as well as the prayers of the priests? If the souls of the departed were sinful, God granteth them remission of sins; & if they were righteous, the charity performed on their behalf serves for the salvation of them that perform the charitable works.” Having said this, the Venerable Athanasia drove her staff into the ground & vanished. The next day the sisters saw that her staff had sprouted. Then they gave glory to God, the Creator of all things.[11]

From Orthodox Life, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 15-26. Translated from a pamphlet, published by the Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir in San Francisco, n.d.

Excerpts from The Soul After Death

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD

How important commemoration at the Liturgy is may be seen in the following occurrence: Before the uncovering of the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), the priest-monk (the renowned Starets Alexis of Goloseyevsky Hermitage, of the Kiev-Caves Lavra, who died in 1916) who was conducting the re-vesting of the relics, becoming weary while sitting by the relics, dozed off & saw before him the Saint, who told him: “I thank you for laboring me. I beg you also, when you will serve the Liturgy, to commemorate my parents”—and be gave their names (Priest Nikita & Maria).[12] “How can you, O Saint, ask my prayers, when you yourself stand at the heavenly Throne & grant to people God’s mercy?” the priest-monk asked. “Yes, that is true,” replied St. Theodosius, “but the offering at the Liturgy is more powerful than my prayer.”

Therefore, panikhidas & prayer a home for the dead are beneficial for them, as are good deeds done in their memory, such as alms or contributions to the church. But especially beneficial for them is commemoration at the Divine Liturgy. There have been many appearances of the dead & other occurrences which confirm how beneficial is the commemoration of the dead. Many who died in repentance, but who were unable to manifest this while they were alive, have been freed from tortures & have obtained repose. In the Church prayers are ever offered for the repose of the dead, & on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, in the kneeling prayers at vespers, there is even a special petition “for those in hell.”

St. Gregory the Great, in answering in his Dialogues the question, “Is there anything at all that can possibly benefit souls after death?” teaches: “The Holy Sacrifice of Christ, our saving Victim, brings great benefits to souls even after death, provided their sins (are such as) can be pardoned in the life to come. For this reason the souls of the dead sometimes beg to have Liturgies offered for them … The safer course, naturally, is to do for ourselves during life what we hope others will do for us after death. It is better to make one’s exit a free man than to seek liberty after one is in chains. We should, therefore, despise this world with all our hearts as though its glory were already spent, and offer our sacrifice of tears to God each day as we immolate His sacred Flesh & Blood. This Sacrifice alone has the power of saving the soul from eternal death, for it presents to us mystically the death of the Only-begotten Son” (Dialogues IV: 57, 60, pp. 266, 272-3).

St. Gregory gives several examples of the dead appearing to the living & asking for or thanking them for the celebration of the Liturgy for their repose; once, also, a captive whom his wife believed dead & for whom she had the Liturgy celebrated on certain days, returned from captivity & told her how he had been released from his chains on some days—the very days when the Liturgy had been offered for him. (Dialogues IV: 57, 59, pp. 267, 270).
Protestants generally find the Church’s prayer for the dead to be somehow incompatible with the necessity of finding salvation first of all in this life: “If you can be saved by the Church after death, then why bother to struggle or find faith in this Life? Let us eat, drink & be merry…” Of course, no one holding such a philosophy has ever attained salvation by the Church’s prayer, & it is evident that such an argument is quite artificial & even hypocritical. The Church’s prayer cannot save anyone who does not wish salvation, or who never offered any struggle for it himself during his lifetime. In a sense, one might say that the prayer of the Church or of individual Christians for a dead person is but another result of that person’s life: he would not be prayed for unless he had done something during his lifetime to inspire such prayer after his death.

St. Mark of Ephesus (1392-1444) also discusses this question of the Church’s prayer for the dead & the improvement it brings in their state, citing the example of the prayer of St. Gregory the Dialogist for the Roman Emperor Trajan—a prayer inspired by a good deed of this pagan Emperor.

WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THE DEAD

Everyone of us who desires to manifest his love for the dead & give them real help, can do this best of all through prayer for them, & in particular by commemorating them at the Liturgy, when the particles which are cut out for the living & the dead are let fall into the Blood of the Lord with the words: “Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those here commemorated by Thy Precious Blood, by the prayers of Thy saints.” We can do nothing better or greater for the dead than to pray for them, offering commemoration for them at the Liturgy, Of this they are always in need, & especially during those 40 days when the soul of the deceased is proceeding on its path to the eternal habitations. The body feels nothing then: it does not see its close ones who have assembled, does not smell the fragrance of the flowers, does not hear the funeral orations. But the soul senses the prayers offered for it & is grateful to those who make them & is spiritually close to them.

O relatives & close ones of the dead! Do for them what is needful for them & what it within your power. Use your money not for outward adornment of the coffin & grave, but in order to help those in need, in memory of your close ones who have died, for churches, where prayers for them are offered. Show mercy to the dead, take care for their souls. Before us all stands that same path, & how we shall then wish that we would he remembered in prayer! Let us therefore be ourselves merciful to the dead.

As soon as someone has reposed, immediately call or inform a priest, so he can read the “Prayers on the Departure of the Soul,” which are appointed to be read over all Orthodox Christians after death. Try, if it be possible, to have the funeral in church & to have the Psalter read over the deceased until the funeral. The funeral need not be performed elaborately, but most definitely it should be complete, without abbreviations; think at this time not of yourself & your convenience, but of the deceased, with whom you are parting forever. If there are several of the deceased in church at the same time, don’t refuse if it be proposed to serve the funeral for all together. It is better for a funeral to be served for 2 or more of the deceased at the same time, when the prayer of the close ones who have gathered will be all the more fervent, than for several funerals to be served in succession & the services, owing to lack of time & energy, abbreviated; because each word of prayer for the reposed is like a drop of water to a thirsty man. Most definitely arrange at once for the serving of the 40-day memorial, that is, daily commemoration at the Liturgy for the course of 40 days. Usually, in churches where there are daily services, the deceased whose funerals have been served there are commemorated for 40 days & longer. But if the funeral is in a church where there are no daily services, the relatives themselves should take care to order the 40-day memorial wherever there are daily services. It is likewise good to send contributions for commemoration to monasteries, as well as to Jerusalem, where there is constant prayer at the holy places. But the 40-day memorial must be begun immediately after death, when the soul is especially in need of help in prayer, & therefore one should begin commemoration in the nearest place where there are daily services.

Let us take care for those who have departed into the other world before as, in order to do for them all that we can, remembering that “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

One day this whole corruptible world will come to an end, & the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven will dawn, where the souls of the redeemed, joined to their resurrected bodies, will dwell forever with Christ, immortal & incorruptible. Then the partial joy and glory which souls know even now in heaven will be replaced by the fullness of joy of the new creation for which man was made; but those who did not accept the salvation which Christ came to earth to offer mankind will be tormented forever-together with their resurrected bodies—in hell. St. John Damascene, in the final chapter of his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, well describes this final state of the soul after death:
“We also believe in the resurrection of the dead, for there really will be one, there will be a resurrection of the dead. Now, when we say resurrection, we mean a resurrection of bodies. For resurrection is a raising up again of one who has fallen. But, since souls are immortal, how shall they rise again? Well, if death is defined as a separation of soul from body, the resurrection is the perfect rejoining of soul & body, & the raising up again of the dissolved & fallen living being. Therefore, the very body which is corrupted & dissolved will itself rise up incorruptible. For He Who formed it in the beginning from the dust of the earth is not incapable of raising it up again after it has again been dissolved & returned to the earth whence it was taken by the decision of its Creator …

“Now, if the soul had engaged alone in the contest for virtue, then it would also be crowned alone; & if It alone had indulged in pleasures, then it alone could be justly punished. However, since the soul followed neither virtue nor vice without the body, it will be just for them to receive their recompense together …

“And so, with our souls again united to our bodies, which will have become incorrupt & put off corruption, we shall rise again & stand before the terrible judgment seat of Christ. And the devil and his demons, & his man, which is to say, the Antichrist, & the impious & sinners will be given over to everlasting fire, which will not be a material fire such as we are accustomed to, but a fire such as God might know. And those who have done good will shine like the sun together with the angels unto eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ, ever seeing Him & being seen, enjoying the unending bliss which is from Him, & praising Him together with the Father & the Holy Spirit unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.”[13]

From Fr. Seraphim Rose, The Soul After Death (Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1980), pp. 197-203.

[1] Throughout the 40 days it is essential for each Orthodox Christian to commemorate his departed (newly-reposed) relatives. This consists of commemorating the departed during 40 daily liturgies at Proskomedia & in the Great Entrance & by offering to the Church prosphoras, wine, incense & candles, & the distribution of alms for the repose of the newly-departed.

[2] Toll-booths (Gr. telonion)—a term borrowed from the history of the Hebrew nation & used metaphorically to describe the barriers souls encounter in the ascent to Heaven. In Roman Palestine, the publicans stood at special tax-collection booths at which they extorted money from the populace. The Fathers of the Church, notably St. Cyril of Alexandria in his “Homily on the Departure of the Soul” (PG 77.981), applied this term to the aerial places of torment the soul meets after death. Further evidence of the toll-booths, or aerial customs, may be found implied in Homily XXII of St. Macarius of Egypt (Spiritual Homilies, p. 171), the Ladder of St. John Climacus (Step VII:50, p. 120), & in many of the divine services & the lives of the saints.

[3] cf. the Life of St. Basil the New, March 26.

[4] Koliva or kutiya is grain or rice cooked with honey or sugar & sometimes mixed with plums, raisins & other sweets. The grain & fruit brought to the commemoration of the dead signifies that the dead will truly rise again from the grave, for both grain which is sown in the earth & the fruit which is laid on the earth, decays 1st, & afterwards brings forth abundant ripe, whole fruit. The honey or sugar used in the kutiya signifies that after the resurrection of the Orthodox & the righteous, there awaits a joyous & blessed life in the Heavenly Kingdom, not a bitter or sorrowful one. The koliva or kutiya prepared from grain expresses the faith of the living in the resurrection of the dead to a better life, just as that seed, having fallen upon the ground, although undergoing corruption, yet grows to attain a better appearance.

[5] They also remember the departed on the days of their birth & of their patron saint.

[6] The origin of the commemoration of the dead on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Saturdays of the Great Fast dates back to the compilation of the Church’s typicon, but when & by whom it was instituted is unknown.

[7] St. John Chrysostom very clearly mentions the commemoration of the dead performed on Tues. of St. Thomas week in his “Homily on the Cemetery & the Cross”: “For what cause,” asks the hierarch, “did our fathers, leaving their houses of prayer in the city, establish the practice of assembling outside the city on this day & in this very place? In as much,” answers Chrysostom, “as here rests a multitude of the departed; today Jesus Christ went down to the dead; thus we also gather here. Why, this very place is called a place of sleep (cemetery), that you might know that they [who] have died & lie here have not died, but rest and sleep” (“Sermon on the Cemetery & the Cross,” Works of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in Russian Translation, Vol. II, Book I, p. 431. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Theological Academy, 1896).

[8] St. Gregory the Dialogist, The Life & Miracles of St. Benedict, ch. 28 (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, n.d.), pp. 52-54.

[9] Cf. Synaxarion, Meatfare Saturday, Lenten Triodion, p. 21 (Moscow, 1897).

[10] Cf. the “Life of St. Macarius the Great” in the Lives of the Saints, compiled by St. Dimitry of Rostov, Jan. volume, pp. 610-611.

[11] Ibid., St. Dimitry of Rostov, April volume, pp. 175-176.

[12] These names had been unknown before this vision. Several years after the canonization, St. Theodosius’ own Book of Commemoration was found in the monastery where he had once been abbot, which confirmed these names & corroborated the vision. See the Life of Elder Alexis in Pravoslavny Blagovestnik, San Francisco, 1967, no.I (in Russian)

[13] Exact Exposition, Book 4, ch. 27, in The Fathers of the Church vol. 37, 1958, pp. 401, 402, 406.

Our Venerable Mother Brigid of Kildare

FrDanielG — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:01:53 +0000

Born at Faughart near Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, her parents were Dubhthach, pagan chieftain of Leinster, & Brocca, a Christian Pictish slave baptized by St. Patrick. Brigid was named for one of the most powerful goddesses of her father’s pagan religion. Whether she was raised a Christian or converted in 468 is unknown, but she was inspired by St. Pat-rick’s preaching from an early age. Despite her father’s opposition she was determined to enter religious life. She had a generous heart & never refuse the poor who came to her father’s door. Her charity angered her father. He thought her overly generous to the poor & needy for she dispensed his milk, butter & flour to all & sundry. When she finally gave away his jewel-encrusted sword to a leper, he realized that perhaps her disposition was best suited to the life of a nun. She finally got her wish & was sent to a convent. She received the veil from St. Mael of Ardagh & professed vows dedicating her life to Christ. She is believed to have founded a convent in Clara, her first: other foundations followed. But it was to be in Kildare that her major foundation would emerge. Around 470 she founded a double monastery, for nuns & monks, on the plains of Kildare or Cill-Dara, “the church of the oak”, her cell being under a large oak tree. As abbess she wielded considerable power, but proved to be a wise & prudent superior. She was famous for her common-sense & most of all for her holiness: in her lifetime she was regarded as a saint. The Abbey of Kildare became one of the most prestigious monasteries in Ireland, famed throughout Christian Europe. She died at Kildare ca. 525 & was buried in a tomb before the high altar of her abbey church. After some time her remains were exhumed & translated to Downpatrick to rest with the two other patron saints of Ireland, St. Patrick of Ireland & St. Columba of Iona. Her skull was extracted & brought to Lisbon, Portugal, by two Irish noblemen, where it remains. There is widespread devotion to her in Ireland where she is known as the “Mary of the Gael” & her veneration was brought to Europe by Irish missionaries.

History of the Feast of the Three Hierarchs

FrDanielG — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:36:09 +0000

During the reign of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118), a controversy arose in Constantinople among men learned in the Faith & zealous for virtue about the 3 holy Hierarchs & Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian & John Chrysostom. Some argued for St. Basil [known as Basilians] above the other 2 because he was able, as none other, to explain the mysteries of the Faith, & rose to angelic rank by his virtues. Organizer of monastic life, leader of the entire Church in the struggle with heresy, austere & demanding shepherd as to Christian morals, in him there was nothing base or of the earth. Hence, said they, he was superior to St. Chrysostom who was by nature more easily inclined to absolve sinners. The partisans of St. Chrysostom [known as Johnites] retorted that the illustrious Archbishop of Constantinople had been no less zealous than St. Basil in combatting vices, in bringing sinners to repentance & in raising up the whole people to the perfection of the Gospel. The golden-mouthed shepherd of matchless eloquence has watered the Church with a stream of homilies in which he interprets the divine word & shows its application in daily life with more accomplished mastery than the two other holy Doctors. According to a third group [known as Gregorians], St. Gregory the Theologian was to be preferred to the others by reason of the majesty, purity & profundity of his language. Possessing a sovereign mastery of all the wisdom & eloquence of ancient Greece, he had attained, they said, to such a pitch in the contemplation of God that no one had been able to express the dogma of the Holy Trinity as perfectly as he. With each faction setting up one of the Fathers against the other two in this way, the whole Christian people were soon caught up in the dispute, which, far from promoting devotion to the Saints in the City, resulted in nothing but ill-feeling and endless argument.

Then one night the Three Holy Hierarchs appeared in a dream to St. John Mauropus, the Metropolitan of Euchaita, separately at first, then together &, speaking with a single voice, they said: “As you see, the three of us are with God & no discord or rivalry divides us. Each of us, according to the circumstances & according to the inspiration that he received from the Holy Spirit, wrote & taught what befits the salvation of mankind. There is not among us a first, a second or a third, & if you invoke one of us the other two are immediately present with him. Therefore, tell those who are quarrelling not to create divisions in the Church because of us, for when we were on earth we spared no effort to reestablish unity & concord in the world. You can conjoin our three commemorations in one feast & compose a service for it, inserting the hymns dedicated to each of us according to the skill & knowledge that God has given you. Then transmit it to the Christians with the command to celebrate it each year. If they honour us thus as being with & in God, we give them our word that we will intercede for their salvation in our common prayer.” At these words, the Saints were taken up into heaven in a boundless light while conversing with one another by name [PG 120]. St. John immediately assembled the people & informed them of this revelation. As he was respected by all for his virtue & admired for his powerful eloquence, the three parties made peace & everyone urged him to lose no time in composing the service of the joint feast. With fine discernment, he selected Jan. 30 as appropriate to the celebration, for it would set the seal to the month in which each of the three Hierarchs already had a separate commemoration.

The Three Hierarchs — an earthly trinity as they are called in some of the wonderful troparia of their service — have taught us, in their writings & equally by their lives, to worship & to glorify the Holy Trinity, the One God in three Persons. These three luminaries of the Church have shed the light of the true Faith all over the world, scorning dangers & persecutions, & they have left us, their descendants, this sacred inheritance by which we too can attain to utmost blessedness & everlasting life in the presence of God and of all the Saints. With the Feast of the Three Hierarchs at the end of Jan. — the month in which we keep the memory of so many glorious bishops, confessors & ascetics — the Church in a way recapitulates the memory of all the Saints who have witnessed to the Orthodox faith by their writings & by their lives. In this feast we honour the whole ministry of teaching of the holy Church, namely, the illumination of the hearts and minds of the faithful through the word of truth. So the feast of the Three Hierarchs is, in fact, the commemoration of all the Fathers of the Church, those models of evangelical perfection which the Holy Spirit has raised up from age to age & from place to place to be new Prophets & new Apostles, guides of souls heavenward, comforters of the people & fiery pillars of prayer, supporting the Church & confirming her in the truth.

St. Anthony the Great of Egypt (selections from the Life by St. Athansius)

FrDanielG — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:13:39 +0000

Perhaps the most effective tactic adopted by the adversary of man’s salvation has been to blind man to the reality of the spiritual warfare being waged for possession of his soul. We have consequently be-come spiritually flabby & easy prey for the enemy. To escape such a perilous condition we would do well to contemplate more often the examples of the saints who engaged in direct combat with the Evil One, unmasking his deceptions & thereby disarming him. Nowhere is this illustrated more dramatically than in the Life of St. Anthony the Great.

Written by St. Athanasius who personally knew St. Anthony, this Life is a spiritual classic with which all Christians should be familiar.

St. Anthony was an Egyptian, born c. 251 of noble Christian parents who provided well for their son’s future by educating him in the fear of God. His parents left this world when Anthony was 18 or 20, & he inherited a substantial fortune in terms of earthly wealth. But although he was at the age most attracted by fortune’s delights, he aspired only to amass the riches of virtues.

Anthony was reflecting 1 day upon how the Apostles had forsaken all to follow after Christ. when he heard in church the words of the Gospel: “If thou wishest to be perfect, go & sell everything thou hast…& come & follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Thus confirmed in his desire to do likewise, Anthony sold his estate & distributed the money to the poor, persuading his younger sister to be like-minded, he gave her into the care of some virgins.

Now free of all earthly attachments, the young man began to lead a life of great abstinence & self-denial on the outskirts of his village. He gave his mind no occasion to think back upon the affairs of this world but led it into a desert that it might be occupied with thoughts of pleasing God alone. He delighted in visiting the dwellings of righteous men & studying their virtuous habits which he proceeded to adopt for himself, exercising himself in their practice. Indeed, he was like a bee which gathers nectar from various blossoms & creates out of it a fragrantly sweet honey. With his concentrated desire Anthony rapidly ascended the ladder of perfection. The enemy, however, could not endure to see the likeness of Christ shining forth from this creation of dust & ashes, & he determined to destroy this ‘house of virtue.’

The Unseen Warfare

The 1st campaign was waged on the battlefield of the mind. Anthony experienced a barrage of unsettling thoughts—flattery, the allurement of the world & all the pleasures his former wealth could buy, concern for his sister’s welfare, the difficulties of the path he had chosen. The vicious net was craftily woven, but the Saint recognized it as the handiwork of his adversary & tore it apart by means of intense prayer & vi-gilance, deflecting any & all disturbing thoughts before they took hold in his mind. The battle grew more intense when the Enemy, taking advantage of the Saint’s youth, assailed him with lustful thoughts, inflaming the natural appetites of the flesh until the Saint was burning with his own lust. He manfully fought back by mortifying his body with increased fasting to quench the passions of the flesh & by meditating on death & the eternal torments which await those who give themselves over to the spirit of fornication. And so be escaped unharmed, even strengthened by this experience.

When the Evil One found himself so disgraced, he took on a human voice & complained bitterly to Anthony: “I have deceived & conquered many in my time; but now in your case, as in that of many others, I am defied by your ascetic labors.”

Knowing that his antagonist would continue to stalk him as a roaring lion after his prey, Anthony did not allow himself to relax his vigilance on account of his victory. He passed many nights without sleep, engrossed in prayer, & limited his bodily nourishment to bread & water, of which he partook once a day at evening. For, he said, by weakening the pleasures of the body the mind is strengthened. Such disregard did he have for the body as to imitate the nature of the fleshless ones, i.e., the angels. The severity of his labors & his accumulated virtues astonished the older ascetics, but Anthony never thought about his spiritual progress & regarded each day as the beginning of his spiritual journey, thereby shielding himself from pride & vainglory. For the sake of greater solitude, Anthony moved further from the village to a burial place at the edge of the desert, where he locked himself up in a tomb; only allowing a servant to come at rare intervals with a supply of bread. The enemy, embittered by his previous defeat, attacked with vengeance. This time the assault was physical. A whole troop of demons came 1 night & beat the Saint until the very breath of life was ready to leave him. But even as he lay on the ground, covered with bruises & unable to stand, he said in a loud voice, “Here, devils, here am I, Anthony, ready for more of your wounds. Try your worst, for you shall never separate me from Christ.” He fortified himself by singing the words of the Psalmist: “Though a host should encamp against me, yet my heart shall not fear.”

Incensed by the audacity of Anthony’s challenge, the Devil gathered his minions: “Don’t you see now? This fellow could not be restrained either by the spirit of fornication or by bangs & bruises,.. We must assail him by other means.”

That night, as Anthony was still lying on the ground recovering, a hoard of demons shook the walls of the tomb & rushed in to terrorize the Saint. For this purpose they had taken on the forms of hideous wild beasts—hissing snakes, roaring lions, ferocious wolves, a bull which threatened to gore the victim. But Anthony was not frightened by what he perceived to be mere spectral creatures, & he made bold to mock his enemy’s impotence: “What is the use of all this vain uproar? If ye have power to hurt, why don’t you? But you can’t, for the Lord is my shield & my wall of safety.” The demons could only gnash their teeth in reply.

When Anthony had thus manfully proven himself as a champion athlete in the spiritual arena, he was granted to experience the comforting presence of the Lord. Lifting his eyes heavenward he saw a roof-curtain drawn aside & a ray of light descending upon him. Straightway the demons vanished, & Anthony felt his bodily pains melt away. Consoled by this outpouring of Divine Grace, he rested briefly from the fatigue of battle before addressing his Master aloud, “Lord, where wast Thou when these sufferings & tribulations came upon me? Why didst Thou not help me?” He heard a voice in reply, “I was here, Anthony, but I wanted to witness your combat. Having seen that you withstood your adversary without retreating, I shall from now on be your Helper & shall make your name celebrated far & wide as My faithful servant.”

Anthony knelt in prayer to give thanks to God for this promise & for the peace & newfound strength which filled his soul, the grace-given rewards of his victory. He was then about 35 years old.

With Demons in the Desert

The next day Anthony left the place of the tombs to live as a hermit in the desert. Even as he journeyed, the enemy continued to lay all kinds of traps for him, but the Saint was not to be outsmarted. Seeing a large silver disk in his path, he immediately surmised that it was a ruse of the devil, for had some traveler passed that way & lost it, surely he would have retraced his steps to recover such a valuable object. “O Devil,” he cried out, “you will not so easily draw me away from my purpose. May you take your silver & go down to perdition together.” No sooner had he said this than the silver disk disappeared in a cloud of smoke, proof that it was indeed the devil’s creation.

At length Anthony settled in a cleft of some rocks beside a river, blocking the entrance so as not to be disturbed. For 20 years he remained there in solitude, admitting no visitors but only a supply of bread 3 times a year. It must not be imagined, however, that he enjoyed a blissful life of uninterrupted peace. Those who came in hopes of seeing or hearing a word from the far-famed ascetic were often perplexed by the raucous din coming from the cleft. They supposed a band of angry men had somehow gained entrance, for they could make out shouts of: “Depart from us! Why have you come to our country to cause our death?!” Through a fissure, however, they saw that the Saint was quite alone, & they understood that the tumult was made by demons.

Indeed, the demons quite exhausted their bag of tricks in their frantic efforts to deter the Saint from his course, for fear that his example would inspire others to invade their desert domain with fasting & psalm-singing which they found intolerable. And this is just what happened. Whole multitudes began coming to the desert to lose their lives, like Anthony, for the sake of the Kingdom. Persuaded by their entreaties, the Saint relinquished his solitude to share the light of his accumulated experience with these eager new recruits in Christ’s army. By word & example he fanned such zeal for the ascetic life that many monasteries — the 1st in the history of Christianity — were founded under his influence, for which reason he is known as the Father of Monasticism.

In guiding these warriors of Christ, St. Anthony exhorted them to pursue their aim with diligence, for “the promise of eternal life is bought with a small price.., & the work is easy, if we be only willing.” He warned them of the subtle craftiness of the demonic powers, exposing their numerous tricks & guises whereby they seek to trip & destroy the Christian whom they find laboring on the path of salvation. He spoke of the evil & impure thoughts they try to instigate & of the fearful appearances they assume, of their pretention in foretelling future events. “Sometimes, too, they appear in the habit of monks & talk very religiously in order to gain our confidence & then to seduce us.” At the same time, he encouraged the brethren not to fear when they came under attack, but to fortify themselves by faith & the sign of the Cross: “If they find us rejoicing in the Lord & meditating or conversing on divine things, then demons have no pow-er over the Christian … for when they see the soul secured by such thoughts, they turn away deeply ashamed of themselves.’

Besides his extraordinary skill in discerning spirits, St. Anthony had other gifts — of healing, of casting out demons, of foretelling future events. And although he was illiterate he readily outwitted many philosophers. Once, when some ‘wise’ men came thinking to mock his Christian faith, St. Anthony brought forward several people who were troubled with demons & said, “Can you heal these men by your reasoning? or by any art or magic, calling upon your idols?” The Saint then called upon the Name of Christ & marked the demoniacs with the sign of the Cross, a 1st, 2nd & 3rd time. Immediately the men were healed of their insanity, & the philosophers departed amazed by the miracle & by Anthony’s wisdom.

Treasury of Good Gifts

Crowds flocked to this heavenly-born physician of the Egyptian desert, & no one left without being enriched from St. Anthony’s store of gifts. “For who,” writes St. Athanasius, “went to him in sorrow & did not come back rejoicing? Who went to him in anger & was not converted into a friend? What poor man met him, with a dejected heart, who, after he saw & heard him, did not go away despising riches & content with poverty? If a monk was remiss, he excited him to diligence. If a young man went to the mountain & beheld Anthony, he straightway renounced pleasure & embraced a life of temperance. Whosoever came to him, tempted by a demon, was relieved; or if troubled with evil thoughts was tranquilized.”

Even when St. Anthony had attained the heights of perfection, he never hesitated to learn from someone else. Nor did he, in his humility, ascribe his spiritual gifts to his own achievements, but exhorted those who benefited by his prayers to thank God Who is the source & cause of all that is good.

St. Anthony reached the venerable age of 104, still sound in mind & body notwithstanding his severe mode of life, Foreseeing the approach of death, he gave a final word of instruction to the brethren, warning them to beware of schismatics & the Arian heretics & urging them to diligently guard their hearts & not to fear the demons. He died in peace after a short illness, welcoming his journey into eternity as a foreigner returning to his homeland. His life, once hidden in the desert, be-came famed throughout the Roman Empire, not on account of worldly wisdom or riches or political pow-er, but because of his profound piety, towards God, to Whom he brought glory & honor. Amen.

The Life of St. John the Damascene by St. Dimitri of Rostov

FrDanielG — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:49:49 +0000

The Life of St. John the Damascene

St. John of Damascus (Feast Day – December 4)
By St. Dimitri Rostov

Our venerable father John was born in the great city of Damascus in Syria to noble, pious parents whose ardent faith in Christ, tested by temptations, was more precious than gold tried by fire. They lived in perilous times, for the Saracens (Arab desert warriors) had conquered that land & taken the city, bringing terrible calamity upon the Christians. Some they slew, others they sold into slavery, & they permitted no one to confess Christ publicly. John’s parents, however, guarded by providence, remained unharmed, & their property was left untouched. They held fast to the holy faith, & God granted them to win the favor of the Saracens, as once Joseph (the son of the patriarch Issac) had won the favor of the Egyptians, & the Prophet Daniel of the Babylonians. Thus the impious Hagarenes (a common designation of Moslems referring to the putative descent of the Arabs from Hagar, the handmaid of Sara, the wife of Abraham, whom the latter expelled at Sara’s insistence. She was the mother of Ishmael, her son by Abraham) did not forbid the saint’s parents to believe in Christ or to glorify His name. John’s father was appointed magistrate of the city & commissioner of public buildings (Since the Muslim conquerors were mostly desert warriors with little experience in administration, they often relied upon the prominent officials of the conquered territory to continue to serve as administrators & bureaucrats.). Enjoying as he did the rulers’ trust, he was able to benefit his Christian brethren greatly, ransoming captives, setting free the fettered & imprisoned, commuting the sentences of those condemned to death & extending a helping hand to all the suffering. John’s parents shone amid the Hagarenes of Damascus like beacons in the night, or embers glowing among ashes. They were preserved by God, as was the holy line of David in Israel, because the Lord had chosen them to be the parents of a son who would be manifested as a brilliant light illumining the whole world.

Although the Moslems forbade anyone to be born of water & the Spirit, John’s parents, eager to make him a child of light, did not hesitate to have him baptized. As the child (the namesake of grace) grew, his father was careful to rear him well: not teaching him the customs of the Saracens, nor the military arts, nor how to hunt game, nor worldly learning of any sort, but meekness, humility & the fear of God, acquainting him also with the divine Scriptures. Moreover, he prayed God fervently that He send a wise & devout teacher who would instruct his son more perfectly in the virtues. God heard his prayer & granted his desire in the following manner.

The barbarians living in Damascus made frequent raids by land & sea against other countries, taking Christians captive to their city, some to be sold into slavery in the markets, others to be put to the sword without mercy. Once they happened to capture a monk from Italy named Cosmas, a man of noble appearance & even greater nobility of soul. As Cosmas was being offered for sale in the market with other captives, those who were to be put to death fell at his feet, tearfully beseeching him to pray to God for their souls. Seeing the honor in which he was held by those going to their death, the Saracens asked Cosmas what rank he held among the Christians in his homeland. To this he replied, “I held no rank & was never counted worthy of the priesthood. I am only a sinful monk, although one schooled in philosophy, both Christian & pagan.” Then, he began to weep, shedding bitter tears.
Not far off stood John’s father, who recognized the elder as a monk by his clothing. Wishing to console him, he approached & said, “Why, O man of God, do you weep? Is it because you have lost your earthly freedom? But your garb proclaims that long ago you renounced the world & died to it.”

“I do not weep because I have lost my freedom,” answered the monk. “I died to the world long ago, as you say, & care nothing for it. I know well that there is another life, one better than this, immortal & ever-lasting, prepared for the Lord’s servants, which I hope to inherit by the grace of Christ my God. I lament because I shall depart this life childless, without an heir.”

John’s father said in astonishment, “You are a monk, Father, & have consecrated yourself to God, vowing to preserve your chastity. You are not permitted to beget children. You should not grieve over this.”
“You do not understand my words, sir,” answered the monk. “I do not speak of sons according to the flesh or of a material inheritance, but of things spiritual. It is clear that I own nothing; nevertheless, I possess a great wealth of knowledge, which I have labored hard from my youth to acquire. With God’s help I have mastered every worldly science, including rhetoric & dialectic, the philosophy of Aristotle & Plato, geometry & the theory of music. I have acquainted myself thoroughly with the movements of the heavenly bodies & the courses of the stars, so that through the beauty of creation I might come to a clearer understanding of the wise Creator. Finally, I have learned well the mysteries of Orthodoxy as expounded by the Greek & Roman theologians. Yet while I possess such knowledge myself, I have failed to hand it on to another. Now there is no longer any possibility for me to teach what I have learned. I have no disciple, & little time remains to me, for I am certain that I shall die here by the sword of the Hagarenes. Then I will appear before the Lord & be likened to the tree that brought forth no fruit & the servant that buried his master’s talent in the ground. This is why I weep & lament. Like a married man who has no son, I leave no spiritual heir to inherit the wealth of my knowledge.”

John’s father rejoiced when he heard this, because he was certain he had found the treasure for which he had sought so long. He comforted the elder, “Do not sorrow, Father; for God may yet grant you the desire of your heart.” Thereupon he hastened to the Caliph of the Saracens &, falling at his feet, earnestly begged to be given the captive monk. The Caliph did not refuse him, & John’s father happily took the ruler’s precious gift, the blessed Cosmas, to his home, where he offered him hospitality & the opportunity to rest. He sought to console the monk, who had suffered much at the hands of the Moslems, saying, “Father, my house is yours, & I wish you to share in all my joys & sorrows.” He added, “God has not only granted you freedom, but the desire of your heart as well.” Then he presented his 2 sons & said, “I have 2 children, my son John & this boy who, like you, bears the name Cosmas. He was born in Jerusalem & orphaned while still a babe, & I adopted him. I pray you, Father, instruct them in the sciences & in good conduct, teaching them every virtue. They shall be your spiritual children, begotten anew by your teaching. Rear them & make them heirs of your spiritual riches, a wealth that no one can steal.”

The blessed elder Cosmas rejoiced & glorified God & began to instruct both youths with all diligence. Since the boys were intelligent, they progressed rapidly in their studies. Like an eagle soaring through the air, John attained the understanding of lofty mysteries, while Cosmas, his spiritual brother, in a short time plumbed the depths of wisdom, quickly crossing the sea of learning like a boat driven by a favorable wind. Studying assiduously, like Pythagoras & Diophanes, they mastered grammar, dialectic, philosophy & arithmetic. So profound was their understanding of geometry, that they might well have been termed new Euclids. The ecclesiastical hymns & verses they composed testify to their skill in poetry. They were also well acquainted with astronomy & the mysteries of theology. Besides tutoring them in all these subjects, their teacher instructed them in good morals & the life of virtue. In a word, both acquired perfect understanding of spiritual & external wisdom, especially John, who caused his teacher to marvel. John surpassed even his tutor in certain fields of knowledge, becoming a great theologian, a fact to which his divinely inspired & wise books attest. Nevertheless, he did not become proud because of his learning: like a fruitful tree that bends lower to the ground as it becomes more heavily laden with fruit, so the blessed lover of wisdom, John, thought less & less of himself in his heart the more he excelled in his studies. He knew how to extinguish the vain imaginations & passionate thoughts of youth & kindled within his soul, radiant with spiritual wisdom, the fire of divine desire so that it shone like a lamp full of oil.

One day, the teacher Cosmas said to John’s father, “My lord, your desire has been fulfilled. Your children have studied well, surpassing me in knowledge. Thanks to good memories & diligent toil, they have sounded the depths of wisdom. God has granted increase to the gifts bestowed on them, & they can learn nothing more from me. Indeed, they are ready to teach others. Therefore I pray you, my lord, grant me leave to depart for a monastery, where I may become a disciple to monks who have achieved perfection & can instruct me in higher wisdom. The external wisdom I have mastered leads me on to spiritual philosophy, a wisdom purer & more honorable than any worldly science, for it profits the soul & leads it to salvation.”

John’s father was grieved at this, because he was loath to part with such a wise & worthy instructor. He did not, however, dare prevent the elder from doing as he wished, or give him cause for sorrow. Rewarding him handsomely, he permitted him to depart in peace. Cosmas took up his abode in the Lavra of St. Sabbas, where he remained, leading the life of virtue until the day of his departure unto God, the most perfect Wisdom.

Sometime later, John’s father also died in great old age. The Caliph summoned John, wishing to make him his chief counselor, but John declined, having another desire: to labor for the Lord in silence. Nevertheless, he was forced to accept the position & was charged with even greater authority in the city of Damascus than his father had enjoyed.
At that time Leo the Isaurian reigned over the Greek Empire. He rose up against the Church of God like a roaring lion, casting the holy icons out of the Lord’s churches, committing them to flames & mercilessly destroying those who venerated them. Hearing of this, John was aroused with zeal for piety like Elijah the Tishbite & Christ’s Forerunner. He took up the sword of the word of God & hewed down the heretical arguments of the inhuman Emperor, writing many epistles in defense of the holy icons. These he circulated among the Orthodox, wisely demonstrating from the ancient traditions of the God-bearing Fathers that it is fitting to honor the sacred images. He asked his readers to show the letters to other Orthodox brethren & confirm them in the faith. Thus the blessed John traveled the whole world, not on foot, but by means of his divinely inspired letters, which were read everywhere in the Greek Empire, confirming the Orthodox in piety & flailing the heretics as if with a goad. Word of this reached the impious Emperor Leo himself, who, unable to endure this denunciation of his ungodliness, summoned other heretics who shared his opinions & ordered them to inquire among the Orthodox for a copy of a letter written by John in his own hand. If one of the Emperor’s agents should find such a letter, he was to take it on the pretext that he wished to read it. After much effort a letter written by John himself was found & brought directly to the Emperor. He in turn gave it to skilled scribes, commanding them to copy the handwriting & write a letter purporting to be a message to him from John. The forged letter read as follows: “Hail, O Emperor! In the name of our common faith I rejoice in your might, rendering due homage to your Imperial Majesty. I wish to make known to you that our city of Damascus, which is held by the Saracens, is poorly defended by them with a weak & paltry guard; therefore I entreat you for God’s sake to show compassion & send your brave army to our rescue. If it appears to be headed elsewhere, & then suddenly falls upon Damascus, the city can be taken under your rule without difficulty. I will do much to assist you in this, for the city & this entire country are under my administration.”
Next the devious Emperor ordered that a letter from himself to the Saracen Caliph be composed. This letter read: “Nothing, I believe, is more blessed than to live in amity & enjoy friendly relations with one’s neighbors, for to keep a vow of peace is a thing most praiseworthy & pleasing to God. Truly, I desire ever to keep the peace I have concluded with you, honorably & faithfully. However, a notable Christian living in your domain often sends me letters urging me to attack you without warning & promises to deliver the city of Damascus into my hands without a great battle, if only I should come against it with my army. As a token of my friendship & so that you may know the truth of what I write, I am sending you one of the letters penned by that Christian. Thus informed of his audacious treachery, you will know how to reward him.”

The Emperor sent both letters to the Caliph. After reading them, the barbarian Prince summoned John & showed him the forged letter he had supposedly written. John examined it carefully, saying, “The hand-writing is similar to mine, but it was not me who wrote it. It has never entered my mind to write the Greek Emperor or to deal falsely with my master!”

John understood at once that this was a plot of the malicious & cunning heretics, but the Caliph raged with anger & commanded that John’s right hand be cut off. John begged the ruler to allow him to explain the reason for the evil Emperor’s hatred toward him & to give him a little time to establish his innocence, but this was refused. The Caliph would permit no delay, so John’s right hand, which had so greatly strengthened the Orthodox & assisted them in remaining faithful to God, was severed. That hand which had censured most forcefully those who hated the Lord was now stained, not with ink from the pen employed to defend the holy icons, but with its own blood.

After the amputation John’s hand was hung aloft in the city market, & the saint, weak from pain & the loss of much blood, was returned to his home. Just before darkness fell, the blessed one was told that the Caliph’s wrath had abated; whereupon John sent him this request: “My pain continues to increase, giving me indescribable torment. Permit my hand to be returned from the market, my lord, that I may bury it & so assuage my pain.”

The Caliph granted the request, & when the hand was brought, John entered his prayer-room & fell to the floor before his icon of the most pure Theotokos. Pressing the severed hand to his wrist, he sighed & wept, praying from the depths of his heart: “O Lady, most pure Mistress & Mother of God, behold: my right hand has been cut off for the sake of the divine icons by the tyrant Leo! Whatsoever thou willest, thou canst accomplish, for through thy holy prayers, the right hand of the Most High, Who was incarnate of thee, works numerous miracles; wherefore, come quickly to mine aid, that He may heal my hand by thine intercession, O Theotokos. May I again be permitted to defend the Orthodox faith; may my hand write once more in praise of thee & thy Son!”

With this John fell asleep & beheld in a dream the most pure Theotokos looking down upon him from the icon with warm, compassionate eyes. She said, “Your hand has been restored. Do not be troubled any longer, but return to your work & labor diligently, like a swiftly writing scribe, even as you promised me.”

John arose from sleep, felt his right hand & realized that it had indeed been healed. His spirit rejoiced in God his Saviour & in the Lord’s most pure Mother, who had done such a great thing for him. He rejoiced throughout the night with all his household, chanting a new hymn: “Thy right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power. Thy right hand has healed my severed hand & crushed Thine enemies, who do not revere Thy precious image or that of Thy most pure Mother. It shall destroy those who destroy the icons, & multiply Thy glory!”

John’s neighbors heard him & the others chanting songs of gladness & thanksgiving & learning the reason for their joy, marveled greatly. It was not long before the Caliph learned of it as well. He summoned John & ordered him to display his severed hand. Around John’s right wrist was a mark like a red thread, which the Mother of God had allowed to remain as testimony to the fact that his hand truly had been cut off. Seeing this, the Caliph asked John what physician had rejoined the hand to his wrist, & what treatment had been used to heal it. John did not hesitate to proclaim boldly, “It was my Lord, the almighty Physician, Who healed me! He hearkened unto my earnest supplication, offered through His most pure Mother & restored the hand that you cut off.”

“Woe is me!” lamented the Caliph. “I condemned you, a good man, unjustly, without investigating the accusation made against you. I beseech you to forgive me for passing judgment so hastily & foolishly. Agree to accept your former rank of chief counselor. Henceforth nothing shall be done in the realm without your advice or consent!” But John fell at the Caliph’s feet & pleaded to be released from service. He begged the ruler not to forbid him to take the path his soul desired, but to allow him to follow the Lord with those who have renounced themselves & the world, & have taken up Christ’s yoke. The Caliph was loath to agree, since he wished to retain John as overseer of his palace & entire domain. Each continued his attempts to persuade the other, but finally John prevailed.

Returning home, John immediately distributed his possessions among the poor, freed his slaves & set out for Jerusalem with Cosmas his foster-brother. After venerating the Holy Places, he went to the Lavra of St. Sabbas, where he implored the abbot to accept him as a lost sheep & admit him to his chosen flock. The superior & brethren knew of John, since he was famous even in Palestine due to his writings & the high rank he had held. Rejoicing because such a man had come to him in poverty & humility, the abbot received him with love. He called for a brother experienced in asceticism, to entrust the novice to his care for training in spiritual philosophy & the traditions of monasticism, but the monk refused to accept John, being unwilling to become teacher to a man who surpassed so many in knowledge. Then the abbot summoned another, but he too refused. A 3rd & a 4th monk were brought, but they & all the rest declared that they were unworthy to instruct such a man. All were daunted by John’s wide learning & former exalted rank. Finally, a simple but wise elder was summoned who agreed to be John’s guide. The elder received John into his cell, & wishing to set for him the foundation of a life of virtue, 1st imposed upon him the following rules: never to do anything according to his own will; to offer God his labors & fervent supplications as a sacrifice & to shed tears to wash away the sins of his former life, since God regards tears as an oblation more precious than any incense. These rules the elder regarded as the basis for the higher works that are perfected by labors of the body. Furthermore, he required that John not harbor any worldly thoughts; that he not dwell on unseemly images, but preserve his mind pure, untouched by every vain attachment; & that he not boast of his learning or consider that by his studies he had attained a perfect understanding. He also forbade John to seek revelations or the understanding of hidden mysteries or to imagine that his reason would remain unshaken till the end of his life, & that he would never wander from the path of truth. On the contrary, he warned him that men’s thoughts are feeble & their understanding damaged by sin. For that reason, he said, he ought not to permit his thoughts to wander, but should take care to control them, so that his mind would be enlightened by God, his soul sanctified, & his body cleansed of every impurity. He enjoined the saint to strive to bring into concord body, soul & mind after the image of the Holy Trinity, & to be ruled neither by the body nor the soul, but by the spiritual faculty. In this way it is possible for a man to become altogether spiritual. Such were the rules given to his son & pupil by this father & teacher, who added to them these words: “Write to no one, & speak to no one of the secular sciences. Keep a discreet silence. Remember that it is not our wise men alone who teach the value of a quiet life; Pythagoras also had his disciples keep a lengthy silence. Pay heed to David, who said, “I held my peace, even from good,” & understand that it is not profitable to speak out of season. And what gain did he derive from silence? He says: “My heart grew hot within me; that is, the fire of divine love was kindled in him by reflection on God.”

The elder’s instructions fell like seed upon fertile ground in John’s heart, taking root there. John lived for a long time with the divinely inspired elder, carefully fulfilling his injunctions & submitting to him with-out pretense, gainsaying, or murmuring. Even in his thoughts he never contradicted the elder’s commands, & he inscribed in his heart this saying as on tablets of stone: “Every command given by one’s father is to be obeyed without wrath & doubting, as the Apostle says.” Indeed, how does a novice profit by fulfilling a task with his hands, while grumbling with his lips? What gain is there in doing what is commanded, while contradicting with the tongue & mind? How can such a man attain perfection? Never will he reach his goal. He labors in vain, for by thinking that he has achieved virtue through obedience, he has only hidden a serpent in his breast by complaining. But the blessed John, who was truly obedient, never grumbled, no matter what tasks he was ordered to perform.

One day, the elder, wishing to test John’s humility, ordered him to fetch a large number of baskets, which they made & sold. He said to John, “I have heard, child, that baskets sell for much more in Damascus than in Palestine. As you see, we are lacking in necessities of every sort & are in need of money. Go without delay to Damascus & sell our baskets there.” The elder set a price for the baskets far above their value & insisted that John accept nothing less, but the true son of obedience did not protest in word or thought. He did not object to being sent on such a long journey, nor was he ashamed to sell baskets in a city where he was known to everyone & had been a man of great authority, because he was determined to emulate the Master Christ, Who was obedient unto death. He asked for his spiritual father’s blessing & loaded the baskets on his shoulders. Arriving in Damascus, he began to walk through the markets, offering his goods for sale. Those who wished to purchase them asked what they cost &, learning their high price, would laugh at John, mockingly insulting him. Clad as he was in rags, the blessed one was not recognized by anyone, since the people of Damascus had always seen him wearing gold-embroidered robes. Moreover, his face was worn by fasting, his cheeks were sunken, & his handsome appearance had faded away. But finally one citizen, who had been John’s servant while the saint was in a position of authority, did recognize him after staring for some time. Astonished at seeing John clothed in wretched tatters, he was moved from the bottom of his heart. Pretending not to know him, the man approached John & gave him the full price set by the elder; not because he was in need of baskets, but because he felt compassion for his former master, who, having enjoyed great fame & wealth, had come to such poverty & humility for God’s sake. Accepting the money, John returned to his elder like a victor from battle, having cast to the ground his enemy, the proud & vainglorious devil, by obedience & humility.

Some time passed, & one of the monks of the lavra fell asleep in the Lord. He had a brother according to the flesh who grieved inconsolably for him. Although John spoke at length with the man, trying to comfort him, he was unsuccessful, for the mourner was wounded by measureless sorrow. Then the monk began to entreat John to compose compunctionate burial hymns, to console him in his sadness. At first John refused, not wishing to transgress the command given by his elder, who had forbidden him to do anything without permission, but the mourning brother did not cease his entreaties, saying, “Why will you not have pity on my sorrowful soul? Why do you not wish to give me a little medicine to heal my grieving heart? If you were a physician & some illness had stricken me, & I asked you to cure me, would you disdain me & leave me to die, though you had the ability to treat me? I am suffering greatly from heartache & seek only a little help, but you spurn me! If I die of grief, will you not have to answer for me to God? If you are afraid to violate your elder’s injunction, I will conceal what you have written so that he will not learn of it.” At length John yielded to such persuasion & wrote the following troparia: “What sweetness of life,” “Like a flower that withereth,” “All human vanity” & others, which are used to this day in the funeral service.

One day, while the elder had left the cell, John was chanting the hymns he had composed. Upon his return the elder, drawing near the cell, heard John singing. He rushed in & reproached the disciple angrily, “How is it that you have forgotten your vows so quickly & make merry, singing to yourself instead of weeping?” John told him the reason & explained that he was compelled by the brother’s tears to write the hymns he was singing. Begging forgiveness, he fell to the ground before the elder, who nevertheless remained unyielding & forbade the blessed one to continue living with him.

Driven out of the cell, John recalled Adam’s expulsion from Paradise because of disobedience. He remained for some time before the door weeping, as once did Adam before the gate of the Garden. Afterwards, he went to the other fathers whom he knew to be perfect in the virtues & entreated them to go to his elder & ask him to forgive his offense. They implored the elder to pardon John & permit him to return, but their pleas were unavailing. One of the fathers said to him, “Impose a penance upon the sinner, but do not forbid him to live with you.”

To this the elder replied, “This is the penance I give him: if he wishes to be forgiven his transgression, let him wash out all the chamber-pots in the lavra & clean every one of the latrines.”

When the monks heard this, they departed in consternation, amazed at the elder’s crudity & unyielding disposition. John went out to meet them as they returned &, bowing down before them, as was the custom, asked what was his spiritual father’s reply. They told him of the elder’s harshness, but did not dare relate what he had set as a penance. John, however, fervently besought them to tell him what his father demanded, & when he learned, he rejoiced exceedingly & was eager to undertake the shameful task. Preparing without delay the equipment necessary for the cleaning, he began the work with diligence, touching excrement with fingers once fragrant with perfumes & soiling the right hand healed miraculously by the most pure Theotokos. O the profound self-abasement of that wondrous man & true son of obedience! Seeing how John gladly allowed himself to be humiliated, the elder was moved to compunction & hastened to embrace his spiritual child, kissing him upon the head, shoulders & hands. He exclaimed, “O what a great sufferer for Christ have I begotten! Truly, he is a son of blessed obedience!”

Flustered by the elder’s words, John fell at his feet, weeping. He did not permit feelings of pride to gain access to his heart because of his father’s praises, but humbled himself all the more, begging to be forgiven his offense. The elder took him by the hand & led him back to the cell. So elated was John by this that it seemed to him he was being led into paradise. After this he lived with his spiritual father in their former accord.

Soon thereafter, the Mistress of the world, the most pure & blessed Virgin, appeared to the elder in a dream, saying, “Why have you blocked up a stream which pours forth an abundance of sweet water, a water preferable to that which sprang from the rock in the wilderness or the water that David longed to drink? This is the water Christ promised the Samaritan woman. Do not hinder the flow of this spring that will water the whole world, drowning heresies & their bitterness! Let the thirsty hasten to this water, & let those who do not possess the pure silver of an unsullied life sell their passions & gain it by emulating John, a man radiant with purity & good deeds & most learned in the dogmas of the Church. He will take up the psaltery of the prophets & David’s harp to sing a new song to the Lord God, 1 that shall surpass the canticles of Moses & Mariam. The fabled odes of Orpheus will be counted as naught when compared with his works, for he will sing a spiritual & heavenly hymn like that of cherubim. He will make the churches of Jerusalem like maidens playing the timbrel, chanting unto God & proclaiming Christ’s death & resurrection. He will expound in writing the dogmas of Orthodoxy & denounce the perverse teachings of the heretics; his heart shall pour forth a good word, & he shall speak of the wondrous works of the King.”

The next morning, the elder summoned John & said to him, “O son of obedience to Christ, speak what is stored up in your heart! Let your mouth declare wisdom, announcing the things God has revealed to your mind. Open your mouth & proclaim, not legends & dark fables, but the truths of the Church & her dog-mas. Speak to the heart of the Jerusalem that truly beholds God, that is, the Church, which He has reconciled unto Himself. Do not pour out empty words into the air, but relate what the Holy Spirit has inscribed in your heart. Ascend the lofty Sinai of the vision of God & the revelation of divine mysteries: ascend by means of your great humility, which is a bottomless abyss, to the summit of the Church, & there proclaim the Gospel to Jerusalem. Lift up your voice mightily, for the Mother of God has told me wondrous things of you. And forgive me, I pray, for my crudeness & ignorance have been a hindrance to you.”

From that time the blessed John resumed writing sacred books & composing melodious hymns. He wrote The Octoechos (the liturgical book containing the hymns of Vespers & Orthros, set forth according to an 8-week schedule), which, like a spiritual flute, delights the Church of God even to this day. John began this book with words he had once sung when his hand was restored: “Thy victorious right hand hath in godly manner been glorified in might.” The hymn “In thee all creation rejoices, O thou who art full of grace” (the hymn to the Theotokos sung during the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great) he also first chanted when exulting after the wondrous healing. John always wore upon his head the bandage he had used to wrap his severed hand, in remembrance of the miracle worked by the most pure Theotokos. He also wrote the lives of a number of saints, com-posed festal homilies & various compunctionate prayers. He denounced the heretics, especially the iconoclasts, expounding the dogmas of the true faith & the mysteries of theology, & to this day the faithful are spiritually nourished by his edifying treatises, from which they drink as from a sweet stream.

The venerable John had as a helper in his labors the blessed Cosmas, who was reared with him & studied under the same learned monk. Cosmas, who was later consecrated bishop of Maiuma by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, urged John to write sacred books & compose hymns, & himself assisted in this work.

The same Patriarch that consecrated Cosmas ordained John presbyter; but John, not wishing to tarry in the world & be praised by the laity, returned to his cell in the Monastery of St. Sabbas like a bird to its nest. There he devoted himself to the reading & writing of sacred books & the attainment of his salvation. Collecting all the books, homilies & sermons he had previously written, he edited them carefully, so that no errors would remain in them. John passed much time in these labors, which greatly benefitted both his soul & the entire Church of Christ. He attained perfect holiness, & having pleased God in all his works, departed unto Christ & His most pure Mother. Not before their icons does he now pay them homage, but instead he gazes upon their countenances in the glory of heaven. Moreover, he prays that we also be deemed worthy of divine vision by the grace of Christ, to Whom, with His all-hymned & most blessed Mother, be honor, glory & worship forever. Amen.

According to Theophanes, St. John had 2 surnames: Chrysorolus & Mansur. He was called Chrysorolus because the grace of the Holy Spirit shone like gold in him & was evident both in his writings & his life. Mansur was the family name he inherited from his ancestors.

A Prayer for the Victims of Abortion

FrDanielG — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:04:12 +0000

O Lord God, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, our only Maker and Redeemer, Who art timelessly begotten of the Heavenly Father and Who for love for mankind didst deign to be incarnate in time by the power of the Holy Spirit in the pure womb of Thine all-holy, ever-virgin Mother Mary and Whose Messiah-ship was first discerned and Whose birth according to the flesh first announced by the Baptist John while still in his mother’s womb and Whose first witness-martyrs were neither Apostles nor Myrrh-bearers, but innocent babes slain by cruel Herod: Do Thou Thyself, O compassionate Lord, look with mercy and love upon all the innocents butchered before their first breath, whose precious blood which, like that of Israel’s first-born sons offered in sacrifice to Moloch by their unrighteous parents, was poured out upon the altar of vanity and lust. Grant them peace and joy. May their mighty archangel-guardian ease the grief, bitterness and anger which wounds their gentle hearts, that, when, as is their due, they shall stand at Thy dread Judgment-Seat as accusers of their parents, their parents’ supporters, the abortionists and their assistants who were their heart-less executioners, they be not avenging spirits but dispensers of mercy to their debtors and sincere intercessors before Thy tribunal. May gentle, fragrant breezes wafting from fair Paradise surround them and assuage their childish anguish and pain. May they know now the sweetness and tenderness of which they have been robbed in this life and in the next. May Thy gentle Mother extend her hand that they may know a mother’s caress. May Thy radiant glory lighten their darkness and rejoice their childish hearts. And we pray Thee, O Master of all, to withhold Thy righteous indignation against us, and grant that a quick and final end be brought to this satanic holocaust and that the sea of blood of righteous Abel and that of the holy Innocents of Bethlehem be not further swelled to drown and defile the beauty of Thy creation. Open our eyes to discern the enormity of the abominable crime of abortion, that, with broken and contrite heart, such as Thou dost not despise, we may repent the wickedness which we have done and may know again Thy mercy and compassion. Having recovered, through sincere and profound repentance, our right minds and truly human hearts that we may walk in ways that well-please Thee, that we may ever bless, praise, serve and glorify Thee, together with Thy Father Who is without beginning, and Thine all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.