1962 Nativity Epistle of St. John Maximovitch

"Thou, Who art the God of peace and the Father of compassion, didst send unto us the Angel of Thy great Counsel, granting us peace."

The Angel of the pre-eternal Counsel of the Holy Trinity comes to the earth. This is not an ordinary messenger; it is the Only-begotten Son of God Himself. He brings peace to men. "Peace be unto you," he said more than once to His disciples. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you," He says to the apostles at the Mystical Supper, "not as the world giveth, give I unto you." And appearing after His Resurrection, again He says: "Peace be unto you." "For he is our peace," the Holy Apostle Paul says concerning Him: "He came to the earth to reconcile man unto God by the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And having come, He preached peace to those afar off and to those near, because through Him we both have access unto the Father."

The wall that separated heaven and earth is destroyed; the sword that barred the way to the Tree of Life disappears. Unto man that had sinned comes his Creator, calling him into His embrace! By the mouths of the apostles, the Holy Spirit cries out: "In Christ, be ye reconciled to God." You that had sinned came not to God, but the Son of God, before Whom you sinned, came to you! He calls everyone to Himself; He gives forgiveness to everyone who merely thirsts for this. For without the desire of man himself, without at least his little effort, God's peace cannot settle in him. The Lord forces no one to come to Him, but calls everyone: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Come all ye who are heavy laden with sins, who are exhausted from your labors and who do not find rest! You shall find that inner peace, which you will find nothing on earth more desirable than. The soul will feel unearthly peace and joy.

The Magi who worshipped the Babe experienced that joy; the shepherds, finding Him lying in a manger, also felt it. But neither peace nor joy touched the heart of Herod and those who wanted to destroy the Babe. For evil desire and malice are incompatible with inner peace. And whoever does not have inner peace, also sows strife and malice about.

The Church now calls us to meet Christ Who comes from heaven. What can we do in order to meet Him like the Magi, and not like Herod? "Ye that desire life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." It tends to be hard to do this; we are weak when it comes to everything good. But the Son of God even came for this: in order to strengthen us. Not for naught was He born in Bethlehem, which signifies "house of bread." He feeds us with heavenly food, His flesh. "God, the Lord and Creator of all, as a babe in the flesh, is worshipped in a poor manger, crying out: 'Eat My body and through faith be made steadfast.'" These words of the divine Babe are directed to us. Let us hearken to His call! Let us follow the Magi; let us hasten with the shepherds! Our churches are now that cave of Bethlehem. Not illusory, but in reality does He, Who is now being born in His most pure flesh, rest in them. Let us worship Him; let us offer as a gift our thoughts and desires; let us confess our sins, and let us taste of His immaculate Body and Blood. Whoever did not do this earlier, let him at least accomplish it now, when the star of Bethlehem is already shining! Our minds will be enlightened and the heart will hear:

"Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will among men!"

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Serbian Holy Synod: Communique on the Sect of "Artemians" (12/16/10)

The Communique of the Holy Synod of Serbia - 16th December 2010

Holy Synod of Bishops at the meeting held on 16th of December this year, addressed the Church and the general public, regarding the anti-church conduct of the former Bishop of Raška and Prizren, now monk Artemije, with the following statement:

1. As is known the Holy Assembly of Bishops at its May session this year, on the basis of a written document related to the proved canonical delicts, permanently and irrevocably dismissed Bishop Artemije from the duty of the Bishop of Raška and Prizren, which he himself accepted and agreed to live at Sisatovac monastery upon his release. Regrettably, from September and October this year, Bishop Artemije in his letters to the Holy Synod expressed his "regret" for accepting the synodal decision, claiming, contrary to common sense, that he was "a lifelong Bishop of Raška and Prizren". This was a reason for the Holy Synod to place him under censure until the next regular session of this year's Holy Assembly of Bishops in November.

Instead of asking from the Assembly the forgiveness for his delicts and violations of the canonical order of the Church, so that his censure could be lifted, Bishop Artemije in a violent manner, with a group of his followers, who had also been censured after ecclesiastical court proceedings, tried to usurp the monasteries and entire Raška and Prizren Diocese, beginning his lawless act by uncanonical and unconstitutional serving of the Liturgy in the monastery of Duboki potok, though still under a censure. In addition, using a counterfeit seal, he began to issue anti-canonical decisions in the Diocese of Raška and Prizren.

All this was happening while the Holy Assembly was in session, so the Bishops, with deep regret, were forced to deprive the former Bishop of Raška and Prizren Bishop Artemije of his episcopal rank and return him to the order of a monk. The unlawful Liturgy and participation in it, as well as other, additional reasons also contributed to the decision of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren to laicize seventeen hierodeacons and hieromonks, the followers of Artemije. Instead of soberness and repentance, monk Artemije and his laicized followers continued to "serve the Liturgy" in the usurped church of Saint John the Baptist (the Diocese of Žiča), which they turned into "a monastery", thus adding iniquity to iniquity.

2. These were the reasons why the Holy Synod was obliged to inform the public that such conduct its former Bishop of Raška and Prizren not only found himself on the path of a schism but literally created his own sect, the sect of "Artemians", the first of its kind in the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Without losing hope and calling him to repentance, the Holy Synod responsibly brings to the attention of all the clergy and faithful people of St. Sava's Church that " the Liturgy" of former bishop Artemije and his supporters, who have all been dismissed from the clerical state, is not the Holy Liturgy, their "communion" is not the sacred Communion, their "mysteries" are not the holy mysteries of the Church of God, and that all they do serves the spiritual ruin to them and those who follow them and participate in their gatherings and worship. Claiming to serve God, they in fact under the guise of defense of Orthodoxy work on destruction of the unity of the Church of Christ, separating themselves in a sectarian way from her living and salvific Community and depriving themselves and others of eternal salvation. Therefore, all those who still follow them naively should think again whom and what they are following, separating themselves from the Church of Christ, and bringing on themselves and their children the sectarian curse.

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NYT - The Funeral of St. John of Kronstadt

Source: The New York Times, January 5, 1909

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St. John of Kronstadt: "Count Leo Tolstoy, the Worst Heretic of Our Evil Days"

Source: The New York Times, April 5, 1903

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Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer

St. Ignatius of Antioch (Feast Day - December 20)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

This holy man is called "the God-bearer" because he constantly bore the name of the Living God in his heart and on his lips. According to tradition, he was thus named because he was held in the arms of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. On a day when the Lord was teaching His disciples humility, He took a child and placed him among them, saying: "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:4). This child was Ignatius.

Later, Ignatius was a disciple of St. John the Theologian, together with Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. As Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius governed the Church of God as a good shepherd and was the first to introduce antiphonal chanting in the Church, in which two choirs alternate the chanting. This manner of chanting was revealed to St. Ignatius by the angels in heaven.

When Emperor Trajan was passing through Antioch on his way to do battle with the Persians, he heard of Ignatius, summoned him and counseled him to offer sacrifice to the idols. If Ignatius would do so, Trajan would bestow upon him the rank of senator. As the counsels and threats of the emperor were in vain, St. Ignatius was shackled in irons and sent to Rome in the company of ten merciless soldiers, to be thrown to the wild beasts.

Ignatius rejoiced in suffering for his Lord, only praying to God that the wild beasts would become the tomb for his body and that no one would prevent him from this death. After a long and difficult journey from Asia through Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus, Ignatius arrived in Rome, where he was thrown to the lions in the circus. The lions tore him to pieces and devoured him, leaving only several of the larger bones and his heart. This glorious lover of the Lord Christ suffered in the year 106 in Rome at the time of the Christ-hating Emperor Trajan. Ignatius has appeared many times from the other world and worked miracles, even to this day helping all who call upon him for help.

A Reflection From His Life

The holy martyrs, seized with the love of Christ, were like unquenchable flames. This love eased their sufferings and made their deaths sweet. St. Chrysostom says of St. Ignatius: "He put off his body with as much ease as one takes off his clothes."

Traveling to Rome to his death, Ignatius feared only one thing: that Christians would somehow prevent his martyrdom for Christ, by their prayers to God or in some outward manner. Therefore he continually implored them, in writing and in speech, not to do this. "Forgive me," he said. "I know what is for my benefit. I but begin to be a disciple of Christ when I desire nothing, either visible or invisible, save to attain Christ. May every diabolical torture come upon me: fire, crucifixion, wild beasts, the sword, tearing asunder, the crushing of my bones, and the dismemberment of my whole body - only that I may receive Jesus Christ. It is better for me to die for Christ than to reign to the ends of the earth…. My love is nailed to the Cross, and there is no fire of love in me for any earthly thing."

When he was brought to the circus, he turned to the people with these words: "Citizens of Rome, know that I am not being punished for any crime, neither have I been condemned to death for any transgression, but rather for the sake of my God, by Whose love I am overcome and Whom I insatiably desire. I am His wheat, and the teeth of the wild beasts will grind me to be His pure bread."

When he had been devoured by the wild beasts, by God's providence his heart remained among the bones. When the unbelievers cut open the saint's heart, they saw inside, inscribed in golden letters, the name "Jesus Christ".

HYMN OF PRAISE: The Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer

O Hierarch of Christ, wonderful and exemplary,
O gracious Hierarch, not an adversary of God,
Not from among the opponents of God, who killed Christ,
But from among the God-bearers, who loved Christ -
Holy Ignatius, God-bearing man,
You do we glorify; of you we are proud.

Emperor Trajan offered you titles and honors,
If only you would bow down before the idols.
You amazed the emperor, for you did not consent
To betray the Lord, not for the entire kingdom.
Instead, you went joyfully to death, O God-bearing Father;
For that we glorify you; of you we are proud.

Thrown before wild beasts, quietly you wait.
Rome seeks amusement; they toy with you!
"I am God's wheat!" you exclaimed there.
"The beasts shall grind me, to become good bread!"
And now, where is Trajan? But you are an inhabitant of heaven.
You are a hymn to the angels, and to us a teacher.

Holy Ignatius, you who bore God,
Entreat God to grant us the Bread of Life!

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
As a sharer of the ways and a successor to the throne of the Apostles, O inspired of God, thou foundest discipline to be a means of ascent to divine vision. Wherefore, having rightly divided the word of truth, thou didst also contest for the Faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Ignatius. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Third Tone
The divine and brilliant day of thine illustrious contests doth proclaim to all mankind Him that was born of a Virgin; for it was for Him that thou didst thirst to delight in, and didst haste to be devoured by beasts in thy longing. Hence, O glorious Ignatius, the name God-bearer was rightly given to thee.

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Dec. 20 - The Forefeast of the Nativity of the Lord

The Forefeast of the Nativity of the Lord begins on December 20. This ancient celebration is witnessed by St. John Chrysostom in his sermon praising Saint Philogonios, who is also commemorated this day [PG 48:747].

From now on, most of the liturgical hymns will be concerned with the birth of the Savior. Many of the Church's hymns of this period are slightly modified versions of the hymns of Holy Week.

From the 20th to the 23rd we sing the Troparion (Tone 4): "Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all. Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the Tree of Life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave. Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the fruit divine; if we eat of it we shall live forever and not die like Adam. Christ is coming to restore the image which He made in the beginning."

We also sing the Kontakion (Tone 3): "Today the Virgin comes to the cave where she will give birth past understanding to the Word from all eternity. Rejoice, O universe, when the tidings are proclaimed. Glorify, with the angels and shepherds, the one Who chose to be manifest as a newborn Child, while remaining the eternal God."

At Vespers on this first day of the prefeast we sing: "Let us celebrate, O people, the prefeast of Christ's Nativity; let us raise our minds on high, in spirit going up to Bethlehem…." (Sticheron on "Lord, I Call.")

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Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree Will Probably Recover

December 16, 2010
SWNS

A 2,000-year-old holy tree which was chopped up by vandals is set to make a full recovery – in a miraculous ‘second coming’, experts claimed today.

Locals were reduced to tears after the Holy Thorn Tree in Glastonbury, Somerset – which can be traced back to the death of Jesus – was hacked down last week.

The branches were sawn off and dumped on the floor and just the 6ft stump was left standing.

But caring Christians have dressed the tree’s wounds in pine resin and beeswax and it has been wrapped up to protect it from the frost.

Experts plan to cover the ground in bonemeal to feed the roots in spring and believe the holy shrine will sprout again.

Arborist Peter Wood Frearson said: ”I am 75 per cent sure the tree will survive.

”There are tears and nips to the main trunk that have been dressed, but the root system looks to be healthy.

”I can almost guarantee it will shoot again in the spring.”

Christian legend dictates that Jesus’s great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, came to Britain after the crucifixion bearing the Holy Grail – the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.

He visited Glastonbury and thrust his staff into Wearyall Hill, just below the Tor, planting a seed for the original thorn tree.

Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads felled the tree during the English Civil War, when Parliament waged a vicious battle against the Crown.

But locals salvaged the roots of the original tree, hiding it in secret locations around Glastonbury.

It was then replanted on the hill in 1951, where it had stood – revered and untouched until last Wednesday, when it was sawn to pieces.

The Holy Thorn’s branches have now been gathered up and will be stored at the nearby Glastonbury Abbey.

The community will decide how to use the branches and suggestion boxes have been set up for locals around the town.

One Glastonbury resident, Richard Chisnall, said the branches could be used to create saplings and sent all over the country in a message of peace, compassion and unity.

He said: ”Although the people who did this, did it with bad intent, they have bought the whole town together.”

Related post: Vandals Destroy Holy Thorn Tree In Glastonbury

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St. Ignatius Day Opens Christmas Festivities in Bulgaria

December 20, 2010
Novinite

Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria mark on Monday Ignazhden, the feast day of St. Ignatius, which inaugurates all the Christmas and New Year festivities.

It was from this day to Christmas Eve that the Virgin Mary's labors took place.

Some Bulgarians believe that the first person that visits their house on this day would indicate how the year would go. If a nice, warm, and smiling visitor arrives at their door, the year would bring them many happy moments.

Women should not take up any housework on that day, if they want to be able to conceive easily the following year and give birth to a healthy baby, traditions state.

Many ethnographers think that in ancient pagan times Christmas Eve and Ignazhden coincided, both celebrating the god Kolada. The separation of the two holidays came after the Slavs were converted to Christianity.

Till the end of the 19th century, mainly in the villages, people used home-made candles for the church, which were used as charms against ill wishers.

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Irmos - "A Star Has Dawned From the Tribe of Judah..."

This hymn of the Nativity of Christ was chanted by the blessed Metropolitan Nikodemos of Patras (1915 - Nov. 16, 2008) when he was 90-years-old. Below are the words with an English translation:

Καλοφωνικός Εἱρμός
"Ἄστρον ἤδη ἀνατέταλκεν, ἐκ φυλῆς Ἰοῦδα, ὅπερ ἐπιγνόντες, Βασιλείς κινήσεις, ἀνατολῶν ποιοῦνται, καὶ φθᾶσαι ἐπείγονται, ὄπως θεάσωνται Χριστόν, ἐν Βηθλεέμ σαρκί τικτόμενον."

Calophonic Irmos
"A Star has dawned from the tribe of Judah; knowing this Kings of the East are moving and hastening to arrive that they may contemplate Christ, Who is being born in the flesh in Bethlehem."

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The Legend Of '12 Days of Christmas'

Daniel Burke
December 16, 2010
The Huffington Post

Twelve drummers? Ten leaping lords? Two turtle doves?

Chances are, the gifts in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" are not high on anyone's Christmas list this year. In fact, it's hard to imagine they were ever popular presents.

"It's not a literal song," said Mickey Mullany, a professional caroler in Baltimore who admits to sometimes forgetting parts of the famously long lyrics. "If it was a literal song, it would be monstrous."

Indeed, in the NBC sitcom The Office, a salesman attempts to kindle romance with a co-worker by sending her presents from "The Twelve Days." After her cat kills the turtledoves and the French hens nest in her hair, the co-worker begs him to please, stop.

"Is it my fault the first eight days are basically 30 birds?" the lovesick salesman protests.

Given their unsuitability as gifts, how did dancing ladies, piping pipers and a bevy of birds become part of one of the season's best-known carols? What, if anything, do they symbolize?

It depends on whom you ask.

The song has French origins, and was published in an English children's book called Mirth without Mischief around 1780. Most people believe it began as a memory game sung at Twelfth Night parties. The 12 days of Christmas in Western Christianity refer to the time between Christ's birth on Dec. 25 and the arrival of the Magi to honor the newborn, known as Epiphany, on Jan. 6.

In recent times, the song has been searched for coded references to Catholic doctrine, ancient Egyptian holidays, Roman myths and the menu at medieval feasts. It has even become an annual index of economic inflation. Purchasing all the gifts from "Twelve Days" would cost about $23,400, an increase of more than 9 percent from last year, PNC Financial Services Group announced last month.

In the 1990s, a story began floating around the Internet that "The Twelve Days" was used as a secret catechism by Catholics persecuted after the Reformation in England. The "true love" who offers the gifts refers to God, according to this theory. The partridge is Jesus, the two
turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments, the three French hens represent the virtues of faith, hope and charity, and so on.

But California folklorists who run Snopes.com, an urban legend website, dispute the catechism tale. None of the tenets supposedly encoded in the song were points of conflict between Anglicans and Catholics, the website notes, so there would have been no reason to keep them secret. Also, it's impractical to rely on a seasonal song to teach the faith, the folklorists said. What did persecuted Catholics do for the rest of the year?

William Studwell, who was considered the dean of Christmas carol scholarship before he died last August, was also skeptical.

"If there was such a catechism device, a secret code, it was derived from the original secular song," he said in a 2008 interview with Religion News Service. "It's a derivative, not the source."

"The song can still be used as an educational or devotional tool by using the symbols as a mnemonic device," said the Rev. Dennis Bratcher, a Church of the Nazarene minister and director of the Christian Resource Institute. "Many Christians today hear the song in those terms anyway, regardless of its origins."

That's how "The Twelve Days" sounds to Ace Collins, an evangelical author of numerous books about Christmas carols.

On the surface, the carol seems as nonsensical as "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," Collins said. But a deeper meaning lies below the silly lyrics, he said, comparing the carol to "Roll, Jordan, Roll" the gospel song that was both biblical and a code for black slaves seeking to escape the South.

"Whether it was written that way, or adapted that way, either way it allows people to consider things they don't normally think about," Collins said of the carol, "and can possibly become a road that leads people to a greater understanding of Christ."


Leigh Grant, who wrote and illustrated a children's book about "The Twelve Days," said the gifts are popular parts of medieval feasts, often held during Twelfth Night celebrations. The birds were eaten while the pipers, drummers, and lords entertained the guests. The five golden rings in the song refer not to jewelry, but to ring-necked pheasants.

But the song is also rife with symbolism, Grant said.

Partridges and pears, for instance, were considered emblems of fertility during the Renaissance, she said. Likewise, geese and swans were seen as intermediaries between the earth and the sky, and thus humans and heaven.

"I've heard a lot of theories about this song," Grant said, "and I don't know if any of them are true. But what often happens to songs is that people change them, and so does the meaning people find in them."

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The 1907 Miracle of St. Nicholas in Pennsylvania at Darr Mine

On 20 December 1907 The New York Times front page reported details of a mining disaster in Pennsylvania. Although hundreds of coal miners had lost their lives, the newspaper carried the unusual headline of The Pittsburgh Press: ‘St Nicholas Feast Saves the Russians’. And other headline captions at the time included: Pittsburgh Gazette Times: "Majority of Victims Americans - Foreign Workers Lay Off to Go to Church and Escape Death"; Pittsburgh Dispatch: "Many of the victims are English-speaking men. Foreigners escape owing to religious holiday." What was the story behind these headlines?

On 19 December 1907, at least 239 coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Darr Mine in Van Meter, in the south-western corner of Pennsylvania. This remains the fourth worst coal mining disaster in U.S. history and everyone inside the mine was killed. However, it could have been much worse - the number of victims could have been double. The death toll was not some 500, because 19 December is St Nicholas’ Day [Old Calendar] and some 250 faithful Carpatho-Russian immigrant coal miners had taken an unpaid day off work to celebrate his memory. For even the greedy coal mine owners, who otherwise had virtually complete control over the miners with their threats of dismissal, knew that they could not force Carpatho-Russians to work on 19 December, St Nicholas Day. For St Nicholas is the patron saint of shepherds, one reason why he has been the Carpatho-Russian patron saint for centuries, and thanks to his intercession, men and boys, some perhaps as young as ten, survived to become fathers of hundreds and grandfathers of thousands. Had it not been for this miracle, more than a thousand would have been widowed and orphaned, which in 1907 would have meant financial destitution, for there would have been no assistance from companies or government agencies in those days.

Newspaper reports of the 11:30 am explosion that took place in the middle of the church service record that there was a terrible noise and the ground shook, as if there were an earthquake. Immediately everyone realized that there had been an explosion in the mine and they rushed to help find survivors. Although it was against the few regulations that did exist at the time, the mining company had allegedly interconnected more than one mine, which devastated a large area of the mine on both sides of the river. In the end, many bodies could not be identified and were placed in a mass grave, and although probably higher, the official death toll was 239.

Life was very harsh for the Carpatho-Russian miners. They were worked like animals in the bowels of the earth, exploited by ‘the English’ - anglophone American businessmen and coal barons, and often worked seven days a week. At that time the Carpatho-Russians were supported in their labour struggles by a priest, Fr (now St) Alexis Toth (1854-1909). Fr Alexis not only supported every labour struggle and won the respect of the people, but supported the immigrants in other ways too. For, having been forced into outward Uniatism in their homeland by the threat of starvation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, from the 1880s on the Carpatho-Russians had been forced into emigrating by the cruel Hungarian Roman Catholic authorities in their homeland. In America they struggled to retain their identity and traditions. However, as a result of the religious freedom they found in North America, many of their priests and tens of thousands of people had since 1892 been returning to Orthodoxy to become part of the Orthodox Church in North America. And it had been St Alexis who had led the way. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Uniats were as a rule anti-labour and supported their Irish masters. The Carpatho-Russian miners remained close to the Church and many later revered the memory of the Russian Tsar-Martyr, Nicholas II, under whom all Orthodox in North America had been united.

In response to the return to Orthodoxy of the exploited and misled Carpatho-Russians, in 1907 the Pope of Rome was so worried that he appointed a Bishop Soter Ortinsky as ‘Greek Catholic’ bishop for America. It is notable that Rome had never made any similar effort to provide for a specific nationality that had emigrated to America. However, Ortinsky was not even Carpatho-Russian, but a Polish Galician, and he had virtually no authority. In reality, relatively few Uniat churches and priests remained under the authority of their local Roman Catholic bishop, who typically had limited knowledge of the Orthodox rite, let alone Orthodox teaching, and refused to recognize married priests. The 1907 miracle in Pennsylvania, which took place according to the Orthodox calendar date of St Nicholas Day, only served to hearten the exploited Carpatho-Russian immigrants who had returned to Orthodoxy, confirming them in their choice of Faith and encouraging others to do likewise in later years.

19 December 2007 was the centenary of the Miracle of St Nicholas at the Darr Mine and at 7 pm an Akathist to St Nicholas was celebrated at the St Nicholas Orthodox Church at Jacobs Creek close by. A new troparion and kontakion were composed for the occasion and new content describing the miracle of the saving of the coal miners were added to the service.

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Read more at these links:

‘St Nicholas Feast Saves the Russians’, The New York Times, December 7, 1907

Centennial of the Miracle of St. Nicholas, Jacobs Creek

A Modern Day Miracle: 1907 Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania

Darr Mine Disaster: The 100th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Intercession of St. Nicholas

Centennial Observance of St. Nicholas Miracle Brings Churches Together - December 19, 2007

December 1907 Was Most Disastrous Month in U.S. Coal History

Darr Mine Disaster: Video


This was the second miracle of St. Nicholas and miners in 1907. Earlier on December 6, Nicholas' feast day in the Gregorian Calendar, the worst mining disaster in United States history took place in Monongah, West Virginia. Nearly 400 men lost their lives that day. However, 60–100 Italian Roman Catholic and Carpatho-Rusyn Greek Catholic miners were spared as they attended a Roman Catholic St. Nicholas feast day observance. American mines were more dangerous than European mines. Practices outlawed in Europe were still allowed in the US where minors were three to four times more likely to die on the job.

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Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Protected by your prayers, O Holy Father Nicholas we children of those saved offer praise to you. Beneath your holy omofor you covered your people as they labored beneath the hills of a new land. Cease not to intercede that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion in Tone Three
You were truly the protector of your people, O Holy Nicholas for those who zealously celebrated your holy feast. You preserved them from danger and death as they labored beneath the earth. Therefore with one voice we ask you to continually pray for us that we may obtain mercy from Christ our God.

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Saint Elias (Ilya) Muromets of the Kiev Near Caves

St. Ilya of Murom (Feast Day - December 19)

Saint Elias Muromets of the Kiev Near Caves, nicknamed "Shoemaker" or "Cobbler," was from the city of Murom. According to hagiography, before taking his monastic vows Ilya was a warrior famous for his strength. His nickname was Chobotok, old russian for "Boot", given to him after an accident when Ilya, caught by surprise, fought enemies with his boot only.

St Elias died with the fingers of his right hand formed to make the Sign of the Cross in the position accepted even today in the Orthodox Church: the first three fingers together, and the two outermost fingers folded onto the palm [in contrast to the Sign of the Cross used by the "Old Ritualists" or "Old Believers"]. During the struggle with the Old Ritualist Schism (seventeenth-nineteenth centuries), this information about the saint served as a powerful proof in favor of the present positioning of the fingers.

He died in the year 1188, and his incorrupt relics are miracle-working. Even until now, three fingers on his right hand remain placed together for prayer, showing that he died at prayer. According to St. Nikolai Velimirovich: "This is a reproach to those who do not make the sign of the Cross with three fingers." He was glorified by the Church in 1643 as St. Ilya Pechorsky.

Popular legend identifies him with the famous warrior hero Elias Muromets, who was the subject of Russian ballads and of Gliere's Symphony No. 3. For more on this, read here.

In 1988, Soviet archeologists exhumed Ilya's remains, stored in Kiev Pechersk Lavra, and studied them. Their report suggested that at least some parts of the legend may be true: the person was tall, his bones carried signs of spinal disease at early age and marks from numerous wounds, one of which was fatal. Below is a forensic facial reconstruction by Sergey A. Nikitin of St. Ilya.

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Photos From Vigil In Honor of Alexandros Papadiamandis

An All-Night Vigil took place in the Chapel of Prophet Elisha in Plaka last night in honor of the 100th anniversary repose of the pious author Alexandros Papadiamandis (1911-2011). It was officated by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece and many people attended, especially youth and young adults, to honor the author from Skiathos who chanted for many decades in this chapel while St. Nicholas Planas officiated as priest.

Read also: All-Night Vigil In Memory of Alexandros Papadiamandis

More photos here.








Photos from Romfea.gr

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A Homily on the Long-Suffering and Patient Job

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away" (Job 1:21).

Brethren, let the righteous one fear nothing; all shall be well with him. The whole of Sacred Scripture shows us that God will never forsake the righteous. The example of Job shows us this as clearly as the sun. Job had seven sons and three daughters; he had riches, respect among the people, and friends. And he lost all of this in one day. He did not grumble against God but fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither" (Job 1:20-21).

Then Job lost his health, the last of what he had, and his entire body, from the top of his head to the heels of his feet, was covered with sores and pus. And Job sat in ashes and lifted up praise to God. His wife tried to persuade him to renounce his God, but righteous Job said to her: "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). His friends reproached him, saying that he was sinful and proud in his understanding and righteousness before them, but Job humbly prayed to God and patiently endured all his wounds and misfortunes.

It happens today, as it did then, that when some misfortune befalls us, our neighbors consider themselves to be more intelligent and more righteous than we are. But the most wise God permitted all these misfortunes to fall on Job in order to test not only Job His servant but also his kinsmen and his friends. When each of them had shown what kind of person he was, when each of them had been tested before God, then God, with His almighty right hand, restored Job to health, returned twice as much wealth as He had taken away, and gave him again seven sons and three daughters.

He who has strong faith, brethren, has clear spiritual sight, so that he can see the finger of God in his prosperity as well as in his suffering. He who has strong faith also has great patience in suffering. When God gives to him, he gives thanks, and when God takes away, he blesses: "Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

O Lord, the God of the long-suffering and patient Job, teach us to bless Thy name in our sufferings. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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A Homily on the Faith and Zeal of Elijah the Prophet

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word" (I Kings 17:1).

These words are terrible sounding to every mortal ear, for a man spoke them, a man subject to like passions as we are (James 5:17). You ask yourselves, brethren, how can a mortal man shut up the heavens and stop the rain? But ask yourselves: how can a mortal man open the heavens and bring down rain upon the parched ground?

We know that even now God opens the heavens and gives rain at the prayers of men: "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22), says our Savior. As Moses, by living faith and prayer, worked awesome miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, as Joshua the son of Nun held back the course of the sun, so also God's prophet Elias shut and opened the heavens, brought down fire from heaven, and worked other mighty and awesome miracles all through faith and prayer.

God gave Elias the power to work such miracles, for Elias was zealous for the glory of God and not for his own glory: "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts" (I Kings 19:14). This man of God sought nothing for himself but sought everything for God. God was everything to him: all glory, all strength, all good. Therefore, God crowned him with immortal glory, awesome might, and treasure which does not decay and which moths do not corrupt.

God did not permit Elias to die but took him to heaven as he did Enoch. St. Elias had a soul as pure as the morning dew, a body as chaste as a child's, and a heart and mind as blameless as that of an angel of God. Therefore, he was and remains a vessel of God's power. He worked wonders then and works them today.

O Living Lord, the God of Thy Prophet Elias, Who hast adopted us through baptism by Thy holy grace: enkindle also in us the faith and zeal of Thy holy prophet. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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A Homily on the Repentance of King David

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"And David said to Nathan: 'I have sinned against the Lord'" (II Samuel 12:13).

"My tears have been my food day and night" (Psalm 42:3).

King David sinned against God and repented, and God forgave him. The king's sin was great, but greater still was his repentance. He was guilty before God of two grave sins: adultery and murder. But when Nathan the prophet of God denounced him, he cried out in anguish: "I have sinned against the Lord!" Thus he confessed his sin and repented bitterly, most bitterly.

Grief-stricken, he prayed to God, weeping, fasting, lying on the ground, and enduring meekly the terrible blows that God sent upon him, his house and his people because of his sins. In his penitential Psalms he says: "I am a worm and not a man" (Psalm 22:6); "Because of the sound of my groaning, my bones cling to my flesh" (Psalm 102:5); "I lie awake … for I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping" (Psalm 102:7, 9); "My knees are grown weak through fasting" (Psalm 109:24).

Here is true repentance; here is a true penitent! He did not become hardened in sin nor did he fall into despair, but, hoping in the mercy of God, he repented unceasingly. And God, Who loves the penitent, showed mercy upon this model of penitence. God forgave him and glorified him above all the kings of Israel; He gave him the great grace to compose the most beautiful penitential prayers and to prophesy the coming into the world of the Holy Savior, Who would be of his seed.

Brethren, do you see how wonderful is God's mercy toward penitents? So much mercy did God have on this repentant David that He was not ashamed to take upon Himself flesh from David's seed. Blessed are they who do not become hardened in sin and who do not fall into despair because of sin. Repentance saves both the one and the other from evil.

O Merciful Lord, soften our hearts with tears of repentance. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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A Homily on the Blameless Prophet Samuel

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord" (I Samuel 1:27-28).

Besought of God and dedicated to God, Samuel was a prophet and leader of the people of Israel. The blessed Hannah, his childless mother, besought him from God with tears and sacrifices. And she gave him, her one and only greatest blessing, to the service of the Lord from his infancy.

A wise mother does not consider her children as her own, but rather as God's. They are God's both when God gives them and when He takes them, but they are mostly God's when a mother herself dedicates them to Him. God's gift is returned to Him as a reciprocal gift, for we have nothing of our own to give to Him but only that which we receive from Him.

The young Samuel lived in the Temple among the iniquitous sons of Eli the high priest, and he did not become corrupt. The Lord would not reveal Himself to the sinful elders, but He appeared to this pure child: "for Samuel did the will of God, and did let none of his words fall to the ground" (I Samuel 3:19).

Samuel was a judge of the people of Israel from his youth to old age and committed nothing wrong either before God or before the people. God gave him the power to prophesy and work miracles. He defeated all of God's enemies and the enemies of the people, and he anointed two kings, Saul and David. When he grew old, he called the people together and asked them if he had ever committed any violence against anyone or accepted a bribe from anyone. And the people replied with one voice: "Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand" (I Samuel 12:4).

Behold, such a man was he, who was given by God and given to God as a reciprocal gift, and who grew up with the blessing of God and the blessing of his mother. Let mothers benefit from the example of the blessed Hannah; let judges and rulers of the people benefit from the example of the righteous Samuel.

O Holy and Most-holy Lord, gracious and most gracious, open our souls to see Thy holiness and Thy goodness, that we may repent of our evils. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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A Homily on the Diligence and Devotion of Ruth

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God … nothing but death shall part thee and me" (Ruth 1:16,17).

These are wonderful words, whether they are spoken by a son to a father, a daughter to a mother, or a wife to a husband. But they are three times more wonderful when a daughter-in-law says them to her mother-in-law.

Blessed Ruth spoke these words to Naomi, her sorrowful mother-in-law. When both of Naomi's sons died in the land of Moab, where they lived as immigrants, the aged mother wanted to return to Bethlehem, her native land, and there to lay her bones to rest. And Naomi, noble in her grief, counseled her young daughters-in-law to remain in their own land and to remarry. Orpah remained, but Ruth said: "Nothing but death shall part thee and me."

Behold a most beautiful example of how a mother-in-law can tenderly love her daughters-in-law, and again how a daughter-in-law can be wholeheartedly devoted to her mother-in-law. But in Bethlehem someone had to feed these two souls. Who would feed them? God and the diligent hands of Ruth. "Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn" (Ruth 2:2), said the daughter-in-law to the mother-in-law. And Naomi replied: "Go, my daughter" (Ruth 2:3).

In a strange field, with strange reapers, she had to glean the ears of grain. That was not only toil but also shame. However, Ruth took upon herself both toil and shame out of love for her aged mother-in-law. The All-seeing God saw these two sweet souls and rejoiced. Their Creator rejoiced and rewarded and glorified them, as only He knows how to reward and glorify those who fear Him. And God, in His providence, provided that Ruth should enter the field of the wealthy Boaz to gather the gleaned ears of grain, and Boaz saw Ruth and asked Naomi for her hand in marriage. Of this marriage was born Obed, the father of Jesse and grandfather of David the King. So it was that Ruth had humbled herself to being a beggar but God made her the ancestress of the great king (David), from whom came many kings and finally the King of kings, our Lord Jesus Christ.

O All-seeing and Gracious Lord, how wonderful art Thou in Thy providence toward the righteous and the merciful. Do Thou guide us also and have mercy on us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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The Ideological Rigor Mortis of the Church

In 2008, just prior to the Moscow Patriarchate conference "Pastorship: In Tradition and In the Present", Fr. Daniel Sysoev (+ 11/19/2009) responded to the questions of a reporter and made the following comment:

I think that one of the most important problems facing the Orthodox Church in Russia, and even beyond its borders, is the ideological rigor mortis of the Church. The Church is considered as a kind of dead body; it is thought to be frozen and that nothing should be changed in it. It is understandable that we should not change dogmatics and Church Tradition - no one argues with that. However, the problem is that people try to preserve superstitions and false ideology, and, what is worse, they try to hang onto bad remnants of the Soviet period. I have travelled throughout the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate, and I see one and the same picture everywhere. People do not know God or how salvation takes place; and all of their time is taken up with completely unimportant matters such as the minutiae of this or that rite, the details of this or that church policy, or one regional view or another.

In my opinion, it is an enormous misfortune that people have lost their Christ-centerdness. People have forgotten about the fact that we are, first of all, Christians, the children of God the Father and of Christ, and that we must move towards holiness and salvation. As a part of this, one sees a controversy over the frequent reception of Holy Communion, which unites us with the Lord. Some people think that it's not that important, that one can somehow "earn" one's salvation. However, they do not realize that this is the heresy of Pelagius - that one can earn one's salvation by one's own efforts.

On the other hand, the standard of church life that they expound is sinful, pure and simple; it is a distortion of the real Church Tradition. For instance, one hears that Russians, because they are Russian, are already Orthodox. In one article that I read, I saw the assertion that even atheists are truly Orthodox, if they are a part of the Russian culture. This is the replacement of faith with culture. Orthodoxy is God's revelation, preserved in a pure form since the times of the Apostles. One now sees efforts by some to replace the New Testament with national myths, including old ones that the Church has always fought against. They propagate heathen fables about "Mother Earth" instead of seeing Christ as the basis of all culture.

Paganism often disguises itself in the Church under the appearance of Christianity - not in overt exterior manifestations, but hidden under a facade of pietism. People forget that their goal is to reach sanctity. Some of them believe it is a sin even to think of such a possibility, that they could reach sanctity, even though it is the fulfilment of a direct commandment of the Lord. We should spare no effort to overcome this problem. To overcome this, we must issue a new call for people to return to holiness. For this, it is necessary that we revive catechesis throughout the entire Church. Even those who are already baptized should study the Faith. People must know in Whom they believe, and what they should do in order to approach Him. People coming to church see it as an assembly line of spiritual services. They are not offered any spiritual growth; therefore they go to the sectarians.

People think, in error, that the sects are easier than the Orthodox. Recently, I had a chance to associate with Pentecostals. I learned that it is their practice to pray five hours during the day. What Orthodox Christian prays for five hours a day? Sectarianism is a consequence of the Church not informing people of the commandments of the Lord, commandments that our Lord Christ expects us to fulfill. The Gospel is seen as nothing but a collection of pious sayings; it is not seen as a means of real contact with God. We so fear being seduced by the world that we end up doing nothing. This is a terrible spiritual problem. If we do not overcome it, very many Christians will be ruined. It is an ideology of rigor mortis. It is not conservatism; rather, it is the murder of the Church.

Source: The Orthodox Word, "The Blood of the Martyrs Is the Seed of the Church: The Life and Martyric Death of a Righteous Missionary, Father Daniel Sysoev", No. 268, September-October 2009, pp. 213-215.

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An Aerial Photo of Mount Athos

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Greek Church Denounces “Country Governed by IMF”

Apostolos Papapostolou
December 17, 2010
Greek Reporter

The Orthodox Church has denounced the lack of leadership and the moral sense that, by means of the crisis, has made Greece a country ”under occupation”. It ”carries out the orders of its creditors” from the IMF and the EU which ”appears to have lost its independence.” In a message to worshippers to be distributed on Sunday in all churches, the Holy Synod harshly criticises the country’s ”ruling class”, a general term which appears to include the previous centre-right government, as well as the current government under George Papandreou. According to the Bishops, it is not the state itself that is to blame for the current crisis but the political leadership. The leadership has not been able to modernise and is interested only in power. It ”has not been able to speak the language of the truth.” And it is has transformed itself into an agent of the creditors, imposing ”radical changes that only a short while ago would have disgusted Greece and which on the other hand has caused almost no reaction.” And this situation, according to the Synod, puts the real interests of the country and its people at risk, allowing them in fact to be governed by our creditors. The Synod points out that according to many economists, the global crisis ”is an artificial and instrumental crisis that aims to all the world to be controlled by non-philanthropic forces.” The Church denounces a moral impoverishment of society which, attracted only by easy wealth and wellbeing, has lived irresponsibly, moving away from the truth of things. It is ”contributing to the current crisis through selfish requests without control by the various sectors involved.” The Bishops conclude by urging the people to take advantage of the crisis to rediscover ”the strength and love” needed in the ”toughest moments”, offering solidarity to those in need to exit this difficult situation together and with the Church.

Read also:

Church of Greece Bemoans Country's 'Occupation' by Creditors

IMF Unblocks 2.5-billion-euro Loan for Greece

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Saint Sebastian the Martyr and His Companions

St. Sebastion the Martyr and His Companions (Feast Day - December 18)

The Holy Martyr Sebastian was born in the city of Narbonum in Gaul (modern France), and he received his education at Mediolanum (now Milan). Under the co-reigning emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284-305) he occupied the position of head of the imperial guards. St Sebastian was respected for his authority, and was loved by the soldiers and those at court. He was a brave man filled with wisdom, his word was honest, his judgment just, insightful in advice, faithful in his service and in everything entrusted to him. He was a secret Christian, not out of fear, but so that he could provide help to the brethren in a time of persecution.

The noble Christian brothers Marcellinus and Mark had been locked up in prison, and at first they firmly confessed the true Faith. But under the influence of the tearful entreaties of their pagan parents (Tranquillinus and Marcia), and also their own wives and children, they began to waver in their intent to suffer for Christ. St Sebastian went to the imperial treasurer, at whose house Marcellinus and Mark were held in confinement, and addressed the brothers who were on the verge of yielding to the entreaties of their family.

"O valiant warriors of Christ! Do not cast away your everlasting crowns of victory because of the tears of your relatives. Do not remove your feet from the necks of your enemies who lie prostrate before you, lest they regain their strength and attack you more fiercely than before. Raise your banner high over every earthly attachment. If those whom you see weeping knew that there is another life where there is neither sickness nor death, where there is unceasing gladness and everything is beautiful, then assuredly they would wish to enter it with you. Anyone who fears to exchange this brief earthly life for the unending joys of the heavenly Kingdom is foolish indeed. For he who rejects eternity wastes the brief time of his existence, and will be delivered to everlasting torment in Hades."

Then St Sebastian said that if necessary, he would be willing to endure torment and death in order to show them how to give their lives for Christ.

So St Sebastian persuaded the brothers to go through with their act of martyrdom, and his speech stirred everyone present. They saw how his face shone like that of an angel, and they saw how seven angels clothed him in a radiant garment, and heard a fair Youth say, "You shall be with Me always."

Zoe, the wife of the jailer Nicostratus, had lost her ability to speak six years previously, and she fell down at the feet of St Sebastian, by her gestures imploring him to heal her. The saint made the Sign of the Cross over the woman, and she immediately began to speak and she glorified the Lord Jesus Christ. She said that she had seen an angel holding an open book in which everything St Sebastian said was written. Then all who saw the miracle also came to believe in the Savior of the world. Nicostratus removed the chains from Marcellinus and Mark and offered to hide them, but the brothers refused.

Mark said, "Let them tear the flesh from our bodies with cruel torments. They can kill the body, but they cannot conquer the soul which contends for the Faith." Nicostratus and his wife asked for Baptism, and St Sebastian advised Nicostratus to serve Christ rather than the Eparch. He also told him to assemble the prisoners so that those who believed in Christ could be baptized. Nicostratus then requested his clerk Claudius to send all the prisoners to his house. Sebastian spoke to them of Christ, and became convinced that they were all inclined to be baptized. He summoned the priest Polycarp, who prepared them for the Mystery, instructing them to fast in preparation for Baptism that evening.

Then Claudius informed Nicostratus that the Roman eparch Arestius Chromatus wanted to know why the prisoners were gathered at his house. Nicostratus told Claudius about the healing of his wife, and Claudius brought his own sick sons, Symphorian and Felix to St Sebastian. In the evening the priest Polycarp baptized Tranquillinus with his relatives and friends, and Nicostratus and all his family, Claudius and his sons, and also sixteen condemned prisoners. The newly-baptized numbered 64 in all.

Appearing before the eparch Chromatus, Nicostratus told him how St Sebastian had converted them to Christianity and healed many from sickness. The words of Nicostratus persuaded the eparch. He summoned St Sebastian and the presbyter Polycarp, and was enlightened by them, and became a believer in Christ. Nicostratus and Chromatus, his son Tiburtius and all his household accepted holy Baptism. The number of the newly-enlightened increased to 1400. Upon becoming a Christian, Chromatus resigned his office of eparch.

During this time the Bishop of Rome was St Gaius (August 11). He blessed Chromatus to go to his estates in southern Italy with the priest Polycarp. Christians unable to endure martyrdom also went with them. Father Polycarp went to strengthen the newly-converted in the Faith.

Tiburtius, the son of Chromatus, desired to accept martyrdom and he remained in Rome with St Sebastian. Of those remaining, St Gaius ordained Tranquillinus as a presbyter, and his sons Marcellinus and Mark were ordained deacons. Nicostratus, his wife Zoe and brother Castorius, and Claudius, his son Symphorian and brother Victorinus also remained in Rome. They gathered for divine services at the court of the emperor together with a secret Christian named Castulus, but soon the time came for them to suffer for the Faith.

The pagans arrested St Zoe first, praying at the grave of the Apostle Peter. At the trial she bravely confessed her faith in Christ. She died, hung by her hair over the foul smoke from a great fire of dung. Her body then was thrown into the River Tiber. Appearing in a vision to St Sebastian, she told him about her death.

The priest Tranquillinus was the next to suffer: pagans pelted him with stones at the grave of the holy Apostle Peter, and his body was also thrown into the Tiber.

Sts Nicostratus, Castorius, Claudius, Victorinus ,and Symphorian were seized at the riverbank, when they were searching for the bodies of the martyrs. They were led to the eparch, and the saints refused his command to offer sacrifice to idols. They tied stones to the necks of the martyrs and then drowned them in the sea.

The false Christian Torquatus betrayed St Tiburtius. When the saint refused to sacrifice to the idols, the judge ordered Tiburtius to walk barefoot on red-hot coals, but the Lord preserved him. Tiburtius walked through the burning coals without feeling the heat. The torturers then beheaded St Tiburtius, and his body was buried by unknown Christians.

Torquatus also betrayed the holy Deacons Marcellinus and Mark, and St Castulus (March 26). After torture, they threw Castulus into a pit and buried him alive, but Marcellinus and Mark had their feet nailed to the same tree stump. They stood all night in prayer, and in the morning they were stabbed with spears.

St Sebastian was the last one to be tortured. The emperor Diocletian personally interrogated him, and seeing the determination of the holy martyr, he ordered him taken out of the city, tied to a tree and shot with arrows. Irene, the wife of St Castulus, went at night in order to bury St Sebastian, but found him alive and took him to her home.

St Sebastian soon recovered from his wounds. Christians urged him to leave Rome, but he refused. Coming near a pagan temple, the saint saw the emperors approaching and he publicly denounced them for their impiety. Diocletian ordered the holy martyr to be taken to the Circus Maximus to be executed. They clubbed St Sebastian to death, and cast his body into the sewer. The holy martyr appeared to a pious woman named Lucina in a vision, and told her to take his body and bury it in the catacombs. This she did with the help of her slaves. Today his basilica stands on the site of his tomb.

Source

Miracles of St. Sebastian

In the first book of his Dialogues, Saint Gregory tells the following story. A certain woman of Tuscany, recently married, had been invited to the dedication of a church to Saint Sebastian. But, the night before the ceremony, she was so aroused by desire that she could not abstain from the embraces of her husband. The next morning, nevertheless, this woman went to the church, being more in fear of the judgements of men than of the judgement of God. But scarcely had she entered the chapel where lay the relics of Saint Sebastian, when a demon seized upon her, and began to torture her in the sight of all. Then the priest of the church covered her with the altar veil, and at once the evil spirit lay hold of the priest. The woman was led to the house of magicians; but in the course of their incantations, a whole legion of demons, that is, a troop of six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six of them, entered into the woman to torment her still more sorely. But then came a holy man named Fortunatus, who by his prayers cured the woman.

We read in the Annals of the Longobards that in the time of King Humbert the whole of Italy was infected with a plague so violent that hardly anyone could be found to bury the dead: and this plague raged above all in Pavia. There were many who saw with their own eyes an angel in the heavens, followed by a demon with a rod. Whenever the angel commanded, the demon struck, and so made death. And as often as he touched a house, the dead were carried out of it. Then God made known to a pious man, that the bane would not cease until an altar was erected to Saint Sebastian in the city of Pavia. The attar was raised forthwith in the church of Saint Peter in Chains: whereupon the plague vanished completely. And the relics of Saint Sebastian were brought to Pavia from Rome, where his martyrdom had occurred.

Saint Ambrose writes of Saint Sebastian in his Preface: 'The blood of the holy martyr Sebastian, which was shed in Thy name, makes manifest Thy greatness, 0 Lord, Who through his intercession workest Thy might in the weak, crownest our efforts, and givest health to the sick.'

Source: The Golden Legend

HYMN OF PRAISE: The Holy Martyr Sebastian

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Holy Sebastian was covered with arrows-
With a hair shirt of arrows his body was clothed.
But, beneath the arrows, his soul was unscathed;
His heart was raised to the heavens in prayer.

Sebastian endured suffering for Christ.
What are mighty kingdoms, what are great riches,
Compared with this honor, compared with this illumination-
To be struck by arrows for the sake of the Living God?

Wonderful Sebastian desired this:
To be crucified for the crucified Savior,
To confirm the truth by suffering and blood,
To witness the Faith before heaven and earth.

The All-seeing Lord, Who sees all creation,
Measured and counted every drop of blood,
And rewarded Sebastian in the Eternal Kingdom,
Showering him with blessings without measure.

O Martyr most-glorious, who suffered for Christ,
And by your suffering enlarged the Church:
Pray to God for the Church on earth,
That it become ever more beautiful, and all the more great.

Apolytikion in the First Tone
O Sebastian, spurning the assemblies of the wicked, you gathered the wise martyrs who with you cast down the enemy; and standing worthily before the throne of God, you gladden those who cry to you: Glory to him who has strengthened you! Glory to him who has granted you a crown! Glory to him who through you works healing for all!

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Since thou wast great in zeal for godly religion, thou didst assemble an alliance of Martyrs, and in their midst, thou shonest like a flashing star. With the arrows that did pierce thy much-suffering body, thou didst slay the enemy, O Great Martyr Sebastian; and thou thyself didst fly as from a bow into the Heavens, where Christ hath received thy soul.

The Basilica of Saint Sebastion in Rome contains his original tomb and an arrow which pierced him.

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