An Icon Meditation For My Birthday

The icon above is Russian in origin and dates to the 18th century. It depicts the various stages in a man's life as a triangle. According to this icon a man reaches his prime of life, or at least the top of the pyramid of his life, at the age of thirty-five, after which there is a descent into old age.

Since today is my 35th birthday, I find this to be an excellent reminder of where I'm at in life, though it appears its all downhill from here. ;-)

Note: If anyone knows more about this icon, or at least can read the writing, a rough (or complete) translation would be appreciated.

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Holy Newly-Revealed New Martyr Nicholas of Ichthys, Corinth

St. Nicholas of Ichthys, Corinth (Feast Day - February 14)

A Neomartyr Is Newly-Revealed

In the year 1930, a neomartyr named Nicholas of the 16th century who was forgotten by the Church was revealed. Metropolitan Ezekiel of Thessaliotis, who, on a routine tour of the monasteries of his diocese, discovered a manuscript in the deserted Monastery of the Holy Trinity, surnamed Siamou, on Mount Pindos, which contained the service, a synaxarion, and a sermon in honor of this new martyr, all of which were authored by his contemporary, Subdeacon Damaskenos the Stoudite of Thessalonike, who later became Bishop of Rendini. All these were copied by Metropolitan Ezekiel, who dedicated the manuscript to the School of Theology at the University of Athens and published them. The first Greek edition of Metropolitan Ezekiel, titled "Service to the Newly-Appeared Martyr Nicholas of Ichthys of Corinth, with a Prologue by Metropolitan Ezekiel..." was published by Foinikos Press (1930) at Stadiou 44 in Athens [download book here]; a reprint was published at Corinth by Chrestos Skouteres (1963). The hymnographer of the Great Church, Father Gerasimos Mikragiannanites, also composed a service to venerate this saint.

Life of New Martyr Nicholas of Ichthys, Corinth

Nicholas, the newly-revealed and courageous martyr of Christ, was born in an obscure hamlet, called by its neighbors Ichthys or Psari, which was within the prefecture of Corinth. His parents, John and Kalli, were pious and faithful to Christ. When the holy lad was twelve years old, his parents departed this world. Since he was left alone at home, the boy could not endure the absence of his beloved mother and father. He, therefore, departed his hometown in the company of several youths. They were bound for the town of Selyvria, which is a day's distance from Constantinople. Nicholas entered the service of one of Selyvria's prominent citizens as a valet. The fear of God was in Nicholas' heart, and he kept the commandments of Christ with zeal. Along with the fulfillment of his duties, he supported the parishes in the area according to his means.

Nicholas had a good and pious upbringing. He wished to establish a Christian home. When he reached a suitable age, he entered into lawful wedlock and fathered children whom he reared in the Greek Orthodox tradition and the teachings of Christ. His godly children were fruit that bore witness to the tree, even though they were brought up in a worldly environment. While engaged in a livelihood of selling fruits on the main street of the town, Nicholas did not neglect the salvation of his soul. He ministered to the poor and pleased God by distributing alms. He, moreover, attended services in the nearby churches.

Nicholas, however, aspired to achieve a greater gift (that is to say, martyrdom), and this story tells of how it was attained. Now Sultan Suleyman I (1520-1566), in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, had embarked on a campaign in Persia. At Constantinople the sultan left in charge his prefect, a certain Sinan. This man, who had nothing to commend him, would boast of his kinship with the sultan and tyrranize his subjects. He was overbearing in his position and committed more firghtening and barbarous acts against the Christians than one can imagine. He condemned some Christians to serve as galley slaves on pirate ships, while others he terrorized with threats of punishment.

At that time, the godly Nicholas was despised by the Turks in his neighborhood. They resented his industriousness and ability to sell more produce than they on the main thoroughfare. Nicholas, consequently, was taken into custody, and led forth to Constantinople. The Christian stood trial before the prefect; without weakening in the least, Nicholas confessed that he was a Christian, calling the Hagarene (Muslim) religion false. As a result, by order of the prefect, Nicholas received such a severe beating with branches from a pomegranate tree that the blood ran forth even from his toenails. After this terrible torture, he was cast into prison and received no medical attention. The year was 1554.

Four days later, the judge took him out of his cell. The Muslim prefect, by flattery and the promise of an important position, attempted to persuade Nicholas to deny the pure Faith of Christ. But the villain acomplished nothing, for Nicholas, the martyr of truth, became even more adament in the Orthodox Faith. The martyr invoked the name of Christ, thereby chastising those godless ones for their unbelief. He called their false prophet the son of the devil and an enemy of God. After hearing this declaration, the Muslim's bound chains arond Nicholas' neck. Instead of garments, they put a woven mat about his body. In this condition, the executioners paraded him throughout the city. Nevertheless, neither did this form of torture induce the martyr to yield; rather, his sufferings strengthened him in the Faith. By order of the prefect, the Muslims lit a great bonfire in the hippodrome, to which the proponents of impiety led the martyr. They, however, did not throw him into the fire immediately; instead they cruelly exposed his body, little by little, to the flames. This was done to prolong the severity of his suffering.

After the saint was subjected to this torture for a long period of time, he could no longer hold himself upright, so he leaned to the right. The executioners removed the chains, which he wore about his neck, and severed his head with a sword. Thus, Christ's valiant witness and martyr surrendered his soul into the hands of God. His honored body was burned in the fire and his soul went into the hands of God. Only his sacred head remained intact. It was purchased by a devout man for twenty golden coins, by which he bribed the executioner. This precious relic was sent to the Thessalian monastery of our Holy Father Athanasios of the Great Meteoron, where it is found to this day, being a source of many miracles, to the glory of Christ, our true God, to Whom is due glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

From The Great Synaxarion of the Orthodox Church, translated by Holy Apostles Convent, pp. 634-636.

Read more about St. Nicholas in Greek from his church in Corinth here.

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The Orthodox Saint Valentine

St. Valentine the Hieromartyr (Feast Day - February 14 and July 6)

The ancient martyrology of the Church of Rome marks February 14th as the remembrance of "the martyr Valentine, presbyter of Rome" (Valentinus means "vigorous" in Latin). Unfortunately the historical data for the Saint is incomplete.

The Martyrdom of the Saint in Rome

Saint Valentine lived in Rome in the third century and was a priest who helped the martyrs during the persecution of Emperor Claudius II the Goth. The great virtue and catechetical activities of the Saint had become familiar. For this he was arrested and brought before the imperial court.

"Why, Valentine, do you want to be a friend of our enemies and reject our friendship?" asked the emperor.

The Saint replied "My lord, if you knew the gift of God, you would be happy together with your empire and would reject the worship of idols and worship the true God and His Son Jesus Christ."

One of these judges stopped the Saint and asked him what he thought about Jupiter and Mercury, and Valentine boldly replied, "They are miserable, and spent their lives through corruption and crime!"

The judge furiously shouted, "He blasphemes against the gods and against the empire!"

The emperor, however, continued his questions with curiosity, and found a welcome opportunity to finally learn what was the faith of Christians. Valentine then found the courage to urge him to repent for the blood of the Christians that was shed. "Believe in Jesus Christ, be baptized and you will be saved, and from this time forward the glory of your empire will be ensured as well as the triumph of your armory."

Claudius became convinced, and said to those who were present: "What a beautiful teaching this man preaches."

But the mayor of Rome, dissatisfied, began to shout: "See how this Christian mislead our Prince."

Then Claudius brought the Saint to another judge. He was called Asterios, and he had a little girl who was blind for two years. Listening about Jesus Christ, that He is the Light of the World, he asked Valentine if he could give that light to his child. St. Valentine put his hand on her eyes and prayed: "Lord Jesus Christ, true Light, illuminate this blind child." Oh the great miracle! The child saw! So the judge with all his family confessed Christ. Having fasted for three days, he destroyed the idols that were in the house and finally received Holy Baptism.

When the emperor heard about all these events, he initially thought not to punish them, thinking that in the eyes of the citizens he will look weak, which forced him to betray his sense of justice. Therefore St. Valentine along with other Christians, after they were tortured, were beheaded on 14 February in the year 268 (or 269).

The Relics of the Saint in Athens

After the martyrdom some Christians salvaged the body of the Saint and put a bit of his blood in a vile. The body of the martyr was moved and buried in the Catacombs of St. Priscilla, a burial place of most of the martyrs. Over the years somehow he was "forgotten" since almost every day there were buried in these catacombs new martyrs for several decades. The memory of Valentine's martyrdom however remained robust, particularly in the local Church of Rome. Officially the memory of St. Valentine was established in 496 by Pope St. Gelasius.

Fifteen centuries pass and we arrive at 1815, at which time the divine intention was to "disturb" the eternal repose of the Saint. Then the relics were donated by the Pope to a gentle Italian priest (according to the custom of the time). After this the relics are "lost" again until 1907 where we find them in Mytilene in the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady. It seems that after the death of the priest that a descendant of his had inherited the relics who had migrated to Mytilene, which was then a thriving community of West-European Catholic Christians. There they remained until 1990 when they were moved to Athens in the Church of Saints Francis and Clara's Italian community, where they are today.

Saint Valentine the Greek

We should first say that there is not sufficient information on the national origin of the Saint, though there are some other (shades of) evidence that the Saint was of Greek origin. For example, the earliest depiction of the Saint bearing the inscription «O ΑΓΙΟC BAΛΕΝΤΙΝΟC" in Greek, is in the Church of Our Lady the Ancient (Santa Maria Antiqua) of the 6th century which was the parish of Greeks in Rome. The church particularly venerated saints who were Greeks and generally from the East. The decoration and renovation of the church was ordered by the Greek Pope John VII (705-707) and finished by his successors, including the last Greek Pope Zacharias (741-752). But perhaps it is no coincidence that after seventeen centuries, the remains arrived in Greece. The issue here still requires research.

Saint Valentine: Patron of Lovers

Apart from the historical data we have for Valentine's life, there is accompanied various legends, such as from those who say he is the patron saint of lovers.

The Saint had a reputation as a peacemaker, and one day while cultivating some roses from his garden, he heard a couple quarrel very vigorously. This shocked the Saint, who then cut a rose and approached the couple asking them to hear him. Even though they were dispirited, they obeyed the Saint and afterwards were offered a rose that blessed them. Immediately the love returned between them, and later they returned and asked the Saint to bless their marriage. Another tradition says that one of the charges against Valentine was that he did not adhere to the command of the emperor which stated that men who had not fulfilled their military obligations were not allowed to marry; meanwhile the Saint had blessed the marriage of young Christian soldiers with their beloveds.

Besides all this, the likely choice of him as the "saint of lovers" is to be associated with the pagan festival of Lupercalia, a fertility festival, celebrated by the Romans on February 15. Others connect the celebration of this feast with the mating season of birds during this period. Certainly, however, the Saint has nothing to do with the commercialism (marketing) of flowers, gifts and secular centers which trivialize Eros, this great gift of God.


Saint Valentine and Orthodoxy

Many, however, raise the objection that St. Valentine is not mentioned anywhere in the calendar of the Orthodox Church. Indeed on 14 February in the calendar of the Church there are commemorated Saints Auxentios, Maron and the martyrs Nicholas and Damian. The explanation is simple: in ancient times hagiographic directories, biographies and martyrologia were written to be primarily used locally in their own character, and the fame and reputation of a saint locally does not mean that it extended also throughout the Church. So there may be saints honored widely in one region and completely unknown in another, eg, St. Demetrios, who is famous throughout the Eastern Church, yet in the West is not honored at all, and is almost unknown, but this does not mean that he is not a saint. Another example of the modern Church: St. Chrysostomos of Smyrna († 1922) who in Greece is known, yet in Russia is completely unknown, but this does not mean that he is not a saint.

Honor Martyrs - Imitate Martyrs

We honor our saints and St. Valentine when we imitate their courage to proclaim their faith in Christ the Savior, who did so even at the cost of their lives. We honor them when we beseech them to appeal to God to have mercy on us and forgive our many sins. We honor them when they are our models of the life in Christ. We do not honor the saints when we measure their 'worth' by worldly amusements and festivities in the best circumstances ... Honor Martyrs - Imitate Martyrs!

Bibliography

1. Encyclopedia New Advent (www.newadvent.org)

2. Patron Saints Index (www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm)

3. Oxford Dictionary of Saints

4. Ελληνισμός & Ορθοδοξία, Εκδόσεις PSL Λιβάνη

5. Ο άγιος Βαλεντίνος της Αθήνας, Εκδόσεις Καλός Τύπος

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Read also:

Ο Άγιος Βαλεντίνος επιστρέφει στη Μυτιλήνη…

Ο «Μυτιληνιός» Άγιος Βαλεντίνος… επιστρέφει

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12 Greeks Who Built the Dormition Cathedral in the Kiev Caves

12 Greeks Who Built the Dormition Cathedral in the Kiev Caves (Feast Day - February 14)

The Kiev Caves Icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (May 3) is one of the most ancient icons in the Russian Orthodox Church. The Mother of God entrusted it to four Byzantine architects, who in 1073 brought the icon to Sts Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves. The architects arrived at the monks' cave and asked, "Where do you want to build the church?" The saints answered, "Go, the Lord will point out the place."

"How is it that you, who are about to die, have still not designated the place?" the architects wondered. "And they gave us much gold."

Then the monks summoned all the brethren and they began to question the Greeks, saying, "Tell us the truth. Who sent you, and how did you end up here?"

The architects answered, "One day, when each of us was asleep in his own home, handsome youths came to us at sunrise, and said, 'The Queen summons you to Blachernae.' We all arrived at the same time and, questioning one another we learned that each of us had heard this command of the Queen, and that the youths had come to each of us. Finally, we beheld the Queen of Heaven with a multitude of warriors. We bowed down to Her, and She said, 'I want to build Myself a Church in Rus, at Kiev, and so I ask you to do this. Take enough gold for three years.'"

"We bowed down and asked, 'Lady Queen! You are sending us to a foreign land. To whom are we sent?' She answered, 'I send you to the monks Anthony and Theodosius.'"

"We wondered, 'Why then, Lady, do You give us gold for three years? Tell us that which concerns us, what we shall eat and what we shall drink, and tell us also what You know about it.'"

"The Queen replied, 'Anthony will merely give the blessing, then depart from this world to eternal repose. The other one, Theodosius, will follow him after two years. Therefore, take enough gold. Moreover, no one can do what I shall do to honor you. I shall give you what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9). I, Myself, shall come to look upon the church and I shall dwell within it.'"

"She also gave us relics of the holy martyrs Menignus, Polyeuctus, Leontius, Acacius, Arethas, James, and Theodore, saying, 'Place these within the foundation.' We took more than enough gold, and She said, 'Come out and see the resplendant church.' We went out and saw a church in the air. Coming inside again, we bowed down and said, 'Lady Queen, what will be the name of the church?'"

"She answered, 'I wish to call it by My own name.' We did not dare to ask what Her name was, but She said again, 'It will be the Church of the Mother of God.' After giving us this icon, She said, 'This will be placed within.' We bowed down to Her and went to our own homes, taking with us the icon we received from the hands of the Queen."

After hearing this account, everyone glorified God, and St Anthony said, "My children, we never left this place. Those handsome youths summoning you were holy angels, and the Queen in Blachernae was the Most Holy Theotokos. As for those who appeared to be us, and the gold they gave you, the Lord only knows how He deigned to do this with His servants. Blessed be your arrival! You are in good company: the venerable icon of the Lady." For three days St Anthony prayed that the Lord would show him the place for the church.

After the first night there was a dew throughout all the land, but it was dry on the holy spot. On the second morning throughout all the land it was dry, but on the holy spot it was wet with dew. On the third morning, they prayed and blessed the place, and measured the width and length of the church with a golden sash. (This sash had been brought long ago by the Varangian Shimon, who had a vision about the building of a church.) A bolt of lightning, falling from heaven by the prayer of St Anthony, indicated that this spot was pleasing to God. So the foundation of the church was laid.

The icon of the Mother of God was glorified by numerous miracles. Two friends, John and Sergius, sealed their friendship before it. After many years John fell mortally ill. He gave part of his wealth to the the Caves monastery, and he gave Sergius the portion for his five-year-old son for safekeeping. He also entrusted his son Zachariah to his guardianship. When Zachariah turned fifteen, he asked for his inheritance, but Sergius persisted in saying that John had distributed everything to the poor. He even went into the Dormition church and swore before the wonderworking icon that he had taken nothing.

When he attempted to kiss the icon, he was not able to come near it. He went to the doors and suddenly shouted, "Sts Anthony and Theodosius! Let me not be struck down for my dishonesty. Entreat the Most Holy Theotokos to drive away the multitude of demons which torment me. Let the gold and silver be taken away. It is sealed up in my granary." Zachariah gave away all his inheritance to the Caves monastery, where he also himself was tonsured a monk. From that time, no one would take oaths before the wonderworking icon (March 24).

More than once the icon defended the land from enemy invasion. In 1677, when the Turks laid siege to Chigirin and danger threatened Kiev, they carried the icon around the city for almost the entire day of August 27. The Mother of God blessed Russian armies going to the Battle of Poltava (1709). In 1812 they carried the icon around Kiev again. The icon is commemorated twice during the year: May 3 and August 15 .

Source


See also:

Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra - Official site

Kiev Pechersk Lavra

The Kiev Caves Lavra: Then and Now

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Patriarch of Georgia: On Russia, Abkhazia, the War and Separatism

February 14, 2011
The Messenger Online

The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and the Metropolitan Pitsunda and Tskhum-Abkhazia Ilia II, gave an interview to the BBC Russian edition during his official visit to the UK last week. Interested in his new title, the BBC journalist asked Catholicos Patriarch how he can lead the diocese, which is not under Georgia’s jurisdiction? The Patriarch responded that the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church extended to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. It is recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church. “I was 11 years Metropolitan of Sukhumi and Abkhazia, and so I am very close to this diocese. I know the Abkhaz people, and I will visit Abkhazia in the near future as head of the diocese,” stated the Patriarch.

Georgia’s Catholicos Patriarch said in his interview that the relations between Russia and Georgia are of great importance to the relationship between the Russian and Georgian Orthodox churches. “We thank the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill, for his support for the recognition by Russian Church canon law of the Georgian Church in Abkhazia in the Tskhinvali region,” Ilia II said. He added, “I have repeatedly said to representatives of the Russian authorities: why do you want Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, if it means you lose your friendship with Georgia? Georgia is well aware that this is a great country Russia, but at the same time Russia supports separatism – while fighting against separatism is going on in their country.”

The BBC correspondent asked the Catholicos Patriarch to recount his memories of the war days in Georgia in 2008 when he was personally involved in peaceful negotiations and went to the conflict zones during the August days. The Patriarch briefly described his visit to Gori and said that when he visited Gori, it was a dangerous time. “I was accompanied by two cars so the sniper did not shoot at me. We saw how our young people were killed in the field. I remember a car at the edge of the road – the driver was dead. We dragged him out of the car and took him to Tbilisi,” Ilia II recalled.

As part of his visit to the UK, Catholicos-Patriarch met with Queen Elizabeth II. Speaking of the meeting, Ilia II said he had received a warm reception and added that Georgia strongly respects Her Majesty, the Queen of the United Kingdom. “It must be hard to be the neighbour of such a huge country [Russia],” Elizabeth II told the Catholicos Patriarch.

Ilia II is visiting the UK at the invitation of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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Diamonds Are A Priest's Best Friend?

Olga Gumanova
February 14, 2011
Pravda.ru

Famous Russian ballerina Anastasia Volochkova wrote in her Internet blog that she was outraged with the luxury Russian priests surrounded themselves, as well as fixed prices for the Church "services" and clerical activity in the media. Archpriest Alexy Uminsky answered to Volochkova's criticism in an interview with Pravda.ru.

"Seriously, I have long been disgusted by the fact that priests can afford to wear expensive watches and phones. The cells of some monasteries often impress me with their luxury and can compete only with five-star hotels. I thought that austerity rather than bejeweled phones should be a part of the life of members of the Church," Anastasia wrote in her blog.

As noted by the dancer, her indignation with the splendor of the church has been getting stronger. "How are the prices for the 'services' (sorry, that is so rude) of the Church determined?! Why, for example, for the book of Prayers for the Dead in one temple I pay 400 rubles, and in another 2000 rubles?! I was told that this is a donation to the temple. Yet, is it appropriate to get a flat fee? Should not this be a voluntary decision of a person?" she resented.

"You should make things orderly in your parishes, solve the pressing problems of your parishioners and not PR yourselves like Father Chaplin, along with us show business celebrities. The churches have their own PR-services!!! I was very surprised!" the dancer said outraged.

Alexy Uminsky, Rector of the Moscow church of Holy Trinity in Khokhol answered to the criticism of Anastasia Volochkova:

"The word 'outrage' always makes me wonder. When a person is disturbed, all the darkness in her heart, soul and mind starts to boil and escapes outside. This darkness, this perturbation makes the consciousness murky, and people have difficulty seeing things properly.

I think that people can be upset with some things, disagree with them, but I believe they have to have certain criteria they base their thoughts on. The church is not a service agency. If a person thinks of the church as a service agency, there is nothing to be outraged about. If you treat it like this, then pay. Then you can also look at theater as a service agency. 'I am going to see ballet, give me the service.' 'I am not happy with Volochkova's services today.' Would I be outraged with the entire concept of the ballet or just a particular person that I did not like on stage? I will not even say anything.

In order to try to change something in the world, we must think: what right do I have to judge something I do not belong to? What right do I have to judge the ballet, the subtleties of the art, if I don't know anything about it? Let's say I went to see a ballet, and the person at the coat check was rude to me. I cannot judge the ballet based on the fact that the person at the coat check at the Bolshoi or Mariinsky Theatre was rude to me. This is exactly how you cannot judge the Church based on what you know or do not know about it. For the Church is not a service agency.

Indeed, everything in the church should be donation-based. One cannot argue with this. Donations come in various forms and ways. Somewhere, in some churches, it is a completely voluntary participation of parishioners in the life of the church. In these temples, such as in a temple in which I serve, there are no price tags on anything. Only for one simple reason: I know all of my parishioners by name, and all my parishioners are well aware that it depends on them and them only whether the electricity bills are paid, telephone bills are paid, minimum wage is paid to the clergy and the people who come after the liturgy are fed. This is why, knowing this, they get into their pockets and take out not a ten ruble bill or two rubles coin. The temple could never exist on this money.

Most likely, ballerina Volochkova knows very well how much her participation in an erotic photo shoot would pay. But she would have a hard time imagining how much a temple needs for monthly maintenance - for water, electricity, heating, and so on. She could have inquired at least once just out of curiosity. And so the church has the right, based on the conditions it lives in, to offer a minimum amount of donations, which somehow can ensure the existence of the parish, be it 400 rubles or 2000 rubles. Moreover, I can say that if a person comes into the temple and does not have enough money to donate a particular sum, but does need to submit a note, nobody would ever refuse this person. Nowhere. They would take a note for free, and will conduct a service for free, and a funeral service for free. And if someone does not do this, it will be a great sin. Although I think that there may be such cases. I admit that this is quite possible, because there are different people among the priests - there are worthy ones, and there are unworthy ones.

Of course, a priest in a patched robe with no money would look more credible in the eyes of people who consider themselves outsiders to the Church. But this does not mean that a priest who received financial security from his own parish became evil, unkind, rude, or heartless. This, in principle, does not mean anything to anyone, and probably Madame Volochkova knows that among her friends who provide for her there are decent people, but there are also dishonest and mean people, but there are good people whose welfare has no effect on them. There are bad people among the poor, and there are saints among the rich. I have been serving as a priest for twenty years and, frankly, did not notice among the priesthood people who would wear a Rolex watch and carry phones with rhinestones. They probably do exist. But if they do, there are very few of them. I think it is unethical to blow this issue out of proportion. It is sufficient to go to any temple in the area or in another diocese, and see how a priest lives there. There are much more of these priests than those who serve in large cities. Even in large cities it can be different, believe me.

Of course it is not very pleasant when a priest looks like he lives in luxury. But rather, these are some mythical characters who drive Mercedes and wear Rolex watch tabloids are writing about. Perhaps she confused the bishops and priests? I know our bishops, there are not that many of them, about 300 people, and they occupy very senior positions, we can even say at the ministerial level. Therefore, their representational life is very different from the life of an ordinary parish priest. Indeed, one can see a bishop in a very good car, sometimes with an expensive watch, as every person who now has an office and power. "

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St. Valentine's Day In Russia and Bulgaria

Bulgarians Happy to Celebrate Both Love and Wine

February 14, 2011
Novinite

Bulgaria has been marking two holidays on February 14 since the fall of communism in the late eighties, when the day of the sweethearts came to the country.

Previously completely ignored by lovebirds in Bulgaria, St. Valentine's Day enjoyed escalating popularity over the years of the country's transition to Western-like lifestyle.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages across Catholic countries and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.

The date is now marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers, hearts and teddy bears.

As lovers celebrate St Valentine's Day, many Bulgarians insist February 14 should be reserved for a traditional Bulgarian celebration - the feast of St. Tryphon Zarezan, the patron of vine growing and wine producing.

The St. Tryphon Zarezan day offers a nice alternative to those who don't have a loved one to share the holiday with, but can still find a reason to celebrate.

The professional holiday of vine-growers and wine-makers has been officially celebrated since 1962. When the Gregorian Calendar was officially introduced by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in 1968, the church services moved to February 1, but the Day of Vine and Wine is still commemorated on February 14.

According to old traditions, the cul mination is the moment of choosing the "king of the vines" - usually a diligent vine-grower, who is thus said to sweep all good luck.

Read also: Saint Tryphon Cultural Celebration In Bulgaria


St. Valentine Enamors Lovers World Over

February 14, 2011
The Voice of Russia

February 14th - Valentine's Day - is marked the world over as a celebration of love.

Polls show that around one third of all Russians plan to mark the holiday, which is not surprising, given that the event is chiefly acknowledged by young people under 25 years of age.

Officially, the "Celebration of Love" is marked in Russia on July 8th. It was established to commemorate Saints Peter and Fevronia - the patron saints of Orthodox marriage.

Read also: South Russian Region Seeks To End Valentine's Day and Halloween

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The Dark Origins of Valentine's Day

Arnie Siepel
February 13, 2011
NPR

Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild and Crazy Romans

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked," says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival – or longer, if the match was right.

The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day.

Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a theatrical interpretation of what it had once been. Lenski adds, "It was a little more of a drunken revel, but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't stop it from being a day of fertility and love."

Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day. Galatin meant "lover of women." That was likely confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part because they sound alike.

Shakespeare In Love

As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages.

Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines. February has not been the same since.

Today, the holiday is big business: According to market research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached $17.6 billion last year; this year's sales are expected to total $18.6 billion.

But that commercialization has spoiled the day for many. Helen Fisher, a sociologist at Rutgers University, says we have only ourselves to blame.

"This isn't a command performance," she says. "If people didn't want to buy Hallmark cards, they would not be bought, and Hallmark would go out of business."

And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and flowers for their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a SAD (that's Single Awareness Day) way, dining alone and binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may even be spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But let's not go there.

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Monarchists Unite Seeking Revival of Tsarist Russia

February 14, 2011
Russian Times

Monarchists have held a founding congress of their new party in Moscow. The Tsarist Russia party sees restoring the monarchy in the country as one of its main strategic purposes.

On Sunday, 147 delegates from 46 Russian regions gathered in the capital to create the new party, reports Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily. A black-yellow-white tricolor was chosen as its flag and a double-headed eagle as its emblem. The slogan for the gathering was “Tsar is coming to Russia and you should lead the people towards Tsar”.

Historian Dmitry Merkulov, who was elected the chair of Tsarist Russia, said that the constitution could be changed in a democratic way, by calling a Zemsky Sobor (Council of all Lands), or a parliament of the feudal Estates type, similar to the one that was first established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. “And Zemsky Sobor could choose a monarch,” Merkulov explained.

The new party also approved its charter, which was published on the Tsarist Russia’s website. Among its main purposes, the movement names molding public opinion on the necessity to go back to “monarchist rule, as is traditional for Russia,” educating citizens in “monarchist spirit,” and, also, taking part in parliamentary and presidential elections.

The party’s idea is that the state should be ruled by a Tsar, but Zemsky Sobor would be the supreme legislative and consultative body. The Sobor delegates should be elected from professional groups and from Russian regions. And social justice is named the basis of the state and public life of monarchic Russia.

According to the Tsarist Russia program, every citizen would be granted free medical service and education, modern housing, well-paid jobs and “judicial and physical protection from any encroachments on their lives or property.” Tobacco and alcohol would be taken under state monopoly, foreign sects banned and the death penalty imposed for terrorism, keeping and selling drugs, rape of minors and for high treason.

Foreign policy tasks include “restoring the Russian state within its natural borders” and actively seeking the voluntarily return of Ukraine and Belarus to a unified state; revival of close ties with Russia’s traditional partners, first of all Orthodox and Slavic. According to monarchists, Russia should minimize its membership in any kinds of international organizations.

Sunday’s congress organizers believe they could get from 10 percent to 20 percent of the votes during the elections.

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Truth Is Unrecognizable Without Humility and Meekness

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"When the Messiah comes, will He perform more signs than this man has done?" (John 7:31).

The Lord Jesus performed miraculous works before all and all saw but not all believed. The people witnessed His miracles and believed in Him. Servants heard His words and believed in Him. But the leaders of the people and the masters of the servants also witnessed His miracles and did not believe in Him. And so, in those days the words of the Savior came true: "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 19:30). "For behold, some who are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last" (Luke 13:30). Those who were first in honor and authority were last in having faith in Him; and those who were last in honor and authority were the first in having faith in Him.

Why did the people and servants believe and the princes and scribes not believe? Because, the people and servants considered themselves insignificant and unimportant and did not have any personal pride nor envy toward Christ. The people and servants, without malice and prejudice, looked upon the divine miracles and listened to the divine words and were amazed and rejoiced. The princes and the scribes considered themselves first among the people and in the world and so they were filled with pride and envy and were unable, even for a moment, to look upon the miraculous works nor to listen to the divine words without malice and envy.

Brethren, do you see how man, without humility and meekness, is unable even to recognize truth nor to rejoice in the truth? Do you see how the proud and the envious do not even allow God to be ahead of them? As did Satan, at one time!

Lord Jesus, eternal Truth, cleanse our hearts of pride and envy that we may be able to see You and to rejoice in You. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

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Synaxarion For the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SUNDAY of the PUBLICAN and PHARISEE

On this Sunday, we commemorate the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, from the Holy Gospel According to Saint Luke (18:10-14).

Verses

If thou art pharisaical, betake thyself far from the Temple;
For Christ is within, He Who accepteth the humble.

Other Verses to the Triodion

O Creator of things above and things below,
Accept the Thrice-Holy Hymn from the Angels,
And the Triodion from mankind.

Synaxarion

Today, by the Grace of God, we begin the Triodion, which many of our Holy and God-bearing Fathers, who were skilled in writing music, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit set to excellent and appropriate melodies. First of all to devise the three odes, patterned after the Holy and Life-Creating Trinity, was the great poet Saint Cosmas, for the Great and Holy Week of the Passion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, composing his Troparia with acrostics based on the name of each day. On this basis, the other Fathers — and more than anyone else, Saints Theodore and Joseph the Studites — in imitation of Saint Cosmas wrote three-ode Canons for the remaining weeks of the Holy and Great Lent, which they handed down to their own Monastery of the Studion; they arranged and metered the Odes to a greater degree, collecting and assembling the rest of the book from whatever Patristic sources were available. Since the first day of the week is Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, and since it is both the first and the eighth day and the last day, they very wisely appointed the First Ode to be read on Monday, the second day, the Second Ode on Tuesday, the third day, the Third Ode on Wednesday, the fourth day, the Fourth Ode on Thursday, the fifth day, the Fifth Ode on Friday, the sixth day, the Sixth and Seventh Odes on Saturday, the seventh day, as well as the two others, the Eighth and the Ninth, which all of the days have in common as being the most important, just as the Divine Cosmas did in the case of Great Saturday, for which he composed a four-ode Canon; it was later made into a complete Canon by Bishop Mark of Hydrous, at the orders of Emperor Leo the Wise. It is not entirely accurate to call the book the Triodion; for it does not have three-ode Canons throughout, and indeed it contains complete Canons as well; but I suppose that it received its name either from the fact that it has more three-ode Canons than complete Canons, or because the Canons of Great Week were written first, as we have said.

Now, for our Holy Fathers, the purpose of the entire Triodion was to remind us in brief of God’s benefaction to us from the beginning and to instill in the memory of all how we were fashioned by Him, and how we violated the commandment which He gave us for the sake of our nakedness; how we were banished from the delight of Paradise and expelled through the envy of our enemy the serpent, the Author of evil, who was brought down on account of his pride, and how we remained outcasts from the good things of Paradise and were led around by the Devil; how the Son and Word of God, moved by compassion, bowed the Heavens and came down, dwelt in the Virgin and became man for our sake, and through His own way of life showed us how to ascend back to Heaven, through humility, fasting, and refraining from evil deeds, and through His other actions; how He suffered, arose, and ascended to the Heavens, and sent forth the Holy Spirit upon His Holy Disciples and Apostles; and how He was proclaimed Son of God and perfect God by them throughout the world; what the Divine Apostles accomplished through the Grace of the All-Holy Spirit; and that they gathered together all the Saints from the ends of the earth through their preaching, replenishing the world above, which was the goal of the Creator from the very beginning. This, then, is the purpose of the Triodion.

The present three Feasts, of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Prodigal Son, and the Second Coming, were devised by the Holy Fathers as a preliminary exercise and an incentive to prepare us and make us ready for the spiritual arena of the Fast, by leaving behind our customary and loathsome habits. First of all they set forth for us the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, and they call this week the Proclamation. For, just as those who are about to depart for physical combats learn in advance from their generals the time of battle, in order that they may clean and polish their swords, and make all the other due preparations, and, removing all impediments, may eagerly strip down for the contests and procure what is necessary; and, just as, prior to encountering the foe, their leaders cite accounts, stories, and examples for them, stimulating their souls to zeal, and warding off hesitation, cowardice, laziness, and whatever else is hazardous; so also, the Divine Fathers signal beforehand the forthcoming battle, through fasting, against the demons, in order that they may cleanse us of any passions that are lodged in our souls and of any poison that has been at work in us for a long time; and, furthermore, in order that we may hasten to acquire whatever good things we do not have and, properly armed, may thus advance in readiness for the contests of the Fast. Since the first weapon that we need in order to acquire virtue is repentance and humility, and since the greatest obstacle to its acquisition is boasting and pride, the Fathers set forth the present trustworthy parable from the Holy Gospel first of all. By means of the Pharisee, they urge us to lay aside the passion of boasting and self-conceit, and by means of the Publican, on the other hand, to seek after humility and repentance, the opposite of this passion. For, since boasting and self-conceit are the first and worst of the passions, because thereby the Devil fell from Heaven — he who was formerly called the Morning Star and who, through his pride, became darkness and was called by that name — and since Adam, the father of our race, was driven from the Paradise of delight on account of pride, the Holy Fathers exhort us, through these examples, in no way to boast of our own accomplishments or set ourselves up against our neighbor, but always to be humble; for “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” It is better to return, having sinned, than to be puffed up after achieving something. For “I tell you,” says the Lord, “the Publican went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee.” The parable, therefore, makes it clear that we should in no way be puffed up, even if we do good things, but should always humble ourselves and pray to God from the heart, even if we have fallen into the worst of evils, for we are not far from salvation.

The Publican was one who collected taxes from the rulers and purchased the farming of taxes in an utterly unjust way, and profited thereby. A Pharisee was one who supposedly set himself apart and surpassed everyone else in knowledge. A Sadducee was a descendant of Sadok, the high priest who assisted David against Absalom. Sedek meant righteousness. There were three heresies among the Hebrews: the Essenes, the Pharisees, and the Sadduccees, who did not accept the resurrection of the dead, Angels, or spirit.

By the intercessions of all Thy wonderworking Saints, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Source

Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. Let us cry out to the Savior, "Have mercy on us, for through You alone are we reconciled."

Idiomela For the Publican and the Pharisee chanted by Galanis Dimitris

The Ceremony of the Opening of the "Triodion"

The Triodion

Preparation for Great Lent

Triodion Begins Today

Cyril of Alexandria: On the Publican and Pharisee

Gregory Palamas: On the Publican and the Pharisee

Church Fathers: On the Publican and the Pharisee

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Saint Mary of Alexandria, Also Known As Marinos

By St. Symeon Metaphrastes

A MAN in Bithynia, by the name of Eugene, had a wife who bore an only daughter, whom they named Mary. Upon the death of Mary’s mother, her father raised her through very methodical teaching and a holy life. When the girl had grown up, her father told her:

“Here, my child, I leave all of my possessions in your hands I am departing for a monastery to save my soul.”

His daughter answered:

“Father, you wish to save your own soul and leave mine to be lost? Do you not know that the Lord says: ‘The good shepherd sacrifices his life for his sheep”? And elsewhere: ‘He who saves a soul shall be as the one who created it”?

Hearing her say such things, and seeing her lamenting and crying, her father said to her:

“My child, what can I do for you, since I wish to enter a monastery? And how is it possible for you to remain with me? For the Devil uses you women to vex and trouble the servants of God.”

She replied:

“No, Father, I will not enter the monastery in the way that you imagine, but will cut my hair and dress myself in men’s clothing; this is how I will come with you.”

WHEN her father had distributed all of his possessions to the poor and cut Mary’s hair and dressed her in men’s clothing, he named her “Marinos” and instructed her with these words:

“Be careful, my child, to watch yourself; for you will be passing through fire. Keep yourself pure by the Grace of Christ, that we might fulfill our promise.”

Taking her with him, he entered a coenobion, where his daughter progressed day by day in every virtue and great ascesis. Many of the brothers thought she was a eunuch, since she was beardless and had a high-pitched voice, whereas others supposed that this was the result of great temperance; for she only ate every two days. Now, it so happened that her father died, whereat she added obedience to her ascesis, that she might receive a charism from God against the demons. Thus, by the touch of her hand all of the infirm were immediately healed.

There were forty spiritual men along with her in the coenobion, and each month four of the brothers were sent out to take care of the affairs of the monastery, since they also provided for a number of anchorites. The journey being lengthy, the brothers who came and went would stop to rest at an inn that lay along the way. The innkeeper attended to them and showed them gracious hospitality.

ONE day, then, the Abbot called Abba Marinos and said to him:

“Brother, I am well acquainted with your entire life and your great obedience; that is, that you are perfect in everything. So, I have decided that you should go out in service of the monastery, since the brothers are grieved that you do not. If you do this, you will receive an even greater reward from our God, Who loves mankind.

Hearing these words, Marinos fell at his feet and said:

“Give me your blessing, Father, and wherever you direct me, I shall go.”

When Abba Marinos went one day with the other three brothers on monastery business and stopped to rest at the inn, it so happened that a certain soldier seduced the innkeeper’s daughter, and she conceived. The soldier told her:

“If this becomes known to your father, tell him: ‘It was the young monk from the coenobion — the handsome one, named Marinos — who slept with me.’”

And, having given her compensation for dishonoring her, he took to the road and left. When, after a few days, her father became aware of her condition, he asked: “Who did this to you?” And she threw the blame on
Marinos.

TAKING his daughter, the innkeeper arrived at the monastery, shouting:

“Where is that deceiver, whom they call a Christian?”

The apokrisarios came to see him and asked:

“Why are you shouting, my brother?”

And he replied:

“I am shouting because I curse the hour I encountered you. May I never see another monk again or have anything to do with them.”

He said the same to the Abbot:

“Father, my one and only daughter, on whom I hoped to depend in my old age — well, look and see what that Marinos, whom you call a Christian, has gone and done to her.”

The Abbot replied:

“What can I do for you, brother, since he is not here? When he returns, however, there remains nothing for me to do but to expel him from the monastery.”

When Abba Marinos arrived with the three other brothers, the Abbot said to him:

“Is this your conduct and your asceticism, that while staying at the inn you seduce the innkeeper’s daughter, and then he comes here and makes a scene before the laypeople?”

Hearing these words, Marinos dropped to his feet, saying:

“Forgive me, Father, for the Lord’s sake; for I have erred, being human.”

The Abbot flared up in anger and immediately threw him out of the monastery.

MARINOS went out and sat in the open air, valiantly enduring the cold and the heat. Those who entered and exited asked him: “Why are you sitting here?”

And he would answer: “They expelled me from the monastery because I committed fornication.”

When the innkeeper’s daughter gave birth to a son, the innkeeper took it in his hands and went to the monastery. Finding Marinos sitting outside of the gate, he threw the baby at his feet and said: “Here is the product of your sin. Take it.”

And he departed forthwith. Taking up the child, Marinos felt pity for
it, and said:

“As for me, I am paying for my sins. But why should this hapless child die with me?”

He thus began to ask for milk from the shepherds and to feed it as though he were its father. And as if this distraction were not enough, the crying and wailing baby would soil its clothes.

After three years, when the brothers had seen his great affliction and patience, they went to the Abbot and said:

“He has been punished enough, since he confesses his error before everyone.”

Since the Abbot could not be persuaded to take him back, the brothers said to him:

“If you do not receive him back, we will also leave the monastery. How can we ask forgiveness for our daily sins while he has been sitting outside for three years?”

THE Abbot then accepted him back, saying:

“I accept you back on account of the brothers’ love, though you are the least of all.”

And Marinos made a prostration to him, saying:

“It is more than enough for me, Father, just to live under your roof.”

So the Abbot gave him the most degrading chores, which he performed with zeal, wearing himself out in the process. And all the while he had the child behind him, hollering and clamoring for food. When the child grew up, having been reared with great virtue, he was accounted worthy of receiving the monastic schema.

ONE day, the Abbot asked the brothers:

“Where is Brother Marinos? I have not seen him at the services for three days, though he is always the first to arrive. Go to his cell and see if he has fallen ill.”

They went and found that he had died. When they had informed the Abbot of this, he replied:

“I wonder, how did his wretched soul depart? What defense can he have made for himself?”

He instructed that Marinos be buried. When they went to wash him and discovered that he was a woman, they all cried out “Lord have mercy!”

The Abbot asked: “What has come over you?”

They replied: “Brother Marinos was a woman.”

Entering the cell, the Abbot dropped down with his head on the ground, weeping and saying:

“I will remain here, at his holy feet, until I die, if I do not receive forgiveness.”

And a voice said to him:

“If you had acted in knowledge, your sin would not be forgiven. But since you acted in ignorance, it will be forgiven you.”

WHEN the Abbot stood up, he called for the innkeeper and said to him: “Look, Marinos has died.”

And the innkeeper replied:

“May God forgive him; for he has cast a blight on my house.”

The Abbot answered:

“Repent, my brother; for you have sinned before God and have misled me by your words, because Marinos was a woman.”

When the innkeeper realized this, he was abashed and glorified God. A short while later his daughter arrived, full of remorse, and told the truth: “It was the soldier who dishonored and defiled me.” And immediately she was healed of the affliction that had been sent to her by God.

When the brothers had taken the body of St. Mary, they anointed it with myrrh and laid it in a holy place, giving it a proper burial and praising Christ the Savior of all, Who ever glorifies them who glorify Him. To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Source: Demetrios G. Tsames, Materikon [Lives of the Holy Mothers], Vol. I (Thessalonica: Ekdoseis “He Hagia Makrina,” 1990), pp. 314-319.

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New Martyr Christos the Gardener

St. Christos the Gardner (Feast Day - February 12)

Saint Christos was born in Albania. At forty years old he traveled to Constantinople, where he exercised the profession of gardening. One day while he was selling apples in the town market, a Turk came and wanted to buy all the apples at a humiliating price. Christos resisted and they came to an argument. The Turk became angry and, wanting revenge, he went to the authorities and reported that Christos allegedly had said that he will become a Muslim. Forced to stand before the judge, Christos was asked if this was true. "In the name of God," replied the poor gardener, "I never said such words. I am a Christian and can not change my faith even if I must suffer a thousand evils." Then the judge ordered Christos to be beaten vigorously with sticks. They even gave him a blow on the head and his head was soaked in blood. After that, he was tied up, taken to prison, and his legs were put in stocks.

At that time, it happened that the famous scholar Monk Kaisarios Dapontes was also in prison. He felt pity for Christos and asked the guardians to release his legs from the stocks, and they released him. Monk Kaisarios Dapontes even managed to find some food and took it to him. "Thank you Father", said Christos, "but why should I eat? Will I even live? Let me then die for my Lord Jesus Christ hungry and thirsty." And he took out and gave Monk Kaisarios a metal file, which he was carrying on him. "Sell it," he said, "and make some Divine Liturgies and Memorial services for my soul."

That same day, the guards came and took the Martyr from prison and led him outside the city. He peacefully put his neck down and gave himself to Jesus Christ. So, the gardener of Constantinople left the gardens of the Bosporus to become a gardener of the heavenly Paradise. He was decapitated on the twelfth of February 1748. The monk Kaisarios Dapontes wrote about the life and suffering of the Martyr, and in turn it was recorded by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite.

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Saint Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch

St. Meletios of Antioch (Feast Day - February 12)

This holy Father, who was from Meletine of Armenia, was a blameless man, just, reverent, sincere, and most gentle. Consecrated Bishop of Sebaste in 357, he was later banished from his throne and departed for Beroea of Syria (this is the present-day Aleppo). After the Arian bishop of Antioch had been deposed, the Orthodox and the Arians each strove to have a man of like mind with themselves become the next Bishop of Antioch. Meletius was highly esteemed by all, and since the Arians believed him to share their own opinion, they had him raised to the throne of Antioch. As soon as he had taken the helm of the Church of Antioch, however, he began preaching the Son's consubstantiality with the Father. At this, the archdeacon, an Arian, put his hand over the bishop's mouth; Meletius then extended three fingers towards the people, closed them, and extended one only, showing by signs the equality and unity of the Trinity. The embarrassed archdeacon then seized his hand, but released his mouth, and Meletius spoke out even more forcibly in defense of the Council of Nicea. Shortly after, he was banished by the Arian Emperor Constantius, son of Saint Constantine the Great. After the passage of time, he was recalled to his throne, but was banished again the third time by Valens. It was Saint Meletius who ordained Saint John Chrysostom reader and deacon in Antioch (see Nov. 13). He lived until the Second Ecumenical Council in 381 (which was convoked against Macedonius, Patriarch of Constantinople, the enemy of the Holy Spirit), over which he presided, being held in great honor as a zealot of the Faith and a venerable elder hierarch.

Some time before, when the Emperor Gratian had made the Spanish General Theodosius commander-in-chief of his armies in the war against the barbarians, Theodosius had a dream in which he saw Meletius, whom he had never met, putting upon him the imperial robe and crown. Because of Theodosius's victories, Gratian made him Emperor of the East in Valens's stead in 379. When, as Emperor, Saint Theodosius the Great convoked the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople two years later, he forbade that anyone should tell him who Meletius was; and as soon as he saw him, he recognized him, ran to him with joy, embraced him before all the other bishops, and told him of his dream.

While at the Council, Saint Meletius fell ill and reposed a short while after. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, among others, gave a moving oration at his funeral; bewailing the loss of him whom all loved as a father, he said, "Where is that sweet serenity of his eyes? Where that bright smile upon his lips? Where that kind right hand, with fingers outstretched to accompany the benediction of the mouth?" (PG 46:8-6). And he lamented, "Our Elias has been caught up, and no Elisseus is left behind in his place." (ibid., 860). The holy relics of Saint Meletius were returned to Antioch and were buried beside Saint Babylas the Martyr (see Sept. 4), in the Church dedicated to the Martyr which Meletius, in his zeal for the Martyr's glory, had helped build with his own hands.

From The Synaxarion of Holy Transfiguration Monastery

Funeral Oration To St. Meletius

By St. Gregory of Nyssa

The number of the Apostles has been enlarged for us by this our late Apostle being reckoned among their company. These Holy ones have drawn to themselves one of like conversation; those athletes a fellow athlete; those crowned ones another crowned like them; the pure in heart one chaste in soul: those ministers of the Word another herald of that Word. Most blessed, indeed, is our Father for this his joining the Apostolic band and his departure to Christ. Most pitiable we! For the unseasonableness of our orphaned condition does not permit us to congratulate ourselves on our Father's happy lot. For him, indeed, better it was by his departure hence to be with Christ, but it was a grievous thing for us to be severed from his fatherly guidance.

Behold, it is a time of need for counsel; and our counsellor is silent. War, the war of heresy, encompasses us, and our Leader is no more. The general body of the Church labours under disease, and we find not the physician. See in what a strait we are. Oh! That it were possible I could nerve my weakness, and rising to the full proportions of our loss, burst out with a voice of lamentation adequate to the greatness of the distress, as these excellent preachers of yours have done, who have bewailed with loud voice the misfortune that has befallen them in this loss of their father. But what can I do? How can I force my tongue to the service of the theme, thus heavily weighted, and shackled, as it were, by this calamity? How shall I open my mouth thus subdued to speechlessness? How shall I give free utterance to a voice now habitually sinking to the pathetic tone of lamentations? How can I lift up the eyes of my soul, veiled as I am with this darkness of misfortune? Who will pierce for me this deep dark cloud of grief, and light up again, as out of a clear sky, the bright ray of peace? From what quarter will that ray shine forth, now that our star has set? Oh! evil moonless night that gives no hope of any star! With what an opposite meaning, as compared with those of late, are our words uttered in this place now! Then we rejoiced with the song of marriage, now we give way to piteous lamentation for the sorrow that has befallen us! Then we chanted an epithalamium, but now a funeral dirge! You remember the day when we entertained you at the feast of that spiritual marriage, and brought home the virgin bride to the house of her noble bridegroom; when to the best of our ability we proffered the wedding gifts of our praises, both giving and receiving joy in turn. But now our delight has been changed to lamentation, and our festal garb become sackcloth.

It were better, maybe, to suppress our woe, and to hide our grief in silent seclusion, so as not to disturb the children of the bride-chamber, divested as we are of the bright marriage garment, and clothed instead with the black robe of the preacher. For since that noble bridegroom has been taken from us, sorrow has all at once clothed us in the garb of black; nor is it possible for us to indulge in the usual cheerfulness of our conversation, since Envy has stripped us of our proper and becoming dress. Rich in blessings we came to you; now we leave you bare and poor. The lamp we held right above our head, shining with the rich fullness of light, we now carry away quenched, its bright flame all dissolved into smoke and dust. We held our great treasure in an earthen vessel. Vanished is the treasure, and the earthen vessel, emptied of its wealth, is restored to them who gave it. What shall we say who have consigned it? What answer will they make by whom it is demanded back? Oh! Miserable shipwreck! How, even with the harbour around us, have we gone to pieces with our hopes! How has the vessel, fraught with a thousand bales of goods, sunk with all its cargo, and left us destitute who were once so rich! Where is that bright sail which was ever filled by the Holy Ghost? Where is that safe helm of our souls which steered us while we sailed unhurt over the swelling waves of heresy? Where that immovable anchor of intelligence which held us in absolute security and repose after our toils? Where that excellent pilot who steered our bark to its heavenly goal? Is, then, what has happened of small moment, and is my passionate grief unreasoning? Is it not rather that I reach not the full extent of our loss, though I exceed in the loudness of my expression of grief? Lend me, oh lend me, my brethren, the tear of sympathy. When you were glad we shared your gladness. Repay us, therefore, this sad recompense. “Rejoice with them that do rejoice" (Romans 12:15). This we have done. It is for you to return it by “weeping with them that weep.”

It happened once that a strange people bewailed the loss of the patriarch Jacob, and made the misfortune of another people their own, when his united family transported their father out of Egypt, and lamented in another land the loss that had befallen them. They all prolonged their mourning over him for thirty days and as many nights. You, therefore, that are brethren, and of the same kindred, do as they who were of another kindred did. On that occasion the tear of strangers was shed in common with that of countrymen; be it shed in common now, for common is the grief. Behold these your patriarchs. All these are children of our Jacob. All these are children of the free-woman (cf. Galatians 4:31). No one is base born, no one supposititious. Nor indeed would it have become that Saint to introduce into the nobility of the family of Faith a bond-woman's kindred. Therefore is he our father because he was the father of our father. You have just heard what and how great things an Ephraim and a Manasses related of their father, and how the wonders of the story surpassed description. Give me also leave to speak on them. For this beatification of him from henceforth incurs no risk. Neither fear I Envy; for what worse evil can it do me? Know, then, what the man was; one of the nobility of the East, blameless, just, genuine, devout, innocent of any evil deed. Indeed the great Job will not be jealous if he who imitated him be decked with the like testimonials of praise. But Envy, that has an eye for all things fair, cast a bitter glance upon our blessedness; and one who stalks up and down the world also stalked in our midst, and broadly stamped the foot-mark of affliction on our happy state. It is not herds of oxen or sheep that he has maltreated, unless in a mystical sense one transfers the idea of a flock to the Church. It is not in these that we have received injury from Envy; it is not in asses or camels that he has wrought us loss, neither has he excruciated our bodily feelings by a wound in the flesh; no, but he has robbed us of our very head. And with that head have gone away from us the precious organs of our senses. That eye which beheld the things of heaven is no longer ours, nor that ear which listened to the Divine voice, nor that tongue with its pure devotion to truth. Where is that sweet serenity of his eyes? Where that bright smile upon his lips? Where that courteous right hand with fingers outstretched to accompany the benediction of the mouth.

I feel an impulse, as if I were on the stage, to shout aloud for our calamity. Oh! Church, I pity you. To you, the city of Antioch, I address my words. I pity you for this sudden reversal. How has your beauty been despoiled! How have you been robbed of your ornaments! How suddenly has the flower faded! “Verily the grass withers and the flower thereof falls away" (1 Peter 1:24; Isaiah 40:8). What evil eye, what witchery of drunken malice has intruded on that distant Church? What is there to compensate her loss? The fountain has failed. The stream has dried up. Again has water been turned into blood (cf. Exodus 7:17). Oh! The sad tidings which tell the Church of her calamity! Who shall say to the children that they have no more a father? Who shall tell the Bride she is a widow? Alas for their woes! What did they send out? What do they receive back? They sent forth an ark, they receive back a coffin. The ark, my brethren, was that man of God; an ark containing in itself the Divine and mystic things. There was the golden vessel full of Divine manna, that celestial food. In it were the Tables of the Covenant written on the tablets of the heart, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God. For on that pure heart no gloomy or inky thought was imprinted. In it, too, were the pillars, the steps, the chapters, the lamps, the mercy-seat, the baths, the veils of the entrances. In it was the rod of the priesthood, which budded in the hands of our Saint; and whatever else we have heard the Ark contained was all held in the soul of that man. But in their stead what is there now? Let description cease. Cloths of pure white linen scarves of silk, abundance of perfumes and spices; the loving munificence of a modest and beautiful lady. For it must be told, so as to be for a memorial of her , what she did for that Priest when, without stint, she poured the alabaster box of ointment on his head. But the treasure preserved within, what is it? Bones, now dead, and which even before dissolution had rehearsed their dying, the sad memorials of our affliction. Oh! What a cry like that of old will be heard in Rama, Rachel weeping (cf. Jeremiah 31:15), not for her children but for a husband, and admitting not of consolation. Let alone, you that would console; let alone; force not on us your consolation. Let the widow indulge the deepness of her grief. Let her feel the loss that has been inflicted on her. Yet she is not without previous practice in separation. In those contests in which our athlete was engaged she had before been trained to bear to be left.

Certainly you must remember how a previous sermon to ours related to you the contests of the man; how throughout, even in the very number of his contests, he had maintained the glory of the Holy Trinity, which he ever glorified; for there were three trying attacks that he had to repel. You have heard the whole series of his labours, what he was in the first, what in the middle, and what in the last. I deem it superfluous to repeat what has been so well described. Yet it may not be out of place to add just so much as this. When that Church, so sound in the faith, at the first beheld the man, she saw features truly formed after the image of God, she saw love welling forth, she saw grace poured around his lips, a consummate perfection of humility beyond which it is impossible to conceive any thing further, a gentleness like that of David, the understanding of Solomon, a goodness like that of Moses, a strictness as of Samuel, a chastity as of Joseph, the skill of a Daniel, a zeal for the faith such as was in the great Elijah, a purity of body like that of the lofty-minded John , an unsurpassable love as of Paul. She saw the concurrence of so many excellences in one soul, and, thrilled with a blessed affection, she loved him, her own bridegroom, with a pure and virtuous passion. But ere she could accomplish her desire, ere she could satisfy her longing, while still in the fervour of her passion, she was left desolate, when those trying times called the athlete to his contests. While, then, he was engaged in these toilsome struggles for religion, she remained chaste and kept the marriage vow. A long time intervened, during which one, with adulterous intent , made an attempt upon the immaculate bridal-chamber. But the Bride remained undefiled; and again there was a return, and again an exile. And thus it happened thrice, until the Lord dispelled the gloom of that heresy, and sending forth a ray of peace gave us the hope of some respite from these lengthened troubles. But when at length they had seen each other, when there was a renewal of those chaste joys and spiritual desires, when the flame of love had again been lit, all at once his last departure breaks off the enjoyment. He came to adorn you as his bride, he failed not in the eagerness of his zeal, he placed on this fair union the chaplets of blessing, in imitation of his Master. As did the Lord at Cana of Galilee , so here did this imitator of Christ. The Jewish waterpots, which were filled with the water of heresy, he filled with genuine wine, changing its nature by the power of his faith. How often did he set before you a chalice, but not of wine, when with that sweet voice he poured out in rich abundance the wine of Grace, and presented to you the full and varied feast of reason! He went first with the blessing of his words, and then his illustrious disciples were employed in distributing his teaching to the multitude.

We, too, were glad, and made our own the glory of your nation. Up to this point how bright and happy is our narrative. What a blessed thing it were with this to bring our sermon to an end. But after these things what follows? “Call for the mourning women" (Jeremiah 9:17), as says the prophet Jeremiah. In no other way can the burning heart cool down, swelling as it is with its affliction, unless it relieves itself by sobs and tears. Formerly the hope of his return consoled us for the pang of separation, but now he has been torn from us by that final separation. A huge intervening chasm is fixed between the Church and him. He rests indeed in the bosom of Abraham, but there exists not one who might bring the drop of water to cool the tongue of the agonized. Gone is that beauty, silent is that voice, closed are those lips, fled that grace. Our happy state has become a tale that is told. Elijah of old time caused grief to the people of Israel when he soared from earth to God. But Elisha (cf. 2 Kings 2) consoled them for the loss by being adorned with the mantle of his master. But now our wound is beyond healing; our Elijah has been caught up, and no Elisha left behind in his place. You have heard certain mournful and lamenting words of Jeremiah, with which he bewailed Jerusalem as a deserted city, and how among other expressions of passionate grief he added this, “The ways of Zion do mourn." These words were uttered then, but now they have been realized. For when the news of our calamity shall have been spread abroad, then will the ways be full of mourning crowds, and the sheep of his flock will pour themselves forth, and like the Ninevites utter the voice of lamentation (cf. Jonah 3:5), or, rather, will lament more bitterly than they. For in their case their mourning released them from the cause of their fear, but with these no hope of release from their distress removes their need of mourning. I know, too, of another utterance of Jeremiah, which is reckoned among the books of the Psalms ; it is that which he made over the captivity of Israel. The words run thus: “We hung our harps upon the willows, and condemned ourselves as well as our harps to silence.” I make this song my own. For when I see the confusion of heresy, this confusion is Babylon (cf. Genesis 11:9). And when I see the flood of trials that pours in upon us from this confusion, I say that these are “the waters of Babylon by which we sit down, and weep” because there is no one to guide us over them. Even if you mention the willows, and the harps that hung thereon, that part also of the figure shall be mine. For in truth our life is among willows , the willow being a fruitless tree, and the sweet fruit of our life having all withered away. Therefore have we become fruitless willows, and the harps of love we hung upon those trees are idle and unvibrating. “If I forget you, oh Jerusalem,” he adds, “may my right hand be forgotten.” Allow me to make a slight alteration in that text. It is not we who have forgotten the right hand, but the right hand that has forgotten us: and the “tongue has cleaved to the roof of” his own “mouth,” and barred the passage of his words, so that we can never again hear that sweet voice. But let me have all tears wiped away, for I feel that I am indulging more than is right in this womanish sorrow for our loss.

Our Bridegroom has not been taken from us. He stands in our midst, though we see him not. The Priest is within the holy place. He is entered into that within the veil, whither our forerunner Christ has entered for us (cf. Hebrews 6:20). He has left behind him the curtain of the flesh. No longer does he pray to the type or shadow of the things in heaven, but he looks upon the very embodiment of these realities. No longer through a glass darkly does he intercede with God, but face to face he intercedes with Him: and he intercedes for us , and for the “negligences and ignorances” of the people. He has put away the coats of skin (cf. Genesis 3:21); no need is there now for the dwellers in paradise of such garments as these; but he wears the raiment which the purity of his life has woven into a glorious dress. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death” of such a man, or rather it is not death, but the breaking of bonds, as it is said, “You have broken my bonds asunder.” Simeon has been let depart. He has been freed from the bondage of the body. The “snare is broken and the bird has flown away. ”He has left Egypt behind, this material life. He has crossed , not this Red Sea of ours, but the black gloomy sea of life. He has entered upon the land of promise, and holds high converse with God upon the mount. He has loosed the sandal of his soul, that with the pure step of thought he may set foot upon that holy land where there is the Vision of God. Having therefore, brethren, this consolation, do ye, who are conveying the bones of our Joseph to the place of blessing, listen to the exhortation of Paul: “Sorrow not as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Speak to the people there; relate the glorious tale; speak of the incredible wonder, how the people in their myriads, so densely crowded together as to look like a sea of heads, became all one continuous body, and like some watery flood surged around the procession bearing his remains. Tell them how the fair David distributed himself, in various ways and manners, among innumerable ranks of people, and danced before that ark in the midst of men of the same and of different language. Tell them how the streams of fire, from the succession of the lamps, flowed along in an unbroken track of light, and extended so far that the eye could not reach them. Tell them of the eager zeal of all the people, of his joining “the company of Apostles,” and how the napkins that bound his face were plucked away to make amulets for the faithful. Let it be added to your narration how the Emperor showed in his countenance his sorrow for this misfortune, and rose from his throne, and how the whole city joined the funeral procession of the Saint. Moreover console each other with the following words; it is a good medicine that Solomon has for sorrow; for he bids wine be given to the sorrowful; saying this to us, the labourers in the vineyard: “Give,” therefore, “your wine to those that are in sorrow ,” not that wine which produces drunkenness, plots against the senses, and destroys the body, but such as gladdens the heart, the wine which the Prophet recommends when he says: “Wine makes glad the heart of man. ”Pledge each other in that liquor undiluted and with the unstinted goblets of the word, that thus our grief may be turned to joy and gladness, by the grace of the Only-begotten Son of God, through Whom be glory to God, even the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.

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To read the text with extensive footnotes, read here.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance; for this cause, thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Meletios, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
Fearing thy spiritual boldness, the apostate Macedonius doth flee; and as we accomplish the service wherein we seek thine intercessions, we, thy servants, hasten to thee with longing, O Meletius, thou equal of the Angels, thou fiery sword of Christ our God which doth utterly slay all the godless. We praise thee, the luminary which doth illumine all.

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