Saint Cyril of Philea and the Slap of the Guardian Angel

Saint Cyril of Philea (1015 – 2 December 1111) was once visited by a monastic acquaintance of his who had great faith in the Saint and who told him the following:

“Abba, while resting in my cell, I was meditating on my sins and mourning, now over their magnitude, now over my lack of repentance. Suddenly, I was overcome by unbounded and unconstrained weeping, which accompanied me in all my works. The tears moistened my face to such an extent that for two days and nights I did not remember to take food. In the meantime, my heart became excessively heated, I lamented bitterly and plaintively, while at the same time I felt a sweetness and ineffable delight, joined with sorrow and inexpressible joy, now giving thanks to God, now offering prayers and supplications, and then again sending up thanks and glorification beyond measure.

On the Invisible Angelic World (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

About the Invisible World 

 

"I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible ..."

 

In addition to this visible world in which we live, there is another world - invisible, in which rational beings also live. That is why God is called the Creator of everything visible and invisible. He created everything that is in heaven and that is on earth, visible and invisible (Col. 1:16). "Invisible" - this is the invisible world, which we will talk about.

We cannot see the invisible world; how do we know that this invisible world really exists? We know that God revealed to us about Himself and there were various manifestations from Him. There are many examples of this in Holy Scripture and in the writings of the Holy Fathers. And the mind itself does not reject the existence of the invisible world, and our heart would be hurt if this invisible world did not exist: whoever has nothing left on earth has only consolation in the invisible world. So, there is an invisible, spiritual world. After all, it is only impossible to reject the existence of the invisible world because we do not see it. The invisible world is invisible only to us, and those who live there see everything in it clearly, just as we now see each other, and even much more clearly.

Homily on the Wednesday of the First Week of Great Lent (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

"Now the Powers of Heaven serve with us invisibly; behold, the King of Glory enters."

What are these Heavenly Powers invisibly serving with us, listeners? Archangels and Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim and other Incorporeal Powers, whose main dwelling is Heaven, that is why they are called Heavenly. Yes, these are the Heavenly Powers that serve with us. In addition, each of us has, as you know, our own Guardian Angel. These Guardian Angels also belong to the Powers of Heaven, so they also serve invisibly with us. Now they serve with us. When is now? At the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. However, at every Liturgy, the Heavenly Powers invisibly serve with us, and not only at the Liturgy, but also at every church service, they serve with us. It is only during the Liturgy that the Heavenly Powers serve invisibly with us. Why? Because the King of glory, the Lord of hosts, Jesus Christ, is with us primarily at the Liturgy.

Angels in the Teaching of Fr. John Romanides

- The time of the angels is in the ages without end, as angels are not restricted by matter. Thus angels move in intervals of time that do not resemble our own.

- Man has a slight conception of what time is, but he understands almost nothing about the ages, unless he reaches glorification and has spiritual insight, and sees an angel himself. Then he has experience of an angel.

- There is an interpretive rule that St. Basil the Great expresses very clearly: Wherever the Angel in the Old Testament is called God - because there are different kinds of angels, there are created angels as well - wherever the Angel who appears to the Prophets is called God, He is Christ.

"The Waves Were Filled With Angels and the Panagia Appeared" (St. Sophia of Kleisoura)

The following story is told about the journey of the refugees [from Pontus], in 1919, to their new homeland Greece.

The ship of their group was in a great storm and was in danger of sinking many times. They were finally saved.

The captain, making his cross, said:

"You had a righteous person with you and they saved you."

All eyes then fell on Sophia who, isolated in a corner of the ship, did not stop praying throughout the difficult voyage.

When Saint George Karslides Danced With 400 Angels at a Wedding

According to the testimony of C.T., whose wedding is described below, the following was said:

The Elder [Saint George Karslides] also came to the party that took place on the eve of the wedding in Karyofyto [Xanthi] and danced a little at the beginning, because he was very happy. We also had an organ player from a village in Drama.

When he left, the organ player went to the grandmother, mother Argyro, and told her the news, criticizing the monk.

The Holy Stone - A Fragment of the Stone on Which the Angel Announced the Resurrection to the Myrrhbearers

"And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it." (Matt. 28:2)

In the Rotunda of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem is the Aedicule or Kouvouklion. The Aedicule or Kouvouklion has two rooms – one holds the Holy Stone (Hagios Lithos), called the Chapel of the Angel, the other is the Holy Tomb of Jesus itself, or the Holy Sepulchre. In the Chapel of the Angel is a fragment of the Holy Stone which sealed the entrance into the Tomb of Christ and on which the Angel sat as he announced the good news of the Resurrection of Christ to the Myrrhbearers. 

 

Pascha Sunday - Rejoicing With the Angels

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin (1807-1869) 

 

"Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the Angels sing in Heaven."

We are not alone in celebrating this day: there is a festival in Heaven too. We are not the only ones who glorify the risen Christ: and the Angels in Heaven sing His Resurrection. "Thy Resurrection, Christ our Savior, the Angels sing in Heaven."

What about the Angels? Jesus Christ did not come down to earth for them, did not suffer for them, did not die for them, and rose again not for them; so why do they sing His Resurrection? Because they are Angels, good creatures, that is why they sing. Evil spirits will not sing now, for them all spiritual joy is intolerable, for them it is torment when others are blissful. Such is the property of the wicked. But that's not the way Angels in Heaven are. They always rejoice when others are rejoicing; whoever receives a blessing from God, they exalt, as if they themselves received this blessing. Thus, the Angels in Heaven are now rejoicing because we are rejoicing, triumphant, because we now have a triumph.

The Pillars of Cloud and Fire in the Wilderness and the Star of Bethlehem Were Angels of the Lord

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night." (Exodus 13:21-22)

 

"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them." (Exodus 14:19)

 

"And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses." (Exodus 33:9)

 

Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Eustathios of Ancyra

St. Eustathios of Ancyra (Feast day - July 28)

Verses

The all-blessed was delivered from the river by an Angel,
And expired in the hands of the Angel that saved him.

He was a soldier, who was brought before the Governor of Ancyra named Cornelius, was questioned by him, and boldly confessing the glorious economy of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was harshly beaten. They then pierced his ankles, and tying them with ropes, he was dragged into the city of Ancyra, up to the Sagaris River. The governor followed from behind and observed. There they placed the Saint in a chest and cast him into the river. An Angel of the Lord stopped this, removing the chest and placing it on solid ground. The Saint was found there to be unharmed, chanting: "He that dwells in the help of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven" (Ps. 91:1).

The Origins of the Cherubic Hymn

With the emergence of the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite in the early sixth century, such as On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and On the Celestial Hierarchy, the Divine Liturgy was seen more and more as a participation in the eternal liturgy of heaven. The connection to the angelic liturgy, already present in the first century Book of Hebrews and articulated in the fourth century by John Chrysostom, found emphasis in the script for the Divine Liturgy in the years after the death of Emperor Justinian.

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Hesychios the Wonderworker

St. Hesychios the Wonderworker (Feast Day - March 6 and May 10)

Verses

March 6th.

You bound yourself Hesychios to a quiet life,
Arriving at your end, you quietly departed life.

May 10th.

Hesychios quietly rent himself from life,
Quietly he crossed over to God.

The much-talked about man of God Hesychios was brought up in piety from the time he was in swaddling-clothes. He hated material attachments and became a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, because he desired the pleasure of the Zion above. This is why he withdrew from his homeland, which is called Andrapa and lies in Galatia (which was formerly called Claudioupolis and some think this is the city which is commonly called Kastampolis), and he went to the deserts near the sea of Ardania as God had ordered his spirit. He specifically went to the mountain of Maionos.

Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Agnes of Rome

St. Agnes of Rome (Feast Day - January 21)

Verses

Like a young calf in the fire, as David says,
Agnes pleased you O Word.

The Holy Martyr Agnes was from the great city of Rome, and was from an illustrious family. Because she lived a pure and clean life, in accordance with her name, she taught the women who would come to her the words of truth. She also taught them about prudence and purity, and advised them to recognize Christ as the true God, and to worship only Him. When the ruler of Rome heard about this, he ordered for the immediate arrest of the Saint. She therefore stood before him, and he ordered for her to sacrifice to the idols, and if she did not do so, he said, he would put her in a brothel. The Saint responded: "I will neither sacrifice to your gods, nor will I consider the brothel you threaten me with. I place my hope in God, that I will be released from these clean with His help."

Synaxis of the Myriads of Angels

Synaxis of the Myriad of Angels (Feast Day - January 11)

Verses

Those singers of the thrice-holy hymn,
The Angels likewise do we honor with hymns.

The Synaxis of the Myriads of Angels was celebrated in the Martyrium of Saint Anastasia at the Portico of Domninos in Constantinople.

Angels - Illumined with the First Rays from God (St. Gregory the Theologian)

By St. Gregory the Theologian

(Oration 38, On the Theophany, 8-10)

But when I say God, I mean Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For Godhead is neither diffused beyond these, so as to bring in a mob of gods; nor yet is it bounded by a smaller compass than these, so as to condemn us for a poverty-stricken conception of Deity; either Judaizing to save the Monarchia, or falling into heathenism by the multitude of our gods. For the evil on either side is the same, though found in contrary directions. This then is the Holy of Holies, which is hidden even from the Seraphim, and is glorified with a thrice repeated Holy, meeting in one ascription of the title Lord and God, as one of our predecessors has most beautifully and loftily pointed out.

Tales of a Guardian Angel From the Streets of London

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

First Narration:

There is a nice book written by an English priest, Father Cyril Angelikos. This priest is our contemporary, reposing not long ago. He served in a church in London dedicated to the Holy Archangels. And he often had visions of angels. We will refer here to two cases where we do not have visions, but the voice and action of the angels. Father Cyril spent all his time in the Services, or in the ministry to the sick and the poor. At one point he stood in front of his home and was thinking about which house to visit now. Then he heard a voice - the voice of a Guardian Angel: "Go see the grandmother at so and so." He immediately obeyed and went. When he came into that woman's house, she cried out from the bed how shortly before she had prayed to the Angel of God to bring to her Father Cyril. "See," she said, "I'm sick and I have no one to send to call for you. Here in the side room a woman gave birth and the newborn is dying. Hurry, Father!" Father Cyril rushed to baptize the child before he died.

The Angelic Revelation of the Cenobitic Rule to St. Pachomios the Great

By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis

(Lausiac History, Ch. 33)

In the land of Thebes, and in the district thereof which is called Tabenna,* there was a certain blessed man whose name was Pachomios, and this man led a beautiful life of ascetic excellence, and he was crowned with the love of God and of man. Now therefore as this man was sitting in his cell, there appeared unto him an angel who said unto him, “Since you have completed your discipleship it is unnecessary for you to dwell here; but come, and go and gather together unto yourself those who are wandering, and dwell with them, and lay down for them such laws as I shall tell unto you;" and the angel gave him a book (or tablet) wherein was written the following:

Synaxarion of Saint Ananias the Persian

St. Ananias the Persian (Feast Day - December 1)

Verses

The flesh of Ananias is given to assaults of the flesh,
Though as flesh not apprehending by the senses in the least.

Saint Ananias was from Arvila, a city of Persia. He was arrested for his faith in Christ and the blessed one endured many and vicious tortures. As he was about to commend his soul to the Lord, he said the following: "I see a ladder which extends to the heavens and youth with radiant faces standing on it saying to me, 'Come with us. Come and we will bring you to a city full of light and ineffable rejoicing.'" As soon as he said these words, he surrendered his spirit.

Synaxis of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel and All the Bodiless Powers

On the eighth of this month [November], is the Synaxis of the Chief Commanders Michael and Gabriel, with the other bodiless and heavenly orders.

Verses

To the Archangel Michael*

Michael, a fitting song I wished to sing

As is fit, but one free from matter I have not.

To the Archangel Gabriel**

I behold Gabriel the Angel with great joy,

In you I exceedingly rejoice and fly towards what I long for.

On the eighth the heavens glorify the Leaders of the orders.

To the Assembly of the Nine Orders of Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Principalities, Powers, Archangels and Angels.

What offering worthy of the nine orders,

Could one the offspring of nine months pronounce?

Discerning Angels from Demons (St. Paisios the Athonite)

By St. Paisios the Athonite

The devil can appear either as an angel or as a saint. The demon camouflaged as an angel or a saint will propagate disturbance (which is what he possesses), whereas a true Angel or Saint will always propagate a paradisiacal joy and a heavenly exuberance. The humble and clean person - even if inexperienced - can discern between an Angel that is from God and a demon that appears as an angel of light, because he is spiritually clean and more closely related to the Angel. The egotist and carnal person will however be deluded easily by the cunning devil. When the devil appears as an angel of light and the person forms a humble thought, the devil will vanish.