When Elder Ambrose Lazaris Prayed With a Bear

 

Elder Ambrose Lazaris said the following:

"When, my child, you see wild beasts in the wild, make the sign of the cross over them and talk to them.

Don't leave immediately, but don't disturb them either.

The bear, let's say, if you don't disturb it, it doesn't disturb you.

I once slept next to a bear and we prayed together.

Man, however, disturbs you with words, kills you with his tongue and eyes.

Today he has become worse than the animal.

Therefore, prayer and repentance are needed."

Source: From the book Γέρων Αμβρόσιος Λάζαρης, Ο πνευματικός της Μονής Δαδίου, Ο επιστήθιος φίλος του αγίου Πορφυρίου, Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

When Beasts and Humans Together Celebrated the Memory of the Holy Martyr Sergius

By St. Justin Popovich

Every year on the feast of the holy martyr [Sergius], wild animals, as if fulfilling some law, came out of the surrounding deserts and gathered at the place where the holy martyr was first buried. And during that time, they changed their wild nature into the meekness of a lamb: for they did not attack any of the people or the cattle, but having meekly visited the holy place, they again left for their deserts. So God glorified his beloved, that He inspired the beasts as well as humans to celebrate the holy memory of the holy martyr.

From Lives of the Saints for October.

 

 

Homily for the Third Sunday of Matthew - The Heavenly Father (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homily for the Third Sunday of Matthew

The Heavenly Father

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou 

"... and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (Matt. 6:26).

 

Beloved brethren,

The God-man Christ said in His Sermon on the Mount that God is our Father. "Your heavenly Father" (Matthew 5:26). With this he expresses God's love and special interest for us. This truth is a great revelation that Christ made with His incarnation.

The Elephants of Constantinople That Would Make the Sign of the Cross With Their Trunks

In the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus (Bk. 2), we have a historical record of a resident of Constantinople in the late sixth century. There he gives an eye-witness account of the following miracle that took place with elephants in Constantinople:

There were at that time at Constantinople some elephants, whose conduct excited wonder and astonishment. Now it may easily happen that those who are given to ridicule will find only an occasion for derision in lighting upon a narrative of the acts of irrational animals in our histories: but we do not record it without reason, or, so to say, foolishly, but first of all for the glory of God, and secondly for the refutation and conviction of heathens and Jews, and of all other mistaken persons, who deny the cross, and reject the dispensation of our Savior, the sign of which is the cross upon which it was wrought.

Elder Eumenios Saridakis and the Tiger at the London Zoo

By Monk Simon

When Father Eumenios Saridakis with a group of his spiritual children visited the London Zoological Gardens, the Elder found himself to be in front of an Indian tiger, which was acting very wildly. It was jumping up and down behind the wire netting, roaring, and everyone stood back at a distance.

The Distressed Horse and the Sanctified Water

 

St. Aphrahat the Persian

 

By Theodoret of Cyrus

A certain horse of good breed and trained to be an excellent mount was particularly dear to the emperor [Valens]. To the great distress of the emperor it caught a disease: its secretion of urine was blocked. Those trained in the skill were summoned to tend it; but to the distress of the emperor and the grief of the man entrusted with the care of the horses, their skill was defeated. Being pious and strong in faith, he repaired at midday to the dwelling of the great Aphrahat [the Persian]. After mentioning the disease and declaring his faith, he besought him to dispel the complaint by prayer. Without delaying for a moment but instantly beseeching God, he ordered water to be drawn from the well, and making on this the sign of the cross of salvation gave instructions for it to be given to the horse, which, contrary to its habit, drank it. Then consecrating oil by the invocation of the divine blessing, he anointed the horse's belly: at the touch of his hand the disease immediately departed and at once natural secretion took place. In great joy the man took the horse and ran back to the stable. In the evening the emperor, who was in the habit of visiting the stable at this time, came and asked how the horse was. When the man told of his good health and led the horse out, vigorous, prancing, neighing, and holding his neck up proudly, he inquired after the cause of health. After evading reply several times - for he feared to indicate the doctor, knowing the enmity of the questioner - he was finally forced to tell the truth and told of the manner of cure. The emperor was astonished and agreed that the man was remarkable. However, he was not freed of his earlier madness, but persisted in raging against the Only-begotten until he became a casualty of a fire lit by barbarians and did not even receive a burial like servants or beggars.

From A History of the Monks of Syria.

 

 

The Poisonous Viper and the Sanctified Water

St. Dorotheos of Thebes

 

By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis

One day, towards the ninth hour, Dorotheos [of Thebes] sent me to the fountain from which he drank water to fetch him some water, so that he might eat his meal, for he used to eat about this time, and when I had gone there I chanced to see a viper going down the well; and because of my fear I was unable to fill the pitcher with water, and I went back to him, and said unto him, “O father, we shall die, for I have seen a viper going down into the water.” Now when he heard these words he laughed reverently, and constrained himself, and he lifted up his face and looked at me not for a little time, and he shook his head, and said unto me, “If it were to happen that Satan had the power to show you in every fountain an asp, or again to cast into them vipers, or serpents, or tortoises, or any other kinds of venomous reptiles, would you be able to do without drinking water entirely?” And when he had said these words unto me, he went forth and departed to the fountain and drew water, and brought it back, and having made the sign of the Cross over it he straightway drank therefrom before he ate anything. And he constrained me to drink and said unto me, “Where the seal of the Cross is, the wickedness of Satan hath no power to do harm.”

From The Paradise of the Holy Fathers, Ch. 2.

 

 

Patriarch Pavle of Serbia and the Turbulent Airplane

 

 

Once, when Patriarch Pavle of Serbia was traveling by airplane, on a flight abroad, they entered into a turbulence zone and a loud bang was heard, causing unrest and there was panic among the passengers, who believed that the plane would fall into the ocean. Some shouted, some screamed at the flight attendants and the pilot, while the Patriarch prayed quietly.

Gli, the Famous Cat of Hagia Sophia, Has Died

 

 

Just weeks after Hagia Sophia was converted from a museum to a mosque, Gli, the world famous cat of Hagia Sophia, has died.

Gli was born at Hagia Sophia in 2004, and she had 2 siblings, Pati and Kızım. Gli was loved by the tourists who visited Hagia Sophia, which was a museum at the time, and she became a symbol of Hagia Sophia.

Gli first rose to fame when Barack Obama visited Hagia Sophia in 2009, and he was filmed with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stroking Gli.

Miracles of Saint Theosebios of Arsinoe

 

 

By St. Neophytos the Recluse

The deaf man and another who was blind

Some time later, two people were walking along the road, one of whom was deaf and was holding the hand of the other, who was blind. The blind man heard wonderful hymn-singing and joyful, melodic voices and said to the deaf man: "If only you could hear the melodic hymns that I can, brother. And I wish I could see the form of the wonderful singers." The latter said he could just about hear, very faintly, some of the singing. They left the road and made their way to the place where the sound was coming from. As they were walking along, the ears of the deaf man opened completely and he could hear clearly the sublime and wonderful melody. When they got to the Church of Saint Theosebios, they didn’t see any singer, because it was angels who were praising God and, with this miracle, they made manifest the Saint. This is how the deaf man could hear plainly and the blind man was able to see again clearly. Astonished at this strange miracle, they worshiped and praised God and reverenced His servant Saint Theosebios.

Saint Gobnata of Ballyvourney

St. Gobnata (Feast Day - February 11)

Saint Gobnata (or Gobnait, Gobnet, Deborah, Abigail) was born in County Clare of Ireland at the end of the fifth, or the beginning of the sixth century. Later she fled to the Aran Islands to escape from some enemy. An angel appeared to her one day and told her to leave that place, for it was not to be the place of her resurrection, and to keep walking until she found nine white deer.

She saw three white deer at Clondrohid, County Cork, and decided to follow them. Then at Ballymakeera, she saw six white deer. Finally, at Ballyvourney she came upon nine white deer grazing in a wood. There she was given land donated by the O'Herlihy family for a women’s monastery by her spiritual father Saint Abban of Kilabban, County Laois (March 16), and he installed her as abbess. Excavations in 1951 proved that indeed there had been an early Christian settlement on the site.

Saint Melangell the Hermitess of Wales (+ 641)

On this day [January 31 and May 27] we commemorate the Venerable Melangell, who hailed from Ireland, and lived in asceticism in Wales.

Verses

Melangell, of the coming eternal life,
Together with the angelic choirs, was made worthy.

Saint Melangell's (pronounced Mel-en-geth, whose name has been latinised as Monacella) story begins as a familiar one. She was a seventh century Irish princess who had dedicated her life to prayer. Her father, King Iowchel, had arranged for her to marry against her will. Wishing to preserve her life of virginity and prayer, in about the year 590 she fled Ireland and settled in the countryside of Montgomeryshire (present-day Powys), at the head of the Tanant Valley in Northern Wales. There she lived a life of solitude and prayer, sleeping on bare rock with a cave as her cell.

The Dog at the Burial of Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri

On Tuesday May 5th in the year 1426 at 9:00 AM, Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri met a martyrs death at the hands of the Turks. His relics were not discovered until they were revealed to the Abbess Makaria on January 3, 1950, being secretly buried on the grounds of the monastery for over 500 years. At the time the nuns didn't know much about whose relics they discovered that were divinely revealed to them, except that they seemed to belong to a Monk. It took some years for the revelations to come that would identify who this holy Monk was. It began when a certain nun of the monastery saw in a vision how this Monk was discovered right after his martyrdom and buried in the 15th century, which she described as follows:

Saint Paisios the Athonite and his Obedient Frog

The grave of Papa-Tychon near the Cell of the Honorable Cross.

When Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radović) of Montenegro and the Littoral was a student in Greece, where he was tonsured a monk and after completing his doctorate at the University of Athens with a thesis on Saint Gregory Palamas, he went to Mount Athos for a year where he lived in the Hut of the Archangels in Kapsala as an ascetic, about a half hour walk from the hut of Saint Paisios the Athonite, which at that time was the Cell of the Honorable Cross, where his spiritual father Papa-Tychon had lived. It was during this time that he witnessed a wonder that left an indelible impression on him. As he himself narrates:

Saint Kieran of Clonmacnoise (+ 549)

St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise (Feast Day - September 9)

Saint Kieran (Ciaran), who has been described as a lamp shining with the light of knowledge, was born in 512 and raised in Connacht, Ireland. His father was a builder of chariots. He was one of eight children, at least two of whom also embraced the monastic life.

Kieran had a special affinity for animals, and even had a fox for a pet. The Saint left home as a boy, driving a cow before him to pay for his keep. He went to study with Saint Finnian of Clonard (Dec. 12), and became one of the so-called Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Some of the others were Saint Columba of Iona (June 9), Ninnidh (Nennius) of Lough Erne (Jan. 16), and Saint Brendan the Voyager (May 16).

Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Deer (an unpublished story)

In the guesthouse of the Monastery of Savvathiana on the island of Crete, a retired teacher recalled the following story about Elder Paisios.

Once the abbot of Koutloumousiou Monastery, Christodoulos, had a problem he was dealing with, so he decided to visit Elder Paisios early in the morning to consult him. When he arrived at his cell, he found him alone. As they spoke, a deer appeared outside his cell. When the Elder saw it, he spoke to it, saying: "I told you not to wander around in the morning because someone may kill you." The deer then lifted one its legs, and the Elder realized it was broken.

Saint Akakios, Bishop of Meletine (+ 438)

St. Akakios of Melitene (Feast Day - April 18)

Saint Akakios was born into a pious family in the Armenian city of Melitene. His parents were childless for a long time. They prayed for a son, and vowed to dedicate him to God. Therefore, Akakios was given to Bishop Otreos of Melitene (Nov. 7) to serve the Church.

Saint Otreos was a firm supporter of Orthodoxy. When the heresy of Macedonius arose (Macedonianism, also called the Pneumatomachian heresy, that denied the full personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit. According to this heresy, the Holy Spirit was created by the Son and was thus subordinate to the Father and the Son), it was Saint Otreos who set forth the Orthodox teaching about the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, One in Essence and Undivided, at the Second Ecumenical Synod in 381.

Holy Hieromartyr Artemon of Laodicea

St. Artemon of Laodicea (Feast Day - March 24 & April 12)

Verses

 For March 24.

Departing the world and approaching God,
I am yours and deem to save me Artemon.

For April 12.

Artemon found crowns,
Fitting for his cut off head.

The Hieromartyr Artemon was born of Christian parents in Laodicea of Syria in the first half of the third century. From his youth, he dedicated himself to the service of the Church. He served the Church as a a Reader for sixteen years.

For his zeal in Church services, Bishop Sisinius ordained him deacon. Artemon also fulfilled this service with fervor and diligence for twenty-eight years, then he was ordained to the priesthood. In this position, Artemon served the Church of God for thirty-three years, preaching Christianity among pagans. When the emperor Diocletian (284-305) began his fierce persecution against Christians, Saint Artemon was already old. The emperor issued an edict ordering Christians to offer sacrifice to idols.

Saint Sisinius, knowing of the impending arrival of the military commander Patricius in Laodicea, went with the priest Artemon and other Christians into the temple of the goddess Artemis. There they smashed and burned the idols, reducing them all to dust.

Venerables Theonas, Symeon and Ferbinus

Verses

Receive the three souls without blemish,
In that divine place of unblemished souls.

Venerables Theonas, Symeon and Ferbinus met their end in peace.

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.