Homily Two for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod - The Apostles and Fathers as Lights of the World (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod

The Apostles and Fathers as Lights of the World

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council are celebratied today, who established and confirmed the doctrine that the two natures of Christ, divine and human, which are united "unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisible, inseparably" in His existence, and this is of great importance for the Church and Christians.

Saint Amphilochios of Iconium as a Model for our Lives

St. Amphilochius of Iconium (Feast Day - November 23)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Amphilochios lived in the fourth century. He was from Cappadocia and a friend of Basil the Great, which is evidenced by the letters of Basil the Great to him on the occasion of various events. Among the most important letters of Basil the Great to Saint Amphilochios is that which he sent on the occasion of the consecration of the latter as Bishop of Iconium.

When one reads the letters of Basil the Great to Saint Amphilochios the greatness of the personality of Saint Amphilochios can be perceived, his struggle to combat heresy and preserve the Orthodox Faith, his respect and love for Basil the Great, as well as the great love Basil the Great had for him. He attended the Second Ecumenical Synod in Constantinople where he was distinguished for his gumption and targeted placements. With the seniority he had he intervened and gave solutions to various problems arising in Local Churches and in this way ensured peace between them, as well as the unity of the Orthodox everywhere.

He produced a number of discourses relating to the Orthodox Faith. In 394 he reposed in peace, fifty years after his consecration as Bishop.

His life and times give us the opportunity to highlight the following:

First, Saint Amphilochios shunned ordination out of great humility and deep respect for this high office. But God, Who directs history, as well as the course of life for all those who love Him and place their hope in Him, led his steps to the sacred Place of Sacrifice - without of course infringing on his freedom - and even made him worthy of the highest honor of the Hierarchy. And as Basil the Great stresses, in addressing Saint Amphilochios, so it always happens with those people who desire that the will of God take place in their hearts. That is, God directs their footsteps "towards every good work". He writes: "Blessed be God Who from age to age chooses them that please Him, distinguishes vessels of election, and uses them for the ministry of the Saints. Though you were trying to flee, as you confess, not from me, but from the calling you expected through me, He has netted you in the sure meshes of grace, and has brought you into the midst of Pisidia to catch men for the Lord, and draw the devil's prey from the deep into the light. You, too, may say as the blessed David said, 'Whither shall I go from Your Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Your presence.' Such is the wonderful work of our loving Master. 'Asses are lost' that there may be a king of Israel. David, however, being an Israelite was granted to Israel; but the land which has nursed you and brought you to such a height of virtue, possesses you no longer, and sees her neighbor beautified by her own adornment." He also offers the following advice: "Play the man, then, and be strong, and walk before the people whom the Most High has entrusted to your hand. Like a skilful pilot, rise in mind above every wave lifted by heretical blasts; keep the boat from being whelmed by the salt and bitter billows of false doctrine; and wait for the calm to be made by the Lord so soon as there shall have been found a voice worthy of rousing Him to rebuke the winds and the sea" (Letter 161).

In another letter he makes the distinction between heresies, schisms and unlawful congregations. He writes: "The old authorities ... used the names of heresies, of schisms, and of unlawful congregations. By heresies they meant men who were altogether broken off and alienated in matters relating to the actual faith; by schisms men who had separated for some ecclesiastical reasons and questions capable of mutual solution; by unlawful congregations gatherings held by disorderly presbyters or bishops or by uninstructed laymen" (Letter 188). Basil the Great completes his advice with the following: "Only be exhorted ever to give heed lest you be carried away by wicked customs. Rather change all previous evil ways into good by the help of the wisdom given you by God. For Christ has sent you not to follow others, but yourself to take the lead of all who are being saved" (Letter 161).

Second, in most of the letters to Saint Amphilochios, Basil the Great closes with a prayer/wish that Saint Amphilochios be healthy and joyful. He writes: "May you be strong and joyful in the Lord" or "May you by the grace of the Lord be kept in good health and joy in the Lord, praying for me and for the Church of God", etc. This prayer/wish is very important for everyone, especially, however, for Spiritual Fathers, as well as for all leaders generally who have enormous responsibilities and daily face many serious problems. Furthermore, it is important that they have physical and spiritual health, because in this way they will be able to withstand the difficulties. It is also important that they have inner peace and joy, and in this way they will pacify, make joyful and create a good mood to all those who come before them and are found near them. Saint Seraphim of Sarov advised the Abbess of the Sacred Monastery of Diveyevo to have a joyful mood before the sisters of the Sacred Monastery. He also urged her to welcome the sisters, who come from the fields tired, calmly and with a smile. He pleaded with her to sit with them when they are eating, even if she is not hungry. This is because, as he told her: "When you sit with them and talk courteously they will take courage and will eat joyfully and with a good mood ... joy is not a sin, Matushka."

True joy, however, is an internal affair. This means that it is not connected to external events, but it springs from within the heart; inside a heart which is filled with the Holy Spirit, and for this reason (true joy) is not whisked away due to everyday difficulties and many temptations, but it is still there even in the harshest conditions, and in the most saddest events of life.

May the prayer/wish of Basil the Great, "may you be strong and joyful in the Lord", be applied to all of us.

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "Άγιος Αμφιλόχιος, Επίσκοπος Ικονίου", October 2012. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Saint Gennadius of Constantinople as a Model for our Lives

St. Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (Feast Day - November 17)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Gennadius lived in the fifth century. He was a Presbyter of the Great Church of Christ and was elected Patriarch of Constantinople-New Rome in 458. He worked zealously to preserve the Orthodox Faith from heresies that threatened to alter it, and he even managed the return of many heretics back to Orthodoxy. Also, due to his office, he helped Patriarch Martyrius, who was evicted improperly and illegally by Peter the Fuller, to regain his throne.

Saint Gennadius, as noted in the sacred Synaxarion, arranged with great care for the training of the sacred Clergy, and he denied the ordination of any candidate that did not study the Psalter and knew how to interpret them. At this point we should note that at that time, according to prevailing custom, the candidate for the Clergy would be familiar with the Psalms of David and their interpretation. Also, he struggled with all his strength to combat the phenomenon of simony, in which money was made by ordinations, which was common in those days. For this reason he convened a Synod in Constantinople, and sent out an encyclical "Against the Buying of Ordinations".

He reposed in the year 471. The end of his life was peaceful.

His life and times give us the opportunity to emphasize the following:

In olden times the faithful gave great importance to the reading of the Book of Psalms, and spiritual fathers especially urged their spiritual children to read them every day, because the reading of the Psalter is not only a way to pray, but it creates inspiration which is necessary for spiritual progress, but also for the work of everyday life. The Athonite services are interspersed with readings from the Psalter, and exude a unique spiritual flavor.

At the beginning of the Book of Psalms there is written, among other things, the following verses which declare in a poetic way the content of the Psalter, and the beneficial effects of frequent use:

Be silent, Orpheus; thy lyre throw aside, O Hermes.

The tripod at Delphi hath sunk into oblivion for evermore.

For us David doth now play the Spirit's lyre,

The hidden things of God's mysteries he revealeth;

A multitude of ancient wonders he narrateth;

Of the Creator of creation, doth he move one to sing.

Saving all those men he initiateth, as he writeth his verses,

Sinners doth he bring to desire repentance.

Among other teachings, to the throng doth he declare the Judge's judgments.

The purging, he doth teach, of soulful sinnings.*

and

Psalter of David, whose words are like stones,

You crush another Goliath, the passions.

The psalter was "a musical instrument with ten strings. It stood upright and even, and the cause and occasion of the notes were received from the top." According to Basil the Great, "this is the difference between a psalter and a harp; the sound of a harp is produced from its bottom, while that of the psalter is from the top." The psalter as a musical instrument existed before David, but David went from using it "as an amateur for the private use of gathering his sheep into the fold, to building it up and associating it in a most technical way." The Book of the Psalms of David also came to be called the Psalter because, as Basil the Great says: "Though many musical instruments exist, the Prophet David used the psalter for the Book of Psalms." He continues saying: "I believe he did this to show the Grace of the Holy Spirit, which comes down from above, like the musical instrument whose notes come from the top."

The Book of Psalms is similar in some ways to a ladder, which bring man from the lower to the higher and gradually prepare him to meet God. The Jews divided the Book of Psalms into five sections, namely: 1) Psalm 1-40, 2) 41-71, 3) 72-88, 4) 89-105, 5) 106-150 [LXX rendering]. This division is connected with theoretical ascent, according to Saint Gregory of Nyssa, who says the following remarkable things:

A) "The first section helps man to move away from evil, which is why it begins: 'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful'."

B) The second section helps man thirst for the good and seek it as a thirsty deer seeks for water, which is why it begins with the Psalm that says: "As the deer thirsts for streams of water, so my soul thirsts for You my God."

C) The third section makes man a visionary of the nature of things, which is why it begins: "Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart" and "I was like a beast before You". That is, I considered as good the transient things of this life. Now, however, that I have taken hold of the incorruptible and invisible, I am with You.

D) The fourth section does not allow a person to be common, but it unites us with god and makes us people of God, which is why the 89th Psalm begins thus: "The prayer of Moses, the man of God."

E) The fifth section raises the person to the highest part of the ascent, where the fullness of human salvation is found. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord", is the last verse of the Psalter.

From everything noted above we can surmise how much benefit accrues to the person who loves to pray with the Book of Psalms, which in the first Christian centuries, as we saw, was used daily, and even its knowledge and interpretation was considered a prerequisite for entrance to the Clergy.

* The Psalter According to the Seventy of David the Prophet and King, Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1974, p. 21. Read also "The 'Lines to the Divine David' and the First Printed Romanian Bible (1688)" by Emanuel Contac.

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "Αγ. Γεννάδιος Πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπόλεως", November 2009. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.