Homily Eight on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "The Holy God" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:
The Holy God

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

The verses of the Doxology, which is a prayer and consists of many verses from Holy Scripture, and which we analyzed in the eucharistic sermons of the Summer Sundays, are important and direct the thinking of Christians to the Triune God, the incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son and Word of God, but also the absolute faith that every Christian must have in the protection of God. Thus, the Doxology shows both the pinnacle of our faith, but also the way in which we must live, if we want to be true members of the Church of Christ.

The text of the Doxology, in another form, which does not deviate much from the one we analyzed, is also read during Compline and this shows its value and importance.

Homily Seven on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "God as the Source of Life and Light" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:
God as the Source of Life and Light

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In the Doxology that we are interpreting in the sermons of the Summer Sundays we find a summary of the whole teaching of the Church. It is significant that the Holy Fathers tried with prayers and hymns to teach us how to pray to God, but also to show us who God is. This can be seen in the verse that we will analyze today.

Towards the end of the Doxology we sing:

"For You are the source of life; in Your light we shall see light."

This verse is important because it reveals two energies of God, namely life and Light.

Homily Six on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "Our Refuge" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 On the Interpretation of the Doxology:
Our Refuge

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In our analysis of the verses of the Doxology, on a previous Sunday we analyzed what God's mercy means, and how man can taste His mercy and philanthropy. Today we will look at two other verses of the Doxology that refer to God, who is our refuge.

One verse is:

"Lord, you have been our refuge from generation to generation. I said: Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you."

"The Life of Desert-Dwellers is a Blessed One, For By Divine Eros They Are Raised Up"

 

 

 

In the Anavathmoi for Matins in Plagal of the First Tone we chant: 

 

"The life of desert-dwellers is a blessed one, 

for by divine eros they are raised up." 

 

"Τοις ερημικοίς ζωή μακαρία εστι, 

θεϊκώ έρωτι πτερουμένοις."

 

Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite explains this verse as follows:

"Blessed is the life of desert-dwellers, for they are raised up to God with a fiery, excessive, and intense eros. Yet the Melodist did not say that the desert-dwellers are in love with God, but they are raised up by divine eros."

Saint Nikodemos highlights this last point to show that the hymnographer was expressing his own eros for God and love for life in the desert, not wishing to make a generalized statement that desert-dwellers are in love with God. Desert-dwellers acquire divine eros by distancing themselves from all earthly temptations that would prevent any other love from coming between himself and God. It is this divine eros that gives him wings to fly up to God.

When King David was forced to become a desert-dweller to save his life, he wrote in Psalm 54:7-8 what the hymnographer above saw as an expression of one who indeed was raised up by divine eros after living far away from earthly temptations: "O that I had wings as a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest. Behold! I have fled afar off, and lodged in the desert."

 

 

Homily Five on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "The Mercy of God" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:

The Mercy of God

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

God, by revealing Himself to the Prophets and the Righteous of the Old Testament, but also to the Apostles and Saints in the New Testament, revealed Himself and people came to know some of His attributes, that He is love, merciful, philanthropic, just, etc. The names by which we know God are His energies. That is, God showed, at times, His compassion to sinners and they realized that He was compassionate and philanthropic. He showed love and they understood that God loves.

In these revelations God revealed to the Righteous and the Saints that He is merciful. That is why in the Church, when we ask God for something, then we justify it: "For You are a merciful and philanthropic God and to you we ascribe glory."

Homily Four on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "The God of our Fathers" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:

The God of our Fathers

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

In the Doxology, which we chant at the end of the Service of Matins, just as the word means, God is glorified for His greatness, His Light and for what He has done for man and his salvation. And the word "glorified" is interpreted as "blessed". But it is one thing when God blesses man and sends His Grace, and another when man blesses God, that is, glorifies God.

Of course, God does not need man's glorification, because He is without lack, but when man glorifies God, then man himself benefits spiritually. The glorification of God is returned as Grace and blessing to man. That is why the Holy Fathers teach that the prayer of doxology to God is more powerful than the prayer of supplication.

In today's homily we will analyze a verse of the Doxology that has great meaning.

Homily Three on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "Daily Prayer Life" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:

Daily Prayer Life

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

The Divine Liturgy is eminently a prayer and offering up to God which is made by the Church, every Sunday, on the memorials of the saints, but also whenever it must be performed. In the monasteries, especially on Mount Athos, it is performed daily.

But beyond the prayers of the Church and the Divine Liturgy, Christians must pray daily. Man is in fact a praying being, he is a being who must pray. After all, he was created by God in His image and according to His likeness, the prototype of his creation is the Son and Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and this means that he must be trace back to his prototype and refer to Him. When he does not do this, he shows that he has lost his destination.

Homily Two on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "The Incarnation of the Son and Word of God" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:

The Incarnation of the Son and Word of God

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

Last Sunday we analyzed the first verses of the Doxology, which we chant or read every morning in the Service of Matins or in our morning prayers, when we wake up from sleep, that refers to the Triune God, Who has showed us the light, both sensible and spiritual. Today we will look at the next verses, which refer to the incarnation of the Son and Word of God.

It seems from this that every prayer is done in a special way, and in every prayer a whole theology is hidden. At first we referred to the Triune God, who is the foundation of our biological and spiritual life, and then we refer to the incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The reference to the Triune God is called theology and the reference to the incarnation of the Son and Word of God is called divine economy. Both are great mysteries of our salvation.

Homily One on the Interpretation of the Doxology: "The Triune God" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

On the Interpretation of the Doxology:

The Triune God 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

This year in the Sunday morning sermons, which will be read in the Sacred Temples, we will try to interpret in simple words the verses of the Doxology, which we chant each time in the Matins service on Sunday and other festive days, but we also read it in the daily Matins and in other sacred services.

The Doxology is a collection of verses from Holy Scripture, the Old and New Testaments, which are chanted together at the end of the Matins service. And if one considers that the Service of Matins is chanted every day around sunrise, then one realizes that the God who raised the light is praised, and at the same time we ask God to bless us and protect us from any evil that will occur during the day. Thus, the Doxology has an inner unity, which we will see in the sermons every Sunday this Summer.

Homily on the Eleventh Eothinon Gospel - John 21:14-25

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The incident described in today's Eothinon Gospel is a continuation of the incident described in the previous Gospel. That is, last Sunday we saw the miraculous catching of fish and the food that Christ ate with His disciples at Lake Tiberias. Of course, Christ after His Resurrection did not need food because He had eliminated mortality, but He did it out of economy to bring joy to the disciples and show them that He was not a ghost, while that food was consumed by divinity.

Eleventh Eothinon Gospel Reading of Sunday Matins

Eleventh Sunday Gospel Reading of Matins
(Eleventh Eothinon of Orthros)

Jesus Restores Peter

John 21:14-25

English

At that time, Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead, and he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go." (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, "Follow me." Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So, the word went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die; but Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Homily on the Tenth Eothinon Gospel - John 21:1-14

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Today's Eothinon Gospel that was read in the Matins Service refers to the third appearance of Christ to His disciples, as presented by the Evangelist John. The first appearance was in the evening of the first day, the second appearance was the following Sunday when Thomas was also present, and the third appearance is what we read today along the shore of the Sea of Tiberius.

A group of disciples, specifically seven disciples, went fishing. The disciples however were unable to catch any fish, even though they were there all night. Then at dawn, Christ appeared on land and asked them if they had anything to eat. When they responded in the negative, He urged them to drop their nets on the right side of the ship. Obeying this they caught many fish, which they later counted to be one hundred and fifty-three. With this they understood that the man was Christ. This is an incident that shows Christ manifesting Himself. We can say it was a small transfiguration. The first to understand was John, who told it to Peter who in turn wrapped his outer garment around himself and began to swim in the water to meet Christ.

Tenth Eothinon Gospel Reading of Sunday Matins

Tenth Sunday Gospel Reading of Matins
(Tenth Eothinon of Orthros)

Third Appearance of the Risen Jesus to His Disciples

John 21:1-14

English

At that time, being raised from the dead, Jesus revealed himself to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Homily on the Ninth Eothinon Gospel - John 20:19-31

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Eothinon read today is very well known because the first part of it is read in church during the Agape Vespers, the first day of the Resurrection of Christ, and wherever possible it is read in many languages, and also the entire text is read on Thomas Sunday. because it refers to him.

This Gospel reading describes two appearances of Christ to His disciples. The first appearance took place in the evening of the first day of the Resurrection, while Thomas was absent, and the second appearance took place the next Sunday, after eight days, in the presence of Thomas.

Ninth Eothinon Gospel Reading of Sunday Matins

Ninth Sunday Gospel Reading of Matins
(Ninth Eothinon of Orthros)

Jesus Appears To His Disciples

John 20:19-31

English

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them: "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him: "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them: "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said: "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

Homily on the Eighth Eothinon Gospel - John 20:11-18

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In the Eothinon Gospel we heard today, my beloved brethren, it speaks of the appearance of the Risen Christ to Mary Magdalene, who visited the tomb of Christ at dawn, according to the description of the Evangelist John. What we notice is that she first saw the angels inside the tomb and then she saw the Risen Christ. We will examine some interesting points about these appearances.

It should be noted first of all that Mary Magdalene had a great zeal and love for Christ. Christ had expelled from her seven demons and was a pure being. What some atheist literary writers say, who attribute to Mary Magdalene sinful feelings for Christ, are blasphemous and sick, and certainly show the passionate and sick state of those who write them. Mary Magdalene was a saintly woman, she had reached a great spiritual state, and so she was made worthy to see the Risen Christ. After all, it is known that Christ appeared to those who had reached a high level of spiritual life and were able to see Him.

Eighth Eothinon Gospel Reading of Sunday Matins

Eighth Sunday Gospel Reading of Matins
(Eighth Eothinon of Orthros)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

John 20:11-18

English

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that He had said these things to her.

Homily on the Seventh Eothinon Gospel - John 20:1-10

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

As we continue to interpret the Eothina Gospels, which are read during Matins on Sunday, today we will say a few words on the Eothinon which was read this morning in church and refers to the visitation to the tomb first by Mary Magdalene and after by two disciples of Christ, namely the Apostle Peter and the Apostle John, according to the description of the Evangelist John.

First of all, as we have said before, by divine economy the first to be informed of the event of the Resurrection and to have seen the Risen Christ were the Myrrhbearing women. In a previous sermon we analyzed that this took place to restore female existence and to correct Eve's mistake. As can be seen from the Gospels that describe the events of the Resurrection of Christ, the Myrrhbearing women went to Christ's tomb in the early hours of Sunday. At first they went to anoint Christ with perfumes, then, when they found that the body of Christ was not in the tomb, they felt astonished, which forced them to come to the tomb repeatedly. And then they announced what they saw to the Apostles, so they too were running to the tomb.

Seventh Eothinon Gospel Reading of Sunday Matins

Seventh Sunday Gospel Reading of Matins
(Seventh Eothinon of Orthros)

The Empty Tomb

John 20:1-10

English

On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Homily on the Sixth Eothinon Gospel - Luke 24:36-53

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Today's Eothinon Gospel is a continuation of the events that took place last Sunday, as we heard. That is, the two disciples, who were going to Emmaus and recognized the Risen Christ, hastened to the other disciples and informed them of all that took place. And at that time, Christ Himself appeared in their midst, without them expecting it. Therefore, in today's Gospel we hear about the appearance of the Risen Christ to His disciples, as well as His Ascension into the heavens. These are two great events of importance for the whole world.