The Clairvoyance of Saint John the Hesychast

A certain woman from Cappadocia, named Vasilina, a deaconess of the holy Church of Constantinople, arrived in Jerusalem with her cousin, a man of high rank. He was truly a virtuous man, but he adhered to the wickedness of Severus,* and that is why he was not in communion with the holy catholic Church. The pious deaconess invested a lot of effort to convert him to the right faith and join the holy Church. That is why she fervently begged each of the holy fathers to pray to God for him.

Hearing about Saint John the Hesychast, she wanted to venerate him as well. But when she found out that women could not enter the Lavra, she called Theodore, John's disciple, and begged him to take the man who had come with her to the holy elder. Theodore took the heresy-injured man, went with him to the elder, bowed to him according to custom, and said: "Bless us, father!"

The Historical Reason There Is No Fasting Allowed the First Week of the Triodion

In the Orthodox Church, there is no fasting allowed in the first week of the Triodion, that is, during the week following the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, and this includes Wednesday and Friday. There is a historical reason why this week of no fasting came to exist.

Aṙaǰaworac' is a period of strict fasting practiced in the Armenian Apostolic Church, which according to legend was established by Saint Gregory the Illuminator. It is a fast that only exists in the Armenian Church. It happens three weeks before Great Lent, or ten weeks before Easter, coinciding with the first week of the Triodion in the Orthodox Church. In ancient times it was allowed to eat only salt and bread, though today it is not as strict. On those days it is not allowed to hold a Liturgy. It lasts from Monday to Friday.

The Christological Teaching of St. John of Damascus (Fr. John Romanides)

 

By Prof. John S. Romanides 

University of Thessaloniki

 

Having lived and written during the century following the Sixth Ecumenical Council, St. John of Damascus represents the Orthodox Theological Tradition, which was still living in the interpretive atmosphere created by the debates surrounding the Sixth Council. It is quite natural, therefore, that the Fathers of this Council, Sts. Maximus the Confessor and Sophronius of Jerusalem, should exercise a very strong influence on his teachings concerning the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

      

At the same time, the Damascene sees clearly from his vantage point the lines of terminological development from the Third Ecumenical Council through the Fourth and Fifth Ecumenical Councils within the framework of the Fathers of these Councils. At the same time, he is a master of the presuppositions of the Trinitarian debate enveloping the decisions of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils and sees clearly the complete interdependence or even identity, which exists between the doctrines of the Holy Trinity and Christology.

      

Homily Three for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod - Empirical Theology (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

This Sunday is dedicated by the Church to the Holy Fathers who convened the Fourth Ecumenical Synod in Chalcedon in the year 451 AD, which confronted the heresy of Monophysitism. This is the heresy that claims that the two natures of Christ - divine and human - were united in one nature and in particular the human nature was absorbed by the divine nature. This view subverted the whole teaching of the Church, which maintains that the human nature is preserved in Christ even after its union with the divine nature.

The heresy of Monophysitism is a continuation of the great heresy of Arianism, which claimed that Christ is a creature and not God. The basis of these first heresies was that they tried to interpret the Person of Christ with logic. The important thing is that the heretics and all their like-minded people theologized using Greek philosophy and reflection, while the Fathers used the experience of the Prophets and Apostles, as expressed in Holy Scripture, but also as confirmed by their own spiritual, ecclesiastical experience. This is the basic difference between heretics and the Fathers. The heretics tried to interpret the relationship of the Father with the Word, and the relationship of the two natures in Christ, using philosophical presuppositions, while the Fathers knew from experience that the Word is God, because in His appearance to the Apostles and to them He shone like Light, like the sun. Thus, the Word has the same essence and energy as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Also, the union of the two natures in the Person of Christ became "unmingled", "unaltered", "indivisible" and "inseparable".

Saint Sarmean, Catholicos of Kartli in Georgia (+ 774)

St. Sarmean of Kartli (Feast Day - August 21)

By Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

The chronicles listing the generations of chief shepherds of Georgia reveal that Saint Sarmean was leader of the Georgian Apostolic Church from the year 767 (or 760, according to some sources) until the year 774. These were years of Arab-Muslim rule in Georgia. The Arabs persecuted the Christians, oppressed those who served in the Church, and tried in every way to convert the country to Islam. Despite the frightful abuses that the faithful endured and the transformation of the city into a residence for the emir, many Tbilisi churches continued to function.

Saints Anastasios I and Anastasios II, Patriarchs of Antioch

St. Anastasios of Antioch (Feast Day - April 20)

Verses

What shall I write on your behalf Anastasios,
You who hastened to die by the sword on behalf of Christ?

There is some confusion concerning which Saint Anastasios we commemorate today. Though the Synaxaria and the Menaia tell us that on April 20 we are to commemorate an Anastasios who was Patriarch of Antioch and died by being martyred with a sword, we are not given any other details. However, the only two Patriarchs of Antioch with the name Anastasios were Anastasios I, who served twice as Patriarch from 559-570 and 593-599, and he was succeeded by Anastasios II who served from 599-609. Neither of these Patriarchs are recorded as having been martyred with a sword.

Synaxarion of Saint Agapetos I, Pope of Rome (+ 536)

St. Agapetos of Rome (Feast Day - April 17)

Verses

Dying what did you cry out? Savior I have loved you.
But you were loved even more Agapetos.

Our Holy Father Agapetos lived during the reign of Justinian the Great (527-565). Nurtured with every virtue and asceticism, he was elevated to the office of the hierarchy, and became Pope of Rome. He then went to Constantinople to meet Emperor Justinian, and while on the way, he showed evidence of his virtue and boldness before God. Coming to Greece he found a man who suffered with two untreatable conditions, for he could neither speak nor walk, though he was mute from birth, and he was forced to drag himself along the ground like a reptile. The Saint therefore took him by the hand, and made his legs complete and healthy, while in his mouth he placed a portion of the body of the Master Christ, and he was able to produce speech.

Synaxarion of Saint Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch (+ 545)

St. Ephraim of Antioch (Feast Day - March 7)

Verses

Ephraim the shepherd is joined with the shepherd,
Lesser with the greater, O great dignity!

Saint Ephraim came from Amidene and was a count by office, when Justinus the Thracian was reigning in 518. He came to Antioch to rebuild it because it had been destroyed by earthquakes for a second time. By royal command he was consecrated Bishop by the people of Antioch in 527, as Meletios (vol. 2) writes, and as it had happened in times of old with Ambrose of Milan and Nektarios of Constantinople.

Holy Hieromartyr Alkison, Bishop of Nicopolis (+ 516)

St. Alkison of Nicopolis (Feast Day - September 28)

Saint Alkison was Bishop of Nicopolis (now Preveza) in Epirus from 491 to 516, and became a valiant opponent of the policy of accommodation with the Monophysites pursued by the Emperor Anastasios I (495-518) and his successors. He firmly resisted every attempt at persuading him to condone heresy and was imprisoned at Constantinople, where he died of the effects of ill-treatment, on 28 September 516.

Holy Hieromartyr Proterios, Patriarch of Alexandria (+ 457)

St. Proterios of Alexandria (Feast Day - February 28)

Verses

Proterios is slain by reeds,
Who sharply wrote with a reed against error.

Saint Proterius lived in Alexandria during the patriarchal tenure of Dioscorus (444-451), an adherent of the Monophysite heresy of Eutyches. Proterios fearlessly denounced the heretics and confessed the Orthodox faith.

Saint John III the Scholastic, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 577)

St. John Scholastikos of Constantinople (Feast Day - February 21);
the icon above depicts All the Holy Patriarchs of Constantinople

Verses

The scholastic sacrificer of Christ died,

And now your distant rest brings pain.

Saint John the Scholastic, also known as John of Antioch, was born in Sirmis, which is near Antioch. He was educated as a jurist and practiced law before his ordination to the priesthood. He came to be known as "scholastic" or "scholastikos" due to his education as a lawyer and rhetorician, being a term for those who appeared in court or in public in some way. In 533 Emperor Justinian I (527-565) suppressed the college of lawyers in Antioch, so John was ordained to the priesthood, and became agent and secretary of the Church of Antioch. Patriarch Anastasios I of Antioch (561–571 and 593–599) sent John to Constantinople to serve as his legate there. This would bring him into touch with the court at Constantinople. When Justinian, towards the close of his life, tried to raise the sect of the Aphthartodocetae to the rank of orthodoxy in order to promote unity of his subjects, and determined to expel Patriarch Eutychios of Constantinople (552-565) for his opposition, the able lawyer-ecclesiastic of Antioch, who had already distinguished himself by his great edition of the canons, was chosen to carry out the imperial will. Therefore Eutychios was exiled to Amaseia, and John was elevated to the patriarchal throne on April 12, 565.

Saint Meletios Pegas, Patriarch of Alexandria (+ 1601)

St. Meletios Pegas (Feast Day - September 13)

One of the greatest ecclesiastical personalities of the sixteenth century, Saint Meletios was born in Candia (Heraklion) on the Venetian controlled island of Crete in 1549. He studied classical philology, philosophy, and medicine in Padua, in Italy, and then later in Venice, before returning to Crete. There he entered a monastic life and eventually was abbot of Agarathos Monastery. Later, he stayed for a short time at the Monastery of Sinai and eventually, in 1579, entered into the service of the Orthodox patriarchal courts at Alexandria and Constantinople, and served as Chancellor of the Patriarch of Alexandria Sylvester.

Saint Pulcheria, Empress of the Romans

St. Pulcheria the Empress (Feast Day - September 10 & February 17)

Verses

The Empress Pulcheria stands at Your right,

Chanting to You my Christ.

Saint Pulcheria was born was born on January 19, 399 and was the daughter of Emperor Arcadius (395-408) and his wife Eudokia, and her brother was Emperor Theodosius II the Younger (408-450). At the death of his father in 408, and at a very young age, seven years old, Theodosius II became emperor under the tutelage of the eunuch Antiochus.

Synaxarion of our Holy Father Leo, Pope of Rome

On the eighteenth of this month [February], we commemorate our Holy Father Leo the Pope of Rome.

Verses

The soul of the divine Leo was released,

And demonic hordes he struck with fear.

On the eighteenth Leo released his soul.

Our Holy Father Leo flourished during the reign of Emperor Marcian (450-457). Due to his extraordinary wisdom and purity, and the simplicity and blamelessness of his life, he was ordained Bishop of Old Rome by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He was a venerable shepherd over his flock, and the blasphemies of the heretics he perfectly obliterated in the days of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod, at which six hundred and thirty Fathers gathered in Chalcedon in the year 451. He expounded and dogmatized on many things of the Orthodox faith, and mightily overthrew the doctrines of those heretics who taught the nonsense that Christ our God had one nature, one energy and one will.

Saint Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 449)

St. Flavian the Confessor (Feast Day - Gr. Feb. 16, Slav. Feb. 18)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

LIFE

Flavian became Patriarch of Constantinople following St. Proclus. He was a contemporary of St. Leo the Pope (Feb. 18). He fought resolutely against Eutyches and Dioscorus, but did not live to see the Triumph of Orthodoxy at the Fourth Ecumenical Synod [Chalcedon 451 A.D.), for prior to that at a heretical Robber Synod [Ephesus, 431 A.D.] he was mercilessly beaten, trampled upon and died there. Flavian was a faithful soldier of Christ, and a courageous defender and confessor of the Orthodox Faith. He died in the year 449 A.D.

The Orthodox Church in Mesopotamia

By A.K.

Mesopotamia, the mythical East, the land of Eden, Babylon, the Persians and the Arabs, is in a constant turmoil of war.

The Church there was founded through the preaching of the Apostles Thomas, Thaddeus and others of the Seventy.

We will make a brief mention and tribute to this Church so that we will remember it and be moved to pray for it to the Lord and for our brethren there.

The Relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

On July 9th, the Armenian Church (Monophysites and Uniates) commemorates one of the three feast days dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator: the discovery of his relics. His principle feast by all Christians is celebrated on September 30th.

St. Gregory is considered to be the “Apostle of Armenia.” After years of evangelizing, St. Gregory sought solitude and an ascetic life. He chose a cave on Mount Sebouh as his dwelling place. It was here that Gregory died alone around 328 AD, some say after seven years of solitude. Shepherds found his body and without realizing who he was buried him under a pile of stones. Later a hermit, Garnik of Basen, who had been a disciple of St. Gregory, saw a vision and went to Mount Sebouh where he found the site of Gregory’s burial. He took the remains to the village of Thortan for burial, where King Drtad was buried. The discovery by Garnik is placed in the reign of Emperor Zeno (474-491), though this is contested by some scholars.


Moses of Khoren writes of the discovery:

"[Saint Gregory's relics] were hidden for many years by divine providence you might say, like Moses of old [cf. Deut. 34:6], lest they become the object of a cult to the halfconverted barbarian nations. But when the faith had become firmly established in these regions, after a long time Saint Gregory's relics were revealed to a certain ascetic called Garnik, who took them and buried them in the village of T'ordan."


A monastery was built near St. Gregory's grave. His relics were afterwards taken to Constantinople, but apparently brought back again to Armenia. Part of these relics are said to have been taken to Naples during the Iconoclast persecution.


The greatest relic of the Armenian Church is the Right Hand of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The relic is housed in a gold artwork depicting the sufferings of the saint. Relics from the right hand of St. Gregory are at the Holy Mother See of Etchmiadzin and the Holy See of Cilicia. It is brought out once every seven years by the Catholicos for the Blessing of the Holy Chrism (Muronorhnek), the anointing oil that Armenian Churches around the world use for the rites of baptism and other consecrations. The Armenian Church remembers the discovery of the relics of St. Gregory on July 9th (the videos below are from this feast).

For more on the right hand of St. Gregory and his relics, read here.





Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan is the symbol of the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as a State Religion in Armenia and house for relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator (Surp Grigor). The Holy Remains of St. Gregory were brought from Naples, Italy. Shortly after the consecration of the Cathedral Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the Cathedral. The Skull of St. Gregory remains in Naples.

For more on this Cathedral, read here.

For a bibliography on the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, see footnote here.