Homily for the Second Sunday of Matthew - The Meaning of Obedience (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily for the Second Sunday of Matthew

The Meaning of Obedience

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

"...and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him" (Matt. 4:23)

Beloved brethren,

One of the most difficult but necessary truths of the Church for modern man is the teaching of obedience. Christ sets it as a necessary condition of salvation and perfection. That is why when He called His disciples, they left everything and followed Him.

Modern man, however, cannot understand the value of obedience. He considers it destructive to his person. This is because he has deified his reasoning faculty that he thinks is of great value. When one lives with the rule of reason, then one is completely incapable of understanding the great value of obedience.

Saint Simon the Myrrhgusher and his Spiritual Father

St. Simon comes to the Holy Mountain in search of an elder.

We know nothing of the life of Saint Simon the Myrrhgusher before he came to Mount Athos in search of a virtuous elder to whom he could devote his complete obedience, without which no monk can hope to attain salvation. His desire was to find a virtuous man that had the ability to guide him to live a life pleasing to God, but who was also strict in order to subject his flesh to the spirit. After finding what he was looking for, he placed himself under obedience as though his elder was God Himself.

The Nuns of Shamordino, Prisoners of the Gulags of Solovki and Vorkutlag

The sisterhood of Shamordino Convent, around 30 in number, were imprisoned in 1923 at the closure of the convent by the Soviet authorities, first in Solovki prison camp, then the sisterhood was broken up and dispersed and, with the exception of one striking account by American prisoner John H. Noble that emerged following his release some 30 years after the nuns' disappearance, it is generally unknown, apart from scant references, what became of any other members of the sisterhood thereafter.

Saint Rufus the Obedient of the Kiev Caves

Venerable Rufus the Obedient lived at the Kiev Caves Lavra during the fourteenth century. He was distinguished for his obedience and glorified as a lover of labor and fasting. He was buried in the Far Caves.

Saints Claudius, Hilaria, Jason and Maurus as Models for our Lives

Sts. Claudius, Hilaria, Jason and Maurus (Feast Day - March 19)

By Protopresbyter George Papavarnavas

Saint Claudius lived in the third century, during the reign of Emperor Numerian, and he was a Tribune, namely a Commander of the Roman army. He and his soldiers were the ones who gave over the Holy Martyrs Chrysanthos and Daria to be tortured. At the time he was an idolater, but a benevolent and good man, which is why when he witnessed the Holy Martyrs being subjected to horrible torture yet remaining without wounds and more importantly without fear, but instead remained calm and serene, as if others were being tortured, he believed in Christ and confessed Him as the true God. He was baptized with his wife Hilaria and his two children Maurus and Jason. The soldiers of his guard did the same thing, and afterwards gave their testimony for Christ and sealed it with the blood of their martyrdom.

Saint Nectarius the Obedient of the Kiev Caves

St. Nectarius the Obedient (Feast Day - November 29)

Venerable Nectarius the Obedient was a monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra in the twelfth century. For his unquestioning obedience to the will of his elder and the brethren and his zeal for work he was called “the Obedient.” Saint Nectarius was buried in the Near Cave of Saint Anthony.

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:

The Transfiguration as the Fruit of Obedience

By St. Theophan the Recluse

On the Transfiguration a voice from heaven uttered: "Only hear ye Him" (Matt. 17:5). Why is this so? Because the fruit of obedience was being shown to them. It was as if the Heavenly Father were saying: "Do you want to attain this? Hear what He will suggest and command you. If you go on His path, you will undoubtedly enter into the realm of light, which will embrace you not from without, but will come forth from within, and always keep you in a state in which all of your bones will utter: 'It is good for us to be this way.' You will be filled with the light of joy, the light of good will, the light of knowledge; all sorrows will pass by, the dissonance of the passions will disappear, falsehood and delusion will disperse. On the earth you will become heavenly; from among the earthly-born, you will become Godly-born; from amidst the perishable you will become eternally blessed. Then all will be yours, because you yourselves will become Christ’s." Those who love Christ the Lord are beloved of the heavenly Father, and Both come to them and make their abode with them. This is the light of the Transfiguration!

On the Mystery of Christ’s Obedience (Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra)

By Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra

In a few hours, we will stand before the naked servant of the Lord, Who is crucified and Who at the same time has in His face majestic triumph, regal glory and serenity.

If we are to understand the love we should have towards other people, or our love towards God, or His towards us, we have to understand the love shared by the Father and the Son. Otherwise, we’ll never understand what is meant by the word ‘love’ and it will simply be something that calls to mind certain feelings, certain acts of tenderness and something human.

Everything starts with the Father. There is a monocracy in the Holy Trinity. It is not possible that this great moment in the divine dispensation could occur except through the Father.

A Theophany Story for All Enthusiasts for Perfection

By St. John Climacus

(Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 4:31)

I should be quite unjust to all enthusiasts for perfection if I were to bury in the tomb of silence the achievement and reward of Macedonius, the first of the deacons there.* This man, so consecrated to the Lord, just before the feast of the Holy Theophany, actually two days before it, once asked the pastor for permission to go to Alexandria for a certain personal need of his, promising to return from the city as soon as possible for the approaching festival and the preparation for it. But the devil, the hater of good, hindered the archdeacon, and though released by the abbot, he did not return to the monastery for the holy feast at the time appointed by the superior. On his returning a day late, the pastor deposed him from the diaconate and put him in the rank of the lowest novices. But that good deacon of patience and archdeacon of endurance accepted the father’s decision as calmly as if another had been punished and not himself.

Venerable Menas of Sinai

St. Menas of Sinai (Feast Day - January 5)

Venerable Menas lived in asceticism for fifty-nine years in a certain monastery of Sinai, where he died peacefully in the second half of the sixth century. Myrrh flowed from his holy relics, which was noticed three days after his death. Saint John Climacus speaks of this wonderful man in his book The Ladder of Divine Ascent (Step 4:34), where he is portrayed as a model of blessed and ever-memorable obedience. He writes of him:

Narration Concerning the Contest of a Certain Submissive Monk, Who by Falling Into Disobedience Was Not Made Worthy by God of Perfect Glory

OCTOBER 15

Narration Concerning the Contest of a Certain Submissive Monk, Who by Falling Into Disobedience Was Not Made Worthy by God of Perfect Glory

Verses

Disobedient and at the same an athlete,
He is banished, and once again received.

A monk in a certain hermitage was subservient to an elder for a period of some years. By the envy of a demon, one time he strayed from being obedient to the elder, without there being any sensible reason or hurtful pretext. Having been censured by the elder and and given a penance for his disobedience, he disregarded both the censure and the penance. Going therefore to Alexandria, he was arrested by the pagan governor there. Having been stripped of his monastic schema, he was urged to sacrifice to the idols. Because the governor was unable to persuade him, first he was ordered to be flogged with the sinews of an ox without mercy, then the order was given that he be beheaded. When this was done, they cast his body outside the city, to be eaten by the dogs. However, some God-loving Christians went by night and retrieved the body. Wrapping it in a sheet with myrrh, they placed it in a casket. This casket was placed in the Holy Altar of the church, and they honored it as a victorious relic.

Sayings of Holy Abba Betimius

Holy Abba Betimius (Feast Day - December 24)

Verses

You stripped yourself of your corruptible skin Betimius,
And will receive it incorruptible at the resurrection.

Abba Betimius lived a venerable life, and reposed in peace. In the Lausiac History, the following is written about him:

1. Abba Betimius said: "When I went down to Scete they gave me some apples to take to the brethren, and when I had knocked at the door of Abba Achilla, he said to me when he saw me, 'If these apples had been of gold I would not have wished you to knock at my door; and moreover, do not knock at the door of any other brother;' so I returned and placed the apples in the church and departed."

Synaxarion of Saint Paul the Obedient

St. Paul the Obedient (Feast Day - December 7)

Verses

Paul hastened to escape the notice of all,

Instead he shined with light that went every direction.

Our Holy Father Paul was neither glorious nor wealthy in worldly things, but poor. Instead his parents lived with sufficient goods in this present life. He was also educated in sacred letters. When he became of age, it appeared to his advantage to forsake the world and enter a monastery in his homeland. Therefore he was garbed with the divine and angelic schema of monastics, and struggled to obtain all the virtues. And in this he exceeded to such an extent the monks there, that he became a bearer of the Holy Spirit. This was revealed to the brethren when he did an extraordinary thing, since he had in his soul a great and high thing working within him.

Saint Akakios of the "Ladder"

St Akakios of the "Ladder" (Feast Day - Gr. November 26 & Slav. July 7)

Verses

Akakios fled every wickedness of life,
Now delighting in every good being absent of life.

Saint John Climacus informs us concerning the great virtue of obedience for monastics in Step 4 of his Ladder:

 

Obedience is absolute renunciation of our own life, clearly expressed in our bodily actions. Or, conversely, obedience is the mortification of the limbs while the mind remains alive. Obedience is unquestioning movement, voluntary death, a life free of curiosity, carefree danger, unprepared defence before God, fearlessness of death, a safe voyage, a sleeper’s progress. Obedience is the tomb of the will and the resurrection of humility. A corpse does not argue or reason as to what is good or what seems to be bad. For he who has devoutly put the soul of the novice to death will answer for everything. Obedience is an abandonment of discernment in a wealth of discernment.

A Profitable Tale of the Monk Malchus Who Was Disobedient

Venerable Malchus (Feast Day - March 26)

Verses

See O monk the punishment received,

For being disobedient, and receive correction.

By St. Jerome
(Written in Bethlehem in 391)

About three miles from Antioch in Syria there is a certain village which is called Maronia, and in this village was an old monk whose name was Malchus, and he was a wonderful and a holy man. Now at that time I had traveled far away from the house of my fathers, and I went to Evagrius the priest, where I heard concerning the holy man Malchus, and I desired greatly to see him and to be blessed by him; so I went to him, and he received me gladly, and began to tell me about the habits of life and the works of the monks, and how it is right to fear the Lord, and having rejoiced greatly in the pious words of his doctrine, I besought him to confirm me especially in such things. Then he said unto me, “My son, I will relate unto you concerning the temptations which, in proportion to my presumption and thoughtlessness, have come upon me, in order that they may help you, and also concerning the compassionate grace of the Lord God Who took me out of and redeemed me from them, and Who permitted them to come upon me for the correction of many who should learn of me, and should not become disobedient to the exhortation of their spiritual fathers, because disobedience is the cause of death.”

Saints Eutropios, Kleonikos and Basiliskos the Martyrs

Sts. Eutropios, Kleonikos and Basiliskos (Feast Day - March 3)

Verses

To Eutropios

The propitious way of life of Eutropios,

Discovered Christ and an end by the sword.

To Kleonikos

And the glorious Kleonikos is victorious,

He was hanged on a cross, like my Christ of old.

To Basiliskos

Physically imprisoned and before imprisonment Basiliskos had,

Two released from prison.

On the third Eutropios contended for the prize on the wood of the cross.

These Saints lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). They came from Amasia, the famous city in Cappadocia at the Black Sea. They were relatives and fellow-soldiers with Saint Theodore the Tiro. Having been accused to governor Asklepiodotos, they were harshly beaten. Saint Eutropios received wounds on his mouth, because he insulted the governor. However, although the soldiers who were hitting them were paralyzed and tired, the Saints were cured, because the Lord and the holy Martyr Theodore the Tiro had appeared to them. When they saw this miracle, many unbelievers believed in Christ and were beheaded.

Synaxarion of Saint Anthony the New of Kion in Bithynia

St. Anthony the New (Feast Day - December 1)

Verses

Looking toward Anthony the Great,

He was viewed as being like him also in his ways of asceticism.

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Regarding this Saint Anthony the New, the following is written in the Evergetinos, p. 199. That is, he once was the owner of splendid property, then became a Monk. Having lived in quietude for many years, he struggled supernaturally. Once, upon reading the discourse on obedience of Saint John Climacus, he came upon these final words: "He who has come to know his illness by living in solitude, and has then changed his place and sold himself to obedience, has without trouble recovered his sight and seen Christ." Wherefore he departed quietude, and gave himself over to a Coenobium, which was in Kion, in the province of Bithynia.

The Extraordinary Obedience of St. Anthousa the Confessor

The venerable Anthousa, celebrated on July 27th, a confessor of Orthodoxy, who lived and suffered in the period of Iconoclasm during the reign of the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V Copronymos (741-775), was a monastic and founder of churches and Mantineou Monastery.

When Anthousa decided to embrace the monastic life, she went to see a certain holy hieromonk and elder named Sisinios. Elder Sisinios was a wonderworker and Spirit-bearing guide of many souls. For this he was widely known, which is why Anthousa went to him to consult with him. Upon meeting him, she was immediately inspired to emulate him in the contest for virtue.

Open Letter to Every Fellow Traveler Who Thirsts for Truth

By Monk Christodoulos Gregoriates

In this letter, I visit you beloved reader to remind you of two soul-saving stories from the Old Testament which have the purpose of becoming a compass of truths in your life travels.

One day the Military General of Syria, Naaman, visited the Prophet Elisha to heal him from the illness of leprosy (4 Kings 5). Through a third party the Prophet Elisha told Naaman to go under the waters of the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed. Naaman however left angrily saying, "I thought that this person would come to visit me, stand over me in prayer and call on his God, and then put his hand on my ill body and heal me. Are not the rivers of Abana and Pharpar in Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not go under these waters and be healed?" His soldiers drew near and said, "The prophet did not tell you to do something very hard or impossible." And they made him follow the commandment of the prophet. Truly, Naaman believed. He went to the river Jordan, immersed himself seven times, and his body was cleansed of leprosy. His skin became like that of a small child. Yet from Naaman, the leprosy went to Prophet Elisha's1 servant, Gehazi. It went to Gehazi because he secretly ran to Naaman and received an unlawful gift for the miraculous healing and then concealed his sin from the prophet with a silly lie.