Homily Four for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew - Slandering and Blaspheming the Church (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Slandering and Blaspheming the Church

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons through the prince of the demons." (Matt. 9:34)

With the healing of the two blind men and the deaf man who was demon possessed, the crowds "marvelled, saying, 'It was never so seen in Israel'" (Matthew 9:33). However, the immediate reaction of the Pharisees to the cures and to the opinion of the people was not to deny the miracles, but to distort them and attribute them to the power of demons, saying: "He casts out demons through the prince of the demons" (Matt. 9:34). This is a serious form of slander that ends up in blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The interpretation that the Pharisees gave of the miracles showed the illness of their soul, it revealed the existence of the evil spirit in their hearts.

Saint Eustathios of Antioch as a Model for our Lives

St. Eustathios of Antioch (Feast Day - February 21)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Eustathios, Archbishop of Antioch, was born in Sidon of Pamphylia in 260 AD. In 320 he was elected Bishop of Beroea (Aleppo) in Syria, and after three years the Archbishop of Antioch. He took part in the proceedings of the First Ecumenical Synod, which convened in 325 at Nicaea in Bithynia and condemned the heresy of Arius.

He was in the front lines for the battle for Orthodoxy and a fellow-struggler of Athanasios the Great, who called him "a man who is a confessor". That is why he was envied by the leading followers of Arius, namely the Bishops Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theognis of Nicaea and Eusebius of Caesarea, and was slandered as an underminer of secular authority, and as unethical, therefore he was exiled. In other words, they claimed that he was attacking the mother of the Emperor Constantine, namely Saint Helen, but also that he had an illegitimate child with a woman of loose morals, whom they bribed to accuse him. Thus they managed to exile him, but God protected him and finally glorified him. A result of his flawless life and his painful struggles for the Orthodox faith, was that his flock was not seduced by heresy.

Saint Nektarios of Bitel (+ 1500)

 

St. Nektarios of Bitel (Feast Day - December 15)

Venerable Nektarios was born in the small town of Bitel (or Butili) in Bulgaria around the year 1430. In the world he was named Nicholas. Before the Turkish invasion his mother had a vision: the Most Holy Virgin herself appeared and told her to flee and go into hiding with her husband and children. They immediately got people together from Bitel – children, women and weak old people left the city, while the men remained to defend the city from the Turkish invader with weapons. The Turks conquered the city and spread devastation, slaughter and atrocities. When the Turks passed and the situation was calmed down, many of the residents returned, but Nicholas’s father, who was now old and after making an agreement with his wife, withdrew to a monastery dedicated to the Holy Unmercenaries Saints Kosmas and Damian, not far from Bitel, where he became a monk with the name Pachomios. Young Nicholas often visited his father there, and received an education.

The Sad Story Behind a Famous Photo of Saint Nektarios

 

The body of St. Nektarios outside the locked doors of Holy Trinity Church in Piraeus.

In Piraeus, attached to the Church of the Holy Trinity, there is a Chapel of Saint Nektarios which, apart from being a place of worship, also has historical significance for the life of Saint Nektarios. When referring to the Holy Trinity Church at the time of Saint Nektarios, we mean the original church that was destroyed by the bombings of 1940. In this old church where today is the Chapel of Saint Nektarios, there was a small warehouse where they put the used candles and any useless object that they would soon throw away or give to a junk dealer.

When Saint Nektarios passed away on November 8, 1920 at the Aretaio Hospital in Athens, the nuns who cared for him during his hospitalization prepared the relic of the Saint to transport him for burial at the Monastery of the Saint, in Aegina. In 1920, coastal shipping to the islands of the Saronic Gulf was not as it is today. They were done in large boats, on a journey that lasted a long time, with sparse itineraries and that many times the rough seas made it difficult and tedious. This means that the nuns had to leave the relic of the Saint in a place near the port so that the next day it could be transferred to Aegina for burial.

One Who Condemns Others is Like a Murderer (St. Theophan the Recluse)

By St. Theophan the Recluse

"But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless" (Matt. 12:7). Thus, in order to be saved from the sin of condemnation, we must obtain a merciful heart. A merciful heart not only does not condemn a seeming infringement of the law, but neither will it condemn an obvious one. Instead of judgment it feels pity, and would sooner weep than reproach. Truly the sin of condemnation is the fruit of an unmerciful, malicious heart that takes delight in debasing its neighbor, in blackening its neighbor’s name, in trampling his honor underfoot. This is a murderous affair, and is done in the spirit of the one who is a murderer from the beginning [Jn. 8:44]. Here there occurs much slander as well, which comes from the same source — for that is what the devil is, a slanderer, spreading slanderousness everywhere. Hurry to arouse pity in yourself every time the evil urge to condemn comes over you. Then turn in prayer to the Lord with a compassionate heart, that He might have mercy upon all of us, not only upon the one whom we wanted to condemn, but upon us as well — perhaps even more so upon us — and the evil urge will die.

From Thoughts for Each Day of the Year, June 17.

Holy New Hieromartyr Damaskenos of Gambrovo (+ 1771)

St. Damaskenos of Gambrovo (Feast Day - January 16)

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Verses

You are granted through slander,

Martyrdom O athlete of the Lord.

Damaskenos was born in a village called Gambrovo in the province of Turnovo [northern Bulgaria]. He left his country and came to Mount Athos, where he became a Monk at Hilandar Monastery. At Hilandar he was ordained a Deacon, then a Hieromonk, and finally became the Abbot. The fathers of the Monastery sent Damaskenos to Bulgaria. Throughout the duration of his visit there, he stayed at a metochion in the province of Sphistovi. Before his return to Hilandar, he gathered all his belongings and attempted to collect a certain sum he had lent to the Turks. But they were dishonorable and ill-disposed, refusing to give him the money; rather they decided to keep it, and in addition confiscated everything that Damaskenos had in the metochion.

Holy Prophet Habakkuk as a Model for our Lives

Holy Prophet Habakkuk (Feast Day - December 2)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The Prophet Habakkuk was the son of Shaphat and of the tribe of Simeon. His name means "warm embrace." He was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah and is dated between 650 and 672 B.C. His actions revolved around Jerusalem, after the period when the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish, and extended their domination into Palestine. His book consists of three chapters and is distinguished by its remarkable literary grace. The first chapter consists of a dialogue of the Prophet with God, in which the Prophet tries to unravel the manner in which God directs history. The second chapter is the response of God that justice will prevail, and that the just man will live thanks to his trust in God. The third and last chapter includes a doxology of the Prophet for the final triumph of God.

Saint Dionysios I the Wise, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 1492)

St. Dionysios the Wise (Feast Day - November 23)

Dionysios was born in Dimitsana of Peloponnesos before 1410, where he also studied at the School of Philosophou Monastery. He became a monk in the Holy Magganon Monastery in Constantinople, where he progressed in virtue and piety under the supervision of his spiritual father, Saint Mark Eugenikos, Metropolitan of Ephesus, who ordained him into the Deaconate and Priesthood.

Saint Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum

St. Gregory of Agrigentum (Feast Day - November 23)

Verses

From Agrigentum to God you withdraw O Word,

He whom the ends of the earth judge a blessed father.

Saint Gregory was born on the island of Sicily, in the village of Pretorium, not far from the city of Agrigentum, to his pious and virtuous parents Chariton and Theodoti. The infant Gregory was baptized by the bishop of Agrigentum, Potamianos. When he was eight years of age his parents gave him over to sacred learning. At ten years of age the studious boy mastered writing and was able to read and to sing church hymns. At twelve years of age Gregory was given to the clergy, and he was put under the spiritual guidance of the archdeacon Donatus. Bishop Potamianos ordained him a Reader when he was eighteen, due to the fact that he had an excellent reading voice. One day, however, an angel of the Lord appeared to the holy youth as he slept, and after calling out his name three times, he said: "Gregory, your prayers have been heard. Therefore, hasten and go." Without delay Gregory left Agrigentum and went to Carthage, where he found a Spirit-bearing monk named Mark. Believing that God had sent him to Mark, he stayed with him for four years. Together they departed for Antioch, where Mark was greatly admired.

While in Antioch Gregory was prompted by a divine vision to go to Jerusalem, where he was ordained a Deacon by Patriarch Makarios of Jerusalem (552, 564–575). Gregory dwelt for a certain time at Jerusalem, and then went to Constantinople, where he was received with love by the brethren of the Monastery of the Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. The ascetic efforts of Gregory were noticed by Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople (552-565), at whose insistence the Saint participated in the Fifth Ecumenical Synod (553). The Saint's rebukes of the Monothelites made him famous even to the ears of the emperor. At the completion of the Synod, Gregory set off for Rome, to venerate the graves of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

During this time the Bishop of Agrigentum died. The elder clergy and illustrious citizens of Agrigentum journeyed to Rome with a request for the Pope to determine a successor for their late hierarch from among a list of candidates they were presenting. The Pope, however, declined their proposal through divine inspiration, and instead summoned Gregory to serve them as bishop.

For a few years Gregory peacefully guided the flock entrusted to him by God. He was a defender of the down-trodden, a wise preacher, and miraculous healer. As bishop, Gregory led the life of an ascetic monk, fervently observing monastic vows. The flock loved their hierarch and trusted in him. But there were also malicious people who had resolved to slander him.

Two priests, Sabinus and Crescens, for whom Gregory had done much good, could not at all tolerate Gregory's virtuousness. For such is the nature of vice, that it cannot tolerate virtue. Consequently, Sabinus and Crescens found a notorious prostitute and bribed her to malign Gregory by saying that he had had immoral relations with her. So it was that when Gregory was in church, the woman crept into his bedroom, and just as Gregory came out of church with the people, she emerged from his room. The two priests began to revile Gregory as a libertine. However, Gregory was composed and prepared for every suffering. They placed the holy bishop under guard. The people attempted to defend their bishop, but were unsuccessful. At the trial the harlot gave false testimony against Gregory. Just as she pronounced the words of slander, she went into a fit of frenzied rage. The judges accused the Saint of sorcery. Gregory was sent for judgment to the Pope in Rome together with a report about his "crimes."

The Pope, after reading the charges, did not want to see the accused, and gave orders to remand him to prison. The Saint endured his humiliation humbly, dwelling in constant prayer. His prayerful effort and wonderworking gifts quickly became known throughout the city and the surrounding region. Pious Romans began to gather at the prison, whom the imprisoned Saint taught about the righteous life, and he implored the Lord to heal the sick.

After two and a half years, without a trial or a verdict, the clairvoyant Elder Mark, who had known Gregory since youth, came to the Pope. The Elder did not believe the charges and he persuaded the Pope to convene a synod to decide Gregory's case. At the invitation of the Pope, many clergy from the city of Agrigentum came to the synod, together with all those making accusations against the Saint, including the harlot. From Constantinople three bishops and the imperial dignitary Marcian came to Rome. Along the way Marcian had fallen grievously ill. On the advice of many people who had received healing through the prayers of Gregory, servants carried the dying man to the prison where the wonderworking Saint languished. Through the prayers of Saint Gregory the Lord granted healing to Marcian.

At the synod the slanderers attempted to renew their accusations, and as their chief proof they presented the deranged harlot to the judge, declaring that Gregory had bewitched her. But the Saint prayed over her and cast out the devil. The woman came to her senses and told the synod the whole truth. Through her tears, she confessed that she had been bribed to malign the man of God, and that immediately after she had committed the slander, the evil spirit had entered her and held her in its power. Sabinus and Crescens, along with the other maligners - more than a hundred in number - found their faces suddenly turned as black as coal (which could also be seen in their descendants for many generations), and they were punished with exile. Marcian wanted to execute them, but Gregory implored forgiveness for them.

Gregory returned in honor to his own cathedral, and was received with great exultation by his people, and there he worked greater wonders than before. Surrounded by the love of his flock, he guided the Church for many years until he attained deep old age, and he reposed in peace in 590.

Portions of his skull can be found at the Metropolis of Thessaliotidos and at the Athonite Monastery of Dionysiou. Other relics are at the Athonite Monastery of Panteleimon, Palaiokastritsa Monastery in Kerkyra, and the Lavra of Saint Alexander Nevsky in St. Petersburg. His memory is celebrated on November 23rd, together with Saint Potamianos the Bishop and Saint Mark the Monk.

Apolytikion in the First Tone
O Gregory, thou wast diligent in thy Master's commandments, even from thy swaddling bands. Thou wast filled with heavenly gifts, and dost lead to verdant pastures those who cry to thee: Glory to Him Who has strengthened thee; glory to Him Who has crowned thee; glory to Him Who through thee grants healings to all.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O God of our Fathers, always act with kindness towards us; take not Thy mercy from us, but guide our lives in peace through the prayers of the hierarchs Gregory and Amphilochios.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
With the brilliant rays of the Holy Spirit, the Church enlightens the way of those who celebrate thy joyful repose,, O righteous and blessed Father Gregory.

There are ten exegetical commentaries of Saint Gregory on the Book of Ecclesiastes. Below is an excerpt from one of them:

"Come, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a glad heart; for what you do, God has approved beforehand" (Ecclesiastes 9:7).

This exhortation of Ecclesiastes is very proper if you take its words in their ordinary everyday sense. If we embrace a simple rule of life and let our beliefs be inspired bu a sincere faith in God, we should eat our bread with joy and drink our wine with a glad heart. We should not fall into slanderous speech or devote ourselves to devious stratagems; rather, we should direct our thoughts on straight paths and (as far as is practicable) help the poor and destitute with compassion and generosity – that is, dedicate ourselves to the activities that please God himself.

But the same text can be given a spiritual meaning that leads us to higher thoughts. It speaks of the heavenly and mystical bread, which has come down from heaven, bringing life to the world, and to drink a spiritual wine with a cheerful heart, that wine which flowed from the side of the True Vine at the moment of his saving passion. Of this, the Gospel of our salvation says: "When Jesus had taken bread and blessed it, he said to his holy disciples and apostles, Take, eat; this is my body which is being broken for you for the forgiveness of sins. In the same way he took the cup and said, Drink from this, all of you: this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins." For whoever eats this bread and drinks this mystical wine enjoys true blessedness and rejoices, exclaiming: You have put joy into our hearts.

Moreover, I think this is the bread and this is the wine that is referred to in the book of Proverbs by God’s self-subsistent Wisdom (that is, Christ our Savior): "Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed for you." Thus he refers to our mystical sharing in the Word. For those worthy to receive this are forever clothed in garments (that is, the works of light) shining as bright as light itself. As the Lord says in the Gospel, "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." And, indeed, oil will be seen flowing eternally over their heads – the oil that is the Spirit of truth, guarding and preserving them from all the harm of sin.

Source

Saint Eumenios of Gortyna as a Model for our Lives

St. Eumenios of Gortyna (Feast Day - September 18)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Eumenios was from Crete. He probably lived before 732 A.D., when Crete was ecclesiastically dependent on Rome probably between 667 and 680. This is extracted from the fact that the Saint reconciled the emperors Constantine IV Pogonatos, Heraclius and Tiberius, as we read in his Service composed by Joseph the Hymnographer.

From his youth Saint Eumenios was dedicated with much diligence to asceticism and prayer. He was distinguished for his deep humility, not calumniating and not judging anyone, nor did he allow anyone to criticize others in front of him. That is, he strictly applied the words of the sacred Psalmist: "I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor" (Ps. 101:5 LXX).

Holy New Martyr Demetrios the Bartender of Constantinople (+ 1784)

St. Demetrios of Constantinople (Feast Day - January 27)

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Verses

A heavenly light was set upon your relics,

Having been beheaded for Christ out of divine love.

Demetrios was a native of Galata in Constantinople and resided in the precinct of Karakoy, where he was a bartender at a tavern owned by a certain Hadji-Panagiotis. He was only twenty-five years old, handsome in appearance, and sober in conduct. For these virtues, he was always hated by the Laz Muslims,* who frequented the tavern. In various ways, they attempted to divert him from the Faith and make him a Muslim, but they strived in vain.

The Saint Who Endured Slanders

St. Gregory Kallides (Feast Day - July 25)

By Haralambos M. Bousias

Saint Gregory Kallides (+ 1925) was a brave-minded Hierarch who did not give into dangers and secret threats.

He lifted the banner of the truth of the Gospel of love, boldly repeating the words of the wise Sirach: Gregory, "fight to the death on behalf of truth, and the Lord God will fight for you" (Sir. 4:28).

Wherever he was, with untold courage and fortitude, he rejuvenated his flock with constant touring of the villages, especially those that accepted the attacks of propaganda, with strong spoken as well as written words, but he also defended the weak against those in power at whatever cost.

This dynamic, together with the love and respect the people harbored for Christ-imitating Gregory, this Hierarch distinguished for his acts of mercy, and for his perception of every trial and his assistance towards the suffering, brought him face to face with the forces of darkness and tyranny, which is why he bore the enormous burden of slander twice, once in Thessaloniki and once in Ioannina, to the point that he was exiled.

The Man Born Blind and the Malicious Exaggeration of the Scribes and Pharisees

By His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria

Saint Asterios, Bishop Amaseia, interpreting empirically the sacred text of the Gospel Reading that refers to the miracle of the man born blind, is both revealing and timely.

Besides, the Holy Fathers, having in their hearts the living presence of Christ and being enlightened with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are always relevant and timeless.

Saint Arsenios reveals, through a series of explanations, the problem which occupied the Scribes and Pharisees, that came from the healing of the man born born blind, which primarily was the sickness which hid in the space of their heart, where the evil passion of slander resided.

He wrote: "They (the Scribes and Pharisees) occupied themselves first with whether or not the blind man was the same person and not someone else who presented himself as the blind man. Their second strategy ... was to deny the event and try to prove that Christ was not the One who performed the healing. Third, they rush again to examine the malady to see if the man was indeed blind from birth, seeking out the parents of the man and scrutinizing every detail, not to certify the act, but to find out by overthrowing it how this miracle indeed took place, manufacturing a conspiracy to overthrow the momentum of the crowd that believed. O malicious exaggeration!"1

On Enduring Tribulations and Slander

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

St. Mark the Ascetic said: "Whoever desires to eliminate future tribulations must bear the present tribulations with joy." Men consider slander as a great tribulation and there are few men who bear this tribulation without grumbling. O beautiful is the fruit of kindly endured tribulation! Tribulation is given to us for good spiritual commerce and we are missing the opportunity thus remaining empty-handed at the market place. Behold, even Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, Macarius, Sisoes and thousands of other followers of the Most-Slandered One were themselves slandered. But God, Who orders all things for our salvation, had so ordered that on the thorn of slander would sprout fragrant roses of glory for all those who are slandered for His Name. Had Stephen not been slandered would he have seen the heavens opened and seen the glory of God in the heavens? And the slander against Joseph the Chaste One, did it not serve to his greater glory?