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.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Eleventh Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Eleventh Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (John 21:14-25) read before the Canon, which speaks of the restoration of the Apostle Peter. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Tenth Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Tenth Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (John 21:1-14) read before the Canon, which speaks of the third appearance of the Resurrected Christ to His disciples as they were fishing on the Sea of Tiberias. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Ninth Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Ninth Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (John 20:19-31) read before the Canon, which speaks of the appearance of the Resurrected Christ first to the ten Apostles then to Thomas. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Eighth Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Eighth Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (John 20:11-18) read before the Canon, which speaks of the encounter between the Resurrected Christ and Mary Magdalene. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Seventh Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Seventh Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (John 20:1-10) read before the Canon, which speaks of the encounter with the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene and the Apostles Peter and John. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Sixth Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Sixth Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (Luke 24:36-53) read before the Canon, which speaks of Jesus confirming His resurrection from the dead to His disciples, reminding them of His promises, and His ascension into heaven. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Fifth Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Fifth Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (Luke 24:13-35) read before the Canon, which speaks of the encounter of the two apostles with the Risen Christ on the road to Emmaus. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Fourth Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Fourth Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (Luke 24:1-12) read before the Canon, which speaks of the encounter of the Myrrhbearers with the angels at the empty tomb. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Third Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Third Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (Mark 16:9-20) read before the Canon, which speaks of the events that followed the Resurrection of Christ. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the Second Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the Second Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (Mark 16:1-8) read before the Canon, which speaks of the Myrrhbearers at the empty tomb. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.

Exaposteilarion and Doxastikon of the First Resurrection Eothinon Gospel for Sunday Matins

The following hymns from the Sunday Matins service are directly related to the First Eothinon Resurrection Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20) read before the Canon, which speaks of the Great Commission of our Lord to the eleven disciples. There are eleven eothina all together, and each Sunday is successively dedicated to one of them, then the cycle starts again. Each of the eleven eothina symbolizes one of the eleven disciples to whom the Lord appeared following His Resurrection.